Chaos and Confusion: Reducing Instructional Uncertainty in Times of Crisis

Educators live in a constant state of disrupted comfort. Classrooms, students, curriculum, assessment, and strategies change daily. In 2020, our foundation was shaken to the core as a pandemic and social unrest necessitated quick pivots and contemplative pedagogy. Our institution, the University of Central Florida, is known for our ability to instruct online at scale. The unprecedented growth of our institution and the desire for online and distance learning created a perfect storm of opportunity. We launched an environment of innovation and excellence built on best practices and data. What we could not have anticipated was that even an institution like ours, which has been an industry leader for decades in the distance learning realm, would still see faculty resistance during the quick online pivot in spring 2020.