Covid-19 Remote Learning Transition in Spring 2020

Class Structures, Student Perceptions, and Inequality in College Courses

Bibliographic Data

ID11063233
AuthorsA Gillis (0000-0002-7869-0932, St. Lawrence University, Canton, NY, USA, corresponding author), Laura M Krull (0000-0001-9112-8998, St. Norbert College, De Pere, WI, USA)
Year2020
Volume48
Issue4
Pages283-299
Publication date2020-10-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueTeaching Sociology (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0092-055X • E-ISSN: 1939-862X
PublisherSAGE Publications (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/0092055x20954263
PMID38603024
OpenAlexW3087588452
LanguageEN
Citations received66
References cited22

The COVID-19 pandemic forced all face-to-face college courses to transition to remote instruction. This article explores instructional techniques used in the transition, student perceptions of effectiveness/enjoyment/accessibility of those techniques, barriers that students faced due to the transition, and race/class/gender inequality in experiencing those barriers. We used surveys in introductory courses by two instructors (the authors) to compare students’ reactions to our transitions and the transitions in their other courses. We found that which instructional technique instructors use is less important than how well they implement it for student learning. Although there is a tradeoff between enjoyment and accessibility, instructors can use techniques to increase accessibility of interactive formats. Internet and technology barriers were extremely common, even for students who did not anticipate problems. Most students experienced barriers to their learning due to the pandemic, including distractions, increased anxiety, and feeling less motivated, especially for nonwhite, female, and first-generation college students

Anxiety · Class (philosophy · Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19 · Distance education · Feeling · Higher education · Inequality · Mathematics education · Medical education · Pandemic · Pedagogy · Perception · Political science · Transition (genetics · Communication in Education and Healthcare · Computer Science · COVID-19 and Mental Health · Medicine · Online and Blended Learning · Psychology · Social Psychology

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