Poster #75 - Minoritized Students’ Experiences With Pandemic-Era Remote Learning: Leveraging Student Strengths to Expand Learning

• In Event: Poster Session 12

Abstract

COVID-19 posed challenges to learning for youth in schools throughout the U.S., including college students. Some of these challenges disproportionately impacted students who experience diverse dimensions of minoritization in the university (e.g., first-generation to college, students of color, low-income, Katz et al., 2021; Soria et al., 2020). However, limited research has focused on how minoritized students grappled with challenges during their day-to-day experiences of pandemic-era remote instruction. The present study aims to fill this gap by using a qualitative approach that centered the voices of students to understand their lived experiences navigating problems of access to learning. In doing so, we elucidate how students and their families took an active role in expanding their access to educational opportunities, an important contributor to learning during and after the pandemic era.

Fifteen undergraduate seniors, the majority of whom identified as first-generation to college, low-income and/or students of color, participated in in-depth interviews during their first term of pandemic-era remote instruction. They took part in semi-structured, individual Zoom interviews, ranging from 30-60 minutes. Given limited literature on the current topic, we utilized primarily inductive methods to draw impressions from the interview data (Braun & Clarke, 2006). Yet, to make sense of our observations, we also employed some deductive techniques, drawing from cultural mismatch theory to help identify particular experiences. Through this process, we constructed four themes related to how students struggled with and expanded their access to (1) learning space, (2) learning materials, (3) participation in learning activities, and (4) social connections/community.

The first theme, learning space, pertained to the context of learning as influenced by the pandemic: Students found that their home and school spaces “meshed together,” creating both challenges for access and opportunities for families to collaboratively support student learning. The remaining themes focused on students’ everyday strategies to overcome barriers related to remote learning. For instance, students experienced difficulty accessing learning materials that were only available online. However, students took advantage of instructional practices, such as posted lecture recordings, to help them manage multiple commitments and learn at their own pace. Furthermore, students experienced difficulty participating in classroom activities through the computer screen. Yet, they noted certain practices, like structuring breakout rooms and practicing flexibility, bolstered their ability to engage. Finally, students struggled with accessing social connections/community. Both students and instructors came up with creative ways to foster togetherness, such as utilizing stable working groups for class projects. Flexible and collaborative practices with instructors, peers, and families provided students with a powerful approach to strengthening their access to and resilience for learning across all four themes.

The results provide critical insights into the strengths that students and their families bring to learning and the crucial role of institutions in leveraging those strengths to expand equitable learning opportunities. Such insights are timely for continued learning in remote instruction and for consideration of long-term practices for post-pandemic learning by youth.

Authors

• Samantha Basch, University of California - Santa Cruz
  Presenting Author

• Rebecca Covarrubias, University of California Santa Cruz

• Su-hua Wang, University of California - Santa Cruz