Colleges and universities around the world switched to remote teaching in early 2020. In this study we assessed the experiences of students who experienced different operationalizations of remote teaching during the first full term of instruction during the COVID-19 pandemic. Students (N ϭ 649) in 11 sections of introductory psychology participated in an online assessment of their learning after completing their final exam. We examined the level of alignment between student preferences (e.g., for synchronous lectures) with the format of the classes they were in (e.g., featuring synchronous lectures) and used this measure of fit (aligned, misaligned, no preference) and students' modality based self-efficacy as predictors of learning. Self-efficacy predicted final exam scores and students' ratings of the skills learned, value of science, student learning outcomes (SLOs), class behaviors, and attitudes toward their class. Fit predicted differences in attitude and class related behaviors (e.g., studying). Self-efficacy also predicted the extent to which students changed their learning behaviors during the pandemic. Our results provide educators with key ways to prepare for additional remote teaching.

While colleges and universities grapple with delivering instruction face-to-face during the pandemic, there is still a lot to learn from remote teaching experiences. The present study aimed to predict self-reported learning during the first year of the pandemic. Building on previous scholarship on the topic, we focus on the moderating effects of self-efficacy, and the mediating effects of coping styles on the relationship between stress and self-reported learning experiences. We also included self-perceptions of class effort, the instructor, and changes in class, personal, professor, and health behaviors. Students ( N = 272) in Introductory Psychology classes participated in an online survey as part of a class research requirement. Analyses demonstrated that self-efficacy predicted differences in many measures associated with learning and predicted learning over and above all other variables entered in a hierarchical regression. The relationship between stress and learning was mediated by coping, but not moderated by self-efficacy. These results suggest student beliefs about their ability to perform online are important to learning outcomes, but coping mechanisms mediate the relationship of stress and learning. Especially while teaching during pandemic times using different modalities, instructors will do well to directly address students’ perceptions of their own ability and build self-efficacy.

Colleges and universities around the world switched to remote teaching in early 2020. In this study we assessed the experiences of students who experienced different operationalizations of remote teaching during the first full term of instruction during the COVID pandemic. Students (N = 649) in 11 sections of Introductory Psychology participated in an online assessment of their learning after completing their final exam. We examined the level of alignment between student preferences (e.g., for synchronous lectures) with the format of the classes they were in (e.g., featuring synchronous lectures) and used this measure of fit (aligned, misaligned, no preference) and students’ modality based self-efficacy as predictors of learning. Self-efficacy predicted final exam scores and students’ ratings of the skills learned, value of science, student learning outcomes, class behaviors, and attitudes toward their class. Fit predicted differences in attitude and class related behaviors (e.g., studying). Self-efficacy also predicted the extent to which students changed their learning behaviors during the pandemic. Our results provide educators with key ways to prepare for additional remote teaching.

No abstract

Previous research demonstrates that evolutionarily relevant stimuli (e.g., snakes, angry faces) “pop-out” of visual arrays, leading to faster and more accurate identification compared with stimuli that do not impact fitness as strongly. The present study investigated the identification of low (vs. high) waist-to-hip ratios (WHR) using a visual search paradigm: participants searched for a discrepant female torso in matrices of otherwise identical female torsos. Participants viewed 3 × 3 and 5 × 5 matrices of female torsos with low (.70) or high (.90) WHRs and indicated whether a torso with a discrepant WHR was present or absent via a button press. As predicted, participants were faster and more accurate in detecting a low WHR among high WHRs than the reverse; however, results failed to support the predicted interaction whereby matrix size would more strongly affect participants’ ability to detect a torso with a discrepant WHR of .90 than .70. These results suggest that female torsos with low WHR readily capture attention but still require serial processing.