The long tail of the pandemic and its ongoing effect on teaching and learning economics

Abstract

In late 2021 we conducted a survey of faculty at our university regarding how the pandemic was affecting student learning. Survey results indicate that faculty perceived students to be not learning as much as they used to as a result of trauma; declines in student work effort, attendance, class participation, and study skills; the disincentive effects created by the increased flexibility and leniency faculty offered regarding deadlines and grades; and reductions in content coverage. To address these issues, we argue that faculty could: (1) pay more attention to the development of academic skills; (2) devote additional hours to instruction to facilitate skill development; (3) work to build community and foster a supportive learning environment in the classroom; (4) engage in more coordination at all levels of the curriculum; and (5) support students who experience trauma without undermining the extrinsic motivations that drive a significant amount of student behaviour.