The Effects of COVID-19 on Students’ Learning: Reshaping Online Practices

BMCC Academic Assessment Committee

Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Ruth Guirguis (rguirguis@bmcc.cuny.edu) and Anastassios Rigopoulos (arigopoulos@bmcc.cuny.edu)

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic affected how students were expected to attend and learn in each course. Students were required to continue their education by enrolling in asynchronous or synchronous courses. Online learning had a greater impact on community college students as many are nontraditional students. They are caregivers, heads of households, or responsible for financially contributing to their families. Hence, balancing school and family/work obligations was a great challenge that affected the learning during the pandemic. This paper collected data from 1205 students who shared their challenges. Implications for practices beyond COVID-19 will be discussed.

The Effects of COVID-19 on Student Learning

The past year has been challenging for all due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It has affected all aspects of life; the way we work, socialize, and the way we learn. The drastic effects of isolation and distance learning have had an immediate impact on our overall development. We are beginning to feel the long-lasting sociocultural effects of COVID. COVID exacerbated many of the ongoing stressors many community college students were previously experiencing, specifically, their ability to continue their college education. COVID-19 affected many students’ housing and financial stability, forcing them to decide to stop attending school and focus on family care. Many colleges have felt the drastic changes in enrollment and have experienced firsthand the impact this pandemic has caused. How can we take the lessons learned and repair the loss in learning, enrollment, and engagement? Therefore, the focus of this article is to share data from BMCC students and recommendations from faculty and students that can influence effective teaching practices beyond the COVID-19 era.

During the Fall of 2021, the faculty-led assessment committee at BMCC collected data from 1205 students. The committee sent out an anonymous survey online requesting students to share their learning experiences during the pandemic openly. The survey asked for direct short response answers from students and specific quantitative responses to the survey regarding their learning during the 2020-2021 online learning experience. Nearly 67% (n=795) of the respondents were full-time students, while 33% (n=396) were part-time students. Of the survey participants, 35% were first-year students, and 65% were sophomores. Before the 2020-21 academic year (pre-pandemic), 45% of students had taken one or more asynchronous online classes, while 55% had never taken any online classes. Those classes taken ranged from gateway to upper-level courses. Specifically, 39% of students were enrolled in 100-level courses, 23% in 200-level, and 39% in both levels. Fifty-two percent of students reported having a lab component in their courses, 19% reported a fieldwork component, and 30% reported a seminar component. Of the participants, 36% (n=246) reported not going to their professors’ office hours, 43% (n=293) reposted going less frequently, and 22% (n=150) reported going to office hours more frequently.

Student Challenges While Learning Online

During the COVID-19 pandemic, students reported several challenges that negatively impacted their learning. Students’ obligations and class format were major factors that affected their overall learning. Before the pandemic, many students were already facing housing and financial hardships and access issues directly associated with their academic performance and well-being. COVID-19 exacerbated these inequalities for students of color and low-income students, especially regarding six key personal obligations (See Table 2).

Table 2. Student Obligations

A second challenge to learning reported by students revolved around the class format. When asked about the impact of class format, 78% of students stated that they learn at the same rate or more in-person classes, while 81% reported learning the same or more in synchronous courses, and 58% reported learning the same or more in asynchronous courses (see Table 3).

Asynchronous Learning Challenges

Students reported six main challenges during asynchronous learning. Those challenges were communication, structure, delivery method, time management, personal space, and technology. The data overwhelmingly suggest major improvements in these areas are critical to making asynchronous classes more effective.

Table 3. Best learning Format

Synchronous Learning Challenges

Of students surveyed, 14% reported a positive or satisfactory experience in synchronous classes. For students who expressed difficulty in synchronous classes, there were three areas of major concern: (a) struggles with academic mindsets (motivation), study skills, and time management, (b) poor instructional quality, and (c) lack of adequate one-on-one help and synchronous interaction.

Overall, the results suggest that students slightly prefer synchronous online courses over asynchronous and in-person vs. online. However, with the proposed suggestions, both synchronous and asynchronous teaching could be improved to support student success. Additionally, students with a fieldwork component seem to prefer an in-person format; nonetheless, those (same students) indicated that a synchronous format allowed them to learn the same.

Student Challenges with Tutoring and Other Support Services

During the COVID-19 pandemic, 33% (n=310) of students reported using tutoring or other support services available at BMCC, while 67% (n=637) did not use tutoring or other support services. Of the students who used these services, 99.9% (n=181) of responses were from students who used online tutoring and accessed support services such as advisement, Mentor/Mentee club, financial aid services, ASAP, and library resources. Only one student said that they didn’t use the online services. Of the 180 students who accessed the online services, 82.8% (n=150) students found online tutoring and support services helpful, while 17% found it somewhat helpful to not helpful. Those who thought it was somewhat helpful to not helpful stated that tutors were helpful, convenient/flexible and that they would prefer to use an online system even after students return to campus. Some of the students’ comments include

• #89: “I was a student in 2013 and the in-person wait for assistance was very tedious. Online a student could be up at 2 am and request a 9 am tutoring session. I personally enjoyed that feature.”
• #128: “It works great because I was able to be at home with my children while in class knowing that I was able to cook their meal and assist with their school while doing my school work via zoom as well.”

Conversely, some students experienced technical difficulties, during group tutoring, and several problems with communication. Some of the students’ comments on these issues include

• #54: “BMCC upswing tutoring feature always had issues. Unfortunately, Sometimes unreliable and frustrating because each tutoring session is booked and timed. The tutors tried their best in these times.”
• #64: “The only thing challenging about it was that there were up to 4 students in an hour session and it was difficult to spend time with the tutor.”

Responses to the question “Please explain why didn’t you use tutoring or other support services” were entered into NVIVO for a text analysis of the 98 responses. There were 37 references to a lack of time, the most commonly referenced reason by far. Of those references, more than half were specifically related to working and jobs.

Students who reported engaging with fieldwork had a slightly higher rate of using support services than those who did not. Students who reported not having fieldwork reported not using office hours twice as much as those who had fieldwork. Finally, students who were breadwinners reported the lowest use of tutoring or other support services, while those who relied on CUNY for technology reported the highest use of support services. Students who were caregivers for a relative reported not using office hours at all at the highest rate. Those who relied on CUNY for technology reported using office hours less frequently at the highest rate.

An ANOVA was conducted looking at students’ full-time and part-time status, access to tutoring services, and prior experience taking online courses. The results suggest a statistical significance F(1, 942)= 9.4, p=.002 between the groups when asked about their status and use of support services (see Figure 1). However, when asked about their status and prior online knowledge, the groups did not show statistical significance F(1, 932)= .66, p=.42. Nonetheless, students with no prior experience with online courses were more inclined to seek support services (see Figure 2). The results suggest that students who attended part-time due to personal obligations were also the group less likely to seek additional class support during COVID-19. Perhaps, such personal obligations influenced the overall increase in the DFWI percentage for the 2020-2021 academic year. DFWI refers to the percentage of students who get a D or F grade, W (withdraw), or INC (incomplete) grade at the end of the semester.

Figure 1

Figure 2

Discussion

Overall, the students seem to appreciate the work of the support staff, tutors and advisors, and counselors. Still, the concern is with logistics, i.e., technology and time, especially access to technology, and this reflects the impact of the digital divide on BMCC students. The help students receive is adequate, and, in some cases, students laud the support they received. There is perhaps too much concern at the administrative level with technology (web-based sort—platforms, social media, etc.). Still, there seems to be so much extra time lost over the problems with internet connectivity and computer devices that support the programs used for tutoring. Online tutoring before the pandemic has always been an option. However, there seems to be a rush to purchase other software for interacting with students; for instance, the Writing Center uses a different platform instead of working with the Zoom online platform that the students have learned to use and feel comfortable with. Adapting to and switching between other platforms operated by different sections of BMCC could be counterproductive. However, maintaining a consistent platform would be very helpful for students with personal obligations and time constraints.

Another repeated suggestion is the need for more personalized human support, i.e., more one-on-one sessions. A typical fifty-minute weekly session has challenges around meeting students’ many needs and using Zoom comes to the glitches and lack of reliable connectivity from service internet service providers.

When those sessions are with two or more students, different sets of challenges arise, and not all challenges can be met in an hour. When time is split between two or among three or more students, tutors must contend with how much attention to give to each student in a short period. This may require increasing the tutoring staff to the students’ needs.

Students reported personal obligations and responsibilities as significant challenges of attending classes during the pandemic. This is not unknown and quite common with BMCC’s low-income, minority, and non-traditional college student demographics. Nonetheless, to hear it directly and frequently in the students’ responses is striking; “too many classes” and “too many outside-of-school responsibilities” etc. One wonders: have so many students always taken five or six classes a semester? This overload of courses is due, in part, to some of our students having more time, less commuting, reduced or lost work, but it is also due, in part, to the Out in Two and other narratives that encourage students to complete their associate degree “on time.” The push for increased course load may account for the increased DFWI rate among students, especially among minority Black and Brown students with many personal obligations and responsibilities.

Lesson Learned and Implications for Practice

The results suggest that many adaptations need to be made to improve learning beyond the COVID-19 era in an online format. Specifically, students reported how non-tuition challenges and having part-time status creates a more significant barrier to accessing services and advocating for their educational needs (see Figure 3). Based on the survey’s findings, several recommendations can be made regarding both synchronous and asynchronous classes.

Figure 3

Implementing Effective Asynchronous Courses

Students should find a clear, organized, and well-structured class on Blackboard, Open Lab, or a similar online platform. Pages should be optimized and clutter-free and should include a course guide and no assumed prior experience with Blackboard. Concurrently, students should be required to take the Blackboard orientation offered by e-Learning during the first two weeks to be comfortable navigating the platform’s interface.

Clear communication protocols should be established at the beginning of the semester. Students should find how and when to communicate with the professor easily. At the same time, professors should also contact their students efficiently. For instance, it is well-established that students do not check their BMCC emails regularly. Subsequently, they often miss important Blackboard announcements, typically landing on their BMCC email inbox. Flexible protocols should be developed to ensure all students receive critical communications from professors, BMCC administration, and students support services promptly via their preferred email, in addition to their BMCC email address.

Individual interaction should be built into each course. That includes interactions between professors and students (ideally during office hours, which are often under-utilized by students) and interaction between students (through bulletin boards, groups chats, applications such as Discord and Slack, as well as face-to-face collaboration, once it is safe to do so.)

As access to technology (computer, reliable Wi-Fi, printing services, etc.) is not a given for many students, professors should create assignments that use various technologies and submission styles and formats.

The video content on the course Blackboard pages should be upgraded. Ideally, professors should produce their original video content and not rely solely on YouTube links or other similar resources. Examples of original content include mini-lectures, video responses to student work, and weekly module summaries in video format. This is an additional task on an already overburdened faculty at BMCC, especially adjunct faculty who teach a significant proportion of classes at BMCC. The college should explore ways to incentivize faculty to create original video content for their online courses.

Reminders and check-ins should be built into the course, as many students are distracted by their daily struggle to balance academic, work, and family obligations. The introduction of mid-semester and end-of-the-semester surveys would allow professors to “take their classes’ temperature” and allow for necessary course adjustments to enhance students’ learning experience before the end of the semester. The findings of those surveys would also help improve teaching in future semesters.

Offering some synchronous interaction opportunities for the students would be helpful, even if optional (for example, virtual office hours.) Overall, professors should show maximum flexibility and an understanding of their students’ needs. For example, faculty may provide extended due dates and increased exam/quiz time limits for students who report non-tuition-related personal obligations such as full-time workload, caring for relatives, etc; this would be similar to the accommodations accorded to students who report learning disabilities with the Office of Accessibility.

Implementing Effective Synchronous Courses

Infuse instruction with motivational messaging. Students need encouragement and an overall approach based on a culture of care. Infuse education with meta-cognitive strategies on academic mindsets by implementing growth mindset concepts (motivation) in the classroom, such as embracing learning and learning from mistakes, viewing feedback as a source of information, and embracing challenges. Again, this is an extra task for faculty and will require a concerted effort and support from the Students Advisement and Counseling Services. Providing professors with biweekly/monthly motivational messages/videos would lessen the burden on faculty while increasing the visibility of consistent messaging to students.

Provide guidelines and information to assist students with time management, which both faculty and students have identified as a major obstacle to student success. As with asynchronous classes, professors should work on achieving better organization of their teaching materials and adding more visuals, examples, and demonstrations to their Blackboard contents and synchronous lectures.

Offer more flexibility in giving one-on-one help to students and provide more opportunities for live interaction with students in general. Provide more opportunities for live interaction on Zoom between students. That would help build a sense of community, especially in distance learning.

Regarding tutoring for both synchronous and asynchronous classes, our recommendations are as follows: additional tutors should be hired to allow for more one-on-one sessions during the weekdays and on evenings and weekends. The latter two are especially important for students working part-time or full-time and reporting family obligations that prevent them from using the tutoring and other support services offered during regular hours. Additional tutors would also be able to assist students in taking more advanced classes. It has been found that students have trouble identifying tutors for 200-, 300-, and 400-level courses. Ideally, move the online platform to Zoom, which is familiar and easy to use by students.

References

• Isserles, R. G. (2021). The Costs of Completion: Student Success in Community College. JHU Press.
• Hachey, A. C., Wladis, C. W., & Conway, K. M. (2013). Balancing retention and access in online courses: Restricting enrollment… Is it worth the cost?. Journal of College Student Retention: Research, Theory & Practice, 15(1), 9-36.
• Sharp, N. (2021). Opportunity Costs: Nontuition Financial Barriers Are Derailing Low-Income Students’ Path to a College Credential–and a Shot at Economic Mobility. Center for an Urban Future.
• Wladis, C., Hachey, A.C. & Conway, K.M. (2018) No time for college? An investigation of time poverty and parenthood. Journal of Higher Education. doi: 10.1080/00221546.2018.1442983

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