Interactive processes in distance undergraduate courses: teachers' conceptions

Abstract

This article is an excerpt from the research carried out for the doctoral thesis Human-affective interrelationships in interactive processes in distance undergraduate courses in a private HEI. This is a qualitative research, a case study, in which the research subjects were the professors who, during the first semester of 2019, worked in the pedagogical mediation of Administration and Accounting courses at a private HEI. The objective of this work is to present the conceptions of the researched professors regarding the process of interaction with students and its interweavings with the pedagogical practice, analyzing the relationship of the variable interaction with the sensation of distance (Transactional Distance) from the professors’ point of view. The data collection techniques used were a questionnaire, answered by 14 teachers, of which 10 were selected for the second phase, with semi-structured interviews. Distance courses bring new challenges to teaching practice concerning interaction, as the student does not have the same characteristics as students in on-site courses: greater autonomy, virtual silence and communication asynchrony are some elements that pose challenges to teachers in the exercise of teaching practice. The teacher’s role continues to be the mediation of the teaching and learning process, but with different characteristics. Thus, we concluded that the interaction with the student from Distance Education brings new challenges to the distance teaching practices, being necessary to familiarize with the virtual presence, using new strategies relating to interaction with students. The greater the interaction, the lower the feeling of loneliness at the course and, the lower the transactional distance by the students.