Teaching Strategies in Flexible Learning: The Political Science Department Experience

Abstract

This study examines the experiences of Political Science students with the teaching strategies employed by their teachers in the context of flexible learning. This learning modality was practiced during the pandemic when classes were conducted synchronously and asynchronously. It covered three main objectives: (1) to ascertain the level of effectiveness of the teaching strategies in flexible learning used by the Political Science faculty members in their professional courses as perceived by the students; (2) to identify the factors contributing to the level of effectiveness of the teaching strategies as perceived by the students; and (3) to determine the challenges the students encountered in relation to the teaching strategies employed by their subject teachers for flexible learning. This study used the mixed-method approach. A structured questionnaire was developed to collect the necessary data and was distributed to 153 respondents. For the analysis of the answers obtained from the interview of 12 students, thematic analysis was used to determine the challenges and factors affecting the effectiveness of the teaching strategies. The findings revealed that the most effective strategy was the use of visuals, including PowerPoint presentations, as it stimulates the imagination and helps students develop visual thinking skills. Other learning strategies were considered only effective because they do not warrant a conducive learning environment suited for synchronous and asynchronous classes. The factors that contributed to the effectiveness of these strategies included the creation of school policies to accommodate flexible learning modalities, managing learner behavior to provide productive learning opportunities, presenting appropriate content, and engaging teachers in targeted behavioral interventions. The most frequently observed challenges in the conduct of flexible learning include engagement issues such as reporting without proper feedback, the overwhelming volume of activities, and irregular attendance by teachers.