Booth Id:
BEHA007
Category:
Behavioral and Social Sciences
Year:
2021
Finalist Names:
Sharma, Sharanya (School: Health Careers High School)
Abstract:
The COVID-19 pandemic forced schools to transition from in-person teaching to remote teaching. While the effects of online learning on accrual of knowledge and long-term retention of concepts may never be fully known, evaluating the perceptions of high school students and faculty on remote learning will help establish successful pedagogies for future implementation. The hypothesis of this project was that online learning is negatively perceived by both high school students and faculty teaching high school students. Student and faculty surveys were developed using a mixed methods study design that consisted of both Likert-scale based as well as open-ended questions. Using Google Forms, surveys were sent to high school students and faculty as links requesting participation. Cronbach’s alpha for both surveys indicated high internal consistency. Open-ended questions were analyzed for themes via open coding. Results indicated that students preferred the flexibility of studying from home but were more distracted, did not find classes sufficiently engaging, suffered from digital fatigue and reported decreased student-teacher and student-student interaction. Teachers also reported decreased student engagement and felt that students learnt less with online classes. While students did not have a clear preference for in-person or online classes, teachers preferred in-person classes. Importantly, teachers indicated that they would implement teaching pedagogies that worked in online classes to their in-person classes. Overall, this study highlights key factors that need to be addressed for successful distance learning at the high school level.