Change in Strategies to Enhance Student Engagement during the Spring 2020 COVID-19 Shutdown in a Nonmajor Chemistry Class

Abstract

A case study of the COVID-19 pandemic’s impact in a nonmajor chemistry class is presented. The prepandemic student engagement strategy focused on student identity within the microcommunity of the face-to-face class. The sudden switch to online instruction mandated a series of changes. Topic-specific adjustments were made within the broader frame of this strategy. Reflecting on the experience from a perspective that incorporates human relationships has the benefit of capturing the early signs of the crisis. It is noted that changes related to the affective domain of learning preceded and influenced changes in the cognitive domain. Data are drawn from lecture and laboratory observations, graded assignments, teacher–student communications, and student evaluations.