Impact of COVID-19 on students and faculty in higher education
Location
Online - Session 4A
Start Date
4-21-2021 2:30 PM
Major Field of Study
Occupational Therapy
Student Type
Graduate
Faculty Mentor(s)
Laura Greiss Hess, PhD, OTR/L
Presentation Format
Oral Presentation
Abstract/Description
On March 11th, 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) officially announced that COVID-19 was a “pandemic” (Kapasia, Paul, Roy et al., 2020). The impact of COVID-19 on higher education has been substantial. Teaching has changed from traditional in-person, classroom formats to distance learning platforms. As students experienced unprecedented disruptions, faculty faced challenges to provide high-quality teaching and build learning communities with their students.
Preliminary global research on the COVID-19 impact on higher education has revealed mental health implications including anxiety and depression (Cao et al., 2020). Additionally, the transition to distance learning has hindered college students’ motivation, academic performance, and educational plans. For example, “the displacement from face-to-face courses has led to occupational injustices as students have lost access to many of the occupations involved in their student role” including educational and social participation (Keptner & McCarthy, 2020, p.1). The pandemic has caused isolation, disconnection from resources and challenges with productivity related to teaching and learning (Markowitz, 2020).
The purpose of this research is to examine how COVID-19 has reshaped the occupation of educational engagement and health management in higher education within the population of occupational therapy students and faculty at Dominican University, through survey and interview methods. Our research questions are: (1) Among OT students and faculty from Dominican University how has COVID-19 impacted occupational engagement in distance learning from spring 2020 to fall 2020? And (2) What strategies have been successfully employed to foster meaningful occupational engagement in teaching and learning?
References
Cao W, Fang Z, Hou G, et al. (2020). The psychological impact of the COVID-19 epidemic on college students in China. Psychiatry Res. 2020;287:112934. doi:10.1016/j.psychres.2020.112934
Kapasia, N., Paul, P., Roy, A., Saha, J., Zaveri, A., Mallick, R., Barman, B., Das, P., &
Chouhan, P. (2020). Impact of lockdown on learning status of undergraduate and
postgraduate students during COVID-19 pandemic in West Bengal, India. Children
and Youth Services Review, 116, 105194.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2020.105194
Keptner, K. & McCarthy K. (2020): Disruption of academic occupations during COVID-19:
impact on mental health and the role of occupational therapy in tertiary education,
World Federation of Occupational Therapists Bulletin, DOI:
10.1080/14473828.2020.1822575
Markowitz, E. (2020, October 12). Data Shows College Students Struggling to Stay Motivated. Retrieved from https://www.fierceeducation.com/best-practices/data-shows-college-students-struggling-to-stay-motivated?mkt_tok=eyJpIjoiWVRVME1EYzNNVGt5TW1RMCIsInQiOiJxOElaamJFK1B6bTdQMktPRElpYUZPeENxbzlIWEUySjNqWWdpdG9PaFpXQ2w5SlVvM0tkMDY0M0hvQTVBT25ReWRFZVRKVzVNd1JEWmJDclNkbUdic2N6NFphQ1M0VGxaZmVoS1dmbXAxalRFbFRuQlZvRE8yR3ZkQXY3WFlUNm9TUDVOazRGN1l2U1dTcUxROVFySmc9PSJ9&mrkid=132293733
Markowitz, E. (2020, October 12). Data Shows College Students Struggling to Stay Motivated. Retrieved from https://www.fierceeducation.com/best-practices/data-shows-college-students-struggling-to-stay-motivated?mkt_tok=eyJpIjoiWVRVME1EYzNNVGt5TW1RMCIsInQiOiJxOElaamJFK1B6bTdQMktPRElpYUZPeENxbzlIWEUySjNqWWdpdG9PaFpXQ2w5SlVvM0tkMDY0M0hvQTVBT25ReWRFZVRKVzVNd1JEWmJDclNkbUdic2N6NFphQ1M0VGxaZmVoS1dmbXAxalRFbFRuQlZvRE8yR3ZkQXY3WFlUNm9TUDVOazRGN1l2U1dTcUxROVFySmc9PSJ9&mrkid=132293733
Impact of COVID-19 on students and faculty in higher education
Online - Session 4A
On March 11th, 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) officially announced that COVID-19 was a “pandemic” (Kapasia, Paul, Roy et al., 2020). The impact of COVID-19 on higher education has been substantial. Teaching has changed from traditional in-person, classroom formats to distance learning platforms. As students experienced unprecedented disruptions, faculty faced challenges to provide high-quality teaching and build learning communities with their students.
Preliminary global research on the COVID-19 impact on higher education has revealed mental health implications including anxiety and depression (Cao et al., 2020). Additionally, the transition to distance learning has hindered college students’ motivation, academic performance, and educational plans. For example, “the displacement from face-to-face courses has led to occupational injustices as students have lost access to many of the occupations involved in their student role” including educational and social participation (Keptner & McCarthy, 2020, p.1). The pandemic has caused isolation, disconnection from resources and challenges with productivity related to teaching and learning (Markowitz, 2020).
The purpose of this research is to examine how COVID-19 has reshaped the occupation of educational engagement and health management in higher education within the population of occupational therapy students and faculty at Dominican University, through survey and interview methods. Our research questions are: (1) Among OT students and faculty from Dominican University how has COVID-19 impacted occupational engagement in distance learning from spring 2020 to fall 2020? And (2) What strategies have been successfully employed to foster meaningful occupational engagement in teaching and learning?
References
Cao W, Fang Z, Hou G, et al. (2020). The psychological impact of the COVID-19 epidemic on college students in China. Psychiatry Res. 2020;287:112934. doi:10.1016/j.psychres.2020.112934
Kapasia, N., Paul, P., Roy, A., Saha, J., Zaveri, A., Mallick, R., Barman, B., Das, P., &
Chouhan, P. (2020). Impact of lockdown on learning status of undergraduate and
postgraduate students during COVID-19 pandemic in West Bengal, India. Children
and Youth Services Review, 116, 105194.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2020.105194
Keptner, K. & McCarthy K. (2020): Disruption of academic occupations during COVID-19:
impact on mental health and the role of occupational therapy in tertiary education,
World Federation of Occupational Therapists Bulletin, DOI:
10.1080/14473828.2020.1822575
Markowitz, E. (2020, October 12). Data Shows College Students Struggling to Stay Motivated. Retrieved from https://www.fierceeducation.com/best-practices/data-shows-college-students-struggling-to-stay-motivated?mkt_tok=eyJpIjoiWVRVME1EYzNNVGt5TW1RMCIsInQiOiJxOElaamJFK1B6bTdQMktPRElpYUZPeENxbzlIWEUySjNqWWdpdG9PaFpXQ2w5SlVvM0tkMDY0M0hvQTVBT25ReWRFZVRKVzVNd1JEWmJDclNkbUdic2N6NFphQ1M0VGxaZmVoS1dmbXAxalRFbFRuQlZvRE8yR3ZkQXY3WFlUNm9TUDVOazRGN1l2U1dTcUxROVFySmc9PSJ9&mrkid=132293733
Markowitz, E. (2020, October 12). Data Shows College Students Struggling to Stay Motivated. Retrieved from https://www.fierceeducation.com/best-practices/data-shows-college-students-struggling-to-stay-motivated?mkt_tok=eyJpIjoiWVRVME1EYzNNVGt5TW1RMCIsInQiOiJxOElaamJFK1B6bTdQMktPRElpYUZPeENxbzlIWEUySjNqWWdpdG9PaFpXQ2w5SlVvM0tkMDY0M0hvQTVBT25ReWRFZVRKVzVNd1JEWmJDclNkbUdic2N6NFphQ1M0VGxaZmVoS1dmbXAxalRFbFRuQlZvRE8yR3ZkQXY3WFlUNm9TUDVOazRGN1l2U1dTcUxROVFySmc9PSJ9&mrkid=132293733