First and Second Graders’ Reading Motivation and Reading Comprehension Were Not Adversely Affected by Distance Learning During COVID-19

Abstract

Many assume that school shutdowns in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic have significantly impaired students’ achievement and self-determined motivation. Of greatest concern given the sudden shift to distance learning are students with inadequate access to digital media and insufficient experience organizing learning processes independently—for example, first and second graders. This study used a quasi-experiment with 206 elementary students to investigate differences in reading comprehension and self-determined reading motivation of students who attended grades one and two during or before the pandemic. Surprisingly, the results revealed no differences in reading comprehension and reading motivation between the groups, contradicting the assumption that the pandemic-driven shift to distance learning would inevitably impair young students’ achievements and self-determined motivation.

Emptiness in the study of emotions in the teaching-learning process of reading-writing during the COVID-19 pandemic

“…Reading motivation in learning prior to the pandemic with respect to what happened afterwards. This does not support the hypothesis that the change to distance learning driven by the pandemic was a factor that hindered the development of reading comprehension skills -an essential part of the teaching-learning process of reading-writing and self-determined motivation (Thomas, 2021).…”

“…On the other hand, Thomas (2021) analyzed the performance and self-determined motivation during the closure of schools in 2020 from a quasi-experimental study in a sample of 203 primary school students. The objective of this research was to assess whether there were differences in reading comprehension and self-determined reading motivation of students who attended grades one and two during or before the pandemic.…”

“…Of particular interest is the fact that while the results of this study are encouraging, the research is limited in that it cannot explain what factors contributed to these findings. One possibility in the discussion is that teachers had more time to concentrate on teaching reading; because the school closure meant that students did not participate in non-academic classes (gym, art; Thomas, 2021 ). On the other hand, the advantage of having smaller classes to work more deeply on reading comprehension is raised ( Thomas, 2021 ).…”

“…One possibility in the discussion is that teachers had more time to concentrate on teaching reading; because the school closure meant that students did not participate in non-academic classes (gym, art; Thomas, 2021 ). On the other hand, the advantage of having smaller classes to work more deeply on reading comprehension is raised ( Thomas, 2021 ). A closer and more personalized attention could influence both academic performance and motivation toward the teaching-learning process ( Thomas, 2021 ).…”

Opismenjevanje učencev prvega vzgojnoizobraževalnega obdobja v luči dela na daljavo v izrednih razmerah

“…Za naše ožje področje raziskave sta še posebej pomembni dve raziskavi. Raziskava, izvedena v avstrijskem okolju (Thomas, 2021), je pokazala, da kljub temu, da je večina sklepala, da je zaprtje šol načelo dosežke otrok in njihovo motivacijo, bralno razumevanje in samodoločena bralna motivacija pri drugo-in prvošolcih nista drugačni; prvošolci so se namreč v času zaprtja šolali na daljavo. Tudi na Nizozemskem so raziskovali vpliv zaprtja šol (le-to je bilo na Nizozemskem krajše kot pri nas) na bralne dosežke otrok, sicer starejše kot v prej omenjeni raziskavi, in sicer stare od osem do 11 let.…”