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Differences in Academic Resiliency When the Pandemic Forced Courses Online: Was Prior Online Coursetaking Protective?

Authors:
Claire Wladis at Borough of Manhattan Community College
Claire Wladis
Alyse C. Hachey
Alyse C. Hachey
Alyse C. Hachey
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Katherine Conway at Borough of Manhattan Community College
Katherine Conway
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Abstract

We report results from a dataset consisting of all courses taken by students at the City University of New York [CUNY] in fall 2019 and spring 2020. This time frame covers the semester prior to the wide-spread onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in New York City (i.e., pre-pandemic), and the semester when the coronavirus precipitated a rapid and unprecedented forced shift of all courses within the university system to a fully-online mode of instruction early in the term (i.e., pandemic term). Findings indicate that students at two-year colleges, men, and certain racial/ethnic groups had less resilient course outcomes when comparing their rates of pre-pandemic vs. pandemic course outcomes. However, these differences were observed primarily among those students who had not originally chosen to enrol in any fully online courses that year. In contrast, students who had originally chosen to enrol in fully online courses that year were much more resilient, with differences by institution type, gender, and race/ethnicity by and large not exacerbated by the pandemic.
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fall 2019 spring 2020
two-year four-year
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... While academics agree that conventional residential education, distance education, and ERT are distinct practices (Hodges et al., 2020;Jandrić et al., 2021;Moore et al., 2021;Stewart et al., 2023), scholarship on ERT has generally not focused on differences and nuances of remote teaching within the practice itself (Moore et al., 2021;Shattuck, 2021;Stewart et al., 2023;Tulaskar & Turunen, 2022). Thus, not only is a reflection on crisisbased remote teaching warranted, it is direly needed (Cicha et al., 2022;Crutchfield & Eugene, 2022;Shiratori et al., 2022) since educational learning outcomes as a consequence of ERT have ranged from ambiguous at best (Abdulrahim & Mabrouk, 2020;Fuchs & Fangpong;Keser Aschenberger et al., 2023;Stewart, Baek et al., 2022) to disproportionately negative at worst (Ávalos et al., 2022;Jelinska & Paradowski, 2021;Mostafa et al., 2022;Wladis et al., 2021;Woo & Archambault, 2022). In addition to inconsistent and/or mixed educational performance, scholars have noted the formation of a negative feedback loop starting from the transition to ERT which remained throughout the pandemic, often showing little if any improvement (Alqurshi, 2020;Cicha et al., 2022;Jandrić et al., 2021;Moore et al., 2021;Schlesselman, 2020;Shattuck, 2021;Shim & Lee, 2020;Stewart et al., 2023;Tulaskar & Turunen, 2022). ...
... Additionally, college deferments and gap years have occurred in record numbers; the effect of pandemic-related learning losses is likely to be felt for years to come (Ardington et al., 2021;Ardissone et al., 2023;Azevedo et al., 2021;Kaffenberger, 2021;Wladis et al., 2021;Woo & Archambault, 2022). Thus, it comes as no surprise that calls for a more proactive and concerted effort into educational continuity and resiliency planning with more concrete intervention strategies have been made (see Cicha et al., 2022;Crutchfield & Eugene, 2022;Holzmann-Littig et al., 2022;Nikolopoulou & Kousloglou, 2022;Shiratori et al., 2022;Stewart et al., 2023). ...
... We identified 21 studies that covered two consecutive terms (i.e., one traditional academic year) that investigated differences over time. We categorized these papers as mid-term though some of these studies (e.g., Kraft et al., 2021;Olofsson et al., 2021;Sánchez-Cabrero et al., 2021;Wladis et al., 2021;Yee et al., 2022) coincidentally overlapped with the pandemic or were routine annual data collection points (e.g., Lindner et al., 2021;Shiratori et al., 2022) and were able to compare pre-COVID data with COVID data. For our analysis, we classified mid-term studies as having at least two data collection points during two sequential pandemic learning terms (i.e., Aparicio-Chueca et al., 2023;Azorín, 2020;Cobo-Rendon et al., 2021;Holzmann-Littig et al., 2022;Jandrić et al., 2021;Lobos et al., 2022;Moorhouse & Kohnke, 2021;Nabe-Nielsen, 2022;Nikolopoulou & Kousloglou, 2022;Oliveira et al., 2022;Tulaskar & Turunen, 2022;Stewart, Baek et al., 2022;Yagmur & Koksal, 2022). ...
Crisis-Based Remote Education: A Comprehensive Model
Article
Full-text available
  • Nov 2023
The COVID-19 pandemic revealed significant gaps in institutions' ability to maintain education under crisis conditions, which is now commonly referred to as Emergency Remote Teaching (ERT). A critical analysis of the literature reveals that ERT is a label that does not differentiate adequately between the different ways ERT manifested worldwide and over time. In this conceptual paper, we analyze empirical research on remote teaching conducted over single, double, and three+ learning terms. Our analysis shows not only multiple possible phases of remote education but also different stages, scopes, and pathways between them. The proposed model in this paper can be used to analyze current literature, ground future research, and serve as a foundation for developing protocols and practices to proactively maintain education when exigent circumstances demand remote teaching over the short-, mid-, and long-term. Accepted for publication (August, 2023).
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... More problematic is that from administrators, educators, and students to parents, policy makers, and politicians, there is an unfortunate conflation of formal distance education with the phenomenon of ERT (Hodges et al., 2020;Shattuck, 2021;Williamson et al., 2020). For example, the factors traditionally associated with online course retention/attrition (e.g., traditional vs. non-traditional students, generational status, prior online course experience, socio-economic status, etc. -see Aragon & Johnson, 2008;Dumais et al., 2013;Hachey et al., 2012Hachey et al., , 2013Kauffman, 2015;Liu et al., 2009;Packham et al., 2004;Roblyer & Davis, 2008;Xu & Jaggars, 2013) will not necessarily manifest the same way in response to and throughout the pandemic (Wladis et al., 2021). Further, multiple terms have emerged to refer to this phenomenon, ranging from Emergency Remote Teaching (ERT) (Hodges et al, 2020), Emergency Remote Learning (ERL) (Doornbos, 2020), Emergency Remote Teaching Environment (ERTE) (Whittle et al., 2020), and even Emergency Remote Teaching and Learning (ERTL) (Shin & Hickey, 2020). ...
A model of remote teaching and learning under emergency and sustained crisis conditions: A description of novel distance education contexts and manifestations
Article
Full-text available
  • Apr 2023
Humans have been learning at a distance for millennia. Modern information and communications technology has enabled formal distance education to be conducted online, though significant variation exists in purpose, course format, delivery methods, etc. Under duress of COVID-19, educators and students alike have been forced to engage in their courses remotely. These courses, however, are not equivalent to formal distance education and to date have broadly been referred to as Emergency Remote Teaching (ERT). Nevertheless, ERT courses are no longer unexpected and have become plannable; many are being sustained indefnitely due to the prolonged nature of the pandemic. Despite this paradox, current ERT literature typically conceptualizes the ongoing practice monolithically. This conceptual paper discusses key differences between formal distance education, emergency remote teaching, and the evolving practice of Sustained Remote Teaching (SRT). We suggest a descriptive contextual model as a research analytic for discussion in the field of distance education. https://dergipark.org.tr/tr/pub/tojde/issue/76597/1090810
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