COVID-19 Remote Learning Transition in Spring 2020: Class Structures, Student Perceptions, and Inequality in College Courses

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic forced all face-to-face college courses to transition to remote instruction. This article explores instructional techniques used in the transition, student perceptions of effectiveness/enjoyment/accessibility of those techniques, barriers that students faced due to the transition, and race/class/gender inequality in experiencing those barriers. We used surveys in introductory courses by two instructors (the authors) to compare students’ reactions to our transitions and the transitions in their other courses. We found that which instructional technique instructors use is less important than how well they implement it for student learning. Although there is a tradeoff between enjoyment and accessibility, instructors can use techniques to increase accessibility of interactive formats. Internet and technology barriers were extremely common, even for students who did not anticipate problems. Most students experienced barriers to their learning due to the pandemic, including distractions, increased anxiety, and feeling less motivated, especially for nonwhite, female, and first-generation college students.

Serving Children and Adolescents in Need during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Evaluation of Service-Learning Subjects with and without Face-to-Face Interaction

“…More surprisingly, students taking nFTF subjects reported even higher overall satisfaction and willingness to recommend this subject to their friends than students taking FTF subject. In contrast with reports indicating university students’ worry, distress, and discontent with e-learning [ 56 , 57 ], this study showed high levels of satisfaction among students. This nFTF mode of service learning incorporated helpful practices that facilitated online learning, such as adjusting teaching content and activities for an effective delivery of teaching information, providing adequate support from teacher and teaching assistants to students, and preparing contingency plans to deal with unexpected incidents due to technical problems [ 58 ].…”

Student input on the effectiveness of the shift to emergency remote teaching due to the COVID crisis: Structural equation modeling creates a more complete picture

“…Mseleku (2020) found that the stress of ERT often resulted in depression, anxiety, and other mental-health related issues; and seriously impacted student learning and satisfaction. Other researchers support these findings ( Gillis & Krull, 2020 ; Aguilara, 2020 ; Bozkurt et al., 2020 ).…”

“…Many studies address the issue of technology challenges, particularly in the context of students who do not have adequate access to the internet, computers/printers, or lack technological skill to negotiate the online environment (e.g., Aboagye et al., 2020 ; Shim & Song, 2020 ; Trust & Whalen, 2020 ; Wiltse et al., 2020 ; Mseleku, 2020) . Gillis and Krull (2020) discovered that internet and technology barriers were widespread. Students from rural areas and low-income families in particular had difficulty ( Mseleku, 2020 ).…”

“…Olson and colleagues ( 2020 ) supported this result with the finding that there was no difference in the effectiveness of learning environments—the quality of presentation was the determining factor. Further support documented that instructional techniques are less important than how well they use those techniques to increase the accessibility to interactive formats ( Gillis & Krull, 2020 ).…”

Advancing an agenda for instructional preparedness: lessons learned from the transition to remote learning

“…As they note, the transition to remote online learning has prompted the need to enhance, expand, and create new theoretical approaches that bolster our ability to ensure student success amid any crisis. This line of inquiry will inform the ongoing debate regarding the value of different instructional modalities for online instruction (Gillis & Krull, 2020).…”