Online Engagement during COVID-19: Comparing a Course Previously Delivered Traditionally with Emergency Online Delivery

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic caused major disruptions worldwide to teaching and learning activities across the education sector. We investigated the impact of COVID-19 on student engagement and performance in a third-year undergraduate science course by comparing student activity during emergency online delivery and traditional mode delivery. We found that the rapid transition to fully online teaching without any physical face-to-face teaching caused by COVID-19 resulted in learning resources being accessed at a slower rate throughout the semester. Student engagement decreased as evidenced by lower attendance at tutorials, despite this being the only virtual face-to-face activity available to students in this course. Thus, despite the smooth transition to fully online mode, it was not sufficient to prevent a decrease in student activity and participation in the online environment, and we observed a downward spiral in student engagement and motivation. Results indicate the importance of providing structure and teacher-student-peer interaction in online delivery modes.