Student Anxiety and Engagement with Online Instruction across Two Semesters of COVID-19 Disruptions
ABSTRACT The sudden shift to online learning due to the COVID-19 pandemic left many instructors wondering how to minimize anxiety while keeping students engaged in their virtual courses. In this study, we explored (i) specific online instructional tasks that caused students to experience anxiety, (i...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
American Society for Microbiology
2022-04-01
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| Series: | Journal of Microbiology & Biology Education |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/jmbe.00261-21 |
| _version_ | 1811303794968887296 |
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| author | Eric Pennino Catherine Ishikawa Sayonita Ghosh Hajra Navneet Singh Kelly McDonald |
| author_facet | Eric Pennino Catherine Ishikawa Sayonita Ghosh Hajra Navneet Singh Kelly McDonald |
| author_sort | Eric Pennino |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | ABSTRACT The sudden shift to online learning due to the COVID-19 pandemic left many instructors wondering how to minimize anxiety while keeping students engaged in their virtual courses. In this study, we explored (i) specific online instructional tasks that caused students to experience anxiety, (ii) factors that hindered student engagement with online instruction, and (iii) changes in student anxiety and engagement between spring 2020 and fall 2020. Students enrolled in STEM classes were surveyed at the end of spring 2020 (N = 425) and fall 2020 (N = 347) semesters. Our results show that the majority of student respondents had more anxiety in fall 2020 than in spring 2020 with online learning in general, and less anonymous class activities tended to cause the greatest anxiety. Distractions from the environment and personal technologies commonly prevented engagement in both semesters, but no significant differences were observed between the spring and fall. In contrast, more students reported that health-related stress, work-related stress, and issues with technology prevented participation in fall 2020 than in spring 2020. As institutions consider expanding their online course offerings post-pandemic, these data provide valuable insight into the challenges students experienced with online instruction that can inform future pedagogical choices. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-13T07:54:31Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-26c6132e8ae44e44bb87576b95a7aaca |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1935-7877 1935-7885 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-13T07:54:31Z |
| publishDate | 2022-04-01 |
| publisher | American Society for Microbiology |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal of Microbiology & Biology Education |
| spelling | doaj.art-26c6132e8ae44e44bb87576b95a7aaca2022-12-22T02:55:27ZengAmerican Society for MicrobiologyJournal of Microbiology & Biology Education1935-78771935-78852022-04-0123110.1128/jmbe.00261-21Student Anxiety and Engagement with Online Instruction across Two Semesters of COVID-19 DisruptionsEric Pennino0Catherine Ishikawa1Sayonita Ghosh Hajra2Navneet Singh3Kelly McDonald4Department of Biological Sciences, California State University, Sacramento, Sacramento, California, USADepartment of Environmental Studies, California State University, Sacramento, Sacramento, California, USADepartment of Mathematics & Statistics, California State University, Sacramento, Sacramento, California, USADepartment of Public Health, California State University, Sacramento, Sacramento, California, USADepartment of Biological Sciences, California State University, Sacramento, Sacramento, California, USAABSTRACT The sudden shift to online learning due to the COVID-19 pandemic left many instructors wondering how to minimize anxiety while keeping students engaged in their virtual courses. In this study, we explored (i) specific online instructional tasks that caused students to experience anxiety, (ii) factors that hindered student engagement with online instruction, and (iii) changes in student anxiety and engagement between spring 2020 and fall 2020. Students enrolled in STEM classes were surveyed at the end of spring 2020 (N = 425) and fall 2020 (N = 347) semesters. Our results show that the majority of student respondents had more anxiety in fall 2020 than in spring 2020 with online learning in general, and less anonymous class activities tended to cause the greatest anxiety. Distractions from the environment and personal technologies commonly prevented engagement in both semesters, but no significant differences were observed between the spring and fall. In contrast, more students reported that health-related stress, work-related stress, and issues with technology prevented participation in fall 2020 than in spring 2020. As institutions consider expanding their online course offerings post-pandemic, these data provide valuable insight into the challenges students experienced with online instruction that can inform future pedagogical choices.https://journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/jmbe.00261-21anxietyCOVID-19engagementinstructional practicesonline learning |
| spellingShingle | Eric Pennino Catherine Ishikawa Sayonita Ghosh Hajra Navneet Singh Kelly McDonald Student Anxiety and Engagement with Online Instruction across Two Semesters of COVID-19 Disruptions Journal of Microbiology & Biology Education anxiety COVID-19 engagement instructional practices online learning |
| title | Student Anxiety and Engagement with Online Instruction across Two Semesters of COVID-19 Disruptions |
| title_full | Student Anxiety and Engagement with Online Instruction across Two Semesters of COVID-19 Disruptions |
| title_fullStr | Student Anxiety and Engagement with Online Instruction across Two Semesters of COVID-19 Disruptions |
| title_full_unstemmed | Student Anxiety and Engagement with Online Instruction across Two Semesters of COVID-19 Disruptions |
| title_short | Student Anxiety and Engagement with Online Instruction across Two Semesters of COVID-19 Disruptions |
| title_sort | student anxiety and engagement with online instruction across two semesters of covid 19 disruptions |
| topic | anxiety COVID-19 engagement instructional practices online learning |
| url | https://journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/jmbe.00261-21 |
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