Parents struggle helping children with online math learning during COVID-19

• In Event: Poster Session 14
  In Poster Session: PS 14 Topic - Education, Schooling

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic and the related movement of schools from in-person instruction to online learning dramatically changed how elementary school students received academic content. Many popular press articles (and late-night comedy routines) have discussed the difficulties of online education for parents; however, parents’ experiences with online education have not previously been documented in a systematic way. Online learning shifts much of the burden of math instruction and classroom management from teachers to caregivers. Supporting children’s math education may be particularly difficult for families given previous negative attitudes about math, and the fact that parents were less likely to provide children with math support even before the pandemic (Maloney et al., 2015). Here, we explore the experiences of parents of elementary school children as they adapt to online math learning using both qualitative and quantitative measures.

Parents with at least one elementary aged child (n=62) completed an online survey in the spring of 2020 after schools had transitioned to online learning. Parents were asked quantitative questions about the pressure they felt to support their child with online math learning, their expectations for their child’s success, their confidence in their ability to support their children, and their satisfaction with online math learning. Nearly 60% of parents reported online math learning was more stressful than in-school math learning, and 65% of parents reported that online math learning required them to provide more support than they had before the pandemic. Similar majorities of parents reported feeling less satisfied with their child’s math education, that their children were learning less math than before, and that they felt more responsibility for helping with their child’s math learning.

Parents also completed three open ended questions about their positive and negative experiences with online learning. Responses were coded for emergent themes. The themes that have emerged include positive experiences with online math education, especially focused around their child can being able to take her time to complete a lesson, and also positive feelings about the increased use of math games for instruction. However, parents gave many more negative comments about the difficulties they faced with online math education. Many responses focused on the difficulties of self-regulation for children in this age group, often discussing how hard it was for the parent to keep a child engaged and focused. Additionally, parents discussed how challenging it was to support children with math specifically, as compared to other subjects, reporting that they felt as though they did not understand methods for teaching math.

Our results suggest that the experience of supporting elementary school children with math learning is particularly stressful and difficult for families. Obtaining a better understanding of the experience parents have with online math education can help schools and educators more effectively support families as the need for online math education continues.

Authors

• Marjorie Weber Schaeffer, Saint Mary’s College
  Presenting Author

• Desiree Perez, Saint Mary's College
  Non-Presenting Author

• Christopher Rozek, Stanford University
  Non-Presenting Author