In response to COVID-19, higher education institutions moved to online formats, presenting challenges and inequities in resources and opportunities for students and faculty. Underrepresented and underserved students and instructors at Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSIs) were disproportionately negatively impacted (Kapoor, 2020), with students from low-income backgrounds experiencing more difficulty meeting basic housing and food needs (Student Data Insights Strategy Team, 2020). Similar inequities continued throughout stay at home and remote learning periods during the pandemic (e.g., limited internet, food insecurity, medical testing), requiring better solutions. This research explored these issues through a mixed-methods longitudinal design consisting of surveys and semi-structured interviews. Surveys included measures of attitudes (e.g., belonging, compassion), motivation, and emotions, along with questions about instructional and institutional supports. Interviews included think aloud protocols with survey items, questions regarding perceptions of institutional and instructional practices, needed supports, and follow up questions based on survey data. Below is a summary of findings related to both intellectual merit and broader impacts outcomes for this project.

Intellectual Merit objectives for the project included: 1) Contribute to knowledge of attitudinal, motivational, and emotional processes, and reactions to institutional and instructional supports in underserved populations, and 2) Uncover underlying thought processes (i.e., the ?why?) behind item responses via think aloud protocols. In addressing these objectives, the longitudinal design of this study demonstrated insightful shifts in the evolving impact of the pandemic on students and how their coping strategies shifted accordingly. HSIs must be mindful of the continued impact of the pandemic on students and proactively anticipate ongoing needs, including but not limited to ensuring access to personal learning tools such as laptops, reliable WIFI, mental and physical healthcare, access to emergency funds, demonstrating compassion via university communication, and offering flexibility relative to academic expectations and academic policies. Results indicated that undergraduate and graduate students felt continued stress related to financial uncertainty and mental health needs throughout the duration of data collection. Students consistently expressed a simultaneous need for structure and flexibility to be able to navigate educational and personal responsibilities as many parts of their lives remained less predictable than before COVID. Data revealed that approximately half of undergraduates were having difficulty sleeping during the early parts of the pandemic, which likely contributed to the feelings of stress and desire for mental health support. However, the coping mechanisms reported by undergraduates were overall quite healthy including strategies such as acceptance and active coping. Moving forward, our data suggest that HSIs must prioritize funding to support some of the resources and services that were increased to respond to students? needs during the pandemic, as many of these needs continue to persist, particularly access to mental health resources and other basic needs.

Broader Impact objectives were: 1) Identify institutional and instructional practices, strategies, and supports that help versus hinder students and instructors from underrepresented and underserved populations, 2) Inform how lab experiences, which involve hands-on activities, translate to an online format, and 3) Inform solutions that do not hinder STEM lab-based experiences in an online format. Findings related to these outcomes included a longitudinal analysis of students? responses concerning what worked well and what didn?t. As the pandemic progressed and educational formats shifted, we found students? responses evolved as well. In the early phases of data collection, students expressed a need for flexibility, regular and helpful communication, and reasonable expectations given all the uncertainty of early pandemic life. These needs shifted as time went on and students and faculty became more adept and dealing with a continuously changing pandemic. By Spring 2021 students reported that communication, reasonable expectations, and availability of structured resources were most helpful, reflecting a shift from needing instructors to facilitate flexibility to being able to adjust more autonomously and individually, given access to the proper resources. Institutional supports that student found most helpful throughout the study included clear, intentional communication (rather than vague communication), financial support, and flexibility related to various policies such as grading, various administrative deadlines. Regarding STEM lab courses, we developed a qualitative model for online and hybrid learning based on student and instructor accounts of what worked well to inform future lab courses. Findings suggested that responses from students and instructors communicated similar needs from different perspectives. The model included four central ideas, holistic accessibility, instructional practices, instructor interactions, and course design, to be considered when designing and conducting online or hybrid lab courses. According to the qualitative analysis, shared, bidirectional relationships exist between instructional practices, instructor interactions, and course design. Therefore, if instructors neglect one of these areas, the other two will be impacted as will the student experience. Consequently, holistic accessibility will be impacted as well. The model provides a framework for instructors to use when preparing an online or hybrid lab course to improve experiences during the course for both students and instructors.

Last Modified: 08/01/2023
Modified by: Elizabeth J Pope