Large loss in studying time during the closure of schools in Switzerland in 2020

Abstract

The majority of European, as well as many other, countries responded to the outbreak of the new coronavirus with a closure of schools and universities. The expectation of policy makers was that schools and universities would continue to provide lessons online and that students would engage in home learning. How much home learning has there been? We use nationally representative, longitudinal data on 14- to 25-year-old Swiss students to analyze the effects of school closures on studying time. Our results show that students reduced, on average, their studying time from 35 to 23 hours per week. This reduction was stronger for students in secondary school age than for students older than 18. Contrary to our expectations, these reductions in studying time did not vary between male and female students. In addition, children from families with highly educated parents reduced their studying time in absolute terms more than children from families with low educated parents. In relative terms, reductions in children’s studying time did not vary by parental education. We also found some variation in the reduction in studying time across the three linguistic regions in Switzerland. Taken together, our findings show that studying time was considerably reduced during the closure of schools. We therefore conclude by suggesting political measures that can compensate for the loss in studying time a generation of Swiss students experienced between March and July 2020.

Was wissen wir über schulische Lehr-Lern-Prozesse im Distanzunterricht während der Corona-Pandemie? – Evidenz aus Deutschland, Österreich und der Schweiz

“…Ergebnisse einer Befragung im Kanton Zürich Baier und Kamenowski ( 2020 ) GS Englisch Social inequality in the homeschooling efforts of German high school students during a school closing period Dietrich et al. ( 2021 ) Scopus Large loss in studying time during the closure of schools in Switzerland in 2020 Grätz und Lipps ( 2021 ) GS Englisch COVID-19 and Educational Inequality: How School Closures Affect Low-and High-Achieving Students Grewenig et al. ( 2020 ) GS Deutsch Lernen in Zeiten der Corona-Pandemie.…”

“…( 2020 ) 2741 – 18.385 – – 21.126 Tessin 02.06.20 11.06.20 kA kA 40 Porsch und Porsch ( 2020 ) – – 3995 – – 3995 DE 25.03.20 25.04.20 MV + Nein 41 Rathgeb ( 2020 ) – 1002 – – – 1002 DE 02.04.20 06.04.20 OP Ja 42 Refle et al. ( 2020 ) Grätz und Lipps ( 2021 ) – 3410 1305 – – 4715 CH 13.05.20 26.06.20 MV kA 43 Samson und Dukes ( 2020 ) – – 1511 – – 1511 DE, AT, CH 09.04.20 19.07.20 kA kA 44 Schober et al. ( 2020 a) – 8349 – – – 8349 AT 06.04.20 20.04.20 MV + Nein 45 Schober et al.…”

“…Regressionsanalysen, Strukturgleichungsmodelle) auf Basis der Befragungsdaten wurden erst in wenigen Publikationen durchgeführt (Baier und Kamenowski 2020 ; Huber et al. 2020 ; Grätz und Lipps 2021 ; Huber und Helm 2020 b; Klapproth et al. 2020 ; Lorenz et al.…”

“…So berichten Refle et al. ( 2020 ; siehe auch Grätz und Lipps 2021 ) für Schweizer Lernende im Alter von 14–26 Jahren eine durchschnittliche Lernzeit von 36 h pro Woche vor den Schulschließungen. Während des Fernunterrichts sank diese Zahl um 12 h auf 23 h 13 .…”

“…2020 ) berichten keine Unterschiede für die investierte Lernzeit von Schüler*innen aus sozial- und bildungsbenachteiligten Familien. Einzig bei Grätz und Lipps ( 2021 ) wird widererwarten ein stärkerer Rückgang der Lernzeit für Schüler*innen aus sozioökonomisch besser gestellten Familien beobachtet.…”