Study of the relationship between affect and cognition in the migration from face-to-face to remote learning

Abstract

This article investigates the relationship between affective and cognitive dimensions in higher education during the transition from face-to-face to virtual learning during the Covid-19 pandemic. It is based on the principles of the historical-cultural approach. The objective is to analyze the intrinsic relationship between affectivity and cognition, the modes of action experienced, apprehended, and objectified by participants in higher education pedagogical processes in the movement of structural and methodological changes. The following procedures were adopted for data production and collection: online focus groups, reports, questionnaires, and document analysis. The research method was inspired by historical-dialectical materialism, and the field research approximates the case study procedure. The data were analyzed in stages, and the results were grouped into three analytical axes. Essential objective conditions for the development of online pedagogical processes were revealed, along with challenges and contradictions in the planning and execution of pedagogical actions. Feelings of fear, anguish, and concern stand out. A qualitative leap in pedagogical processes is observed, enabling the development and integration of practical knowledge gained during the pandemic with theoretical knowledge through a praxis. The dialectical interrelation between affectivity and cognition is revealed in the professors’ search for improvements in pedagogical practice, in the encounter as an important mediation, and in meeting the academic and professional needs of professors and students. The need for the professionalization of pedagogical processes is evident, especially when mediated by digital technology, where rigor and generosity coexist dialectically, constituting the conscious expression of the unity of affect and cognition in pedagogical activity.