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Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Student Engagement in a General Chemistry Course

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    Chemical Education Research

    Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Student Engagement in a General Chemistry Course
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    Journal of Chemical Education

    Cite this: J. Chem. Educ. 2021, 98, 12, 3633–3642
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    https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jchemed.1c00665
    Published November 22, 2021
    Copyright © 2021 American Chemical Society and Division of Chemical Education, Inc.
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    Abstract

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    In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, many colleges and universities transitioned their face-to-face courses to emergency remote online courses during the spring of 2020. This study, conducted at a large, urban, diverse public university in the United States, answers the questions of how the sudden switch to emergency remote online instruction and the encompassing events of the pandemic changed student learning and engagement in a college-level introductory chemistry course. The research addresses the demographic and lifestyle factors that determine the magnitude of these changes. The mixed-methods approach uses a 19-item Pandemic Online Student Engagement (POSE) scale to quantitatively evaluate changes in student engagement and combines it with a qualitative analysis of student essay responses. The results reveal a decrease in student engagement, with underrepresented people of color (URPOC) students particularly affected and reporting significantly greater decreases in three of the four engagement components: skills engagement, participation engagement, and performance engagement. The decreases in motivation and self-regulation occurred in part because the historic pandemic event made it more difficult to focus on studies, and because students’ home environments were not conducive to self-regulated learning. This study provides unique insights for chemistry instructors and college administrators into how the sudden changes in instructional dynamics affected students while the pandemic unfolded. Studies like this are necessary to prevent widening achievement gaps if the current pandemic lingers or if future threats dictate another widespread adoption of emergency remote online learning in general chemistry.

    Copyright © 2021 American Chemical Society and Division of Chemical Education, Inc.

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    This article is cited by 36 publications.

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    Journal of Chemical Education

    Cite this: J. Chem. Educ. 2021, 98, 12, 3633–3642
    Click to copy citationCitation copied!
    https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jchemed.1c00665
    Published November 22, 2021
    Copyright © 2021 American Chemical Society and Division of Chemical Education, Inc.
    Request reuse permissions

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