With spring campus visits and summer orientations coming right around the corner, Penn State Behrend has much to look forward to as we think about the start of the next academic year. While we have begun to live in our “new normal” as a society that is trying to move forward after such a jolting event, we must not underestimate how the COVID-19 pandemic has altered many aspects of our lives and the lingering effects we will continue to see. While the new cohorts of college students entering our institution will experience many of the more traditional aspects of transitioning from being a high school student to being a new college student, the next several years of students will have unique characteristics that should change the way we approach our teaching and pedagogy. There are varying considerations depending on the timing of the COVID-19 disruption in relation to students’ age and grade in school. We will share some of those considerations for specific cohorts, the positive outcomes for students, and considerations for the classroom.
Timing of the COVID-19 Disruption
The timing of the COVID-19 pandemic in terms of students’ age and grade in high school has considerable effects on how COVID-19 may have disrupted their learning and development.
Considerations for the Fall 2022 and Fall 2023 Cohorts:
- Students in these cohorts experienced more disruptions in their learning while taking higher-level math classes and sciences.
- Students in these cohorts likely experienced disruptions to typical milestones, like getting a drivers’ license and graduation.
Considerations for the Fall 2024, Fall 2025, and Fall 2026 Cohorts:
- Students in these cohorts experienced disruptions in foundational reading and writing courses that typically transition them from elementary to secondary expectations.
- Students in these cohorts likely experienced disruptions in developmental milestones related to self-discovery, identity, and autonomy.
Across all cohorts, there will need to be special consideration for:
- Varying delivery of instruction experienced by students based on school districts’ location and resources
- Students with chronic absenteeism (whether school mandated or due to personal reasons) leading to lower academic outcomes
- Continued concern for mental health needs of students due to living in a state of heightened stress for a prolonged period
- Disproportionate impact of the pandemic on students from marginalized populations
- These populations include racial and ethnic minorities, students with disabilities, students who are English language learners, students who identify as LGBTQIA+, and more.
Positive Outcomes for Students from the COVID-19 Pandemic
There are many lessons learned for all of us as we reflect on the impact that COVID-19 has had. For our incoming students, there are several positive outcomes to highlight and more that cannot be listed here.
- Student flexibility and problem-solving due to upending of previously settled routines.
- Student knowledge of learning management systems and technology for educational purposes.
- Student development of global awareness.
- Students receiving more resources from educational institutions due to increased awareness of their needs.
Considerations for the Classroom
In thinking about the next several years of first-year students, acknowledging how the COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted their education is important. There are several recommendations we make to consider how we can continue to support these students as they transition into our classrooms.
- Avoid deficit language around the students’ development and skills.
- No one asked to live through a global pandemic. Showing frustration with students because they are different than previous cohorts is unfair. We must show our commitment to serving all students regardless of their baseline skills and abilities.
- Meet students where they are and find ways to simultaneously offer support in areas where skills and knowledge may be lacking while still having students meet learning outcomes.
- Create review modules as supplemental material in Canvas.
- Offer additional tutoring sessions or mentors in the class to support students.
- Refer students to the Learning Resource Center and provide materials to the tutors to review with students. It is important to follow up with a student you have referred to the LRC to close the loop on their continued learning.
- Proactively refer students to appropriate offices that can support student success
- Students are more likely to engage with support offices when they have been referred by faculty.
- Knowing students are likely to have increased needs around mental health, financial needs, etc., it is important to know who key contacts are in these offices and refer students as needed.
- Consider using creative assessment practices
Students will benefit from incorporating creative assessment practices to supplement more traditional assessment methods. While we are not suggesting that all quizzes and exams need to be removed, we do suggest incorporating other assessment practices to supplement the more traditional methods. There are two considerations for using more creative assessment practices: assess student growth as a measure of learning or use authentic assessments (see examples for both below).
- Assessing student growth means measuring students’ entering skills/knowledge level and then re-assessing their skills/knowledge level at the end of the course. Students receive a corresponding grade based on their growth in the course. The use of growth measures allows for more equitable assessment of student learning because students who may have experienced more severe learning disruptions are not placed at a disadvantage by being held to similar standards as peers with less learning disruption.
- The types of authentic assessments to use are dependent on the course subject and learning outcomes, but some to consider using include:
- Portfolios – Including several artifacts to demonstrate learning allows students who may have less knowledge on one topic to not be penalized because areas where they do have more knowledge will balance the portfolio
- Conduct research and write a report on a chosen topic
- Student debates
- Reflective writing about learning
- Discussion groups
- Student self-assessment of learning
Conclusion
We have experienced many changes in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, as have our students. We must remember to consider their experiences as we continue to move forward and support their development at the college level. Every year presents new challenges and opportunities in our classrooms. We hope that as time moves forward we will see the melding of our past practices and the incorporation of new ways to teach students who have experienced a disruption to their learning from COVID-19.
Resources
Case, J. A. C. (2020, November 2). Covid-19: How missing milestones is impacting Teen Mental Health. COVID-19: How Missing Milestones is Impacting Teen Mental Health. Retrieved February 25, 2022, from https://policylab.chop.edu/blog/covid-19-how-missing-milestones-impacting-teen-mental-health
Dorn, E., Hancock, B., Sarakatsannis, J., & Viruleg, E. (2021, June 23). Covid-19 and learning loss–disparities grow and students need help. McKinsey & Company. Retrieved February 25, 2022, from https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/public-and-social-sector/our-insights/covid-19-and-learning-loss-disparities-grow-and-students-need-help
de Figueiredo, C. S., Sandre, P. C., Portugal, L., Mázala-de-Oliveira, T., da Silva Chagas, L., Raony, Í., Ferreira, E. S., Giestal-de-Araujo, E., Dos Santos, A. A., & Bomfim, P. O. (2021). COVID-19 pandemic impact on children and adolescents’ mental health: Biological, environmental, and social factors. Progress in neuro-psychopharmacology & biological psychiatry, 106, 110171. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pnpbp.2020.110171
Hough, L. (n.d.). For keeps. Harvard Graduate School of Education. Retrieved February 25, 2022, from https://www.gse.harvard.edu/news/ed/21/05/for-keeps
