Sustainable Engineering higher education in Oman-lessons learned from the pandemic (COVID-19), improvements, and suggestions in the teaching, learning and administrative framework.

Abstract: This research study has investigated the challenges faced due to the pandemic (COVID-19). This paper further provides recommendations that can be adopted by academics, learners, and administrators to make the education system more robust and sustainable. The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic can be felt in various fields across the world including higher education. The closure of face-to-face (FtF) learning in educational institutions worldwide has impacted over 95% of the world's student population. Therefore, in wake of this, many institutions have quickly adopted to offer complete online teaching and learning in a very short period. However, such a quick transition has raised several challenges. 1) What are the challenges encountered by academics and their readiness to adapt to the rapid remote learning transition? 2) What are the challenges encountered by learners (students), and their readiness to adapt to the rapid remote learning transition? 3) What are the recommendations for strategic planners or high-level administrators in institutions to tackle such pandemic risks effectively in the future? To address research questions mixed methods are used. A qualitativequestionnaire survey is framed by an extensive literature review to understand the perceptions of academics and learners. A total of (n=525) academician samples and (n= 1460) student samples have been collected. The academic and learner's perceptions are analyzed by estimating the Pearson correlation coefficients. The mean and SD values based on academic rank stood at 3.01±0.96, and by experience stood at 2.96±0.98. Similarly, learner's perceptions stood at 2.67±0.95. Keywords: FtF (Face to Face); problem-oriented and project-based learning (POPBL); LMS (Learning management system); emergency remote teaching (ERT); emergency risk (COVID-19): Standard deviation (SD).