Abstract:
This study examines the pandemic teaching experience of visual arts studio instructors in higher education when moving between face-to-face and virtual teaching methods. This descriptive qualitative study employed 16 participants interviewed and document analysis as a secondary data source. The results revealed that faculty adapted to change through a support system of peers, administrators, and new and novel use of computer programs. Additionally, the faculty fostered creativity in the physical and virtual classrooms with communication, which was considered a hallmark of the creative classroom and hands-on learning experiences. The final result revealed that the faculty brought many of the adjustments from the virtual classroom experience back into the face-to-face classroom to improve the teaching and learning experience. In conclusion, though faculty have developed new methodologies for teaching and learning, support systems need to be developed before the next shift in higher education. Based on this learning experience, recommendations include a disaster toolkit for faculty and administrators, software developers' rapid deployment systems, and a mini-grant system for specific needs support in the classroom.
