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Pandemic-Related Instructor Talk: How New Instructors Supported Students at the Onset of the COVID-19 Pandemic.

ABSTRACT: At the same time that COVID-19 cases in the United States first began to increase, fellows in a mentored teaching apprenticeship for postdoctoral scientists began to teach undergraduate seminars. The fellows suddenly needed to support students emotionally and switch to online instruction. They were encouraged to acknowledge and address the pandemic during each class and decided to do so. In this case study, we examined the language fellows used in response to this encouragement, hypothesizing that they would engage in a variety of pandemic-related instructor talk, i.e., language that instructors use in the classroom that is not directly tied to educational content. We analyzed transcripts from 17 2-hour undergraduate biology seminar courses and found 167 instances of pandemic-related instructor talk. We used grounded theory to identify categories that emerged from these quotations: Positive coping mechanisms and self-care; Adjusting to online learning; Compassionate instruction; Personal impacts; COVID-19 and society; Dreaming; and Biology of COVID-19. Talk in these categories may help build relationships among instructors and students. The category about quickly Adjusting to online learning is unique, in that it is unlikely that there will be another time that will require simultaneous and rapid national movement to online instruction. In addition, four of the seven categories are direct consequences of COVID-19 specifically, and thus are unique to this time. Analyzing pandemic-related instructor talk has shed light on how new instructors navigated the trials of teaching in 2020.

SUBMITTER: Seah YM

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8046655 | biostudies-literature |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Project description:Studies have demonstrated students' resistance to active learning, despite evidence illustrating that their learning is improved relative to students in lectures. Specifically, while active learning and group work are effective at engaging students in their learning process, studies report that students' perceptions of active learning approaches are not always positive. What remains underexplored is whether students' perceptions of active learning improve with effective instructor facilitation and whether there exists differential perceptions between racially minoritized students and represented students. Here, we estimate students' perceptions of effective instructor facilitation as the mediator in the relationship between active learning and perceptions of learning and perceived utility for class activities (task value). Then, we examine differences by racial identification. We collected classroom observation data to empirically categorize courses as active learning or lecture-based and surveyed 4,257 college students across 25 STEM classrooms at a research-intensive university. We first examined the relationship between active learning on student perceptions and found a negative relationship between active learning and perceptions of learning and task value for both racially minoritized students and represented students. Next, we assessed whether students' perceptions of instructor effectiveness in facilitating group activities mediate these negative relationships. We found that, on average, students of all races were more likely to positively perceive instructor facilitation in active learning classes relative to lectures. In turn, the positive perceptions of instructor facilitation partially suppressed the negative relationship between active learning and perceptions of learning and task value. These results demonstrate that effective instructor facilitation can influence both students' self-assessment of learning and perceived utility of the learning activities, and underscores the importance of developing pedagogical competence among college instructors.

Project description:ObjectivesWe examined undergraduate STEM students' experiences during Spring 2020 when universities switched to remote instruction due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Specifically, we sought to understand actions by universities and instructors that students found effective or ineffective, as well as instructor behaviors that conveyed a sense of caring or not caring about their students' success.MethodsIn July 2020 we conducted 16 focus groups with STEM undergraduate students enrolled in US colleges and universities (N = 59). Focus groups were stratified by gender, race/ethnicity, and socioeconomic status. Content analyses were performed using a data-driven inductive approach.ResultsParticipants (N = 59; 51% female) were racially/ethnically diverse (76% race/ethnicity other than non-Hispanic white) and from 32 colleges and universities. The most common effective instructor strategies mentioned included hybrid instruction (35%) and use of multiple tools for learning and student engagement (27%). The most common ineffective strategies mentioned were increasing the course workload or difficulty level (18%) and use of pre-recorded lectures (15%). The most common behaviors cited as making students feel the instructor cared about their success were exhibiting leniency and/or flexibility regarding course policies or assessments (29%) and being responsive and accessible to students (25%). The most common behaviors cited as conveying the instructors did not care included poor communication skills (28%) and increasing the difficulty of the course (15%). University actions students found helpful included flexible policies (41%) and moving key services online (e.g., tutoring, counseling; 24%). Students felt universities should have created policies for faculty and departments to increase consistency (26%) and ensured communication strategies were honest, prompt, and transparent (23%).ConclusionsTo be prepared for future emergencies, universities should devise evidence-based policies for remote operations and all instructors should be trained in best practices for remote instruction. Research is needed to identify and ameliorate negative impacts of the pandemic on STEM education.

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Pandemic-Related Instructor Talk: How New Instructors Supported Students at the Onset of the COVID-19 Pandemic.

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