Identifying Factors That Influence Student Perceptions of Stress in Biology Courses with Online Learning Modalities
ABSTRACT Students in higher education encounter many factors both inside (academic) and outside (nonacademic) classrooms that can influence their perceptions of stress in their biology courses. These can include course learning modalities, coursework, grades, as well as time management outside of cl...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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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.00233-21 |
| _version_ | 1818014723810000896 |
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| author | Jordan Jackson Hannah Almos Natalie Karibian Connor Lieb Carrie Butts-Wilmsmeyer Maurina L. Aranda |
| author_facet | Jordan Jackson Hannah Almos Natalie Karibian Connor Lieb Carrie Butts-Wilmsmeyer Maurina L. Aranda |
| author_sort | Jordan Jackson |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | ABSTRACT Students in higher education encounter many factors both inside (academic) and outside (nonacademic) classrooms that can influence their perceptions of stress in their biology courses. These can include course learning modalities, coursework, grades, as well as time management outside of class. It is unknown what stressors are perceived by students enrolled in biology courses—especially in online learning modalities. Therefore, our mixed method study aims to investigate the extent to which online course modalities influence students’ perception of stress, as well as identify academic and nonacademic factors that influence students’ perceptions of stress in biology courses. Student survey data (n = 240) was collected in the Fall 2020 semester while many courses were held online due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Our qualitative and quantitative analyses indicated three major findings: First, 70% of students specifically indicated that online-learning modalities increased their stress levels. Our second major finding is that 70% of students indicated the size of class workloads—work both in and out of class—is too much, which especially impacts students with caretaking and work responsibilities. Finally, over 85% of students indicated that exams were a major source of stress, specifically, a third of the students reported the time to complete the exam and exam material as sources of stress. This work is the first to identify stressors in online biology courses, and these analyses will inform future pedagogy, curriculum, and policies to mitigate students’ stress as instructors continue to explore online learning pedagogy. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-14T06:47:57Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-f031d038d53d467d815d40dc880eb703 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1935-7877 1935-7885 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-14T06:47:57Z |
| publishDate | 2022-04-01 |
| publisher | American Society for Microbiology |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal of Microbiology & Biology Education |
| spelling | doaj.art-f031d038d53d467d815d40dc880eb7032022-12-22T02:07:06ZengAmerican Society for MicrobiologyJournal of Microbiology & Biology Education1935-78771935-78852022-04-0123110.1128/jmbe.00233-21Identifying Factors That Influence Student Perceptions of Stress in Biology Courses with Online Learning ModalitiesJordan Jackson0Hannah Almos1Natalie Karibian2Connor Lieb3Carrie Butts-Wilmsmeyer4Maurina L. Aranda5Department of Biological Sciences, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, Edwardsville, Illinois, USADepartment of Biological Sciences, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, Edwardsville, Illinois, USADepartment of Biological Sciences, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, Edwardsville, Illinois, USADepartment of Biological Sciences, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, Edwardsville, Illinois, USADepartment of Biological Sciences, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, Edwardsville, Illinois, USADepartment of Biological Sciences, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, Edwardsville, Illinois, USAABSTRACT Students in higher education encounter many factors both inside (academic) and outside (nonacademic) classrooms that can influence their perceptions of stress in their biology courses. These can include course learning modalities, coursework, grades, as well as time management outside of class. It is unknown what stressors are perceived by students enrolled in biology courses—especially in online learning modalities. Therefore, our mixed method study aims to investigate the extent to which online course modalities influence students’ perception of stress, as well as identify academic and nonacademic factors that influence students’ perceptions of stress in biology courses. Student survey data (n = 240) was collected in the Fall 2020 semester while many courses were held online due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Our qualitative and quantitative analyses indicated three major findings: First, 70% of students specifically indicated that online-learning modalities increased their stress levels. Our second major finding is that 70% of students indicated the size of class workloads—work both in and out of class—is too much, which especially impacts students with caretaking and work responsibilities. Finally, over 85% of students indicated that exams were a major source of stress, specifically, a third of the students reported the time to complete the exam and exam material as sources of stress. This work is the first to identify stressors in online biology courses, and these analyses will inform future pedagogy, curriculum, and policies to mitigate students’ stress as instructors continue to explore online learning pedagogy.https://journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/jmbe.00233-21stressonline learningstudent experiencesinstructionstress |
| spellingShingle | Jordan Jackson Hannah Almos Natalie Karibian Connor Lieb Carrie Butts-Wilmsmeyer Maurina L. Aranda Identifying Factors That Influence Student Perceptions of Stress in Biology Courses with Online Learning Modalities Journal of Microbiology & Biology Education stress online learning student experiences instruction stress |
| title | Identifying Factors That Influence Student Perceptions of Stress in Biology Courses with Online Learning Modalities |
| title_full | Identifying Factors That Influence Student Perceptions of Stress in Biology Courses with Online Learning Modalities |
| title_fullStr | Identifying Factors That Influence Student Perceptions of Stress in Biology Courses with Online Learning Modalities |
| title_full_unstemmed | Identifying Factors That Influence Student Perceptions of Stress in Biology Courses with Online Learning Modalities |
| title_short | Identifying Factors That Influence Student Perceptions of Stress in Biology Courses with Online Learning Modalities |
| title_sort | identifying factors that influence student perceptions of stress in biology courses with online learning modalities |
| topic | stress online learning student experiences instruction stress |
| url | https://journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/jmbe.00233-21 |
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