Did remote COVID teaching feel less engaging to students?
After a sudden shift online, students reported poorer engagement and action/expression supports, while some representation access improved.
Source
University students experience the COVID-19 induced shift to remote instruction
Study at a glance
- Design
- Cross-sectional — Retrospective pretest–posttest survey of spring 2020 remote instruction quality
- N
- N=1731 · 1,731 of 19,752 invited students at a U.S. R1 university
- Population
- University students experiencing the COVID shift to remote instruction
- Outcome
- Perceived UDL engagement/action/representation supports before vs after the shift
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Did remote COVID teaching feel less engaging to students?
These passages occur verbatim in the stored paper text. They support the points listed below; they do not verify every statement in the explanation.
1,731 students responded
A total of 1,731 students responded from a distribution list of 19,752.
1731 students at a research university
Data were collected from 1731 students at a Very High Research Activity university in the western part of the United States.
What they did
At a U.S. very-high-research-activity university, 1,731 of 19,752 invited students completed a voluntary survey about spring 2020 remote instruction. Retrospective pretest–posttest items compared perceived quality on Universal Design for Learning principles and instructor communication before versus after the shift.
What they found
Students reported that UDL Engagement and Action & Expression were significantly poorer after moving online. Representation showed improvement for some students, including those eligible for disability services. Instructor communication frequency and helpfulness related to perceived instructional quality.
The limits
What it doesn't show
Self-selected survey respondents and retrospective ratings can bias estimates. The study measures perceptions of instructional quality, not objective learning gains from a controlled redesign.
Key terms
- Universal Design for Learning (UDL)
- An inclusive design framework emphasizing multiple means of engagement, representation, and action/expression.
- Remote instruction
- Courses moved online quickly because in-person teaching became unavailable.
- Retrospective pretest–posttest
- A survey design asking people to rate “before” and “after” experiences in one sitting.
- Engagement (UDL)
- Multiple ways to motivate why students learn.
- Representation (UDL)
- Multiple ways to present what students learn.
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Respondents numbered about:
Common questions
What got worse after the shift?
Students reported poorer Engagement and Action & Expression supports.
Did anything improve?
Representation ratings improved for some students, including those eligible for disability services.
How big was the survey?
1,731 students responded from nearly 20,000 invited.
What could instructors do?
Improve availability and communication, which tracked with perceived instructional quality.
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