Student Engagement Declines in STEM Undergraduates during COVID-19-Driven Remote Learning

Area of Science:

• STEM Education
• Online Learning
• Student Engagement

Background:

• The COVID-19 pandemic necessitated a rapid transition from in-person to online learning environments.
• Understanding the impact of this shift on student engagement is crucial for effective science education.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the effects of the online learning transition on behavioral, cognitive, and emotional student engagement in undergraduate STEM courses.
• To assess changes in students' class participation, interactions with instructors, sense of belonging, self-efficacy, attitudes toward science, perceived course value, and stress levels.

Main Methods:

• Utilized five-point Likert-style surveys administered to 73 undergraduate STEM students.
• Collected engagement data before the transition to online learning and at the end of the spring 2020 semester.
• Analyzed changes in behavioral, cognitive, and emotional engagement constructs.

Main Results:

• Overall behavioral engagement remained unchanged; however, class discussion frequency decreased while meetings with professors increased.
• No significant changes were observed in cognitive engagement, including sense of belonging and self-efficacy.
• A significant decrease in emotional engagement was noted, characterized by a decline in positive attitudes toward science.

Conclusions:

• The transition to online learning negatively impacted undergraduate student engagement in science courses, particularly emotional engagement.
• While some aspects of engagement remained stable, the decline in positive attitudes toward science warrants attention.
• Findings highlight the need for strategies to mitigate the adverse effects of online learning on science education.