Students' Perceptions of Online Teaching in Higher Education Amid COVID-19

There is no doubt that the sudden migration to online learning amid COVID-19 has caused a degree of stress to students and faculty in higher education globally. Although several studies have reported on the challenges that faced the academic world during the pandemic and lessons learnt from some of the practices adopted through the delivery of online education, limited studies have been conducted to look into the most significant factors that impact students' perception of the online delivery amid COVID-19. As such, this paper is based on a quantitative study targeting a highly rated higher education institution in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), to identify the most significant pedagogical, psychological, and technological factors that impacted on students' online learning experience amid COVID-19 and model the relationship between these factors and students' perception of successful online learning, using structural equation modeling (SEM). The study also investigates the relationship between the students' background and their satisfaction with the online delivery of teaching amid COVID-19. In addition, RII (relative importance index) analysis is used to identify the most important factors that impact students' satisfaction with the online delivery. The study concludes that there are at least twenty-six factors that impact on students' perception of successful online delivery, and that there is a positive relationship between the instructors' teaching style and use of technology and the students' perception of successful online delivery.