Pedagogical Inputs through Online Mode and their Effects on Students’ Achievement in the Context of COVID 19 Pandemic: A Case of Higher Education Institutions in Nepal
(Grant no. TU-NPAR-077/78-ERG-16)

Online pedagogy has been a considerable issue among the universities and other higher education institutions (HEIs) in Nepal, particularly during and after Covid-19.  However, due to the lack of comprehensive and collective information regarding the knowledge, skills and strategies needed for handling the online teaching-learning system in the universities, pedagogic practices and assessment were, and still are, in uncertainty. That is to say, there is a clear knowledge gap regarding the opportunities, status, practice, effectiveness and challenges of virtual/online teaching-learning among the universities in Nepal. On this backdrop, the national priority area research project Pedagogical Inputs through Online Mode and their Effects on Students’ Achievement in the Context of COVID 19 Pandemic: A Case of Higher Education Institutions in Nepal (Grant no. TU-NPAR-077/78-ERG-16) was signed between T. U. Research Directorate, Office of the Rector and the Team of Researchers (Dr. Kamal Kumar Poudel - PI, Dr. Kamal Raj Devkota - CoI, and Dr. Kamal Prasad Acharya - CoI) and was officially affiliated to CERID.  The project has a duration of 2 years, beginning 27 Ashad 2079.  

By exploring the existing policies, programs and practices in the HEIs for developing practically effective pedagogical programs for online teaching and learning in the context of the HEIs implementing the pedagogical programs designed for online pedagogy for the skill development of the HEIs' faculty and students, the project ultimately aims at recommending appropriate online  teaching-learning policies and programs along with the necessary conditions for their effective implementation at HEIs in Nepal.

Informed chiefly by the mixed method design, the study covers constituent and community campuses - altogether seventeen - from three universities in Nepal, 998 students and 384 teachers and the campus chiefs from them, Deans/Assistant Deans and Controllers of Examinations. The techniques used are the survey, the FGD and the interview.

The project is still in progress, heading closely towards its culmination.