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Suddenly Online: A National Survey of Undergraduates During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Part of Learning Sciences Research

By Barbara Means, Julie Neisler, Langer Research Associates

Digital Promise and Langer Research Associates developed the “Survey of Student Perceptions of Remote Teaching and Learning” to capture the experiences of undergraduates taking courses that transitioned to online instruction in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The survey explores the nature of college courses as they were taught during the COVID-19 outbreak, the pervasiveness of various challenges undergraduates faced after the transition to remote instruction, and course features associated with higher levels of student satisfaction. Data analyses compared experiences of students from low-income, underrepresented, or rural backgrounds to those of students with none of these characteristics.This survey was administered in the spring of 2020 to a random national sample of 1,008 undergraduates, age 18 and older, who were taking college courses for credit that included in-person class sessions when the COVID-19 pandemic hit and had to finish the course by learning at a distance.

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Sponsorship

This work was supported by grants from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (INV-016705) and the National Science Foundation (DUE 2029642). Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the position, policy, or endorsement of their organizations or the funding agency. A separate report focused on the perceptions and experiences of students taking STEM courses is forthcoming. We are grateful to the many colleagues who have generously shared their insights concerning the most important issues in learning online during the pandemic. These include Alison Pendergast and Craig Roberts of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Connie Della-Piana of the National Science Foundation, Kristen Fox and Gates Bryant of Tyton Partners, Karen Vignare and Megan Tesene of the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities, Ruanda Garth-McCullough of Achieving the Dream, and Jessica Rowland Williams of the Every Learner Everywhere Network.

Suggested Citation

Means, B., and Neisler, J., with Langer Research Associates. (2020). Suddenly Online: A National Survey of Undergraduates During the COVID-19 Pandemic. San Mateo, CA: Digital Promise.

Resource Details

DOI
10.51388/20.500.12265/98
Persistent Identifier
http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12265/98

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