Are synchronous chats a silver lining of emergency remote instruction? Text-based chatting is disproportionately favored by women in a non-majors introductory biology course
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has led to a reimagining of many aspects of higher education, including how instructors interact with their students and how they encourage student participation. Text-based chatting during synchronous remote instruction is a simple form of student-st...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Public Library of Science (PLoS)
2022-01-01
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| Series: | PLoS ONE |
| Online Access: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9581347/?tool=EBI |
| _version_ | 1797990783720095744 |
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| author | Rachael D. Robnett Cissy J. Ballen Sheritta Fagbodun Kelly Lane Sophie J. McCoy Lecia Robinson Ebony I. Weems Sehoya Cotner |
| author_facet | Rachael D. Robnett Cissy J. Ballen Sheritta Fagbodun Kelly Lane Sophie J. McCoy Lecia Robinson Ebony I. Weems Sehoya Cotner |
| author_sort | Rachael D. Robnett |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has led to a reimagining of many aspects of higher education, including how instructors interact with their students and how they encourage student participation. Text-based chatting during synchronous remote instruction is a simple form of student-student and student-instructor interaction. The importance of student participation has been documented, as have clear disparities in participation between those well-represented and those under-represented in science disciplines. Thus, we conducted an investigation into who is texting, what students are texting, and how these texts align with course content. We focused on two sections of a large-enrollment, introductory biology class offered remotely during Fall 2020. Using an analysis of in-class chatting, in combination with student survey responses, we find that text-based chatting suggests not only a high level of student engagement, but a type of participation that is disproportionately favored by women. Given the multiple lines of evidence indicating that women typically under-participate in their science courses, any vehicle that counters this trend merits further exploration. We conclude with suggestions for further research, and ideas for carrying forward text-based chatting in the post-COVID-19, in-person classroom. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-11T08:40:48Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-39786d6613384226bb4939f3acdefe44 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1932-6203 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-11T08:40:48Z |
| publishDate | 2022-01-01 |
| publisher | Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
| record_format | Article |
| series | PLoS ONE |
| spelling | doaj.art-39786d6613384226bb4939f3acdefe442022-12-22T04:34:12ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032022-01-011710Are synchronous chats a silver lining of emergency remote instruction? Text-based chatting is disproportionately favored by women in a non-majors introductory biology courseRachael D. RobnettCissy J. BallenSheritta FagbodunKelly LaneSophie J. McCoyLecia RobinsonEbony I. WeemsSehoya CotnerThe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has led to a reimagining of many aspects of higher education, including how instructors interact with their students and how they encourage student participation. Text-based chatting during synchronous remote instruction is a simple form of student-student and student-instructor interaction. The importance of student participation has been documented, as have clear disparities in participation between those well-represented and those under-represented in science disciplines. Thus, we conducted an investigation into who is texting, what students are texting, and how these texts align with course content. We focused on two sections of a large-enrollment, introductory biology class offered remotely during Fall 2020. Using an analysis of in-class chatting, in combination with student survey responses, we find that text-based chatting suggests not only a high level of student engagement, but a type of participation that is disproportionately favored by women. Given the multiple lines of evidence indicating that women typically under-participate in their science courses, any vehicle that counters this trend merits further exploration. We conclude with suggestions for further research, and ideas for carrying forward text-based chatting in the post-COVID-19, in-person classroom.https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9581347/?tool=EBI |
| spellingShingle | Rachael D. Robnett Cissy J. Ballen Sheritta Fagbodun Kelly Lane Sophie J. McCoy Lecia Robinson Ebony I. Weems Sehoya Cotner Are synchronous chats a silver lining of emergency remote instruction? Text-based chatting is disproportionately favored by women in a non-majors introductory biology course PLoS ONE |
| title | Are synchronous chats a silver lining of emergency remote instruction? Text-based chatting is disproportionately favored by women in a non-majors introductory biology course |
| title_full | Are synchronous chats a silver lining of emergency remote instruction? Text-based chatting is disproportionately favored by women in a non-majors introductory biology course |
| title_fullStr | Are synchronous chats a silver lining of emergency remote instruction? Text-based chatting is disproportionately favored by women in a non-majors introductory biology course |
| title_full_unstemmed | Are synchronous chats a silver lining of emergency remote instruction? Text-based chatting is disproportionately favored by women in a non-majors introductory biology course |
| title_short | Are synchronous chats a silver lining of emergency remote instruction? Text-based chatting is disproportionately favored by women in a non-majors introductory biology course |
| title_sort | are synchronous chats a silver lining of emergency remote instruction text based chatting is disproportionately favored by women in a non majors introductory biology course |
| url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9581347/?tool=EBI |
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