Didactics models usage in Spain in the COVID-19 context: comparative study among teaching staff

Abstract

Research focused in measuring differences in the didactic models usage among teachers of different educational stages (childhood and primary education teachers, secondary teachers, and university teachers) in the context of the COVID-19 are meager nationally and internationally. The purpose of this work is both to describe the general usage of didactic models and to establish differences among didactic models usage in different Spanish teaching staff during the global pandemic. To this end, a descriptive-comparative non-experimental quantitave design was carried out, in which the UMEPE questionnaire was administered to a sample composed of 16902 Spanish teachers from the aforementioned teaching staff. Data analysis carried out through of frequencies analysis, descriptive statistics and one-way ANOVA, showed that teachers perceive that directed learning model is more used than more comprehensive models with students (active learning and cognitive activation). Results reflect that, despite the attempts of several national and international organizations to promote active learning, directed learning continues being the most prevalent model, although methods such as e-learning or self-regulated learning have shown great progress due to COVID-19. This is consistent with the related literature and it is also transferred university teachers, who tend to perceive a greater use of directed model than childhood, primary and secondary education teachers, who tend to use more the active model.