Physics Teaching in Croatian Elementary and High Schools during the Covid-19 Pandemic - Paper - Research Findings and Teacher Questionnaire

Oct 15, 2026

Spring 2020 closures in Croatia led to a sudden shift from face-to-face to remote instruction, significantly affecting physics teaching as an experimental subject. To identify logistical and technical problems, a quantitative online questionnaire with five parts was completed by 178 Croatian physics teachers. Findings indicate increased teacher workload, reduced experimental work, and insufficient ICT-related knowledge, skills, and equipment. The study also shows that well-designed, individualized online teaching can boost students’ commitment and interest.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages26

Reading Time1 h 6 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Transition to online remote teaching

Pedagogical trade-offs: synchronous vs asynchronous

Physics-specific experimental constraints

doi: 10.26529/cepsj.1135 Physics Teaching in Croatian Elementary and High Schools during the Covid-19 Pandemic Ivana Štibi*1, Mojca Čepič2 and Jerneja Pavlin2 • In spring 2020, 916 elementary schools and 443 high schools were closed in Croatia due to the Covid-19 pandemic and remote teaching was introduced. This had an impact on physics teaching as an experimental subject. In addition to positive aspects concealed in new experiencesand work perspectives, the sudden transition from conventional faceto-face teaching to a remote format had an undeniable negative impact on physics teaching in elementary and high schools. In order to mitigate the effects and provide a detailed insight into the problems that arose during this transition, we conducted a quantitative study among teachers of physics in elementary and high schools in Croatia, with the aim of identifying logistical and technical problems and challenges in physics teaching during the Covid-19 pandemic. An online questionnaire with five parts (general data, teaching physics during the Covid-19 pandemic, experiments, sociological component, exchange of experience) was completed by 178 Croatian teachers. The results irrefutably point to the flexibility and responsiveness of physics teachers, an increase in the teachers’ workload, a lack of the experimental work that forms an essential part of the subject of physics, and a lack of teacher knowledge (in ICT), skills and equipment for conducting distance teaching. However, it also emerged that online teaching, if carefully designed and individualised, can stimulate additional commitment and interest in the subject among students. The paper presents the research findings in detail, with the aim of helping physics teachers to plan further teaching more effectively as and if the pandemic progresses. Keywords: Covid-19, distance teaching, experiments, physics, teachers’views 1 *Corresponding Author. Department of Physics, University Josip Juraj Strossmayer, Croatia; [istibi@fizika.unios.hr](istibi@fizika.unios.hr). 2 Faculty of Education, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia. 336 physics teaching in croatian elementary and high schools during the covid-19 pandemic Poučevanje fizike v hrvaških osnovnih in srednjih šolahmed pandemijo covida-19 Ivana Štibi, Mojca Čepič in Jerneja Pavlin • Spomladi 2020 je bilo na Hrvaškem zaradi pandemije covida-19 zaprtih 916 osnovnih šol in 443 srednjih šol ter uvedeno poučevanje na daljavo. To je vplivalo na poučevanje fizike kot eksperimentalnega predmeta. Poleg pozitivnih vidikov, prikritih v novih izkušnjah in delovnih izzivih, je imel nenadni prehod od običajnega pouka v živo k pouku na daljavonesporno negativen vpliv na pouk fizike v osnovnih in srednjih šolah. Da bi prikazali učinke in ponudili podroben vpogled v težave, ki so sepojavile med tem prehodom, smo izvedli kvantitativno raziskavo medučitelji fizike v osnovnih in srednjih šolah na Hrvaškem z namenom prepoznati logistične in tehnične težave ter izzive pri poučevanju fizike med pandemijo covida-19 . Spletni anketni vprašalnik s petimi deli (splošni podatki, poučevanje fizike med pandemijo covida-19, eksperimenti, sociološki vidik, izmenjava izkušenj) je izpolnilo 178 hrvaškihučiteljev. Rezultati kažejo na prilagodljivost in odzivnost učiteljev fizike, povečanje obremenitve učiteljev, zmanjšanje količine eksperimentalnega dela, ki je bistveni del predmeta fizika, ter pomanjkanje učiteljevega znanja, spretnosti in opreme za izvajanje pouka na daljavo. Izkazalo se je tudi, da lahko pouk na daljavo, če je skrbno zasnovan in individualiziran, spodbudi zanimanje za predmet fizika pri učečih se. Prispevek predstavlja izsledke raziskave z namenom učiteljem fizike pomagati načrtovati pouk učinkoviteje, če se bo pandemija nadaljevala. Ključne besede: covid-19, eksperimenti, fizika, pogledi učiteljev, poučevanje na daljavo Introduction Subsequent to Covid-19 entering Europe, all schools in Croatia – 916 elementary school

FAQs

Why did physics teaching in Croatia change during the Covid-19 pandemic?

All elementary and high schools in Croatia were closed after Covid-19 entered Europe, which required a transition to online remote teaching and affected physics as an experimental subject.

How was the study conducted and who participated?

A quantitative online questionnaire with five sections was completed by 178 Croatian physics teachers.

What key problems did the results identify for remote physics teaching?

The results point to increased teacher workload, lack of experimental work, and insufficient teacher knowledge, skills, and equipment for distance teaching using ICT.

Oct 15, 2026

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