Distance Teaching and Learning of Science during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Greece: Views of K-6 Students

Achilleas Mandrikas,Constantina Stefanidou,Constantine Skordoulis,Kyriakos Kyriakou,Ioanna Stavrou

doi:10.5296/jse.v12i1.19463

Achilleas Mandrikas, Constantina Stefanidou + Show 3 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.5296/jse.v12i1.19463

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Abstract

In this paper the findings from research conducted with primary education students (K-6) are presented, explicitly focusing on students’ views concerning how Science was taught through distance learning due to the COVID-19 pandemic during the school year 2020-21. The sample of 378 students was not satisfied by the distance teaching and learning of Science except for the increased use of supporting audiovisual resources. Some of the results that occurred due to this transition were technical connection problems, a lack of communication between classmates and their teacher, a lack of concentration by students, their limited personal participation and the absence of face-to-face experimentation. Consequently, the limited understanding of scientific concepts shaped the students’ preference for learning Science in real classroom conditions.

Highlights

In this paper the findings from research conducted with primary education students (K-6) are presented, explicitly focusing on students’ views concerning how Science was taught through distance learning due to the COVID-19 pandemic during the school year 2020-21
This paper explores the views of 6th grade (K-6) students on distance teaching and learning in Science
Based on the findings of the present research it becomes clear that the students were not satisfied with the distance teaching and learning of Science and state that they prefer to be taught this subject in the real class

Summary

Introduction

According to data from the European Union (Di Pietro et al, 2020) as well as data from UNESCO (UNESCO, 2021, p.7) 186 countries took suspending measures of face-to-face education at all levels of education affecting 1.5 billion learners. The suspension of the educational process due to the COVID-19 pandemic was accompanied by compulsory distance learning, initially asynchronous, and in synchronous form (online learning). The problems arising from the implementation of distance teaching and learning are related to the technological equipment available to students (Di Pietro et al, 2020; UNESCO, 2021), to the conditions prevailing in their home environment, to the difficulties that students face in terms of self-discipline, motivation and course preferences (Ferraro et al, 2020; Radha et al, 2020) and to the internal difficulties of laboratory courses such as those of Science (Center for Studies and Documentation/KEMETE, 2021)

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