Presenter(s): David Lee, Emily Shinn, Chloe Stevenson
Faculty Mentor(s): Anne Laskaya
Session 1: Learning during a Pandemic: The First-Year University Student Experience
This research investigates the learning experiences of first-year University of Oregon students who are participating in the sudden shift to remote-based education during the global Covid-19 pandemic . We document and assess the challenges, difficulties, and benefits first-year students encounter as they suddenly move from the Fall and Winter Terms of shared, live campus classroom-based learning to the physically-isolated conditions of Spring Term’s online learning .
Using a carefully-designed survey and individual learning-narratives, we assess first-year students’ perceptions of their own learning effectiveness, productivity, content retention, and analytical depth in this historical moment . We also investigate students’ perceptions of their own well-being and their satisfaction with higher education during the sudden shift to remote learning required by the pandemic . A survey coupled with short student narratives constitute our methods of inquiry . The survey asks students to rank their experiences, allowing gradations of response rather than simple yes/no answers . Two open-ended questions will solicit narrative (or short answer) responses . The questionnaire, using Google Surveys, will be distributed shortly to all first-year students whose email addresses are in the UO Directory .
Our presentation will inform the UO community, and potentially other interested academic communities, about the various impacts of Covid-19 on first-year students and provide documentation of that impact . This will also help the university community plan on how best to support their first-year students (as well as more advanced students) during a time of crisis and experimental remote-based learning.