Open AccessEffects of Remote Teaching in a Crisis on Equity Gaps and the Constructivist Learning Environment in an Introductory Biology Course Series
Author(s) -
Austin L. Zuckerman,
Rebecca A. Hardesty,
Kameryn Denaro,
Stanley M. Lo,
Melinda T. Owens
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
journal of microbiology and biology education
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.301
H-Index - 7
eISSN - 1935-7885
pISSN - 1935-7877
DOI - 10.1128/jmbe.v22i1.2293
Subject(s) - covid-19 , equity (law) , pandemic , mathematics education , constructivist teaching methods , course (navigation) , computer science , medical education , data science , teaching method , political science , psychology , medicine , infectious disease (medical specialty) , engineering , pathology , disease , law , aerospace engineering
Because of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020, higher education institutions had to pivot rapidly to online remote learning. Many educators were concerned that the disparate impact of this crisis would exacerbate inequities in learning outcomes and student learning experiences, especially for students from minoritized backgrounds. We examined course grades and student perceptions of their learning experiences in fall (face-to-face) and spring (fully remote) quarters in an introductory biology course series at a public research university. Contrary to our hypothesis, we found that student course grades increased overall during remote learning, and equity gaps in course grades were mitigated for minoritized students. We hypothesize that instructors may have changed their grading practices to compensate for challenges in remote learning in crisis. However, spring students reported significant decreases in the amount of peer negotiation and social support, critical components of active learning. These findings suggest that remote teaching in crisis may have negatively affected student learning environments in ways that may not have been captured by grading practices.