AMS Major and current senior here at Colorado School of Mines Sabrina Pawlak has written a post for the Mathematical Association of America’s Blog titled “Students Speak: Is it our fault for not measuring up after COVID?”
“While there are technical ways to approach the question of how Covid affected students via testing, performance reviews, surveys, etc., I opted for an anecdotal approach. While this may not satisfy the conditions for extrapolation, I find it relevant to share my perspective—from what I experienced to what I have seen as a resident advisor, tutor for high school mathematics, and a teaching assistant for Differential Equations—by reviewing my time, through all four years of my undergraduate experience through pre-, mid-, and post-pandemic life.
A classroom is a place of collaboration. Conversations constantly occur through verbal and visual cues—facial expressions, engagement levels, body language, etc. This interaction between the students and professors creates a comfortable classroom environment for learning. However, in 2020, this conversation was immediately stripped away as the classroom became virtual, and the visual cues became the thumbs-up react button on zoom. The beginning of 2020 to the present became a trip like no other, which forced an ‘adapt or bust’ mantra.”
For more information and to read Sabrina Pawlak’s post, please visit https://www.mathvalues.org/masterblog/students-speak-is-it-our-fault-for-not-measuring-up-after-covid