Student Perspectives on Learning During COVID

I was curious about what it’s like to be a student during COVID so I gathered some data.  I put the following Nudge out to my CHEM 110B class, “I want to write a piece. ‘Student Perspectives on Learning During COVID.’ Can you write me two sentences on how COVID has affected your learning—one good and one bad”.  I got twenty-two responses.  Here are some highlights with my thoughts at the end. I think you will find them pretty revealing.

Good: Attend more extracurricular activities virtually than would have otherwise been possible.//Work at my own pace.//I can get more sleep because I do not have to get up as early.//Ability to rewatch lectures if needed.//COVID has presented chemistry concepts, such as the Take Home Case Study, as being more applicable to my life than in a regular year.//I ended up in great classes that I probably would not have taken otherwise like CHEM 110B//COVID personalized my chemistry experience because it transformed the 180-person-class into 20 since I was one of the few people that attended in person.//Easier to go to office hours and meet with others, since Zoom is so convenient.

Bad: Not getting the interactions needed in the classroom to help connect all of the information and create bonds with professors and/or other classmates.// It did not allow me to attend many of my classes and meet new people with the same passions as me. (These two are representative of VERY COMMON RESPONSE).//I get frequent headaches from being on my laptop all day long.//I just stare at a screen all day and I do not get much person to person interaction//As a freshman, I believe I did not learn how to properly study and figure out what works best for me. //One negative is that sitting on Zoom has become repetitive and it has been harder to stay focused.//COVID definitely impacted the way I learned difficult concepts and adjusted to a college level workload.//I'm honestly not able to think of any positive impacts COVID has had on my learning.

Let’s end with the optimist and realist quote, “The good part of online learning during COVID is that we learned to appreciate something many of us took for granted—learning in person; when we do return to regular classes, I think we'll all appreciate the simplicity of attending an in person lecture.”  I couldn’t agree more.  Joni Mitchell said, “You don’t know what you got till it’s gone.” For me, taking away the in person interactions with the students was really tough.  I went to online teaching workshops and read advice for connecting students.  I had an iPad and a tablet and I made movies.  I recorded lectures, chats, and review sessions, and I did online polling.  I even taught to approximately twenty students in person, albeit masked and distanced.  But humans aren’t meant to be like this.  I learned how relational I am and how important being together is.  I think I was able to help students in Zoom office hours, but not in the same way as in person.  What worries me most are the students who struggle—the ones I could try to help and inspire in person—who drifted and got lost.  In the end, I think the students and I did our best, but it was hard.  We all have one more semester of this before we return to normal.  My advice: Give your students breaks.  Give yourselves breaks.  Wellness days are being put in for a reason.  

I want to close by thanking all of you for your extraordinary efforts in teaching and research throughout the year. I wish you a safe and Happy Holiday and a Happy New Year.   

Best Regards, 

Phil