| Title: |
STEM Courses during the COVID Pandemic: Lessons from Spring 2020 |
| Language: |
English |
| Authors: |
Means, Barbara; Peters, Vanessa; Neisler, Julie; Griffiths, Rebecca; Digital Promise Global |
| Source: |
Digital Promise Global. 2020. |
| Availability: |
Digital Promise. 1001 Connecticut Avenue NW Suite 935, Washington DC 20036. Tel: 202-450-3675; e-mail: contact@digitalpromise.org; Web site: https://digitalpromise.org/ |
| Peer Reviewed: |
N |
| Page Count: |
34 |
| Publication Date: |
2020 |
| Sponsoring Agency: |
National Science Foundation (NSF) |
| Contract Number: |
DUE2029642 |
| Document Type: |
Reports - Research |
| Education Level: |
Higher Education; Postsecondary Education |
| Descriptors: |
COVID-19; Pandemics; Online Courses; Distance Education; STEM Education; Undergraduate Students; Barriers; Teacher Attitudes; Student Attitudes; College Faculty; Teaching Methods; Active Learning; Cooperative Learning; Equal Education; Student Satisfaction; Access to Computers; Internet; At Risk Students; Student Motivation; Educational Environment; Help Seeking; Student Responsibility; Health; Student Employment; Feedback (Response); Peer Relationship; Cooperation; Grading; Student Evaluation; Educational Practices |
| Abstract: |
Higher education experienced an unprecedented and unplanned shift to remote instruction in response to the COVID-19 pandemic in spring 2020. For the first time, the great majority of postsecondary faculty and students were engaged in remote instruction. Faculty members who had never taught (or learned through) online courses were challenged to teach in a new format. Students who had never learned online before, and were not expecting to do so, had to shift to learning at a distance at the same time they were coping with abrupt changes in their living circumstances. As the pandemic has persisted, restrictions on classroom-based instruction have extended much longer than envisioned in spring 2020. Colleges and universities are looking for ways to design courses that are resilient in the face of epidemics and other interruptions to campus-based teaching while also being equitable to all students. This report highlights challenges and equity issues that surfaced in spring 2020 and that should be considered in course design and implementation, even beyond the pandemic. Its description of specific practices associated with higher student satisfaction with their STEM courses has applicability far beyond the first semester of pandemic-induced remote learning. This report describes findings from two research activities conducted concurrently: (1) Survey of a nationally representative sample of over 650 undergraduates who were taking STEM courses that included in-person meetings when they began and had to switch to entirely remote instruction; and (2) Qualitative descriptions of 28 STEM courses offered by nine institutions, based on interviews and focus groups with students and instructors. In this report the authors provide selected survey findings along with related descriptions of STEM remote teaching practices and learning experiences from the course case studies. |
| Abstractor: |
ERIC |
| Entry Date: |
2021 |
| Accession Number: |
ED614314 |
| Database: |
ERIC |