A Qualitative Study of Faculty and Administrator Perspectives on Effective Online Undergraduate Teaching in Pakistan

Abstract

This qualitative study explores the experiences, perceptions and visions of university faculty and administrators in Pakistan regarding online teaching and learning at the undergraduate level. This study draws on a semi-structured focus group discussion as part of a larger mixed-methods doctoral study of the preparation of an effective online teaching-learning model. Using thematic analysis, it identifies seven interlinked themes: the conditional effectiveness of online education; an interlocking web of implementation challenges; differentiated and structurally shaped patterns of student engagement; the pedagogical strategies participants found most effective; a crisis of assessment integrity and authentic evaluation; an institutional support and policy vacuum; and a strong, convergent professional endorsement of blended learning accompanied by a detailed set of design principles for an effective model. Findings reveal that Pakistani academics are not against online education in principle but describe a system that was thrust into digital delivery under COVID-19 pressure without the infrastructure, training, policy scaffolding or assessment redesign needed for effective online teaching. Participants offered a coherent, experience-based blueprint for reform that stressed contextual relevance, embedded interactivity, faculty capacity building, assessment redesign, and institutional accountability. The study argues that these design principles, based on teachers and administrators, should be the basis for any future Pakistani online or blended undergraduate education model and not imported wholesale from better resourced systems. The discussion addresses implications for policy and institutional practice and for future research.