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Applying a Disturbance Ecology Perspective to Measure the Impact of the Corona Virus Pandemic on Student Success Within the LA Classroom

Morse, Jarod M
http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3450-8307
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1719859147030054

Abstract Details

2024, Master of Science (MS), Bowling Green State University, Biological Sciences.
Student success, defined broadly by a student’s academic achievement and retention, can be impacted by a number of internal and external factors. One factor is a student’s sense of community in the classroom. At BGSU, the sense of community within the classroom was positively impacted by the implementation of a learning assistant (LA) program. Sloan (2020) found that students in LA classrooms had an increased sense of community based on classroom community subscale scores. My research continued to follow student performance and success within LA classes and their correlation with identifiers and scores of classroom community, with a focus on the impact of the corona virus pandemic on the student classroom community. My study considered 4,066 student surveys from introductory STEM courses taught with undergraduate LAs at Bowling Green State University before, during, and after the onset of the corona virus pandemic. Student survey results were paired with sociodemographic data provided by the Bowling Green State University academic affairs office. These data tracked students by race, sex, retention status, and housing in their respective courses The complexity of this data set required a flexible and robust analysis strategy. To this end, I applied principles of disturbance ecology, where in changes in variance over time are considered. This strategy considered multiple factors; here, applied to understand the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on cohort resistance, resilience, and recovery to the pandemic. Changes in the distribution of student scores of classroom community for both subscales between pre-pandemic and post- corona virus pandemic periods were evident. The data indicated an increase in the percentage of failing students in these courses. Sociodemographic differences iii were noted, with specific groups having experienced higher fail rates and more changes in their classroom community scale questionnaires. Specifically, students that reported as white appear to be more resilient to the pandemic as the variance of classroom community scores was not as changed. Additionally, female students had a larger range of learning community scores compared to male students after the onset of the pandemic. Overall, these data indicate that the corona virus pandemic altered student classroom experience and success.
Karen Sirum, Ph.D (Committee Chair)
Julie Matuga, Ph.D (Committee Member)
Christopher Ward, Ph.D (Committee Member)
59 p.
Biology; Ecology; Education; Higher Education
Science education; life science; cell biology; learning assistant program, corona virus pandemic, opportunity gap, classroom community scale

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Morse, J. M. (2024). Applying a Disturbance Ecology Perspective to Measure the Impact of the Corona Virus Pandemic on Student Success Within the LA Classroom [Master's thesis, Bowling Green State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1719859147030054

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Morse, Jarod. Applying a Disturbance Ecology Perspective to Measure the Impact of the Corona Virus Pandemic on Student Success Within the LA Classroom. 2024. Bowling Green State University, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1719859147030054.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Morse, Jarod. "Applying a Disturbance Ecology Perspective to Measure the Impact of the Corona Virus Pandemic on Student Success Within the LA Classroom." Master's thesis, Bowling Green State University, 2024. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1719859147030054

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

bgsu1719859147030054
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© 2024, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by Bowling Green State University and OhioLINK.