Investigating teaching and learning during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic.

Abstract

In response to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, educators had to swiftly and unexpectedly transition their courses from face-to-face to remote instruction. We investigated the experiences of 53 undergraduate Psychology students in New York State during this shift and the ultimate continuation of remote instruction for the rest of the semester. Participants from two different courses completed a five-item guided reflection four times over a span of 8 weeks. They responded to questions about issues such as times of increased and decreased engagement and affirming actions by the course members. We found that students valued active learning and face-to-face interaction as the most engaging aspects of the course, whereas personal circumstances and the sudden transition to remote learning contributed to students' feeling distanced from the course. Students referenced updates, clear communication of instructor expectations, asynchronous instruction, and interactions and cooperation with peers as affirming actions. Our results highlight the importance of instructors' supportive actions and course design to students' learning, which are both within the reach of instructors' control. In addition to providing insight into which aspects of instruction students value most, our findings also have implications for teaching beyond the pandemic in other circumstances that require instructors to quickly and unexpectedly shift the instruction of their courses. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved)