students in new normal education essay

• Reference Manager
• Simple TEXT file

People also looked at

Original research article, learning curves in covid-19: student strategies in the ‘new normal’.

• Auckland University of Technology, School of Sport and Recreation, Auckland, New Zealand

In New Zealand, similar to the rest of the world, the COVID-19 pandemic brought unprecedented disruption to higher education, with a rapid transition to mass online teaching. The 1st year (and 1st semester in particular) of any University degree presents unique challenges for students. Literature suggests these students have significant learning concerns as they adjust to University teaching and assessment requirements. These challenges may be exacerbated with the rapid introduction of online learning environments as they are increasingly disconnected from their peers, and, at a greater risk of struggling with web-based learning technologies.

This study investigated online learning strategies employed by 1st year students and examined the association between these strategies and student achievement. The University’s learning management system (LMS; Blackboard) was used to collect deidentified data related to students’ engagement with online content. The number of times content was clicked was recorded each day for the student’s three courses. These data were collected over a nine-week period for all students ( N = 170) enrolled in the 1st semester of their degree. This nine-week period spanned from the commencement of COVID-19 online learning to the week of final assessments. The relationship between assessment date and online engagement was investigated and linear mixed models were used to determine if engagement with online learning was associated with final course grades.

The results suggested that students adopted a learning strategy that coordinated their online LMS engagement with course assessment due date. Students had a 388% (SD 58%) greater specific engagement with the LMS on the assessment due date and the day prior, than throughout the remainder of their course. A further trend was observed whereby when an assessment was due in one course the students used an ‘online bundle learning’ strategy of increased engagement with the two other courses which has positive practical implications for the timing of uploading new teaching material. Finally, a clear relationship between the level of student LMS engagement and student course grade existed. For every additional week of zero LMS engagement, the odds of a student achieving. a grade lower than B were 1.67 times higher (95% CI 1.24, 2.26; p < 0.001), regardless of the course.

The rapid transition to online learning, as a consequence of COVID-19, has highlighted the risks of student disengagement, and the subsequent impact on lower student achievement across multiple courses. In addition, the authors investigated an ‘online learning bundling’ strategy that emerged; where students engaged more with a course when they were online submitting an assessment in a different course. These results emphasize the need for a university to implement greater cross-faculty coordination with reference to course design, uploading of information to LMS and timing of assessments. Improved coordination would provide a more effective online learning environment that maximizes student engagement and therefore achievement.

Introduction

The transition to higher education (HE) is often a complicated and difficult time for students ( Kember, 2001 ). Many new HE students have moved directly from secondary education to HE and are not used to the typical HE environment. This is characterized by less structured class time per week, less direct contact with peers and teachers, and a greater expectation for independent learning. New HE students need to adjust quickly to these different styles of teaching and assessments, while adapting to the demands of a self-directed and independent approach to their academic work. Successfully adjusting to this increased level of independence in the first year is important, as it has a strong influence on total student effort and level of achievement, as well as increasing the likelihood of the student completing the whole course ( Krause, 2001 , 2005 ). Ultimately, it is each students’ ability to adjust and engage in the HE environment that becomes a strong determinant of their level of engagement and achievement.

The HE environment has several non-academic factors that are related to student's success, time management, engagement and participation. Students must learn to cope with the new and often competing demands of the HE environment. For example, the juggle between work-life balance, and the peaks and troughs of workload. Research by Scherer et al. (2017) found that effective time management was a significant predictor of tertiary academic outcomes, as those with poor time management found it hard to plan and were often rushed at the end of a course or at assessment time. Literature highlights that in HE, there is a significantly positive relationship between students with who do manage their time effectively and academic performance ( Khan et al. (2020) ).

Snyder (1971) often referred to the concept of students understanding the ‘hidden curriculum’ (i.e., students knowing which key assessment points they need to attend and when, in order to achieve). This concept is important when trying to understand how students best strategize or allocate their attention and their time and has been discussed as a potential time-management issue ( Miller and Parlett, 1974 ). However, the concept that is under-researched is the balance between strategic use of time and potentially a miss-management of time, especially for 1st year HE students.

The second non-academic factor associated with academic success is student engagement, which is defined as ‘the quality of effort devoted to educationally purposeful activities that contribute directly to desired outcomes’ ( Chickering and Gamson, 1987 ). One way to consider engagement is that it is a gauge of the strength of the relationship between students and their HE institution. The HE institutions aim is to create an environment that affords learning to happen, but ultimately the final act of engagement lies with the student actions. Understanding and measuring student engagement in HE is a challenge, as it has multi-dimensional mechanisms, such as educational challenge, active learning, student-staff interaction, and support on campus, to name a few.

One weakness of traditionally measuring engagement in HE has been the lack of tools to objectively understand student engagement. The most commonly used tool is the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) which relies on self-reporting survey data. However, ‘active learning’ (i.e., frequency of class participation; Carini et al., 2006 ) has been used in previous research to provide an understanding of HE engagement level. Traditionally, this has been recorded during face-to-face HE program delivered on-campus that typically feature content taught in a classroom at a prescribed time, and supplemented with prescribed readings and assessment ( Broadbent, 2017 ). One of the more recent advancements in trying understanding student's interaction with the virtual environment in is the evolving area of HE is learning analytics (LA). In particular the use of large scale educational data about learners and their contexts. In this area, researchers have presented information about learners and their environment, with an attempt to provide models for future behavior ( Ranjeeth et al., 2020 ). However, it appears that with advances in LA there is still little recorded improvement to student learning, or learning support for students (e.g., Viberg et al., 2018 ). This raises the question about how insights from LA can help facilitate the transfer into learning and teaching practices.

Understanding engagement in online HE learning environments has shown mixed results when compared to face-to-face measures. Research has shown that students that have chosen their University course specifically because it is online are likely to be have been attracted by the high level of flexibility and independence it offers ( Bernard et al., 2004 ). They are confident they have the skills to excel, they enjoy the learning style and have the time management skills required to succeed in the online environment. Indeed, HE students have reported that time management and regular interaction with content and other students were the top skills needed to be successful with online learning ( Roper, 2007 ).

The impact of COVID-19 led to a rapid transition for most HE institutions from face-to-face teaching to online learning environments. While a few HE institutions had online courses or blended courses in place, the majority were not prepared for this rapid change to online delivery and therefore had minimal time to re-design course delivery for this new environment. Unfortunately, there is a paucity of research examining engagement with online learning tools, particularly for those who, due to COVID-19, are suddenly forced to transition from a face-to-face to online environment which was not their initial learning style choice. Many HE institutions use Learning Management Systems (LMS) and this provides an opportunity to explore student engagement via their online learning behaviors. While there are many inter-related factors that influence student engagement, the authors have attempted to respond to the call from Viberg et al. (2018) of combing the science of learning analytics with pedagogical knowledge. Therefore, in order to better support student achievement and enhance the understanding of student engagement behaviors the aims of this study are to; (1) to understand the online learning strategy of 1st year HE students (forced) into an online environment, and (2) to examine how the strategy adopted influences student achievement.

Materials and Methods

Participants.

One hundred and seventy students who were enrolled in three courses as part of the first semester of their undergraduate degree participated in this study. As a response to COVID-19 these students, that were originally enrolled in face-to-face courses, were transferred to online delivery from week three.

Two courses had two assessment points across the semester; one mid-term assessment, and one assessment at the end of semester. While the third course had three assessments. For each course the structure included live online lectures, pre-recorded video content, and weekly online tutorials. The online delivery for the three courses was completed over nine-week period.

Online Engagement

Online engagement and activity was defined as the log data collected by the LMS, e.g., time spent or number of interactions students had with the LMS ( Henrie et al., 2018 ). In this study online engagement was defined as the number of clicks per student recorded on the LMS. For each course online engagement data were extracted from the Blackboard Learning Management System using the in-built reporting feature. For each student, every time content was clicked (e.g., announcements, course materials, assessments) this information was recorded and stored within the LMS. While some engagement research uses log data of time spent logged into a page (e.g., Henrie et al., 2018 ), the authors found that this measure can give a false reading if a page was left open and not attended; thus giving the impression of a very long ‘engagement’ time with the LMS. Retrospective data covering the nine-week period were exported to an Excel spreadsheet, for each of the three courses separately. These data contained a daily breakdown of engagement information for each student (total number of clicks each day), for each of the three courses, across the nine-week period.

Student Achievement

Student achievement was measured using the final course grades that students received at the end of semester. The grading system ranged from 0 to 9, where 9 represented an ‘A+’ grade, 8 represented an ‘A’ grade, and 7 represented an ‘A−’. The lowest passing grade is 1 which represented a ‘C−’, while a 0 was a failure to pass. The final course grade was calculated by averaging the mid-term and final assessment grades.

In the first instance, student online engagement with each of the three courses were summarized using descriptive statistics (mean ± SD). The descriptive analysis was stratified by assessment days, non-assessment days, and the day prior to assessment day. The relationship between an assessment due date and change in online engagement in other courses was examined by calculating the difference between engagement on the due date and the days prior. These differences were presented as Cohen’s D effect sizes with the following thresholds: 0.2 = small effect, 0.5 = medium effect, 0.8 = large effect ( Cohen, 1988 ). All achievement and engagement data was de-identified in order that appropriate ethical standards were maintained.

Lastly, generalized linear mixed models were used to examine if the level of engagement with online content was associated with final course grades. The final grades were dichotomized into ‘B grade or higher’ and ‘Lower than a B grade’ (B grade = 5), as this was the middle grade. This was treated as the outcome variable. Student engagement data was summarized for each student as the number of weeks throughout the nine-week period where students recorded no engagement with the online LMS. This variable, along with the course (three levels) were added as fixed effects, while each student was added as a random effect to account for the repeated measures. These models were specified with a binomial distribution and logit link function and were fit in R software (v 4.0.0) using the lme4 package.

The results section present data to answer the two research aims; (1) To understand the 1st year student’s online learning strategy and engagement and, (2) to examine how the strategy adopted influences student achievement.

The mean number of online interactions per day, along with the assessment dates for each course, is shown below in Figure 1 . The spikes in student online engagement generally coincide with either the actual course assessment date ( Figure 1 , black vertical lines) or the uploading of key information related to an assessment onto the LMS ( Figure 1 , course 1(red) early June and course 2 (green) mid-May).

FIGURE 1 . The distribution of online engagement across the semester, for each course. The black vertical bars represent the assessment dates for each course.

The values in Table 1 represent student engagement strategy through the mean number of interactions with the LMS per student per day per course and course grades.

TABLE 1 . LMS use on assessment and non-assessment days for 3 courses.

The strategy showed the use of a low level of mean daily engagement during the semester (i.e., 3.11–3.94) with relatively high levels of engagement when an assessment was due (i.e., 10.5–15.6). There was a large difference between engagement levels on assessment due dates and ‘day-proceeding assessment due date’ compared to non-assessment days. Student strategy led to 312 and 453% more online interactions when assessments were due. Interactions with the LMS were higher around assessment due dates, however, it is also worth noting that a small part of this increase was caused by students submitting assessment; i.e., on average 3–4 interactions per course to submit an assessment. It is worth noting that each week included online lectures, workshops, discussion boards and readings, so to have a daily use of only 2–3 interactions per day would be considered quite low in relation to the staff expectations of the course demands.

A key part of this study was to understand the learning curves of students in a COVID-19 environment and the link to achievement. It is important to consider the potential achievement implications for the students that adopted a ‘low or no online engagement’ strategy, as across the nine weeks of the three courses, approximately 34% ( n = 53) of all students had two weeks of zero engagement with all of their three courses.

The relationship between final course grades and the number of weeks with no online engagement is presented in Figure 2 below. All three courses displayed a similar trend; as the number of weeks with no online engagement increased, the probability of achieving a B grade or higher significantly decreased. On average, for every additional week of no online engagement, the odds of achieving a B grade or better were 0.60 (95% CI 0.44, 0.81; p < 0.001), regardless of course. The inverse of this ratio can be interpreted as: the odds of achieving a grade lower than B are 1.67 times higher for every additional week of no online engagement.

FIGURE 2 . Relationship between student achievement and the number of weeks with no online engagement. Estimates obtained from a generalized linear mixed model (binomial distribution, logit link). The shaded regions represent 95% confidence intervals.

The final data presented in this study explored learning curves of students online engagement during COVID-19 when an assessment was due in one of the three courses. Table 2 below demonstrates the effect size differences between the online LMS engagement level in one course, coinciding with an assessment due in another course. This measure was determined by comparing the LMS values (mean and SD) on the day of assessment in one course to LMS values of the day before in another course. Findings showed that when an assessment was due in one course, for 80% of the time the students subsequent online engagement increased in one or both of the other two courses, despite those other two courses not having assessments due at that time. For the majority of the cases there were small to moderate effect size differences between an assessment due date and an increase in online engagement in the other courses. This strategy could be described as a ‘bundling effect’ of cross-course online engagement occurring due to assessment deadlines. The two exceptions to the ‘bundling effect’ were, (1) at the start of the semester, when online use was high across all courses as students were adjusting to a new online environment and (2) when an assessment in another course had occurred two days earlier.

TABLE 2 . Effect sizes difference of online engagement in one course, when an assessment is due in another.

This study aimed to understand the student learning curves of 1st semester, 1st year HE students in a COVID-19 enforced online environment, and the relationship with achievement. In order to explore these topical questions, a mixed method modeling was used of daily engagement data from the University LMS and end of semester grades. The clear result from this study has been gaining an understanding of the student engagement strategy and it’s significant connection with the timing of assessments. Specifically, student online engagement displayed large peaks and troughs that correlated with assessment due dates. For many students, they had prolonged periods of little or no engagement with an online course, until close to an assessment due date. The ‘heart-beat’ graphic of Figure 1 that represented the level of online engagement with the LMS during the 56 days of the course, and the assessment due dates for the 3 analyzed courses demonstrated a clear interrelatedness between student online engagement and assessment due dates. This strategy of selective interrelated behavior of ‘when to engage’ online can be in part explained by Snyder (1971) and Miller and Parlett (1974) research of the ‘hidden curriculum’. ‘Hidden curriculum’ research demonstrated that students can be strategic about their use of time and energy in relation to course work and to assessment, and the study approaches in this paper supports this i.e., students spent more effort on tasks relating to assessment. What is uniquely demonstrated in Figure 1 , is just how selective and strong the student behavior is toward assessment timing, but also worryingly the low levels of engagement between assessment dates, in particular the 53 students who had two weeks of no online engagement with their three courses.

Most HE literature links sustained effort and engagement to students’ success. However, this is strategy has not been demonstrated by the students in this study, where students were forced (quickly) to move to the online learning style. Figure 1 , highlighted student engagement was low between assessment due dates, and thus not sustained evenly over the course. Table 1 also showed that the level of daily engagement on the day of and including the day before an assessment was due, was on average 388% (SD 58%) higher than the average of all the other days during the semester. These numbers clearly represent a learning curve strategy where students have focused their engagement with the LMS predominately toward assessment dates; consequently, creating a peaks and troughs approach. This strategy appears to be contrary to HE literature that demonstrates higher engagement, i.e., sustained, and more dedicate time to a subject, the more success a student has ( Carini et al., 2006 ). Having high levels of engagement in learning, but also sustained effort has strong links to building the foundation of skills needed not only for success in HE, but also post HE ( Kuh, 2003 ). In an online learning environment, where a lack of face-face interaction occurs, exceptional online engagement is needed in order to be successful ( Bryson, 2014 ).

While one view of the results in Table 1 and Figure 1 , might support a selective approach to the use of time engaged with the LMS in relation to assessments: a contrasting view of potential concern, for these students in these trough periods. In this study, the authors investigated the peaks and troughs approach, to see if low levels of LMS engagement was a disadvantage for students. The results shown in Figure 2 demonstrated that it was a disadvantage, and that for every additional week of no LMS engagement, the odds of achieving a grade lower than B were almost twice as high. This result unfortunately illustrated that students who implemented a strategy of no LMS engagement for a period, such as a week or more, had a strong negative impact on their final grade. This finding is in line with literature, which links sustained effort and engagement, to a student's success ( Chickering, and Gamson, 1987 ), instead of a peaks and troughs engagement approach as highlighted in this study.

An unexpected result to arise from the analysis of LMS interactions with this research was presented in Table 2 . Here the authors identified that the act of working on one course for a student assessment coincided with increasing engagement in one or both other courses. That is, when a student was online working on one course assessment, they also appeared to use that opportunity to bundle their LMS time and log on and to another course. This could be considered an ‘online bundle learning’ strategy. This strategy has been evidenced in other online environments, for example when the viewing or the sale of one product is bundled to that of another, in order to get greater sales and/or views ( Jiang et al., 2018 ). The results in Table 2 showed effect size differences and ‘online bundle learning’ occurred 80% of the time a student was online for a course with an assessment due, they also had increased levels of LMS engagement in one or both of their other courses. The implications for the HE course leaders is to recognize the positive engagement ‘bundle’ effect when they plan the time to upload new material to their online course so that the engagement of the students is maximised.

A concluding point from Figure 1 is the impact on engagement of the timing of the final course assessments in relation to each other. While the timing of assessments is a challenge in HE, with multiple courses all needing to schedule assessments, having a short space between assessments due dates, may put substantiable pressure on students to complete these assessments. The timing of assessments is a key topic that students in HE cite as a major source of stress ( Divaris, et al., 2008 ). The timing of assessments is an area where there needs to be greater cross faculty integration, to assist with student stress management and well-being ( Divaris et al., 2008 ). Especially with 1st year students, where most courses are the same for students, there is the opportunity for faculty staff to work together and space the assessments more.

In summary, this research aimed to firstly understand the student learning strategy in the enforced COVID-19 environment and the learning curves used by 1st year students. This large cohort of students was a particularly important group to understand, as the strategies developed in the 1st semester of a degree can have an impact on overall HE achievement ( Khan et al.. (2020) . This study revealed that during COVID-19 student online learning engagement followed a strong pattern of peaks and troughs, where their engagement was almost 400% greater when an assessment was due, compared to other times during the semester.

The second research question considered the influence of learning strategy on achievement. The results indicated that if students implemented a compounding none-engagement strategy with a course, then their grades significantly decrease. Success in HE is traditionally linked to sustained engagement, in a course of study, but the learning curves observed did not support this traditional strategy. An alternative ‘online bundle learning’ strategy emerged that occurred across multiple courses. Recognition of this ‘bundle strategy’ in cross faculty communication is an area that needs future investigation. Not only to improve the timing of assessments for students, but to also upload material online to all courses at a time when a student is likely to be submitting an assessment in another course as the student is likely to engage more with the uploaded material at this time.

Data Availability Statement

The raw data supporting the conclusions of this article will be made available by the authors, without undue reservation.

Author Contributions

This article has been written by the four authors listed. The first two authors have contributed equally to this work and share the first authorship. The third and fourth authors were primarily focused on the data collection and analysis and editing, while the first two authors wrote the 1st draft and final edits.

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Bernard, R., Abrami, P., Lou, Y., Borokhovski, E., Wade, A., Wozney, L., et al. (2004). How does distance education compare with classroom instruction? A meta-analysis of the empirical literature. Rev. Educ. Res. 74, 112. doi:10.3102/00346543074003379

CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar

Broadbent, J. (2017). Comparing online and blended learner’s self-regulated learning strategies and academic performance. Internet Higher Educ. 33, 24–32. doi:10.1016/j.iheduc.2017.01.004

Carini, R. M., Kuh, G. D., and Klein, S. P. (2006). Student engagement and student learning: testing the linkages*. Res. Higher Educ. 47 (1), 1–32. doi:10.1007/s11162-005-8150-9

C. Bryson. (2014). Understanding and developing student engagement . 1st ed. Abingdon: Routledge . doi:10.4324/9781315813691

CrossRef Full Text

Chickering, A., and Gamson, Z. (1987). Seven principles for good practice in undergraduate education. Am. Assoc. Higher Educ. Bull. 39 (7), 3–7.

Google Scholar

Cohen, J. (1988). Statistical power analysis for the behavioral sciences . New York, NY: Routledge Academic .

Divaris, K., Barlow, P. J., Chendea, S. A., Cheong, W. S., Dounis, A., Dragan, I. F., et al. (2008). The academic environment: the students’ perspective. Eur. J. Dental Educ. 12 (s1), 120–130. doi:10.1111/j.1600-0579.2007.00494.x

Henrie, C. R., Bodily, R., Larsen, R., and Graham, C. R. (2018). Exploring the potential of LMS log data as a proxy measure of student engagement. J. Comput. Higher Educ. 30 (2), 344–362. doi:10.1007/s12528-017-9161-1

Jiang, Y., Liu, Y., Wang, H., Shang, J., and Ding, S. (2018). Online pricing with bundling and coupon discounts. Int. J. Prod. Res. 56 (5), 1773–1788. doi:10.1080/00207543.2015.1112443

Kember, D. (2001). Beliefs about knowledge and the process of teaching and learning as a factor in adjusting to study in higher education. Stud. Higher Educ. 26 (2), 205–221. doi:10.1080/03075070120052116

Khan, I. A., Zeb, A., Ahmad, S., and Ullah, R. (2020). Relationship between university students time management skills and their academic performance. Rev. Econ. Dev. Stud. 5 (4), 853–858. doi:10.26710/reads.v5i4.900

Krause, D. (2005). Serious thoughts about dropping out in first year: trends, patterns and implications for higher education. Stud. Learn. Eval. Innovation Dev. 2 (3), 55–67. doi:10.5430/ijhe.v10n3p246

Krause, K. (2001). The university essay writing experience: a pathway for academic integration during transition. Higher Educ. Res. Dev. 20 (2), 147–168. doi:10.1080/07294360123586

Kuh, G. D. (2003). What we're learning about student engagement from NSSE: benchmarks for effective educational practices. Change Mag. Higher Learn. 35 (2), 24–32.

Miller, C. M. I., and Parlett, M. (1974). Up to the Mark: a study of the examination game. Guildford: Society for Research into Higher Education .

Ranjeeth, S., Latchoumi, T. P., and Paul, P. V. (2020). A survey on predictive models of learning analytics. Proced. Comput. Sci. 167, 37–46. doi:10.1016/j.procs.2020.03.180

Roper, A. (2007). How students develop online learning skills. Educause Q. 14, 72–81. doi:10.4324/9780203415986-21

Scherer, S., Talley, C. P., and Fife, J. E. (2017). How personal factors influence academic behavior and GPA in African American STEM students. SAGE Open 7 (2), 133–139. doi:10.1177/2158244017704686

Snyder, B. R. (1971). The hidden curriculum . Cambridge, MA: MIT Press .

Viberg, O., Hatakka, M., Bälter, O., and Mavroudi, A. (2018). The current landscape of learning analytics in higher education. Comput. Hum. Behav. 89, 98–110. doi:10.1016/j.chb.2018.07.027

Keywords: online bundle learning, engagment, higher education, COVID-19, Learning Management Systems

Citation: Millar S-K, Spencer K, Stewart T and Dong M (2021) Learning Curves in COVID-19: Student Strategies in the ‘new normal’?. Front. Educ. 6:641262. doi: 10.3389/feduc.2021.641262

Received: 13 December 2020; Accepted: 16 February 2021; Published: 19 March 2021.

Reviewed by:

Copyright © 2021 Millar, Spencer, Stewart and Dong. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

*Correspondence: Sarah-Kate Millar, [email protected]

This article is part of the Research Topic

Covid-19 and Beyond: From (Forced) Remote Teaching and Learning to ‘The New Normal’ in Higher Education

Teaching and Learning in the New Normal: Responding to Students’ and Academics’ Multifaceted Needs

• Conference paper
• First Online: 09 July 2023
• Cite this conference paper

• Andriani Piki   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0003-0376-1713 9 &
• Magdalena Brzezinska   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-4213-8636 10  

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNCS,volume 14026))

Included in the following conference series:

• International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction

541 Accesses

1 Citations

Alongside the prolonged social and economic instability and the escalating demands for upskilling, Covid-19 pandemic had a detrimental impact on students’ and academics’ mental health and wellbeing. Social isolation and the emergency transition to remote education caused high levels of psychological distress, hindering students’ self-efficacy and academic performance. The pandemic also induced sudden changes affecting academics’ personal and professional lives, leading to mental disorders and risk of burnout. While recent research focuses on addressing the effects of the pandemic on either students or academics, this paper presents a collective analysis. The key themes that emerged by examining the experiences of both students and academics in higher education are framed in a multi-layered support system embracing qualities such as: self-efficacy, wellbeing, equality, diversity, and inclusion, social interactions, human-centred technologies, and authentic pedagogical methods. The findings are discussed with the aim to extract informed recommendations for enhancing teaching and learning experiences in the post-pandemic era.

• Higher Education
• Emergency Remote Teaching
• Wellbeing Education
• Inclusive Education
• Learner Engagement

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

• Available as PDF
• Read on any device
• Instant download
• Own it forever
• Available as EPUB and PDF
• Compact, lightweight edition
• Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
• Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Abu Elnasr, E.S., Hasanein, A.M., Abu Elnasr, A.E.: Responses to COVID-19 in higher education: Social media usage for sustaining formal academic communication in developing countries. Sustainability 12 (16), 6520 (2020)

Google Scholar  

Al Miskry, A.S.A., Hamid, A.A.M., Darweesh, A.H.M.: The Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on University Faculty, Staff, and Students and Coping Strategies Used During the Lockdown in the United Arab Emirates. Frontiers in Psychology 12 (2021)

Al-Taweel, D., et al.: Multidisciplinary academic perspectives during the COVID‐19 pandemic. Int. J. Health Planning Manag. 35 (6), 1295–1301 (2020)

Aucejo, E.M., French, J., Araya, M.P.U., Zafar, B.: The impact of Covid-19 on student experiences and expectations: Evidence from a survey. Journal of public economics, 191 (2020)

Bates, A.W.: Teaching in a Digital Age, 2nd edn. Tony Bates Associates Ltd., Vancouver, B.C. (2019)

Berger, T.: How to Maslow Before Bloom, All Day Long. Edutopia (2020). https://www.edutopia.org/article/how-maslow-bloom-all-day-long/

Bożykowski, M., Izdebski, A., Jasiński, M., Konieczna-Sałamatin, J.: Nauczanie w dobie pandemii i perspektywa powrotu do normalności, Pracownia Ewaluacji Jakości Kształcenia Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego (University of Warsaw) (2021)

Brzezinska, M., Cromarty, E.: Emergency Remote Teaching in the University Context: Responding to Social and Emotional Needs During a Sudden Transition Online. In: Meiselwitz, G. (eds) Social Computing and Social Media: Applications in Education and Commerce. HCII 2022. LNCS, vol. 13316. Springer, Cham (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-05064-0_3

Brzezinska, M.: Global skills in the global pandemic: how to create an effective bichronous learning experience during an emergency shift to remote instruction. In: Auer, M.E., Pester, A., May, D. (eds.) Learning with Technologies and Technologies in Learning. Lecture Notes in Networks and Systems, vol. 456. Springer, Cham (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-04286-7_32

Cassibba, R., Ferrarello, D., Mammana, M.F., Musso, P., Pennisi, M., Taranto, E.: Teaching mathematics at distance: a challenge for universities. Educ. Sci. 11 (1), 1 (2020)

Czaja, K., et al.: Zdalne kształcenie na Wydziale Humanistycznym Uniwersytetu Śląskiego w Katowicach. Report (March-April 2020). (A Report. Remote Education at the Department of Humanities of the University of Silesia in Katowice), Uniwersytet Śląski w Katowicach 2020, https://us.edu.pl/wydzial/wh/wp-content/uploads/sites/15/Nieprzypisane/ZDALNE-KSZTAŁCENIE-NA-WYDZIALE-HUMANISTYCZNYM-RAPORT.pdf

Darby, F., Lang, J.M.: Small Teaching Online: Applying Learning Science in Online Classes (1st ed.). Jossey-Bass (2019)

Dewey, J.: How we think: A restatement of the relation of reflective thinking to the educative process. DC Heath (1933)

Dinu, L.M., et al.: A case study investigating mental wellbeing of university academics during the COVID-19 pandemic. Educ. Sci. 11 (11), 702 (2021)

Article   Google Scholar  

Engelbrecht, J., Borba, M. C., Llinares, S., Kaiser, G.: Will 2020 be remembered as the year in which education was changed? ZDM – Math. Educ. 52 (5), 821–824 (2020)

Flaherty, C.: Faculty pandemic stress is now chronic. Inside Higher Ed, 19 (2020)

France, P.E.: Reclaiming Personalized Learning: A Pedagogy for Restoring Equity and Humanity in Our Classrooms (First). Corwin (2020)

France, P.E.: Humanizing Distance Learning: Centering Equity and Humanity in Times of Crisis (First). Corwin (2021)

Gewin, V.: Pandemic Burnout Is Rampant in Academia. Nature Publishing Group (2021). https://media.nature.com/original/magazine-assets/d41586-021-00663-2/d41586-021-00663-2.pdf

Gierdowski, D.C.: ECAR Study of Undergraduate Students and Information Technology (Research report). Louisville, CO: EDUCAUSE Center for Applied Research, October 2019 (2019). http://www.educause.edu/ecar

Halabieh, H., et al.: The future of higher education: identifying current educational problems and proposed solutions. Educ. Sci. 12 (12), 888 (2022)

Hodges, C., Moore, S., Lockee, B., Trust, T., Bond, A.: The difference between emergency remote teaching and online learning. EDUCAUSE Rev. 2020 , 3 (2020)

Hughes, G.J., Byrom, N.C.: Managing student mental health: the challenges faced by academics on professional healthcare courses. J. Adv. Nurs. 75 (7), 1539–1548 (2019)

Joosten, T., Weber, N., Baker, M., Schletzbaum, A.: Planning for a Blended Future: A Research-Driven Guide for Educators (2021). Available online: https://eduq.info/xmlui/handle/11515/38291

Kara, M.: Revisiting online learner engagement: exploring the role of learner characteristics in an emergency period. J. Res. Technol. Educ., 1–17 (2021)

Killen, C., Langer-Crame, M., Penrice, S.: Teaching Staff Digital Experience Insights Survey 2020: UK Higher Education Findings (2021). https://www.jisc.ac.uk/reports/teaching-staff-digital-experience-insights-survey-2020-uk-higher-education

Kita, Y., Yasuda, S., Gherghel, C.: Online education and the mental health of faculty during the COVID-19 pandemic in Japan. Sci. Rep. 12 (1), 1–9 (2022)

Kukulska-Hulme, A., et al.: Innovating Pedagogy 2022: Open University Innovation Report 10. Milton Keynes: The Open University (2022)

Kumar, S., Martin, F., Budhrani, K., Ritzhaupt, A.: Award-winning faculty online teaching practices: Elements of award-winning courses. Online Learning 23(4) (2019)

Leone, V., Brzezinska, M.: Transatlantic Educators Dialogue (TED) Program for Global Citizenship. Idee in Form@Zione, 99–115 (2021)

Leong, K., Sung, A., Au, D., Blanchard, C.: A review of the trend of microlearning. J. Work-Appl. Manage. 13 (1), 88–102 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1108/JWAM-10-2020-004

Ma, X., Liu, J., Liang, J., Fan, C.: An empirical study on the effect of group awareness in CSCL environments. Interactive Learning Environments, 1–16 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1080/10494820.2020.1758730

Marinoni, G., van’t Land, H.: The Impact of COVID-19 on Global Higher Education. International Higher Education. Special Issue 102, pp. 7–9 (2020)

McGaughey, F., et al.: This can’t be the new norm’: academics’ perspectives on the COVID-19 crisis for the Australian university sector. Higher education research & development, 1–16 (2021)

McKee, C., Ntokos, K.: Online microlearning and student engagement in computer games higher education. Res. Learn. Technol. 30 (2022). https://doi.org/10.25304/rlt.v30.2680

McKenzie, L.: Bridging the Digital Divide: Lessons From Covid-19. Inside Higher Ed (2021). https://www.insidehighered.com/content/bridging-digital-divide-lessons-covid-19

Meletiou-Mavrotheris, M., Eteokleous, N., Stylianou-Georgiou, A.: Emergency remote learning in higher education in Cyprus during COVID-19 lockdown: a zoom-out view of challenges and opportunities for quality online learning. Educ. Sci. 12 (7), 477 (2022)

Muñoz-Carril, P.C., Hernández-Sellés, N., Fuentes-Abeledo, E.J., González-Sanmamed, M.: Factors influencing students’ perceived impact of learning and satisfaction in Computer Supported Collaborative Learning. Comput. Educ. 174 , 104310 (2021)

Peters, D., Calvo, R.A., Ryan, R.M.: Designing for motivation, engagement and wellbeing in digital experience. Front. Psychol. 9 , 797 (2018)

Piki, A.: An exploration of student experiences with social media and mobile technologies during emergency transition to remote education. In: The Proceedings of the 19th World Conference on Mobile, Blended and Seamless Learning (mLearn 2020), November 2–4, 2020, Cairo, Egypt (2020)

Piki, A.: Re-imagining the distributed nature of learner engagement in computer-supported collaborative learning contexts in the post-pandemic era. In: Meiselwitz, G. (eds.) Social Computing and Social Media: Applications in Education and Commerce. HCII 2022 (June 26-July 1, 2022). LNCS, vol. 13316. Springer, Cham (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-05064-0_13

Piki, A., Andreou, L., Markou, M.: Students’ perspectives on the emergency transition to online education – a case study in mathematics education. In: 16th Annual International Technology, Education and Development Conference (INTED2022), March 7–2, 2022 (2022)

Raygoza, M., Leon, R. Norris, A.: Humanizing Online Teaching (2020). https://digitalcommons.stmarys-ca.edu/school-education-faculty-works/1805

Rifkin, J.: The Empathetic Civilization: The Race to Global Consciousness in a World of Crisis. Penguin, New York, NY (2009)

Shaw, A.: Authentic Assessment in the Online Classroom. Center for Teaching and Learning. Wiley Education Services (2020)

Stefan, I.A., Gheorghe, A.F., Stefan, A., Piki, A., Tsalapata, H., Heidmann, O.: Constructing seamless learning through game-based learning experiences. Int. J. Mob. Blended Learn. (IJMBL) 14 (4), 1–12 (2022)

UUK (Universities UK) (2021). Stepchange Mentally Healthy Universities. https://www.universitiesuk.ac.uk/what-we-do/policyand-research/publications/stepchange-mentally-healthy-universities

Urbina-Garcia, A.: What do we know about university academics’ mental health? a systematic literature review. Stress. Health 36 (5), 563–585 (2020)

Veluvali, P., Surisetti, J.: Learning management system for greater learner engagement in higher education—a review. High. Educ. Future 9 (1), 107–121 (2022)

Vijayan, R.: Teaching and learning during the COVID-19 pandemic: a topic modeling study. Educ. Sci. 11 , 347 (2021)

Vlachopoulos, D.: COVID-19: threat or opportunity for online education? High. Learn. Res. Commun. 10 (1), 16–19 (2020)

Wang, Y., Cao, Y., Gong, S., Wang, Z., Li, N., Ai, L.: Interaction and learning engagement in online learning: the mediating roles of online learning self-efficacy and academic emotions. Learn. Individ. Differ. 94 , 102128 (2022)

Watchorn, D., Heckendorf, E., Smith, C.: Locked down, burned out: Publishing in a pandemic: The impact of Covid on academic authors. De Gruyter, Germany (2020)

Watermeyer, R., Crick, T., Knight, C., Goodall, J.: COVID-19 and digital disruption in UK universities: afflictions and affordances of emergency online migration. High. Educ. 81 (3), 623–641 (2021)

Whitman, G., Kelleher, I.: Your Checklist for Virtual Project-Based Learning. Edutopia (2020). https://www.edutopia.org/article/your-checklist-virtual-project-based-learning

WHO/UNESCO (2021). Making every school a health-promoting school: implementation guidance. Geneva: World Health Organization and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (2021). https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789240025073

Wray, S., Kinman, G.: Supporting Staff Wellbeing in Higher Education (ISBN 978-1-7399860-1-8). Education Support, London (2021)

Yiapanas, G., Constantinou, M., Marcoulli, E.: The readiness of higher education academic staff in cyprus for shifting the instructional delivery mode from face-to-face to emergency remote teaching. In: Handbook of Research on Digital Innovation and Networking in Post-COVID-19 Organizations, pp. 301–323. IGI Global (2022)

Download references

Author information

Authors and affiliations.

University of Central Lancashire – Cyprus, Larnaca, Cyprus

Andriani Piki

WSB University, Poznan, Poland

Magdalena Brzezinska

You can also search for this author in PubMed   Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Magdalena Brzezinska .

Editor information

Editors and affiliations.

University of Bucharest, Bucharest, Romania

Adela Coman

University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba, Japan

Simona Vasilache

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2023 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this paper

Cite this paper.

Piki, A., Brzezinska, M. (2023). Teaching and Learning in the New Normal: Responding to Students’ and Academics’ Multifaceted Needs. In: Coman, A., Vasilache, S. (eds) Social Computing and Social Media. HCII 2023. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 14026. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-35927-9_9

Download citation

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-35927-9_9

Published : 09 July 2023

Publisher Name : Springer, Cham

Print ISBN : 978-3-031-35926-2

Online ISBN : 978-3-031-35927-9

eBook Packages : Computer Science Computer Science (R0)

Share this paper

Anyone you share the following link with will be able to read this content:

Sorry, a shareable link is not currently available for this article.

Provided by the Springer Nature SharedIt content-sharing initiative

• Publish with us

Policies and ethics

• Find a journal
• Track your research

• Research article
• Open access
• Published: 21 December 2020

Transitioning to the “new normal” of learning in unpredictable times: pedagogical practices and learning performance in fully online flipped classrooms

• Khe Foon Hew   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0003-4149-533X 1 ,
• Chengyuan Jia 1 ,
• Donn Emmanuel Gonda 1 &
• Shurui Bai 1  

International Journal of Educational Technology in Higher Education volume  17 , Article number:  57 ( 2020 ) Cite this article

466k Accesses

83 Citations

12 Altmetric

Metrics details

The COVID-19 outbreak has compelled many universities to immediately switch to the online delivery of lessons. Many instructors, however, have found developing effective online lessons in a very short period of time very stressful and difficult. This study describes how we successfully addressed this crisis by transforming two conventional flipped classes into fully online flipped classes with the help of a cloud-based video conferencing app. As in a conventional flipped course, in a fully online flipped course students are encouraged to complete online pre-class work. But unlike in the conventional flipped approach, students do not subsequently meet face-to-face in physical classrooms, but rather online. This study examines the effect of fully online flipped classrooms on student learning performance in two stages. In Stage One, we explain how we drew on the 5E framework to design two conventional flipped classes. The 5E framework consists of five phases—Engage, Explore, Explain, Elaborate, and Evaluate. In Stage Two, we describe how we transformed the two conventional flipped classes into fully online flipped classes. Quantitative analyses of students’ final course marks reveal that the participants in the fully online flipped classes performed as effectively as participants in the conventional flipped learning classes. Our qualitative analyses of student and staff reflection data identify seven good practices for videoconferencing - assisted online flipped classrooms.

Introduction

“It’s now painfully clear that schools ought to have had more robust disaster-preparedness plans in place in the event of interruptions in their campus operations. But because many schools did not have such plans in place…online learning is about to get a bad reputation at many campuses, I suspect.” Michael Horn, cited in Lederman ( 2020 ), ‘Inside Higher Ed’.

In early January 2020, scientists identified a new infectious disease caused by a novel coronavirus. Since then, the COVID-19 pandemic has caused widespread disruptions to schools and universities. According to UNESCO, as of April 10, 2020, more than 188 countries had implemented nationwide school and university closures, impacting over 91% of the world’s student population (UNESCO n.d.).

During these school closures, all face-to-face lessons were cancelled, compelling many institutions, including our own university, to immediately transition from face-to-face in-person learning to completely online lessons. The abrupt switch to fully online learning has been particularly stressful for many instructors and students who prefer in-person instruction. Online learning is often stigmatized as a weaker option that provides a lower quality education than in-person face-to-face learning (Hodges et al. 2020 ). Indeed, such negative attitudes to fully online learning were revealed by a large EDUCAUSE survey (Pomerantz and Brooks 2017 ). The survey of 11,141 faculty members from 131 U.S. institutions found that only 9% of faculty prefer to teach a fully online course. In other words, a whopping 91% of faculty do not wish to teach in a completely online environment. Students’ opinions of fully online courses are not much better; a recent student survey by EDUCAUSE of more than 40,000 students across 118 American universities revealed that as many as 70% of the respondents mostly or completely prefer face-to-face learning environments (Gierdowski 2019 ).

Clearly, many faculty members and students do not see the value of fully online learning, despite the fact that online learning has been around for many decades. During the current health crisis, many instructors have had to improvise quick online learning solutions (Hodges et al. 2020 ). For example, in our own university, there are anecdotal reports of a myriad of emergency online methods. Some instructors, for example, merely uploaded their PowerPoint slides or papers onto a learning management system such as Moodle and asked students to read them on their own. Any questions were asked asynchronously on the Moodle forum. Other instructors recorded their own lectures (usually at least one hour long) and asked students to asynchronously watch the video lectures and then ask individual questions later. Still others talked for more than two hours via synchronous video platforms watched by students in their own homes. Although these online methods may be an efficient method of delivering content, they are not particularly effective in promoting active learning and interest (Bates and Galloway 2012 ). As one student remarked, “Sitting in front of my computer to watch a 2-h live lecture without any active learning activities such as group work is pretty boring!” Indeed, without any active learning activities such as peer interaction, a fully online course will feel more like an interactive book than a classroom (Sutterlin 2018 ).

Well-planned active online learning lessons are markedly different from the emergency online teaching offered in response to a crisis (Hodges et al. 2020 ). One promising strategy for promoting online active learning is the fully online flipped classroom pedagogical approach, hereafter referred to as the online flipped classroom approach. An online flipped classroom is a variant of the conventional flipped model. A conventional flipped classroom model consists of online learning of basic concepts before class, followed by face-to-face learning activities (Bishop and Verleger 2013 ). The conventional flipped model has become very popular in recent years due to its association with active learning, which emphasizes students’ active learning (Xiu and Thompson 2020 ). Active learning activities such as peer discussions can help students construct better understandings of the subject material (Deslauriers et al. 2019 ). Recent meta-analyses have provided consistent overall support for the superiority of the conventional flipped classroom approach over traditional learning for enhancing student learning (e.g., Låg and Sæle 2019 ; Lo and Hew 2019 ; Shi et al. 2019 ; van Alten et al. 2019 ).

The online flipped classroom is similar to the conventional flipped classroom model in that students are encouraged to prepare for class by completing some pre-class activities (e.g., watching video lectures, completing quizzes). However, unlike the conventional flipped classroom approach, students in online flipped classrooms do not meet face-to-face, but online (Stohr et al. 2020 ). Although the online flipped classroom appears to be gathering momentum in higher education, very few studies have examined its effectiveness (for an exception, see Stohr et al. 2020 , who compared the online flipped classroom format with a conventional non-flipped teaching format). So far, we are not cognizant of any research that evaluated the efficacy of the fully online flipped classroom relative to the conventional flipped classroom. Establishing the effectiveness of online flipped classrooms is important, as practitioners need to know whether this active learning approach can be used during prolonged school closures.

Against this backdrop, this study compares the effects of online flipped classrooms versus conventional flipped classrooms on student learning outcomes. To this end, two conventional flipped classes in the Faculty of Education are transformed into online flipped classrooms. Students in both the online and flipped classes participated in the online pre-class activity asynchronously using a learning management system. However, students in the online flipped classes joined the online in-class learning synchronously using a video conferencing app whereas their counterparts in the conventional flipped classes attended face-to-face classes. The online flipped courses were designed using the 5E conceptual framework and used a cloud-based video conferencing app. We used the Zoom application after careful consideration of many different videoconferencing platforms. Our reasons for doing so are given in the Section of “Stage Two: Transforming conventional flipped classes into online flipped classes”.

The 5E framework consists of five phases—Engage, Explore, Explain, Elaborate, and Evaluate (Bybee et al. 2006 ).

Engage—The first phase aims to engage students in the learning process. Methods to engage students usually include using a real-world scenario, or problem, asking students questions that allow them to brainstorm or think critically, and helping them to create connections to their past experiences.

Explore—In the exploration phase, the teacher, who works as a facilitator or coach, gives the students time and opportunity to explore the content and construct their own understanding of the topic at hand.

Explain—This phase starts with students attempting to explain specific aspects of the engagement and exploration experiences. Based on these explanations, the teacher introduces terminology in a direct and explicit manner to facilitate concept building.

Elaborate—In this phase, the teacher provided more detailed information about the subject content through the use of mini lectures and/or whole class discussions. Students are also given the opportunity to apply what they have learned and receive feedback from the teacher and their peers.

Evaluate—Formative assessments (e.g., quizzes) can be used to evaluate students’ mastery of the subject material at the beginning and throughout the 5E phases, and teachers can complete a summative assessment after the elaboration phase (e.g., final exams).

We adopted the 5E framework for the following reasons. First, the 5E framework, which is based on various educational theories and models (e.g., Herbart’s instructional model, Dewey’s instructional model, Atkin-Karplus Learning Cycle) (Bybee et al. 2006 ), provides a sound instructional sequence for designing a course and planning activities. The 5E framework can help instructors organize and integrate both the in-class and out-of-class learning activities (Lo 2017 ).

Second, previous research has shown the positive effect of the 5E framework on student achievement. These positive effects were initially established in science education (e.g., Akar 2005 ; Boddy et al. 2003 ). Recently, the 5E model has yielded positive results when applied to various subject areas and when used to design inquiry- and interaction-based learning activities. Mullins ( 2017 ), for example, found that undergraduate students in a 5E-supported class outperformed their peers in a traditional lecture setting. Hew et al. ( 2018 ) designed two postgraduate courses based on the 5E model in order to foster students’ active learning. Ninety-two percent of the participants agreed that the 5E supported courses were more engaging than traditional classroom instruction.

The rest of this paper is structured as follows. First, we describe our study design and methodology. This is followed by a description of our two stages of research. In Stage One, we explain how we use the 5E framework to design our two conventional flipped classes; In Stage Two, we describe how we transformed the two conventional flipped classes into fully online flipped classes, using a cloud-based video conferencing app. We describe the various pedagogical practices that Zoom videoconferencing can facilitate before and during online flipped classes. In this paper, we use the term “pedagogical practices” to refer to specific activities that are used to structure teaching and learning. This study is guided by the following two questions.

What effect does the change from a conventional flipped classroom format to an online flipped format have on student learning performance?

What are the good practices for videoconferencing - assisted online flipped classrooms, as perceived by students and/or teaching staff?

This study was conducted in a large public Asian university. Four classes were involved: (a) conventional flipped Course 1, (b) conventional flipped Course 2, (c) online flipped Course 1, and (d) online flipped Course 2. Conventional flipped Courses 1 and 2 were the control group. Online flipped Courses 1 and 2 were the experimental group. To avoid any potential instructor confounding bias, the same professor and teaching assistants (TAs) taught the conventional and online flipped formats of each class. Ethical approval to conduct the study was obtained from the Institutional Review Board at the University of Hong Kong and consent forms from all participants in the study were collected.

Data collection and analysis

To reiterate, this study had two purposes: (a) to determine the effect of an online flipped classroom on student learning performance as determined by student final course marks, and (b) to determine good practices for videoconferencing - assisted online flipped classrooms, as perceived by the participants (students and teaching staff). We adopted a mixed methods involving quantitative and qualitative approaches to provide a deeper understanding of the research problem (Ivankova et al. 2006 ).

The data collection spanned across two semesters, which corresponded to the aforementioned two stages of the research. The conventional flipped classes were implemented in conventional flipped Courses 1 and 2 during the semester of 2019 Fall before the pandemic (Stage One). Due to the outbreak of Covid-19, all courses were required to be delivered online in our university in the 2020 Spring semester. Therefore, the online flipped classes were conducted in online flipped Courses 1 and 2 during the pandemic in 2020 Spring (Stage Two). Students’ knowledge and skills of the course content were checked at the beginning of the each course. Students final course marks in each course were collected and used as measure of the student learning outcomes at the end of the semester (See Fig.  1 for the research timeline).

Timeline of data collection: 2019 Fall (before the pandemic), 2020 Spring (during the pandemic)

To address the first purpose, we compared the students’ final course marks in the online flipped classrooms and conventional flipped classrooms. Quantitative data from 99 students were collected (see Table 1 ). We used the students’ final course marks to measure performance.

To identify the perceived good practices for videoconferencing - assisted online flipped classrooms, we invited students and the teaching staff to complete a self-reflection exercise based on the following question: “What do you perceive as good practices in a videoconferencing-supported online flipped classroom?” The qualitative data collected from students and instructors were analyzed as follows. The first step was an initial reading of all of the response data to obtain an overall impression. The first author then applied the grounded approach (Strauss and Corbin 1990 ) to the qualitative data to generate relevant codes. Similar codes were organized into themes. In order to increase the consistency of coding, several exemplary quotes that clearly illustrated each constructed theme were identified. We also allowed new themes (if any) to emerge inductively during the coding process. The second author coded the data. There was perfect agreement with the coding. Table 2 summarizes how the data for each research question were collected and analyzed.

Stage one: designing conventional flipped classes using the 5E framework

In this section, we first describe how we use the 5E framework to design our two conventional flipped classes (Course 1: E-Learning Strategies , and Course 2: Engaging Adult Learners ). In the next section, we describe how we transform these two conventional flipped classes into fully online flipped classes. Figure  2 shows the 5E framework that guided our design of the conventional flipped classes. Table 3 shows some of the teaching and learning activities used in each of the 5E phases.

5E framework used to design the two conventional flipped classes

Conventional flipped course 1: E-learning strategies

This course discussed the various e-learning strategies that can be employed to foster six types of learning, including problem-solving, attitude learning, factual learning, concept learning, procedural learning, and principle learning. There were eight sessions in the course. The first seven sessions were flipped—each consisting of an online pre-class learning component and a 3-h face-to-face in-class component. The last session was devoted to students’ presentations. Figure  3 shows an example of how the 5E framework was used in Course 1.

Example of a pre-class activity in Course 1

For instance, in the pre-class phase of Session 2: Instructional Design—Part 1 , we posted a video that posed the question “What do we mean by ‘understand’”. This video engaged students’ curiosity about the importance of writing clear and measurable learning objectives. The instructor in the video highlighted the pitfalls of using vague words such as “know” and “understand” when writing learning objectives. Students then explored and explained their own individual learning objectives using the ABCD model (audience, behavior, condition, degree). Students were able to use a mobile instant messaging (MIM) app such as WeChat to ask questions of their peers or instructor. When a message arrived, a notification appeared on the receiver’s phone screen, encouraging timely feedback and frequent interaction (Rosenfeld et al. 2018 ).

During the face-to-face in-class session, the instructor re-engaged students’ attention by discussing basic instructional design issues such as “How do we write good lesson objectives?” The instructor conducted short debriefing sessions to discuss the strengths and weaknesses of students’ pre-class work. The instructor also facilitated class or small group discussions to build students’ understanding of how to write measurable lesson objectives that help students to achieve specific learning outcomes (e.g., factual learning). These discussions allowed students to elaborate on good lesson objectives practices. To evaluate the students’ understanding, the instructor asked them to work in groups of four on an instructional design scenario (e.g., teaching participants how to deal with angry customers), and then write a learning objective for the lesson in an online forum; their peers then commented on the posted learning objectives (Fig.  4 ).

Example of an in-class activity in Course 1

Conventional flipped course 2: engaging adult learners

This course discussed the key principles of adult learning, as well as strategies used in adult education (e.g., transformational learning theory). There were eight sessions in the course, each session lasted three hours. An example of how the 5E instructional model was used is shown in Fig.  5 .

Example of a pre-class activity in Course 2

For example, in the pre-class session for Session 3: Motivation, we uploaded a four-minute video that briefly described the concepts of reinforcement and punishment. The aim of the video was to engage students’ attention on the focal topic. To help students explore the topic in further, they were asked to respond to the following question: “After watching the video, can you think of other positive reinforcers, negative reinforcers, and punishment methods?” Students posted their opinions ( explained ) on a discussion forum. Students also used the WeChat app to ask questions of their peers or instructor.

During the subsequent face-to-face lesson (Fig.  6 ), the instructor facilitated whole class discussions using relevant questions to elaborate on the topics covered in the pre-class video. An example of a question used was ‘When should we employ positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement, or punishment?’ Based on the students’ responses, the instructor was able to provide more in-depth explanation of the subject matter, or correct any student misunderstanding. This will help enhance students’ comprehension of the subject content. The instructor also discussed the notion of intrinsic motivation (e.g., the self-determination theory). In addition to elaborating on the content, the instructor also evaluated the students’ understanding by asking students to complete small group discussion activities. An example of a small group discussion activity was ‘Did you have any experience where you did not like learning a subject or doing an activity? How would you motivate yourself in that situation? Please try to use a mixture of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation factors.’ Upon completion of the small group activity, students from each group presented their views to the whole class. The instructor, as well as the rest of the classmates provided feedback.

Example of an in-class activity in Course 2

Stage two: transforming conventional flipped classes into online flipped classes

The outbreak of COVID-19 inspired us to transform the two conventional flipped classes discussed above into fully online flipped classes. After careful consideration, the Zoom videoconferencing app was used for the synchronized online meetings (see Table 4 ). The whole transformation process took about one week with the bulk of the time was spent on exploring and testing the features of Zoom.

Zoom is a Web videoconferencing service that allows users to communicate online with individuals in real time via computer, tablet, or mobile device. We chose Zoom because of its ease of use (Kim 2017 ; Sutterlin 2018 ), its lower bandwidth requirements (Sutterlin 2018 ), and its ability to record and store sessions without recourse to third-party software (Archibald et al. 2019 ). More importantly, Zoom was chosen because its functions could easily support the implementation of our online flipped classroom. For instance, it allows instructors to easily create breakout rooms for group discussions. It also makes team-teaching possible by allowing more than one host and giving all of the hosts administrative capabilities such as sharing screens and remote control over shared screens (Johnston 2020 ).

To keep our online meetings secure, we activated the “ only authenticated users can join ” option. Specifically, we only allowed participants using our own university’s email domain to join the online meetings. In addition, we enabled the “ waiting room ” feature so that we could screen all of participants in the “ waiting room ” and admit only students officially enrolled in our classes into the online meeting. After all of the participants had entered, we then locked the meeting using the “ Lock the meeting ” feature. Once we had locked a meeting, no new participants could join.

The same learning materials used in the conventional flipped classes were used in the online flipped classes. Table 4 shows some of the teaching and learning activities. Students in the online flipped classes completed pre-class activities that were similar to those used in the conventional flipped classes, but these were not followed by face-to-face meetings, but by online meetings conducted on the Zoom videoconferencing app.

Online flipped course 1: E-learning strategies

Like the conventional flipped course, the online flipped Course 1 consisted of eight sessions. The first seven sessions were flipped—students were encouraged to complete a set of pre-class sessions asynchronously (similar to Fig.  3 ). Students also used the WeChat MIM app to ask questions of their peers or instructors. However, unlike the conventional flipped approach, the “in-class” session for the online flipped students was conducted completely online through Zoom videoconferencing. In the final session (Session 8), the online flipped students also presented their work on Zoom. Each online “in-class” session lasted three hours—similar in duration to the in-class component of the conventional flipped format.

In the online synchronous “in-class” sessions, the instructor started by reminding students to switch on their webcams and to mute their microphones when not speaking. Next, the instructor lead a short class debriefing session to elaborate on the materials covered in the pre-class session. This was similar to the structure of the conventional flipped class format. For example, the instructor might discuss the students’ completed pre-class work and highlight the overall strengths and weaknesses. The main purpose of these short debriefing sessions was to clarify students’ initial doubts or misconceptions. Following the debriefing sessions, the instructor facilitated class discussions that delved deeper into the subject content. To evaluate students’ understanding of the materials, students were asked to work individually or participate in small group discussions on specific questions similar to those used in the conventional flipped classes. Students then presented their work online to the whole class, and received peer and instructor feedback.

To engage the participants, the instructor used a number of features of the Zoom videoconferencing system. For example, the instructor posed questions during the whole class discussion and used the polling feature to rapidly collect and analyze student responses. The polling feature provided a function similar to a clicker or student response system. Based on the poll results, the instructor then addressed students’ misunderstandings. To enable small group discussions, the instructor used the breakout rooms feature of Zoom . Each student was assigned to one of several groups. Each group consisted of four to five students. Other students could not “drop” into other groups, but the instructor could drop into any group and participate in the discussions. When it was time for the small groups to return to the whole class, students would receive a time indicator reminding them that they were rejoining the whole class. Table 5 shows how the specific features of Zoom helped support the online “in-class” teaching and learning activities. Figure  7 illustrates some of the Zoom features used in the course.

Examples of Zoom features used in Course 1

Online flipped course 2: engaging adult learners

Similar to the conventional flipped course, the online flipped course had eight sessions. The pre-class and in-class activities used in the conventional flipped course were also used in the online flipped course (see Fig.  5 for an example of a pre-class activity). Students also used the WeChat MIM app to ask questions of their peers or instructors. The last three sessions were used for students’ online presentations via videoconferencing. Each online “in-class” session lasted three hours—similar in duration to the in-class component of the conventional flipped class. In the online synchronous “in-class” sessions, the instructor reminded students to switch on their webcams and to mute their microphones when not speaking. The instructor used the features of the Zoom videoconferencing system shown in Table 5 and Fig.  7 .

Results and discussion

Conventional flipped versus online flipped course 1: e-learning strategies.

To address Research Question 1, the learning outcomes of students in the conventional flipped Course 1 and the online flipped Course 1 were measured and compared. The main purpose of both courses was to teach students the skills needed to create an e-learning storyboard and to develop a fully online course based on the 5E framework on Moodle. At the beginning of both the conventional flipped and online flipped classes, students were surveyed if they had any experience creating storyboards or fully online courses. None of the students had any such prior experience. Therefore, we assumed that both groups of students had similar levels of prior knowledge/skill. Next, we used both groups of students’ final course marks as a measure of the student learning outcomes. The maximum final marks in the final assessment was 100.

We first checked the normality of the final course marks data. If there were a significant deviation from normality, the Mann–Whitney U would be the most appropriate test for comparing the groups; otherwise, an independent samples t -test would be appropriate. The results showed that the course marks for both the conventional flipped ( W (23) = 0.920, p  = 0.068) and online flipped classes ( W (26) = 0.964, p  = 0.479) were normally distributed, as assessed by the Shapiro–Wilk’s test. There was also homogeneity in the variances for the course marks, as assessed by Levene’s test for equality of variances ( p  = 0.652). In addition, there were no outliers in the data, as assessed by an inspection of the boxplots (Fig.  8 ).

The boxplots of final marks in Course 1 for conventional flipped class and online flipped class

An independent-samples t -test was therefore conducted to determine if there were differences in the final marks of the conventional flipped and online flipped classes. The results suggested that online flipped participants ( M  = 66.00, SD = 11.63) performed as effectively as participants in the conventional flipped learning format ( M  = 65.04, SD = 11.80), t (47) = 0.285, p  = 0.777.

Conventional flipped versus online flipped course 2: engaging adult learners

The main purpose of both the conventional flipped and online flipped Engaging Adult Learners courses was to introduce students to the key characteristics of adult learners, the key principles of adult learning, and strategies for adult education. First, to test if there were any initial differences in students’ prior knowledge of the course content, a short quiz was administered to both groups at the start of the semester. The Mann–Whitney U test found no significant initial differences between the conventional flipped group ( Mdn  = 0) and the online flipped group ( Mdn  = 0.5), U  = 218.5, p  = 0.06.

Next, we used the students’ final course marks as a measure of the student learning outcomes. The final assessment included individual written reflections on course topics and relevant articles, and a group demonstration of an adult-teaching strategy. The maximum final marks for the final assessment was 100. As in the above analysis, we first checked the normality of the final course mark data. The course marks for both the conventional flipped and online flipped classes were normally distributed, as assessed by Shapiro–Wilk’s test: W (25) = 0.963, p  = 0.470 for the conventional flipped course and W (24) = 0.930, p  = 0.096 for the online flipped course. There was also a homogeneity of variances, as assessed by Levene’s test for equality of variances ( p  = 0.304). In addition, there were no outliers in the data, as assessed by an inspection of the boxplots (Fig.  9 ).

The boxplots of final marks in Course 2 for conventional flipped class and online flipped class

We subsequently carried out an independent-samples t-test to examine if there was any significant difference in the final course marks of the conventional flipped and online flipped classes. The results suggested that online flipped learning participants ( M  = 83.25, SD = 4.56) performed as effectively as participants in the conventional flipped learning classes ( M  = 83.40, SD = 5.51), t (47) = 0.104, p  = 0.918.

What are the good practices for videoconferencing-assisted online flipped classrooms, as perceived by students and/or teaching staff?

The analyses of the participants’ comments identified the following seven good practices for videoconferencing-assisted online flipped classrooms.

Remind participants to mute their microphones when not speaking to eliminate undesirable background noise . According to Gazzillo ( 2018 ), muting participants’ microphones allows the speaker to have center stage while eliminating the distraction of audio feedback. As one teaching staff member said, .

It’s a good practice at the beginning to mute all of the participants by selecting the “Mute All” button at the bottom of the participants panel. This will eliminate all background noise (e.g., television sounds, audio feedback). I will then ask the participants to turn their audio back on if they wish to talk

In terms of Zoom functionality, by pressing and holding the “space bar” allows the participants to temporarily switch on their microphone. We also ask the participants to install an AI-enabled application called “Krisp” to minimize the background noise of the participants.

Remind participants before the online “in-class” session begins to switch on their webcams . Webcams show a person’s face to other people on the video call, which can help to increase online social presence among classmates (Conrad and Donaldson 2011 ). Online social presence is positively correlated with student satisfaction and student perceived learning (Richardson et al. 2017 ). The participants also strongly prefer to see a face during instruction as it is perceived as more educational (Kizilcec et al. 2014 ). Students’ facial expressions are also a valuable source of feedback for the instructor to know whether the students could understand the subject matter (Sathik and Jonathan 2013 ). An instructor can use students’ facial expressions to determine whether to speed up, or slow down, or provide further elaborations. Feedback from the teaching staff included the following comments.

It is important to ask students to turn on their cameras. Students will be more focused and interactive and teaching will be better when teachers can see students’ responses.

As an instructor, I do not feel as if I’m talking to a wall when I can see some actual faces. Students also feel they are talking to someone rather than to an empty black screen. But it’s important to inform the students in advance to switch on their webcams so that they can do their hair properly or put on makeup beforehand—this was what some students actually told me!

During teaching, seeing your students' faces will give you another form of feedback. For example, when they look confused or nod their heads, it allows me to fine-tune the delivery of the content. These reactions give me visual feedback on whether I need further explanations or examples to elaborate on the topic.

Feedback from the students included the following comments.

Showing our faces is really helpful as we can see our classmates’ faces and remember them. Also, it makes the class more alive because we can see their expressions. Showing our faces is very helpful! It can make me feel like I’m in a real class! I enjoy the feeling of having a class with my classmates.

Turning on the camera helps us be more attentive in the online class.

To avoid showing any undesirable background objects (e.g., a messy bedroom) during the video meeting, participants can choose to replace their actual background with a virtual background. The participants can easily do this using the Zoom virtual background feature.

Manage the transition to the online flipped classroom approach for students . Not every student will be familiar with the videoconferencing app or the flipped classroom approach. Therefore, to promote student buy-in of this new pedagogical approach, it is important for the staff to directly address two main issues: (a) the structure and activities of the online flipped course, and (b) the functions of the video conferencing app. Feedback from the students included the following comments.

If teachers would like to use some functions in Zoom, they need to first help students get familiar with it. A brief introduction to Zoom at the beginning of the class is helpful.

First, I informed the students that these two courses would have two components: a pre-class session and an online “in-class” session. This helped students understand the flipped approach better. Next, my teaching assistant and I conducted a short introduction to using Zoom online before the class began. This helped students get familiar with the features we would be using in Zoom.

Constant fine-tuning is also a key element in managing the transition to the online flipped classroom. Asking the students what works and what doesn’t have become our practice every after the lesson. These comments allow us to rethink and re-plan for the next online synchronous session.

Feedback from the teaching staff included the following comments.

Having a technical-related orientation session before the actual class starts helps a lot for students who are not familiar with the videoconferencing tool.

Instructors should use dual monitors to simulate, as close as possible, the look and feel of a face-to-face class—one monitor to view all the participants in “gallery view,” and the other to view the presentation material . It is very useful for instructors and teaching assistants to use the dual-monitor display function, which allows the video layout and screen share content to be presented on two separate monitors. One monitor can be used to view the participants (up to 49) in “gallery view,” and the other to display the presentation materials. In the “gallery view,” the instructor can see thumbnail displays of all of the participants in a grid pattern that expands and contracts automatically as participants join and leave the meeting (Zoom Video Communications 2019 ). The use of a dual monitor feature is also useful for PowerPoint presentations and hiding notes from the participants. Feedback from the teaching staff included:

During the preparation for this course, we would like to simulate, as close as possible, the look and feel of a face-to-face class. This thinking brought us to the dual monitor layout for our Zoom sessions. The first monitor is for the teaching assistant; in this case, it acts as a co-host for the Zoom session. The teaching assistant extends the computer screen to a monitor to show the participants’ faces or the “gallery view.” This monitor acts as a “classroom” in the traditional face-to-face class. During the session, this first monitor also serves as a tool for classroom management. This view is where the “chat” and “raise hand” functions can be seen. The second monitor is where the instructor places the presentation materials. This view acts as the projector in the traditional face-to-face class. Occasionally, we added a third screen, which is an iPad to do real-time annotation. This iPad can is a replacement of the conventional “whiteboard” in a face-to-face class.

Activate and evaluate students’ pre-class learning with a short review. At the beginning of the online “in-class” sessions, instructors should use short formative assessment methods (e.g., a quiz) to activate and evaluate students’ understanding of the pre-class activities. The activation of prior learning enhances student learning because it is the foundation for the new material presented in the classroom (Merrill 2002 ). Indeed, recent meta-analyses have suggested that flipped learning is more effective when formative assessments (e.g., quizzes or reviews) are used before and/or during class time (e.g., Hew and Lo 2018 ; Låg and Sæle 2019 ; Lo et al. 2017 ; van Alten et al. 2019 ). Students in this study reported positive benefits of using short formative assessments such as reviews or quizzes. Examples of student feedback include the following comments.

I find the reviews at the beginning of the “in-class” sessions very helpful! It’s good to start from something we are familiar with, and then go to the new materials. The reviewing of pre-class work is great because we can know what points we do not understand well and how we can improve.

The reviews helped me understand the issue more deeply. I could find out what my misunderstandings of the content are.

I find the teachers’ explanation and review of the pre-class work helpful.

Use an MIM app on mobile phones to foster quicker online response times and to communicate with students during their online breakout sessions . Although students can ask questions via discussion forums or email, the asynchronicity of these apps creates a time lag between postings and replies which can discourage students from communicating with each other (Hew et al. 2018 ). In contrast, MIM apps such as WhatsApp and WeChat allow users to engage in quasi synchronous communications on their mobile phones. When communication needs are urgent, many students may only have their phones available. As soon as an MIM message is sent, a notification automatically shows up on the user’s phone screen, which encourages timely response (Hew et al. 2018 ; Rosenfeld et al. 2018 ). In addition, MIM is more popular than voice calls, emails, and even face-to-face communication among young people (Lenhart et al. 2010 ). As of March 2019, more than 41 million mobile instant messages are sent every minute (Clement 2019 ). Student feedback on using MIM in classrooms included the following comments.

I like using MIM such as WeChat because it allows us to communicate with other people immediately.

I enjoy using WeChat to ask questions and get immediate feedback from my classmates and teaching staff.

Use a variety of presentation media as well as a variety of activities to sustain student interest . No matter how interested a learner is in the topic of a presentation or discussion, that interest will wane in the face of monotony (Driscoll 2000 ). Therefore, it is recommended that instructors sustain student interest by varying the use of presentation media. Instructors, for example, can alternate the use of PowerPoint slides with digital handwriting on an iPad. The instructor in this study made the following comments.

I find continual use of PowerPoint slides to be boring. It’s always the same style: a bullet list of information with some animations or pictures. I find it useful to sustain my students’ attention by writing on an iPad.

Comments from the students were also positive.

I find the instructor writing on an iPad helps to focus my attention better than PowerPoint slides.

Writing on the iPad is like writing on a whiteboard in real face-to-face classrooms. It helps me develop a better understanding of the topic.

Digital writing on an iPad can help learners see the progressive development of the subject content (Hulls 2005 ), and follow the instructor’s cognitive process better than pre-prepared PowerPoint presentations (Lee and Lim 2013 ). Writing on an iPad can also enable an instructor to immediately adjust his or her instruction in response to the students’ needs. Using digital writing can significantly improve students’ understanding of conceptual knowledge when compared to PowerPoint-based presentation lectures (Lee and Lim 2013 ).

In addition to varying the presentation media, an instructor should also use different activities, including guest speakers, during the online class session. Feedback from the students included the following comments.

The use of different functions in Zoom, such as breakout rooms for group activities, voting, and raising hands, is useful because they help us to be involved. It helps increase the learner-learner and learner-instructor interaction, which may be lacking in a fully online class.

During the three-hour online class, we had not only the teacher’s explanations, but also had a guest speaker and online group discussions via breakout rooms, which made the class engaging.

In this study, the instructor invited a United Kingdom-based practicing instructional designer as a guest speaker in the two online flipped courses to talk about her experience in developing e-learning courses and engaging adult learners. Guest speakers enhance students’ educational experience by giving them real-world knowledge (Metrejean and Zarzeski 2001 ). Guest speakers can offer students a different point of view, one that students may better understand. Guest speakers can also alleviate the monotony of listening to a single instructor.

Amidst the burgeoning use of online learning during the unpredictable present, this study evaluates the efficacy of a videoconferencing - supported fully online flipped classroom. It compares student outcomes in four higher education classes: conventional flipped Course 1 versus online flipped Course 1, and conventional flipped Course 2 versus online flipped Course 2. Overall, this study makes three contributions to the literature on flipped classrooms. First, it provides a thick description of the development of the conventional flipped classroom approach based on the 5E framework, and the transformation of the conventional flipped classroom into a fully online flipped classroom. A thick description of the development of the flipped classrooms is provided to encourage replication by other researchers and practitioners. Second, our findings reveal that the online flipped classroom approach can be as effective as the conventional flipped classroom. Third, we identify seven good practices for using videoconferencing to support online flipped classrooms. This set of good practices can provide useful guidelines for other instructors who might be interested in implementing an online flipped approach.

One potential limitation of our study is that it was relatively short in duration (8 weeks). However, according to Fraenkel et al. ( 2014 ), some researchers do collect data within a fairly short time. A short-term data collection period enables researchers to collect and analyze data to see if an intervention is workable before committing to a longer study (Creswell 2015 ). We therefore urge future researchers to examine the use of videoconferencing - supported online flipped classrooms over a longer period of time, such as one year or more, to verify the results of this study.

Another interesting area for future work will be examining how instructors can support learners’ self-regulation during online flipped classroom (Cheng et al. 2019 ), as well as what strategies can best motivate students to complete the pre-class work.

Availability of data and materials

The anonymized datasets used and/or analysed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

Akar, E. (2005). Effectiveness of 5e learning cycle model on students’ understanding of acid-base concepts . MS Thesis, Middle East Technical University, Ankara.

Archibald, M. M., Ambagtsheer, R. C., Casey, M. G., & Lawless, M. (2019). Using Zoom videoconferencing for qualitative data collection: perceptions and experiences of researchers and participants. Int J Qual Methods, 18, 1–8. https://doi.org/10.1177/1609406919874596 .

Article   Google Scholar  

Bates S, Galloway R. The inverted classroom in a large enrolment introductory physics course: A case study. https://www.heacademy.ac.uk/assets/documents/stem-conference/PhysicalSciences/Simon_Bates_Ross_Galloway.pdf (2012)

Bishop, J. L., & Verleger, M. A. (2013). The flipped classroom: A survey of the research. 120 Am Soc Eng Educ Annu Conf Expo, 30, 1–18.

Google Scholar  

Boddy, N., Watson, K., & Aubusson, P. (2003). A trial of the five e’s: a referent model for constructivist teaching and learning. Research in Science Education , 33 , 27–42. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1023606425452 .

Bond, M. (2020). Facilitating student engagement through the flipped learning approach in K-12: A systematic review. Computers & Education . https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2020.103819

Bybee, R. W., et al. (2006). The BSCS 5E instructional model: origins and effectiveness. Off Sci Educ Natl Inst Health, 2006, 1–80.

Cheng, L., Ritzhaupt, A. D., & Antonenko, P. (2019). Effects of the flipped classroom instructional strategy on students’ learning outcomes: a meta-analysis. Etr&D, 67 (4), 793–824. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11423-018-9633-7

Clement J. Global number of mobile messaging users 2018–2022. Statista. https://www.statista.com/statistics/483255/number-of-mobile-messaging-usersworldwide/ (2019)

Conrad, R. M., & Donaldson, J. A. (2011). Engaging the online learner: activities and resources for creative instruction . San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Creswell, J. W. (2015). Educational research: planning, conducting, and evaluating quantitative and qualitative research . Boston, MA: Pearson Education.

Deslauriers, L., et al. (2019). Measuring actual learning versus feeling of learning in response to being actively engaged in the classroom. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 116 (39), 19251–19257. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1821936116

Driscoll, M. P. (2000). Psychology of learning for instruction (2nd ed.). Boston: Allyn and Bacon.

Fraenkel, J. R., Wallen, N. E., & Hyun, H. H. (2014). How to design and evaluate research in education . New York: McGraw-Hill.

Gazzillo L. Tech tip: muting participants in Zoom. Yale Library IT News . https://campuspress.yale.edu/libraryitnews/2018/01/23/tech-tip-muting-participants-in-zoom/ (2018)

Gierdowski DC. 2019 study of undergraduate students and information technology. EDUCAUSE Center for Analysis and Research. https://library.educause.edu/resources/2019/10/2019-study-of-undergraduate-students-and-information-technology (2019)

Hew, K. F., & Lo, C. K. (2018). Flipped classroom improves student learning in health professions education: a meta-analysis. BMC Medical Education . https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-018-1144-z

Hew, K., et al. (2018). Examining a WeChat-supported 5E-flipped classroom pedagogical approach. Int J Serv Stand, 12, 224–242.

Hodges C, Moore S, Lockee B, Trust T, Bond, A. The difference between emergency remote teaching and online learning. Educause Review. https://er.educause.edu/articles/2020/3/the-difference-between-emergency-remote-teaching-and-online-learning (2020)

Hulls CCW. Using a tablet PC for classroom instruction. In Proceedings of the 35th Annual Conference of Frontiers in Education, Indianapolis, Indiana, 19–22 October

Ivankova, N. V., Creswell, J. W., & Stick, S. L. (2006). Using mixed-methods sequential explanatory design: From theory to practice. Field Methods, 18 (1), 3–20.

Johnston N. Google Hangouts Meet vs. Zoom: Which conferencing tool is better for you? https://www.androidcentral.com/google-hangouts-meet-vs-zoom (2020)

Kim J. Zoom is hot in higher ed. Inside Higher Ed . Retrieved from https://www.insidehighered.com/blogs/technology-and-learning/zoom-hot-higher-ed (2017)

Kizilcec RF, Papadopoulos K, Sritanyaratana L. Showing face in video instruction: Effects on information retention, visual attention, and affect. In Proceedings of SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (pp. 2095–2102). New York, NY: Association for Computing Machinery (2014)

Låg, T., & Sæle, R. G. (2019). Does the flipped classroom improve student learning and satisfaction? A systematic review and meta-analysis. AERA Open, 5 (3), 1–17.

Lederman D. Will shift to remote teaching be boon or bane for online learning? Inside Higher Ed . Retrieved from https://www.insidehighered.com/digital-learning/article/2020/03/18/most-teaching-going-remote-will-help-or-hurt-online-learning (2014)

Lee, H. W., & Lim, K. Y. (2013). Does digital handwriting of instructors using the iPad enhance student learning? Asia-Pacific Educ Res, 22 (3), 241–245.

Lenhart A, et al. Social media & mobile internet use among teens and young adults. Pew Internet and American Life Project, 2010 (2010).

Lo, C. K. (2017). Toward a flipped classroom instructional model for history education: a call for research. Int J Cult Hist, 3 (1), 36–43.

Lo, C. K., & Hew, K. F. (2019). The impact of flipped classrooms on student achievement in engineering education: a meta-analysis of 10 years of research. Journal of Engineering Education, 108 (4), 523–546.

Lo, C. K., Hew, K. F., & Chen, G. (2017). Toward a set of design principles for mathematics flipped classrooms: a synthesis of research in mathematics education. Educ Res Rev, 22, 50–73. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.edurev.2017.08.002

Merrill, M. D. (2002). First principles of instruction. Educ Technol Res Dev, 50 (3), 43–59.

Metrejean, C., & Zarzeski, M. (2001). Bring the world to the classroom. J Account, 19 (3), 73–76.

Mullins, M. H. (2017). Actively teaching research methods with a process oriented guided inquiry learning approach. J Teach Soc Work, 37 (4), 309–332.

Pomerantz J, Brooks DC. ECAR study of faculty and information technology. Research report . Louisville, CO: ECAR. https://library.educause.edu/-/media/files/library/2017/10/facultyitstudy2017.pdf (2017)

Richardson, J. C., Maeda, Y., Lv, J., & Caskurlu, S. (2017). Social presence in relation to students’ satisfaction and learning in the online environment: a meta-analysis. Computers in Human Behavior, 71, 402–417. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2017.02.001

Rosenfeld, A., Sina, S., Sarne, D., Avidov, O., & Kraus, S. (2018). WhatsApp usage patterns and prediction of demographic characteristics without access to message content. Demographic Research , 39 (22), 647–670. https://doi.org/10.4054/DemRes.2018.39.22 .

Sathik, M., & Jonathan, S. G. (2013). Effect of facial expressions on student’s comprehension recognition in virtual educational environments. SpringerPlus, 2, 455. https://doi.org/10.1186/2193-1801-2-455

Shi, Y., Ma, Y., MacLeod, J., & Yang, H. H. (2019). College students’ cognitive learning outcomes in flipped classroom instruction: a meta-analysis of the empirical literature. J Comput Educ . https://doi.org/10.1007/s40692-019-00142-8

Stohr, C., Demaziere, C., & Adawi, T. (2020). The polarizing effect of the online flipped classroom. Computers & Education . https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2019.103789

Strauss, A., & Corbin, J. (1990). Basics of qualitative research: grounded theory procedures and techniques . Newbury Park: Sage Publications.

Sutterlin J. Learning is social with Zoom videoconferencing in your classroom. eLearn magazine . https://elearnmag.acm.org/featured.cfm?aid=3236697 (2018)

UNESCO. (n.d.). COVID-19 educational disruption and response. https://en.unesco.org/themes/education-emergencies/coronavirus-school-closures

van Alten, D. C. D., Phielix, C., Janssen, J., & Kester, L. (2019). Effects of flipping the classroom on learning outcomes and satisfaction: a meta-analysis. Educ Res Rev, 28, 100281. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.edurev.2019.05.003

Xiu, Y., & Thompson, P. (2020). Flipped university class: a study of motivation and learning. J Inform Technol Educ, 19, 41–63.

Zoom Video Communications Inc. Displaying participants in gallery view. https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/360000005883-Displaying-participants-in-gallery-view (2019)

Download references

Acknowledgements

Not applicable.

Author information

Authors and affiliations.

Faculty of Education, The University of Hong Kong, Pok Fu Lam, Hong Kong SAR

Khe Foon Hew, Chengyuan Jia, Donn Emmanuel Gonda & Shurui Bai

You can also search for this author in PubMed   Google Scholar

Contributions

KFH conceptualized the study, analysed the data, and wrote the initial draft. CJ analysed the data, and revised the draft. DEG provided critical feedback and edited the manuscript. SB provided Zoom support and critical feedback. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Khe Foon Hew .

Additional information

Publisher's note.

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ .

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article.

Hew, K.F., Jia, C., Gonda, D.E. et al. Transitioning to the “new normal” of learning in unpredictable times: pedagogical practices and learning performance in fully online flipped classrooms. Int J Educ Technol High Educ 17 , 57 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1186/s41239-020-00234-x

Download citation

Received : 24 June 2020

Accepted : 28 September 2020

Published : 21 December 2020

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1186/s41239-020-00234-x

Share this article

Anyone you share the following link with will be able to read this content:

Sorry, a shareable link is not currently available for this article.

Provided by the Springer Nature SharedIt content-sharing initiative

• Online flipped classroom
• Flipped learning
• Good practices

Adjusting to the New Normal

• Posted August 14, 2020
• By Jacqueline Zeller

As the summer winds down, there are still many unknowns about what school will look like in some communities. Schools and parents are working hard to plan for how to best keep children and educators safe while providing quality education to students.

Below are some ideas parents and other primary caregivers may consider to help children adjust to the circumstances of this school year, with its many uncertainties. Many of these ideas are in line with the National Association of School Psychologists and American School Counselor Association’s Reentry Considerations and guidance regarding talking to children about COVID. This piece is meant to be informational in nature and not to provide medical advice or recommendations. These are general considerations, but parents should contact their own providers for individualized advice for their families and children.

• Talk with your child’s school and/or medical or professional provider to consult on what makes the most sense to support your child and family in the transition back to school. Each child is unique, and parents can adapt ideas to the individual needs of their children and family.  
• Provide developmentally appropriate and honest information regarding the beginning of the school year to help students understand what to expect. It is important to leave time for children to ask questions . When adults remain calm in the conversation, while offering information about successfully transitioning back to school, they can help children gain an increased sense of control. It is best not to overly focus on the news or unnecessary details that might cause increased distress to children. In general, with younger children, brief descriptions (with accurate information) are helpful. Children will respond to your emotions. Offer love and reassurance and remind children that adults, including their teachers and parents, are working to keep children safe.
• Listen to children’s questions and concerns . Remember that young children might also communicate through play.
• If children return to in-person school, they will need to be taught new routines regarding physical distancing, hygiene, wearing masks (when required), sharing, etc. It will be important that these new social expectations are taught and reinforced with patience and care. Parents may communicate with the school to understand the new expectations so that they can also have discussions and/or practice at home as needed. For example, parents might practice wearing masks or hand-washing at home. Social stories, books, comic strips, and role-playing that model and educate about the new social routines may also be useful ways to reinforce new school expectations at school and at home.  
• Connecting with the school and reading school communications can also help parents reinforce expectations with common words/phrases in both the home and school settings, when appropriate, so that children are better able to connect concepts. For example, if the phrases “social distancing” or “hygiene” are used in the school setting it might be helpful to use the same words at home when reinforcing expectations regarding the new routines.

"When children have predictable routines, feel cared for, and have a sense of safety, they have a stronger foundation to learn. Making sure that there is a balanced approach to the curriculum that acknowledges the importance of supporting children’s well-being during the start of the school year will be important."

• Connect with your child’s school if you have specific questions or concerns regarding fall plans, mental health, and family support needs, including food and/or housing assistance, etc. If parents notice significant behavioral or mood changes, they can also connect with school and/or community agencies to get referrals, if needed. Parents can connect with school counselors, school psychologists, school adjustment counselors and/or school social workers if they feel a child might benefit from additional supports at school and/or in the community. Some families might choose to reach out to their medical providers for referrals and resources for their needs. Even if these needs aren’t apparent at the beginning of the school year, keep lines of communication open with the school and providers should such needs arise at a later point. Every family and child will have their own needs, and connecting with a professional trained to help can offer more tools and resources.
• If children will be returning to school in-person, prior to the start of school, parents may consider walking or driving by the school if it is safe to do so, and if they feel it would support their child’s comfort with the transition back to school or to starting a new school.  
• If the school provides a way to do so, connect with the new teacher ahead of time to help increase the child’s comfort level. For example, some schools may have a teacher familiar to the child from a previous year introduce the new teacher or offer back-to-school events to meet teachers (even virtually). This way, students can see the teacher is excited to meet them and work with them.
• Parents of children with special needs may want to communicate any additional questions or concerns to school staff regarding available supports in the upcoming school year and how they can help their children with the beginning of the school year.
• Providing a routine is helpful to children. Knowing that the routine might need to change depending on the ongoing health situation, parents can try to plan and give warnings as much as possible if changes occur. Visual reminders of routines can also be helpful with young children.

Given the current situation, focusing on the well-being of the child will be important — especially during the beginning of the school year. The adjustment back to school is always just that — an “adjustment” — and this year brings unprecedented challenges. When children have predictable routines, feel cared for, and have a sense of safety, they have a stronger foundation to learn.  Making sure that there is a balanced approach to the curriculum that acknowledges the importance of supporting children’s well-being during the start of the school year will be important.

Parents are working hard and balancing multiple responsibilities. Parents who remember to be kind and patient with themselves, and to reach out for support when they need it, can more effectively care for their children and model positive coping strategies.

Usable Knowledge

Connecting education research to practice — with timely insights for educators, families, and communities

Related Articles

Hope and Resilience in Childhood

The Art of Talking With Children

Ten ways to jumpstart conversations with kids that will help them bounce back from challenges

The Negative Effects of Remote Learning on Children's Wellbeing

Student Reflections During the Pandemic: An Opportunity for Educators to Create a “New” Normal

As this challenging academic term begins, and some students are learning remotely, while others are heading back in person, we urge educators to pause and reflect on what worked — and didn’t — during remote learning last spring. While we eagerly await the moment when all schools can safely resume in person, we strongly caution against reverting back to the “normal” way of doing things. “Normal” was not working for so many students prior to COVID-19.

Since this remote learning experiment of 2020 upended typical school schedules and traditional approaches to teaching and learning, educators now have an opportunity to leverage key lessons and insights gained during this time to build a new normal that better supports student well-being, equity, and engagement with learning for all students during the next semester and beyond.

At Challenge Success , a school reform nonprofit affiliated with Stanford University’s Graduate School of Education, we know that any school change process should begin by listening to the stakeholders who matter most — the students. So we reached out to some of the high school students who have participated in the Challenge Success School Program and asked what worked (or not) during remote learning and what they would like school leaders to know about their experiences last spring.

Their reflections, summarized below, are consistent with our SPACE framework and with the student-centered approaches and practices that research shows most effectively support student well-being and engagement with learning. We offer these as guiding principles for educators to use as they consider what schools might look like this fall, regardless of where school is happening.

1. Prioritize human connections and relationships.

During remote learning, daily check-ins from teachers via video, phone, or even hand-delivered letters were a lifeboat for many students. We heard from several teens that they were grateful for teachers who opened up Zoom rooms before or after class to hang out with students and ask about how they were handling life during the pandemic. The students also loved getting to peek into the lives of their teachers and coaches in their home environments with their own pets or children jumping into the video screen.

For students who were not able to join remote classes due to a lack of internet access or devices, or because they had to take on additional jobs and home responsibilities during this time, teachers found other creative ways to connect. Many reached out via text and arranged phone calls and even some home visits with proper social distancing to chat one-on-one. Matt, a 10th grader from Texas, reflected, “Our teachers did a great job of checking in with us to see how we were doing. I like how they really cared about our well-being and our stress levels, but I don’t think a crisis should be necessary to do this.”

Cultivating a climate of care that prioritizes strong relationships between students and teachers as well as peer-to-peer connections is critical now and in the future. Research shows that students who feel a sense of belonging and connection to both adults and peers in the school community are more engaged with learning. Students yearn to be seen, heard, and valued as whole people with lives beyond the classroom. We know that when students believe they have at least one adult at the school who cares about them and knows them well, they are more likely to thrive in school and out.

Unfortunately, creating and sustaining strong student-teacher relationships can be difficult. Even before remote learning began last spring, the large class sizes, hectic pace of the school day, and impossibly busy student and teacher schedules often impeded the type of personal connections we know are critical to student success. Schools should strive to make relationships a top priority and build in time and resources to ensure that teachers and students can connect in meaningful ways on a regular basis.

2. Redesign the school schedule to allow more hours for sleep, playtime, downtime, and family time (PDF).

The scramble to create a remote learning schedule provided an unexpected opportunity to rethink the structure of the school day. Many schools, out of necessity, offered fewer synchronous class meetings and more time for independent, asynchronous learning. Others that were able to offer more synchronous learning to students, decided to shift from a traditional 7 or 8 period day to a modified block schedule where students took half of their classes twice a week over four days leaving one day for dedicated office hours with teachers or online tutoring time.

One of the biggest and most consistent silver linings we heard from students was that the new schedules allowed teens to get more sleep. We know from the Challenge Success survey of over 200,000 students that high school students average about 6.5 hours of sleep per night – significantly less than the 8-10 hours they need to thrive. As Nate, 11th grader from Massachusetts, shared, “Since getting more sleep, I found I was much more efficient with my school work. I could do an English essay in two hours that would have taken me six hours when I was tired.”

Though many students missed their extracurricular activities in the spring, some found that the reduction in structured activities, along with the shorter school day, and lack of commute, resulted not just in more sleep, but in more playtime, downtime, and family time (or PDF as we call it). Research shows that time spent on PDF serves as a protective factor in keeping kids mentally and physically healthy.

Several teens told us that they finally had time to read for pleasure, play guitar, exercise, paint, or simply “do nothing” while they were sheltering in place. Being able to break up the day with exercise or other activities between classes helped to clear their minds and prepare for more learning. And for some students, this shift of pace was eye-opening. As Zack, an 11th grader from Massachusetts, reflected, “One of my big takeaways from this time is that I need time to relax. Before this, I was always going and going. I’m so used to being ‘on’ all the time, doing something. After this, I’ve realized I need some time to relax. I picked up fishing and now I love going fishing. I think that a lot of students will find that they actually need time to relax.”

When a typical student’s day pre-pandemic might have started before 7am and ended after 11pm due to school, sports, other extracurriculars, paid work, commuting, family obligations, and homework, many teens quite literally had no time for any of these essential “PDF” activities. Schools and families ought to question if the old “normal” is what we all want our students to return to this year. Though students and their parents ultimately decide how they spend their time outside of school — and many students do not have the option to scale back time spent doing paid work or supporting family obligations — schools can play a critical role in creating a schedule that honors the need for sleep and more free time for students. Later start times, longer passing periods and lunch breaks, more time for tutorial or advisory, and block classes where teachers and students can engage in deeper learning, are all elements that Challenge Success recommends that schools consider as they plan the schedule for the new school year.

3. Build in more flexibility to curriculum and assignments.

Annalise, a 10th grader from Massachusetts, reflected that “One great thing about distance learning was the flexibility.” Having more autonomy over when she got her work done and when she turned it in led to less stress. Soren, an 11 th grader from California, agreed: “With distance learning, whatever you need to do for yourself, you have that freedom to do – go for a run or take a break outside. The slower pace of life allowed me to learn on my own terms which definitely had benefits in terms of mental health and general well-being.”

Many students told us how much they appreciated the increased flexibility during remote learning to get assignments done on their own schedule. They liked that more teachers posted assignments a week or two in advance, which allowed students some control over their schedules and helped them to balance homework, jobs, and other responsibilities. In a pre-COVID world, some students didn’t find out their homework for the night until class that day. During remote learning, the students appreciated being recognized as whole people with varying home lives and multiple commitments and needs.

Flexible approaches to whole class instruction can also benefit students. We heard from one student that during a class held on Zoom, the teacher shared a lesson and then dismissed students as soon as they could demonstrate that they understood the concept. The teacher was able to work with a smaller group of students and use alternative approaches to teach those who were still working towards mastery. We know that differentiating instruction in this way was happening in many classrooms prior to remote learning, but as schools consider new ways of structuring classes in the future, they may want to build in even more time for small group work and review opportunities.

Schools can further support students by explicitly teaching time management and executive functioning skills. Flexible or self-determined due dates allow students a real-world opportunity to practice these skills. Educators can encourage students to self-advocate and reach out to their teachers when they are juggling multiple deliverables or when their health or well-being (or that of a family member) might necessitate even more flexibility. Creating conflict calendars where faculty members coordinate dates for major tests, projects, and school-wide events can also help to reduce student overload and increase student engagement and achievement on assignments.

4. Consider that “less is really more” and focus on transferable skills.

As the minutes spent per week in each class were reduced for many schools during remote learning, teachers were forced to strip their lesson plans down to the essential elements students should learn. While reducing content can feel uncomfortable to teachers and can cause worry about how to get through the required material, it can also provide an unexpected opportunity to focus on the enduring understandings we want students to master. Students are more likely to learn and retain skills and concepts when they are not overwhelmed by the load and pace of work being assigned.

Gabe, a 10th grader from Texas, reflected, “In chemistry, we didn’t cover as many topics each week during remote learning as we did during the normal school year, but I feel like I got a fuller understanding of the concepts that were being taught. My teacher used a ‘flipped classroom’ approach where we independently watched 20-minute videos he created on a specific topic and answered homework questions. We then used class time to ask the teacher questions. The whole process felt much more efficient.”

Shifting the focus from coverage to competency can provide both teachers and students space in the day to engage more deeply in the learning process and build more meaningful connections between concepts. When teachers prioritize transferable skills, students practice applying what they have learned to novel situations and ultimately build mastery.

Educators have an exciting opportunity now to redesign lessons and pare learning goals down to those that are essential in each subject area. Even when students face comprehensive end-of-year exams, for example, in advanced placement courses, a deeper focus on key concepts and critical thinking skills, such as use of evidence to back a claim, logical reasoning, and clear communication, may prove more beneficial to students than covering in a more cursory way all of the possible content that might show up on the test.

Before COVID-19, we regularly surveyed students about what, if anything, caused them the most stress. The number one answer was usually “workload.” Many students also reported that they perceived much of their homework to be busywork and that it did not help them to learn the material. When teachers focus on what matters most, they can reduce unhealthy workloads and can help students see the meaning behind what they are learning each day.

5. Offer more student-selected, authentic learning experiences.

As Lauren, a 10th grader from Virginia, described a website she developed for a nonprofit during remote learning, her whole face lit up with joy. Her teacher was looking for volunteers and knew Lauren had an interest in coding. With this project, she got to learn by doing. She shared, “I learned so much in [those] last two months that I never would have been able to learn in the classroom. Being able to deep dive into web development has been amazing for me. I’ve loved connecting with real-world groups and actually doing an assignment that is contributing to something.”

Allowing students to have voice and choice with their assignments and incorporating opportunities to address real-world problems or create products for authentic audiences can motivate students to do higher quality work. As Soren noted, “I have been able to use a wider variety of resources to learn concepts, while still gaining the same information. I’ve been more interested in learning because it is more personal.”

Eliot, a 10th grader from Texas, described an assignment where students were asked to investigate how the CDC uses mathematical models to chart the spread of COVID-19. Showing the practical relevance of a particular math unit made it much more interesting to the students than teaching it as an isolated concept. Eliot summed it up well, “When work feels meaningful and relevant, I am more engaged.”

Amber, an 11th grader from Virginia, was given some assignments that were optional and ungraded. For some students, this policy, along with alternate forms of assessment such as open note tests, peer review, and increased opportunities for revision and redemption, helped teens to engage in learning for the sake of learning, not just for the grades. Other students found the lack of extrinsic motivation very challenging and were not completing their work. Educators can use this as an opportunity to talk to students about why learning matters for the long-term and collaborate with students to design lessons that they are motivated to complete. Amber suggests that her teachers look at which assignments students did during this time period – and which they left undone; “If [teachers] can learn from the projects that students choose to do, this will help our learning experience be more about the learning rather than a boring assignment we do just for the sake of doing it. If there’s one thing I hope educators take away from this time, it’s to bring the love for learning itself back into the curriculum.”

All five of these guiding principles are validated by research and are likely not new ideas to most educators. But hearing them directly from students during this potentially transformational moment for our educational system serves as an important opportunity for reflection. We encourage schools to invest time in these first few weeks of school to listen deeply to the students. Conduct a survey to find out what worked and did not work for them during remote learning. Gather a small group of students for a fishbowl and dive deeper into their reflections about this unique time. Shadow students by following their synchronous and asynchronous learning schedules. Conduct an “I Wish” campaign asking students to share what they wish teachers knew about this unique school experience. Then, embrace those learnings as you redesign and reimagine what you can offer students that best supports their journey to become balanced, healthy, and engaged learners — wherever that learning is happening.

Denise Pope, Ph.D., is a Co-Founder of Challenge Success and a Senior Lecturer at the Stanford University Graduate School of Education, where she specializes in student engagement, curriculum studies, qualitative research methods, and service learning. She is the author of, “Doing School”: How We Are Creating a Generation of Stressed Out, Materialistic, and Miseducated Students, and co-author of Overloaded and Underprepared: Strategies for Stronger Schools and Healthy, Successful Kids. Dr. Pope lectures nationally on parenting techniques and pedagogical strategies to increase student health, engagement with learning, and integrity. 

A Year After Coronavirus: An Inclusive ‘New Normal’

Six months into a new decade, 2020 has already been earmarked as ‘the worst’ year in the 21st century. The novel coronavirus has given rise to a global pandemic that has destabilized most institutional settings. While we live in times when humankind possesses the most advanced science and technology, a virus invisible to the naked eye has massively disrupted economies, healthcare, and education systems worldwide. This should serve as a reminder that as we keep making progress in science and research, humanity will continue to face challenges in the future, and it is upon us to prioritize those issues that are most relevant in the 21st century.

Even amidst the pandemic, Space X, an American aerospace manufacturer, managed to become the first private company to send humans to space. While this is a tremendous achievement and prepares humanity for a sustainable future, I feel there is a need to introspect the challenges that we are already facing. On the one hand, we seem to be preparing beyond the 21st century. On the other hand, heightened nationalism, increasing violence against marginalized communities and multidimensional inequalities across all sectors continue to act as barriers to growth for most individuals across the globe. COVID-19 has reinforced these multifaceted economic, social and cultural inequalities wherein those in situations of vulnerability have found it increasingly difficult to get quality medical attention, access to quality education, and have witnessed increased domestic violence while being confined to their homes. 

Given the coronavirus’s current situation, some households have also had time to introspect on gender roles and stereotypes. For instance, women are expected to carry out unpaid care work like cooking, cleaning, and looking after the family. There is no valid reason to believe that women ought to carry out these activities, and men have no role in contributing to household chores. With men having shared household chores during the lockdown period, it gives hope that they will realize the burden that women have been bearing for past decades and will continue sharing responsibilities. However, it would be naïve to believe that gender discrimination could be tackled so easily, and men would give up on their decades' old habits within a couple of months. Thus, during and after the pandemic, there is an urgent need to sensitize households on the importance of gender equality and social cohesion.

Moving forward, developing quality healthcare systems that are affordable and accessible to all should be the primary objective for all governments. This can be done by increasing expenditure towards health and education and simultaneously reducing expenditure on defence equipment where the latter mainly gives rise to an idea that countries need to be prepared for violence. There is substantial evidence that increased investment in health and education is beneficial in the long-term and can potentially build the basic foundation of a country. 

If it can be established that usage of nuclear weapons, violence and war are not solutions to any problem, governments (like, for example, Costa Rica) could move towards disarmament of weapons and do their part in building a more peaceful planet that is sustainable for the future. This would further promote global citizenship wherein nationality, race, gender, caste, and other categories, are just mere variables and they do not become identities of individuals that restrict their thought process. The aim should be to build responsible citizens who play an active role in their society and work collectively in helping develop a planet that is well-governed, inclusive, and environmentally sustainable.

 ‘A year after Coronavirus’ is still an unknown, so I think that our immediate focus should be to tackle the complex problems that have emerged from the pandemic so that we make the year after coronavirus one which highlights recovery and acts as a pathway to fresh beginnings. While there is little to gain from such a fatal cause, it is vital that we also use it to make the ‘new normal’ in favour of the environment and ensure that no one is left behind.   

Related items

• Country page: India
• UNESCO Office in New Delhi
• SDG: SDG 3 - Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages

This article is related to the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals .

More on this subject

Other recent articles

Login or sign up to be automatically entered into our next $10,000 scholarship giveaway

Get Searching

• College Search
• College Search Map
• Graduate Programs
• Featured Colleges
• Scholarship Search
• Lists & Rankings

Articles & Advice

• Ask the Experts
• Campus Visits
• Catholic Colleges and Universities
• Christian Colleges and Universities
• College Admission
• College Athletics
• College Diversity
• Counselors and Consultants
• Education and Teaching
• Financial Aid
• Graduate School
• Health and Medicine
• International Students
• Internships and Careers
• Majors and Academics
• Performing and Visual Arts
• Public Colleges and Universities
• Science and Engineering
• Student Life
• Transfer Students
• Why CollegeXpress
• $10,000 Scholarship
• CollegeXpress Store
• Corporate Website
• Terms of Use
• Privacy Policy
• CA and EU Privacy Policy

Articles & Advice > Student Life > Blog

Accepting and Adapting to a New Normal for School

Unfortunately, pandemic life is the "new normal" and not an excuse to blow off your homework anymore. Here's how you can adapt for a better school experience.

by Anna Mayzenberg CollegeXpress Student Writer, University of Houston

Last Updated: Mar 16, 2023

Originally Posted: Sep 11, 2020

It's difficult to set standards in the midst of a pandemic. Before this all began, we had deadlines, and they were either met or they weren't. When the pandemic began, for some high school teachers and college professors, sticking to deadlines was still a hard and fast rule. But other teachers offered some leniency to students, knowing everyone was having a difficult time. This system worked reasonably well for those students who felt unmotivated due to COVID-19. However, just like everything else, getting back on track will require some tinkering since this has become our new normal. Let’s explore why it’s important to adapt to the new normal and how you can be active in your communication with your teachers and professors for a better educational experience than you may have had last spring.

The extenuating circumstances excuse

Instead of a small percentage of students with extenuating circumstances seeking leniency, we're all living in one massive extenuating circumstance right now: COVID-19. That was a valid excuse for every student for not completing an assignment or being prepared for a test (and for many students, it was genuine). This global health crisis has led to a myriad of problems, ranging from mental and physical health to bad Wi-Fi connections to having a place to stay. Students stressed in ways they had never imagined, and nothing about our current situation can be considered stable. However, many of us have a tendency to make excuses for ourselves, to others or in our own minds, about our ability to pull ourselves together to learn.

For instance, my family’s been relatively stable during the pandemic; we've had many lively debates on anything from washing the dishes to police brutality, and my anxiety about the pandemic flares up often—but overall, I'm doing okay. I know many students are in similar situations. But we’ve all had an adjustment period to this lifestyle, and hopefully we've found our way to a better place mentally and physically at this point. The point is: the pandemic should no longer be your main excuse for not getting your work done—even if it validly is for someone else.

Getting your motivation back

None of this is meant to undermine the value of mental health and taking care of yourself. This is not to condemn those relaxing and enjoying themselves over the summer. It’s simply to say that it's time to buck up for the upcoming semester. While this major challenge has come upon us, the world hasn’t stopped turning. The educations we’re privileged enough to receive and the important work we’re doing, whether it be at a job or in raising our voices for what we believe in, never lost importance. Now that we've had our time to settle in and process the situation, it's time to learn to push ourselves in this "new normal" environment. We need to take care of our health, now more than ever, but not at the cost of all productivity—and not at the cost of our goals and aspirations.

Related: How to Fight Procrastination and Find Your Motivation

How students and teachers can work together

When it comes to a new normal in education, this means more effort from students and more patience from professors...and vice versa. We all know students ultimately need to listen to their teachers, but teachers who are receptive and understanding will listen to your needs if you’re still trying to give your best—even if your best is a little rusty.

Students accommodating teachers

Professors and teachers are changing their curriculums and finding new modes of teaching for the sake of providing us with a quality education. The good ones aren't there to make you miserable or just give you busy work; many teachers have the lofty goal of discussion and engagement in mind when students come to the classroom. As students, we need to be meeting them halfway. If before that meant showing up to class, now it might mean turning on your camera, asking questions, and meeting deadlines if at all possible. It may feel like more work, but it makes all the difference in terms of building a relationship with your professor s and teachers, not to mention making for a good class. That's the kind of standard we need to set for ourselves, because we still deserve a good education. Although we may not be in an optimal situation, we can still grow as individuals and rise to what we're capable of. 

Teachers accommodating students

Similarly, professors should be willing to accommodate for students’ concerns. For the classes in which this is possible, they should check in on individual students and try to get to know them and their situation. This allows for a relationship that ensures both sides are clear about expectations and realities. If one student is particularly struggling outside of class, the professor will know how to set a standard for that particular student. This has always been a helpful way to run a classroom, but now it’s imperative. If it's not possible to reach out to every student, teachers should make it clear that everyone is encouraged to reach out with any of their concerns or roadblocks during the semester. Although things won’t be as lenient as back in the spring, it’s likely there will be some patience with an overdue assignment here and there—so step up and email your teacher if you’re struggling. Your honesty will be responded to in kind. Neither students nor professors can expect anything from the other that they're not willing to ask of themselves.

Related: 6 Simple Ways to Impress Your College Professors

Ultimately, starting a new school year in this environment means quite a bit more patience and effort is required from everyone. We have to have sympathy for our peers and our professors, and we have to push ourselves further than what we thought we were capable of. It's going to require a lot of nuance—every difficult situation won't be clear cut, and we'll have to ask questions we aren't used to asking one another. We must take this opportunity to learn and grow the best we can, even if maybe the economy isn't.

If you need more advice or information on the pandemic, visit our COVID-19 student resources page.

Like what you’re reading?

Join the CollegeXpress community! Create a free account and we’ll notify you about new articles, scholarship deadlines, and more.

Tags: back to school coronavirus COVID-19 going to college student life

← Previous Post

Next Post →

About Anna Mayzenberg

Anna Mayzenberg is a sophomore Management Information Systems major at the University of Houston who has a passion for words, whether in the form of writing, reading, or just talking nonstop.

Join our community of over 5 million students!

CollegeXpress has everything you need to simplify your college search, get connected to schools, and find your perfect fit.

Yuhlani Patterson

High School Student

CollegeXpress has helped me find so many scholarships that fit me. They match me to colleges I have specific interest in to make searching for colleges way easier and more efficient. CollegeXpress refers me to schools that have my major of interest and backup schools if I want to change my mind. CollegeXpress also gives out their own scholarships, so you have even more of a chance at gaining multiple scholarships. This website has helped me de-stress from the pressure of not being able to afford college, [of finding] what schools are right for me, and how to find easy access to scholarships that most people never knew existed.

Emilie Delgado

$2,000 Community Service Scholarship Winner, 2013

CollegeXpress has tremendously helped me in my search for financial aid opportunities as I enter my college career. It is easy to navigate and quickly narrowed down scholarships that I could apply for. Being awarded the scholarship will greatly help me in my finances regarding books and tuition. Thank you for this opportunity. Without CollegeXpress, it would have been more difficult to apply. I would recommend this site to everyone!

Lexie Knutson

High School Class of 2021

This whole website has helped me overcome the attitude I had before. I was scared to even approach the thought of college because it was so much. I knew it wasn’t just a few easy steps, and I panicked mostly, instead of actually trying. Without realizing it, CollegeXpress did exactly what I usually do when I panic, which is take it one step at a time. With college I forget that because it’s more than just a small to-do list, but this website was really helpful and overall amazing. So thank you!

Makiyah Murray

The college application process has been a stressful one, but CollegeXpress has eased some of that stress with its readily available college resources. At the beginning of the process, I frequently used the college search feature, and now that I’m almost done applying, I’ve started using the scholarship search. Both of these resources have made it easier to find relevant information.

Rhiannon Teeter

$2,000 Community Service Scholarship Winner, 2012

I have spent a lot of time aggressively searching for scholarships. It was a long and frustrating process until I found the CollegeXpress network. This site made my search so much easier. With the simple check of a few boxes, the site sorted out scholarships I was eligible for and led me directly to the correct websites. Winning this scholarship has definitely given me and my family some financial relief, and CollegeXpress has allowed me to improve my chances of winning further financial aid. Thank you so much!

Colleges You May Be Interested In

Western Washington University

Bellingham, WA

The University of Chicago

Chicago, IL

Ohio Northern University

Southern Methodist University

Washington State University

Pullman, WA

Personalize your experience on CollegeXpress.

With this information, we'll do our best to display content relevant to your interests. By subscribing, you agree to receive CollegeXpress emails and to make your information available to colleges and universities, scholarship programs, and other companies that have relevant/related offers.

Already have an account?

Log in to be directly connected to

Not a CollegeXpress user?

Don't want to register.

Provide your information below to connect with

Read our research on: Gun Policy | International Conflict | Election 2024

Regions & Countries

3. problems students are facing at public k-12 schools.

We asked teachers about how students are doing at their school. Overall, many teachers hold negative views about students’ academic performance and behavior.

• 48% say the academic performance of most students at their school is fair or poor; a third say it’s good and only 17% say it’s excellent or very good.
• 49% say students’ behavior at their school is fair or poor; 35% say it’s good and 13% rate it as excellent or very good.

Teachers in elementary, middle and high schools give similar answers when asked about students’ academic performance. But when it comes to students’ behavior, elementary and middle school teachers are more likely than high school teachers to say it’s fair or poor (51% and 54%, respectively, vs. 43%).

Teachers from high-poverty schools are more likely than those in medium- and low-poverty schools to say the academic performance and behavior of most students at their school are fair or poor.

The differences between high- and low-poverty schools are particularly striking. Most teachers from high-poverty schools say the academic performance (73%) and behavior (64%) of most students at their school are fair or poor. Much smaller shares of teachers from low-poverty schools say the same (27% for academic performance and 37% for behavior).

In turn, teachers from low-poverty schools are far more likely than those from high-poverty schools to say the academic performance and behavior of most students at their school are excellent or very good.

Lasting impact of the COVID-19 pandemic

Among those who have been teaching for at least a year, about eight-in-ten teachers say the lasting impact of the pandemic on students’ behavior, academic performance and emotional well-being has been very or somewhat negative. This includes about a third or more saying that the lasting impact has been very negative in each area.

Shares ranging from 11% to 15% of teachers say the pandemic has had no lasting impact on these aspects of students’ lives, or that the impact has been neither positive nor negative. Only about 5% say that the pandemic has had a positive lasting impact on these things.

A smaller majority of teachers (55%) say the pandemic has had a negative impact on the way parents interact with teachers, with 18% saying its lasting impact has been very negative.

These results are mostly consistent across teachers of different grade levels and school poverty levels.

Major problems at school

When we asked teachers about a range of problems that may affect students who attend their school, the following issues top the list:

• Poverty (53% say this is a major problem at their school)
• Chronic absenteeism – that is, students missing a substantial number of school days (49%)
• Anxiety and depression (48%)

One-in-five say bullying is a major problem among students at their school. Smaller shares of teachers point to drug use (14%), school fights (12%), alcohol use (4%) and gangs (3%).

Differences by school level

Similar shares of teachers across grade levels say poverty is a major problem at their school, but other problems are more common in middle or high schools:

• 61% of high school teachers say chronic absenteeism is a major problem at their school, compared with 43% of elementary school teachers and 46% of middle school teachers.
• 69% of high school teachers and 57% of middle school teachers say anxiety and depression are a major problem, compared with 29% of elementary school teachers.
• 34% of middle school teachers say bullying is a major problem, compared with 13% of elementary school teachers and 21% of high school teachers.

Not surprisingly, drug use, school fights, alcohol use and gangs are more likely to be viewed as major problems by secondary school teachers than by those teaching in elementary schools.

Differences by poverty level

Teachers’ views on problems students face at their school also vary by school poverty level.

Majorities of teachers in high- and medium-poverty schools say chronic absenteeism is a major problem where they teach (66% and 58%, respectively). A much smaller share of teachers in low-poverty schools say this (34%).

Bullying, school fights and gangs are viewed as major problems by larger shares of teachers in high-poverty schools than in medium- and low-poverty schools.

When it comes to anxiety and depression, a slightly larger share of teachers in low-poverty schools (51%) than in high-poverty schools (44%) say these are a major problem among students where they teach.  

Discipline practices

About two-thirds of teachers (66%) say that the current discipline practices at their school are very or somewhat mild – including 27% who say they’re very mild. Only 2% say the discipline practices at their school are very or somewhat harsh, while 31% say they are neither harsh nor mild.

We also asked teachers about the amount of influence different groups have when it comes to determining discipline practices at their school.

• 67% say teachers themselves don’t have enough influence. Very few (2%) say teachers have too much influence, and 29% say their influence is about right.

• 31% of teachers say school administrators don’t have enough influence, 22% say they have too much, and 45% say their influence is about right.
• On balance, teachers are more likely to say parents, their state government and the local school board have too much influence rather than not enough influence in determining discipline practices at their school. Still, substantial shares say these groups have about the right amount of influence.

Teachers from low- and medium-poverty schools (46% each) are more likely than those in high-poverty schools (36%) to say parents have too much influence over discipline practices.

In turn, teachers from high-poverty schools (34%) are more likely than those from low- and medium-poverty schools (17% and 18%, respectively) to say that parents don’t have enough influence.

Social Trends Monthly Newsletter

Sign up to to receive a monthly digest of the Center's latest research on the attitudes and behaviors of Americans in key realms of daily life

Report Materials

Table of contents, ‘back to school’ means anytime from late july to after labor day, depending on where in the u.s. you live, among many u.s. children, reading for fun has become less common, federal data shows, most european students learn english in school, for u.s. teens today, summer means more schooling and less leisure time than in the past, about one-in-six u.s. teachers work second jobs – and not just in the summer, most popular.

About Pew Research Center Pew Research Center is a nonpartisan fact tank that informs the public about the issues, attitudes and trends shaping the world. It conducts public opinion polling, demographic research, media content analysis and other empirical social science research. Pew Research Center does not take policy positions. It is a subsidiary of The Pew Charitable Trusts .

You are using an outdated browser. Please upgrade your browser to improve your experience and security.

Wednesday, 10 April 2024

Agenda - The Sunday magazine

• Cover Story

Role of education in shaping Viksit Bharat

The significance of ethical education and interdisciplinary approaches in promoting societal change and nation-building cannot be overstated

The lives of students are amidst a major transformation, largely due to rapidly changing value systems across the globe. However, this transformation, driven solely by acquisition, is unlikely to yield positive results. Instead, it risks turning education, a highly revered institution, into a mere business venture where success is measured solely by material possessions. Moral and ethical education stands as the key to success, enabling the new generation to embrace values and approaches that can nurture the creative urges of the student community within an environment marked by rapid change. Nevertheless, we must acknowledge the challenges posed by this transitional phase.

Keywords such as knowledge, wisdom, creativity, motivation and encouragement are prerequisites for a successful education system. A competent education system must possess an inner strength capable of deploying myriad strategies to tackle unforeseen challenges. Fostering the latest skills and transmitting new moral codes and cognitive thinking subtly are crucial areas that can lay a robust foundation for the Viksit Bharat 2047 campaign.

While our education system is known for embracing values and approaches that shape the creative urges of students and academicians, it faces increasing challenges during this transitional phase. Efforts must be made to bridge the gap in existing knowledge regarding the contemporary importance of interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary studies. Higher education institutions in India need to enrich each discipline with diverse content and ideas. Even science students should be exposed to international, national, socio-political and economic issues through multidisciplinary practices, as initiated by NEP 2020. Such policies serve as catalysts for innovation and foster academic collaboration across multiple disciplines and institutions of higher learning.

In recent years, there has been substantial change in the content and nature of various disciplines, with a focused approach to integrating real-life experiments of democracy, the environment, globalisation and governance into the new education system framework. It’s crucial to demonstrate how new higher education approaches can drive change and instil confidence among the masses. The latest research and developments in education globally should be disseminated to upgrade research and teaching accordingly. The strength of the higher education system lies in its internal dynamism, ensuring inclusive growth and contributing significantly to the Viksit Bharat @2047 Campaign.

India’s entrepreneurial skills have propelled us forward, overcoming tertiary constraints and fostering innovation. Remarkable initiatives have focused on connectivity and developing new connections, rather than relying solely on the market or cut-throat competition. As Lucy Larcom once said, “If the world seems cold to you, kindle fire to warm it.” This sentiment rings true for our forgotten appreciation of traditional values and ethics. The vision of Viksit Bharat@2047 can be achieved by nurturing creativity and responsibility among students, equipping them with moral knowledge and employable skills. This not only broadens ethical horizons and enhances decision-making capabilities but also clarifies what is ethically and morally correct. Practical approaches and workshops can help develop skills through critical thinking and diverse forms of expression.

Ethics transcends clichés, prompting a shift from what is to what ought to be. It’s essential to instil a strong sense of responsibility alongside artistic and academic freedom. Despite years of efforts to eliminate major threats, terrorism, caste violence and class conflict persist. Blaming others for these issues is naive; we must acknowledge our role in them. Preservation of identity is important, but efforts to preserve cultural, linguistic, regional or religious identities sometimes damage the socio-political system’s fabric. The world also faces the spread of narrow-minded faith, but history shows that such faith seldom survives. A robust education system is needed to cultivate responsibility among the youth, playing a pivotal role in achieving our nation’s development goals.

Sensitising students and society through low-cost, intense webinars can be highly effective in this regard, particularly in an era of rapid globalisation. Mass media can play a role in political and social mobilisation, with student participation facilitating mass sensitisation. Improving course content through academic discourse and introducing innovative mechanisms in social sciences can enhance the relevance of education. Academic programmes and services should provide supplemental support to teaching and learning, fostering community development both inside and outside the classroom. Research centres should be established to ensure academic excellence in social sciences.

Intellectual skills should prepare students to engage with socio-economic and political issues on a global scale, fostering collaboration with stakeholders from other institutions. Community education programmes should encourage lifelong learning. To enhance student standards, self-academic orientation and excellence should be developed, incorporating problem-solving and inquiry-based learning activities in a collaborative environment. A new syllabus should provide insight into the problem of terrorism and its causes, paving the way for a comprehensive strategy to combat it. Understanding the nexus between organised crime and terrorism is crucial. Cultural exchanges among students can promote harmony and creativity, transcending social divisions. It’s imperative to focus on empirical and normative understandings to address societal concerns effectively. The Government’s inspiring vision for the future is promising, positioning India at the forefront globally.

In conclusion, the transformative journey of education towards Viksit Bharat@2047 necessitates a holistic approach, emphasising moral and ethical education alongside academic excellence. The challenges posed by rapid global changes require proactive measures to bridge knowledge gaps and foster interdisciplinary collaboration. It is imperative to instil a sense of responsibility and cultivate creativity among students to address contemporary issues effectively.

Efforts should focus on integrating real-life experiences into the education system and fostering critical thinking and problem-solving skills. Embracing diversity and inclusivity in education will strengthen the fabric of society and contribute to national development goals. Moreover, initiatives like low-cost webinars and mass media engagement can amplify the impact of education, promoting social awareness and civic engagement among the youth.

As we navigate through complex socio-political landscapes, it is crucial to uphold traditional values while embracing innovation and progress. By nurturing a generation equipped with moral clarity and practical skills, we can pave the way for a brighter future for India and the world. In essence, the journey towards Viksit Bharat@2047 requires collective efforts from educators, policymakers and society at large. By prioritising ethical education, fostering interdisciplinary learning and embracing diversity, we can build a strong foundation for a prosperous and inclusive future. Together, let us embark on this journey towards excellence, guided by the principles of integrity, empathy and resilience.

(The author, a recipient of the Bharat Gaurav award, is a professor and expert on strategic affairs; views are personal)

Trending News

Joaquin Phoenix, Lady Gaga bring twisted tale of love in first teaser of 'Joker: Folie a Deux'

RCB Vs MI: Desperate times for RCB as they take on equally struggling MI

Umar Khalid amplified false narrative on social media, Delhi Police tells court

RR Vs GT: Jaiswal's form a concern as RR look to keep winning juggernaut rolling

PM Modi greets people on Navratri, various festivals

Was told about leading CSK in 2022, just want to keep the team culture going: Gaikwad

Bandhan Bank shares tank over 9 pc

Makers reveal teaser of 'Pushpa 2: The Rule' on Allu Arjun's 42nd birthday

Liverpool avoids damaging defeat to Man United but drops points in three-way race for the title

SRH Vs PBKS: Inconsistent Punjab face unpredictable SRH in mid-table IPL clash

Iranian official warns Israel that its embassies are not safe after deadly Damascus strike

Pak says it will resolutely safeguard its sovereignty; criticises rajnath singh's statement, state editions, bjp seeks kejriwal resignation after court rejects cm plea against arrest, kejriwal to move sc against arrest: aap, kejriwal rebuked for casting aspersions on judicial process, investigation against classes, masses cannot be different: hc, mcd removes illegal hoardings, posters after mcc gets enforced, kuldip assumes additional charge as md, ncrtc, sunday edition, how about breakfast at tiffany's, thich nhat hanh | a guide to mindful citizenship, peace, and enlightenment, guruspeak | shiva the most beautiful aspect of consciousness, astroturf | control the monkey mind, immigration takes centre stage in us president primaries, the ungandhian | anna hazare, e-mail this link to a friend..

• Share full article

Advertisement

Supported by

Guest Essay

Elite College Admissions Have Turned Students Into Brands

By Sarah Bernstein

Ms. Bernstein is a playwright, a writing coach and an essayist in Brooklyn.

“I just can’t think of anything,” my student said.

After 10 years of teaching college essay writing, I was familiar with this reply. For some reason, when you’re asked to recount an important experience from your life, it is common to forget everything that has ever happened to you. It’s a long-form version of the anxiety that takes hold at a corporate retreat when you’re invited to say “one interesting thing about yourself,” and you suddenly believe that you are the most boring person in the entire world. Once during a version of this icebreaker, a man volunteered that he had only one kidney, and I remember feeling incredibly jealous of him.

I tried to jog this student’s memory. What about his love of music? Or his experience learning English? Or that time on a summer camping trip when he and his friends had nearly drowned? “I don’t know,” he said with a sigh. “That all seems kind of cliché.”

Applying to college has always been about standing out. When I teach college essay workshops and coach applicants one on one, I see my role as helping students to capture their voice and their way of processing the world, things that are, by definition, unique to each individual. Still, many of my students (and their parents) worry that as getting into college becomes increasingly competitive, this won’t be enough to set them apart.

Their anxiety is understandable. On Thursday, in a tradition known as “Ivy Day,” all eight Ivy League schools released their regular admission decisions. Top colleges often issue statements about how impressive (and competitive) their applicant pools were this cycle. The intention is to flatter accepted students and assuage rejected ones, but for those who have not yet applied to college, these statements reinforce the fear that there is an ever-expanding cohort of applicants with straight A’s and perfect SATs and harrowing camping trip stories all competing with one another for a vanishingly small number of spots.

This scarcity has led to a boom in the college consulting industry, now estimated to be a $2.9 billion business. In recent years, many of these advisers and companies have begun to promote the idea of personal branding — a way for teenagers to distinguish themselves by becoming as clear and memorable as a good tagline.

While this approach often leads to a strong application, students who brand themselves too early or too definitively risk missing out on the kind of exploration that will prepare them for adult life.

Like a corporate brand, the personal brand is meant to distill everything you stand for (honesty, integrity, high quality, low prices) into a cohesive identity that can be grasped at a glance. On its website, a college prep and advising company called Dallas Admissions explains the benefits of branding this way: “Each person is complex, yet admissions officers only have a small amount of time to spend learning about each prospective student. The smart student boils down key aspects of himself or herself into their personal ‘brand’ and sells that to the college admissions officer.”

Identifying the key aspects of yourself may seem like a lifelong project, but unfortunately, college applicants don’t have that kind of time. Online, there are dozens of lesson plans and seminars promising to walk students through the process of branding themselves in five to 10 easy steps. The majority begin with questions I would have found panic-inducing as a teenager, such as, “What is the story you want people to tell about you when you’re not in the room?”

Where I hoped others would describe me as “normal” or, in my wildest dreams, “cool,” today’s teenagers are expected to leave this exercise with labels like, Committed Athlete and Compassionate Leader or Environmentally Conscious Musician. Once students have a draft of their ideal self, they’re offered instructions for manifesting it (or at least, the appearance of it) in person and online. These range from common-sense tips (not posting illegal activity on social media) to more drastic recommendations (getting different friends).

It’s not just that these courses cut corners on self-discovery; it’s that they get the process backward. A personal brand is effective only if you can support it with action, so instead of finding their passion and values through experience, students are encouraged to select a passion as early as possible and then rack up the experience to substantiate it. Many college consultants suggest beginning to align your activities with your college ambitions by ninth grade, while the National Institute of Certified College Planners recommends students “talk with parents, guardians, and/or an academic adviser to create a clear plan for your education and career-related goals” in junior high.

The idea of a group of middle schoolers soberly mapping out their careers is both comical and depressing, but when I read student essays today, I can see that this advice is getting through. Over the past few years, I have been struck by how many high school seniors already have defined career goals as well as a C.V. of relevant extracurriculars to go with them. This widens the gap between wealthy students and those who lack the resources to secure a fancy research gig or start their own small business. (A shocking number of college applicants claim to have started a small business.) It also puts pressure on all students to define themselves at a moment when they are anxious to fit in and yet changing all the time.

In the world of branding, a word that appears again and again is “consistency.” If you are Charmin, that makes sense. People opening a roll of toilet paper do not want to be surprised. If you are a teenage human being, however, that is an unreasonable expectation. Changing one’s interests, opinions and presentation is a natural part of adolescence and an instructive one. I find that my students with scattershot résumés are often the most confident. They’re not afraid to push back against suggestions that ring false and will insist on revising their essay until it actually “feels like me.” On the other hand, many of my most accomplished students are so quick to accept feedback that I am wary of offering it, lest I become one more adult trying to shape them into an admission-worthy ideal.

I understand that for parents, prioritizing exploration can feel like a risky bet. Self-insight is hard to quantify and to communicate in a college application. When it comes to building a life, however, this kind of knowledge has more value than any accolade, and it cannot be generated through a brainstorming exercise in a six-step personal branding course online. To equip kids for the world, we need to provide them not just with opportunities for achievement, but with opportunities to fail, to learn, to wander and to change their minds.

In some ways, the college essay is a microcosm of modern adolescence. Depending on how you look at it, it’s either a forum for self-discovery or a high-stakes test you need to ace. I try to assure my students that it is the former. I tell them that it’s a chance to take stock of everything you’ve experienced and learned over the past 18 years and everything you have to offer as a result.

That can be a profound process. But to embark on it, students have to believe that colleges really want to see the person behind the brand. And they have to have the chance to know who that person is.

Sarah Bernstein is a playwright, a writing coach and an essayist.

The Times is committed to publishing a diversity of letters to the editor. We’d like to hear what you think about this or any of our articles. Here are some tips . And here’s our email: [email protected] .

Follow the New York Times Opinion section on Facebook , Instagram , TikTok , WhatsApp , X and Threads .