Teaching and Learning in the Time of COVID: The Student Perspective

Abstract

This article describes findings from the Survey of Student Perceptions of Remote Teaching and Learning, which was administered to a random national sample of 1,008 U.S. undergraduates taking for-credit college courses that began with in-person classes and shifted to remote instruction in spring 2020. Course satisfaction levels were much lower after courses moved online, and students recounted an array of barriers to their continued learning. More than 1 in 6 students experienced frequent internet connectivity issues and/or hardware and software problems severe enough to interfere with their ability to continue learning in their courses. Students from all backgrounds struggled to stay motivated and missed getting immediate instructor feedback and collaborating with their fellow students. Students of color and students from lower-income households experienced more challenges than did non-Hispanic White students and students from higher-income households. However, even with the challenges of an unplanned shift to remote learning, a majority of students were at least somewhat satisfied with their learning in the course after COVID, and satisfaction was higher for those courses using more of the practices recommended for effective online instruction.

STEM Students’ Perceptions on Emergency Online Learning during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Challenges and Successes

“…In addition to faculty struggling to adjust course curricula and teaching methods, students' mental health declined. These were a few of the many barriers to effective remote learning [5,8].…”

“…Course delivery involves deciding on the length of learning segments, inclusion of listening breaks (e.g., active participation in discussion/problem solving/group work), student-to-student interactions, and faculty-to-student interactions [8]. Unlike good movies that have interesting plots, lectures rarely have plots or are as engaging.…”

“…One primary learner need for learning success is belonging to a community [8,11,12,[17][18][19][20][21]. Fostering a sense of community, especially in online courses, is critical to students' well-being as well as learning success.…”

The motivational system of task values and anticipated emotions in daily academic behavior

“…The proliferation of online courses in universities, especially due to the COVID-19 pandemic, has provided a new context for learning, providing students with extensive control over the time and place that they complete course-related tasks. For students, this new context may be advantageous or problematic; favored or feared, depending on their motivation and ability to self-regulate their learning (Kizilcec et al, 2017 ; McPartlan et al, 2021 ; Means & Neisler, 2021 ). Prior research shows that ability beliefs (de Fátima Goulão & Menedez, 2015 ; Fryer & Bovee, 2016 ) and subjective task values (Chiu & Wang, 2008 ) are significant predictors of students' intentions to persist in e-learning.…”

Emergency Remote Teaching amid the Covid 19 and the Sources of Stress for EFL Students: A Qualitative Study

“…However, the experience of ERT under the outbreak of the Covid-19 is unique, considering the lack of preparation and willingness of the majority of the individuals taking it (Chahkandi, 2021). Remote teaching under the conditions of the pandemic has also been featured by internet connectivity issues, hardware or software problems, low motivation and course satisfaction, and fitting the course in with family/home obligations and work schedule (Means & Neisler, 2021). Additionally, socioeconomic and cultural barriers along with limited access to technological resources have been shown to restrict individuals' access to virtual learning (Baticulon et al, 2021).…”