[Paper Review] Student Responses to Changes in Introductory Physics Learning due to COVID-19 Pandemic

Matthew Dew, Jonathan Perry+3 more|arXiv (Cornell University)|Sep 23, 2020

Innovative Teaching Methods9 references23 citations

TL;DR

This study investigates student experiences during the abrupt shift to emergency remote learning in introductory physics and astronomy courses at two large U.S. research universities during the COVID-19 pandemic. Using a voluntary, anonymous questionnaire with 708 respondents, it reveals widespread declines in student motivation, social engagement, and access to private study spaces—particularly impacting first-generation students—while highlighting strong demand for recorded lectures and online resources in future instruction.

ABSTRACT

As a result of the spread of COVID-19 during spring 2020, many colleges and universities across the US, and beyond, were compelled to move entirely to remote, online instruction, or shut down. Due to the rapidity of this transition, instructors had to significantly -- if not completely -- change their instructional style on very short notice. Our purpose with this paper is to report on student experiences and reactions to the switch to emergency remote learning at two large, land-grant, research intensive universities. We aimed to explore how students have received and dealt with the shift to remote learning that began in March 2020, specifically in introductory physics and astronomy courses. By providing timely student feedback, we hope to help instructors tune their efforts to build a more effective remote learning environment.

Motivation & Objective

• To understand how students at research-intensive universities experienced the sudden shift to remote instruction during the spring 2020 pandemic.
• To examine the impact of emergency remote learning on student motivation, social engagement, and access to learning resources.
• To identify demographic disparities in student experiences, particularly related to first-generation status and access to private study spaces.
• To inform future instructional design by collecting timely feedback on student preferences for hybrid or remote learning models.

Proposed method

• Administered a 35-question anonymous online questionnaire to 2,320 students across summer 2020 remote courses at two large research universities.
• Collected data via institutional email (Institution A) and learning management systems (Institution B), with voluntary participation and no incentives.
• Used three response types: 5-point Likert scales, multiple-answer selections, and ranking items, each analyzed with normalized scoring and 95% confidence intervals.
• Segmented responses by demographics including gender, race, first-generation status, class year, work hours, and internet access.
• Focused on student perceptions of synchronous vs. asynchronous learning, study space availability, peer and instructor engagement, and sources of stress.
• Conducted comparative analysis across institutions and demographic subgroups to identify patterns and disparities in student experiences.

Experimental results

Research questions

• RQ1 How did students respond to the shift from in-person to emergency remote learning in terms of preferred instructional formats?
• RQ2 What were the primary sources of stress for students during remote instruction, and how did they vary by demographic factors?
• RQ3 To what extent did students feel socially connected to peers and instructors during remote courses?
• RQ4 How did access to private study spaces and learning technologies affect student learning experiences?
• RQ5 What learning resources and formats did students express a desire to retain post-pandemic?

Key findings

• 59.8% of respondents identified as female, with 73% being juniors or seniors, and 58.6% identifying as white, 23.7% as Asian, and 22.7% as Hispanic/Latinx/Spanish.
• Over 70% of students reported a strong preference for synchronous classes, with Institution B showing a nearly 2:1 preference over asynchronous formats.
• More than 50% of students reported fewer social connections during the pandemic compared to typical face-to-face courses, and over half felt disconnected from classmates during lectures.
• Only 40% of students had a private study space, and less than half had access to a printer (45.5%) or scanner (22.5%), with first-generation students significantly less likely to have private space (52% vs. 74%).
• First-generation students reported more frequent stress from financial hardship, family responsibilities, and lack of academic support than non-first-gen peers.
• Despite reduced engagement, 75% of students expressed a desire to keep recorded lectures and online course materials after returning to in-person instruction.