Reflections on a Plague Academic Year: A Multiyear Comparison of Student Engagement, Investment, and Performance in Undergraduate Physiology Courses During the COVID‐19 Pandemic

Abstract

The ongoing COVID‐19 pandemic continues to alter the landscape of higher education in the United States – even in highly vaccinated states like Connecticut. For example, in Fall 2020, the University of Connecticut operated remotely with most courses being offered in a distance learning format. In Fall 2021, students returned to campus for in person classes. Although there has been a great deal of speculation shared by students and faculty, the long‐term impact of these abrupt transitions on student learning is largely unknown. In the present study, we begin to explore the impact of the pandemic on student engagement, investment, and performance in several undergraduate physiology courses by comparing student data from the Fall 2020 and Fall 2021 semesters. We analyzed the time students spent accessing synchronous and asynchronous learning materials, the frequency of student‐instructor interactions, and scores on matched summative assessments. Furthermore, we explore the impact of course modality on these same metrics by comparing a flipped anatomy and physiology course to other courses offered in a traditional lecture and hybrid format. Our preliminary results indicate that while the overall student investment was comparable despite the instructional format, students engaged more consistently after returning to campus. However, the increased engagement does not correlate with assessment scores or other measures of student success (e.g., DFW rates). Our results contradict a widespread misconception that students were not adequately engaged by online learning during the 2020‐2021 academic year. As pressure mounts to undo student support measures put in place during the pandemic, they may also serve as a warning to academic departments, graduate programs, and other stakeholders that the effects of the pandemic on students are ongoing, despite strong institutional desires for normalcy.