STEM undergraduates’ perspectives of instructor and university responses to the COVID-19 pandemic in Spring 2020

Abstract

Objectives We examined undergraduate STEM students’ experiences during Spring 2020 when universities switched to remote instruction due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Specifically, we sought to understand actions by universities and instructors that students found effective or ineffective, as well as instructor behaviors that conveyed a sense of caring or not caring about their students’ success. Methods In July 2020 we conducted 16 focus groups with STEM undergraduate students enrolled in US colleges and universities (N = 59). Focus groups were stratified by gender, race/ethnicity, and socioeconomic status. Content analyses were performed using a data-driven inductive approach. Results Participants (N = 59; 51% female) were racially/ethnically diverse (76% race/ethnicity other than non-Hispanic white) and from 32 colleges and universities. The most common effective instructor strategies mentioned included hybrid instruction (35%) and use of multiple tools for learning and student engagement (27%). The most common ineffective strategies mentioned were increasing the course workload or difficulty level (18%) and use of pre-recorded lectures (15%). The most common behaviors cited as making students feel the instructor cared about their success were exhibiting leniency and/or flexibility regarding course policies or assessments (29%) and being responsive and accessible to students (25%). The most common behaviors cited as conveying the instructors did not care included poor communication skills (28%) and increasing the difficulty of the course (15%). University actions students found helpful included flexible policies (41%) and moving key services online (e.g., tutoring, counseling; 24%). Students felt universities should have created policies for faculty and departments to increase consistency (26%) and ensured communication strategies were honest, prompt, and transparent (23%). Conclusions To be prepared for future emergencies, universities should devise evidence-based policies for remote operations and all instructors should be trained in best practices for remote instruction. Research is needed to identify and ameliorate negative impacts of the pandemic on STEM education.

STEM vs non-STEM differences in university teaching and research during the COVID-19 pandemic: the case of Sri Lanka

“…The authors also discuss the perception among STEM academics that teaching their subjects pose unique challenges in an online environment, given the requirement for conducting practicals and laboratory sessions. These findings tie in with work by Pagoto et al. (2021), Brancaccio-Taras et al.…”

“…The authors also discuss the perception among STEM academics that teaching their subjects pose unique challenges in an online environment, given the requirement for conducting practicals and laboratory sessions. These findings tie in with work by Pagoto et al (2021), Brancaccio-Taras et al (2021) and Means and Neisler (2020) who posit that a possible problem with shifting to online teaching in the STEM fields has been that many teachers merely switched to delivering lectures online and providing recordings of labs, thereby meeting only the immediate needs of the students. The authors suggest that in the long term, online delivery needs to be carefully designed to ensure the students do not lose out on important learning outcomes and provide some examples of innovative methods used by STEM academics in this aspect.…”

“…While work by Nelson Laird et al. (2008) goes further to show that there are lower expectations of and opportunities for integrative and reflective learning for STEM students due to these differences in teaching approaches, recent work in the context of the pandemic shows that STEM students find pre-recorded lectures less effective than having hybrid instruction and multiple modes of learning and student engagement (Pagoto et al. , 2021), and that student satisfaction among students taking STEM courses is lower both before and after the move to online teaching and learning (Means and Neisler, 2020).…”

Serious Games as a Method for Enhancing Learning Engagement: Student Perception on Online Higher Education During COVID-19

“…This pedagogical model, which generates a playful learning environment, can serve as an innovation strategy for online or hybrid education systems, because this more frequent environment for students promotes learning in a more relaxed environment, reduces anxiety, and avoids a stressful or overwhelming environment ( Iheduru-Anderson and Foley, 2021 ). On the one hand, previous studies reveal that students prefer hybrid education systems, multiple resources, and complementary technologies ( Pagoto et al, 2021 ). On the other hand, society must be prepared for the threat of a new pandemic, which may replicate the teaching conditions experienced in 2020 and 2021.…”

“…At the university level, online transition was particularly difficult for courses and undergraduate programs in the STEM fields (science, technology, engineering, and math) and health sciences. The reason underlying this notion is the specific features of learning strategies in these areas, including active lectures, hands-on laboratories, and research projects, among others, which require highly specific technology for developing online courses ( Iheduru-Anderson and Foley, 2021 ; Pagoto et al, 2021 ; Jeffries et al, 2022 ). These characteristics of the time of crisis in higher education have also been present in the COVID context of Chilean universities.…”