Implementation of International Study Subject in Post-COVID-19 World: comparative investigation of students' satisfaction
The study portrayals a case analysis of implementing study subject “Asian Community: Culture and New Media” in Mykolas Romeris University (MRU) where international team collaborate through teaching process. Not only academics from different universities and countries deliver lectures, the Embassy of Japan in Lithuania, King Sejong Institute, Ministry of Foreign Affairs also contribute to the subject. The education sector is referred to be one the most inclined to the devastation of the CORONA virus (Choi et al. 2021; Iglesias-Pradas et al. 2021). At various points between 2020 and 2021, universities were mostly focusing on quality in terms of their online presence (Tham et al. 2021). Mykolas Romeris University responded to the pandemic implementing different categories in accordance with the situation. First, it maintained in-class teaching with social distancing (February–March, 2020). Secondly, during two national lockdown periods, it moved to online instruction. Further, from September 1, 2021, it started to implement a hybrid model with blended learning. Students‘ feedback was collected using a questionnaire. The research compares students’ satisfaction with a course “Asian Community: Culture and New Media”, one implemented in 2020-2021 ac. year (during the COVID-19 pandemic) with the courses implemented in 2019-2020 (before the COVID-19), and 2021-2022 (after the COVID-19). The results of this case study show an increase in students’ satisfaction with the study subject’s remote teaching. COVID-19 teaching experience can be a transformational opportunity for “Asian Community” course, an opportunity to re-create the content and methodology of the internationally taught study subject. It might be designed as an online program with co-curricular engagement among the universities implementing „Asian Community“ course.