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Learning During the COVID-19 Pandemic: It Is Not Who You Teach, but How You Teach

Author

Listed:
  • George Orlov
  • Douglas McKee
  • James Berry
  • Austin Boyle
  • Thomas DiCiccio
  • Tyler Ransom
  • Alex Rees-Jones
  • Jörg Stoye

Abstract

We use standardized end-of-course knowledge assessments to examine student learning during the disruptions induced by the COVID-19 pandemic. Examining seven economics courses taught at four US R1 institutions, we find that students performed substantially worse, on average, in Spring 2020 when compared to Spring or Fall 2019. We find no evidence that the effect was driven by specific demographic groups. However, our results suggest that teaching methods that encourage active engagement, such as the use of small group activities and projects, played an important role in mitigating this negative effect. Our results point to methods for more effective online teaching as the pandemic continues.

Suggested Citation

  • George Orlov & Douglas McKee & James Berry & Austin Boyle & Thomas DiCiccio & Tyler Ransom & Alex Rees-Jones & Jörg Stoye, 2020. "Learning During the COVID-19 Pandemic: It Is Not Who You Teach, but How You Teach," NBER Working Papers 28022, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:28022
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    Cited by:

    1. Hardt, David & Nagler, Markus & Rincke, Johannes, 2023. "Tutoring in (online) higher education: Experimental evidence," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 92(C).
    2. Binelli, Chiara & Comi, Simona & Meschi, Elena & Pagani, Laura, 2024. "Every cloud has a silver lining: The role of study time and class recordings on university students’ performance during COVID-19," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 225(C), pages 305-328.
    3. Hugues Champeaux & Lucia Mangiavacchi & Francesca Marchetta & Luca Piccoli, 2022. "Child development and distance learning in the age of COVID-19," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 20(3), pages 659-685, September.
    4. Sarah Cattan & Christine Farquharson & Sonya Krutikova & Angus Phimister & Adam Salisbury & Almudena Sevilla, 2021. "Inequalities in responses to school closures over the course of the first COVID-19 lockdown," IFS Working Papers W21/4, Institute for Fiscal Studies.
    5. Haelermans, Carla & Korthals, Roxanne & Jacobs, Madelon & de Leeuw, Suzanne & Vermeulen, Stan & van Vugt, Lynn & Aarts, Bas & Breuer, Tijana & van der Velden, Rolf & van Wetten, Sanne & de Wolf, Inge, 2021. "Sharp increase in inequality in education in times of the COVID-19-pandemic," ROA Research Memorandum 010, Maastricht University, Research Centre for Education and the Labour Market (ROA).
    6. Badruddoza, Syed & Amin, Modhurima Dey, 2023. "Impacts of Teaching Modality on U.S. COVID-19 Spread in Fall 2020 Semester," Applied Economics Teaching Resources (AETR), Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 5(1), January.
    7. Monroy-Gómez-Franco, Luis & Vélez-Grajales, Roberto & López-Calva, Luis F., 2022. "The potential effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on learnings," International Journal of Educational Development, Elsevier, vol. 91(C).
    8. Hardt, David & Nagler, Markus & Rincke, Johannes, 2022. "Can peer mentoring improve online teaching effectiveness? An RCT during the COVID-19 pandemic," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    9. Szabó, Andrea & Fekete, Mariann & Böcskei, Balázs & Nagy, Ádám, 2023. "Real-time experiences of Hungarian youth in digital education as an example of the impact of pandemia. “I’ve never had better grades on average: I got straight all the time”," International Journal of Educational Development, Elsevier, vol. 99(C).
    10. Elena-Aurelia Botezat & Alexandru Constăngioară & Anca-Otilia Dodescu & Ioana-Crina Pop-Cohuţ, 2022. "How Stable Are Students’ Entrepreneurial Intentions in the COVID-19 Pandemic Context?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(9), pages 1-22, May.
    11. De Paola, Maria & Gioia, Francesca & Scoppa, Vincenzo, 2022. "Online Teaching, Procrastination and Students’ Achievement: Evidence from COVID-19 Induced Remote Learning," IZA Discussion Papers 15031, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    12. Bratti, Massimiliano & Lippo, Enrico, 2022. "COVID-19 and the Gender Gap in University Student Performance," IZA Discussion Papers 15456, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    13. Sanchayan Banerjee & Beatriz Jambrina-Canseco & Benjamin Brundu-Gonzalez & Claire Gordon & Jenni Carr, 2023. "Nudge or not, university teachers have mixed feelings about online teaching," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 10(1), pages 1-10, December.
    14. List, John A. & Shah, Rohen, 2022. "The impact of team incentives on performance in graduate school: Evidence from two pilot RCTs," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 221(C).
    15. Ragni, Alessandra & Ippolito, Daniel & Masci, Chiara, 2024. "Assessing the impact of hybrid teaching on students’ academic performance via multilevel propensity score-based techniques," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 92(C).
    16. Li, Haizheng & Ma, Mingyu & Liu, Qinyi, 2022. "How the COVID-19 pandemic affects job sentiments of rural teachers," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 72(C).
    17. Picault, Julien, 2021. "Structure, Flexibility, and Consistency: A Dynamic Learning Approach for an Online Asynchronous Course," Applied Economics Teaching Resources (AETR), Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 3(4), October.
    18. Birdi, Alvin & Cook, Steve & Elliott, Caroline & Lait, Ashley & Mehari, Tesfa & Wood, Max, 2023. "A critical review of recent economics pedagogy literature, 2020–2021," International Review of Economics Education, Elsevier, vol. 43(C).
    19. Douglas McKee & Steven Zhu & George Orlov, 2023. "Econ-assessments.org: Automated Assessment of Economics Skills," Eastern Economic Journal, Palgrave Macmillan;Eastern Economic Association, vol. 49(1), pages 4-14, January.
    20. Kenneth G. Elzinga & Daniel Q. Harper, 2023. "In‐person versus online instruction: Evidence from principles of economics," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 90(1), pages 3-30, July.
    21. Wang, Qingyu & Huang, Qing & Wu, Xiangfang & Tan, Jin & Sun, Panxu, 2023. "Categorical uncertainty in policy and bitcoin volatility," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 58(PC).
    22. Ahlstrom, Laura J. & Harter, Cynthia & Asarta, Carlos J., 2023. "Teaching methods and materials in undergraduate economics courses: School, instructor, and department effects," International Review of Economics Education, Elsevier, vol. 44(C).

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    JEL classification:

    • A2 - General Economics and Teaching - - Economic Education and Teaching of Economics
    • A22 - General Economics and Teaching - - Economic Education and Teaching of Economics - - - Undergraduate
    • I21 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Analysis of Education

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