A COVID-19 Shift to Online Learning: A Comparison of Student Outcomes and Engagement for the Bacterial Unknown Identification Project

Abstract

Many microbiology classes include a bacterial unknown identification project (BUIP), in which students identify an unknown microorganism. The COVID-19 pandemic forced a change in instructional methods from an in-person to an online version of this project. Our aim was to determine how the shift in learning from in person to online impacted three aspects of student engagement: student satisfaction, as measured by the withdrawal rate from the course; student enthusiasm, evaluated by student self-efficacy; and student learning, determined using non-point-based questions. To address the effectiveness of these modified versions of the BUIP, approximately five hundred students completed multiple-choice and Likert-style surveys before and after the project across two semesters: the semesters immediately prior to and during the initial phase of the COVID-19 pandemic. We found that while each semester reflected increases in perceived engagement with the material (p < 0.05), overall, students reported feeling comfortable with the process of unknown identification irrespective of the semester. Surprisingly, learned information, as measured by pre- minus post-survey scores, was equal across semesters. Additionally, we observed fewer course withdrawals during the semester in which the project transitioned online. These data shed light on how the curriculum during the transition to online learning led to equivalent student learning but greater student engagement, and therefore points to the importance of comparing shifts in a curriculum within one course.