Health and education concerns about returning to campus and online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic among US undergraduate STEM majors

Objective: We examined undergraduates’ concerns about returning to campus and online learning from home. Participants: Undergraduates majoring in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) at US universities/colleges. Methods: Participants completed an online survey in July 2020. We content-analyzed responses to open-ended questions about concerns about fall 2020. Results: Students (N = 64) were 52% women, 47% low socioeconomic status (SES), and 27% non-Hispanic white. Concerns about returning to campus included student noncompliance with university COVID-19 prevention guidelines (28%), infection risk (28%), poor instructional quality (26%), inadequate university plans for preventing/handling outbreaks (25%), negative impacts on social interactions (11%), and transportation/commuting (11%). Concerns about learning from home included difficulty focusing on schoolwork (58%), lack of hands-on/experiential learning (24%), negative impacts on social interactions (19%), family/home environment (15%), concerns that online learning wastes time/money (10%), and inadequate technology/Internet access (5%). Conclusions: Universities should address student concerns and provide resources to overcome barriers to effective learning.

This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Journal of American College Health on 2021-10-19, available online: https://www.tandfonline.com/10.1080/07448481.2021.1979009.

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Work Title Health and education concerns about returning to campus and online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic among US undergraduate STEM majors
Access
Open Access
Creators
  1. Lindsay E. Palmer
  2. Sherry L. Pagoto
  3. Deja Workman
  4. Kathrine A. Lewis
  5. Lauren Rudin
  6. Nina De Luna
  7. Valeria Herrera
  8. Nathanial Brown
  9. Jessica Bibeau
  10. Kaylei Arcangel,
  11. Molly E. Waring
Keyword
  1. COVID-19
  2. Undergraduate students
  3. Education
  4. Online learning
License CC BY-NC 4.0 (Attribution-NonCommercial)
Work Type Article
Publisher
  1. Informa UK Limited
Publication Date October 19, 2021
Publisher Identifier (DOI)
  1. 10.1080/07448481.2021.1979009
Source
  1. Journal of American College Health
Deposited April 04, 2022

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Version 1
published

  • Created
  • Added Fall2020 Student Concerns-1.docx
  • Added Creator Lindsay E. Palmer
  • Added Creator Sherry L. Pagoto
  • Added Creator Deja Workman
  • Added Creator Kathrine A. Lewis
  • Added Creator Lauren Rudin
  • Added Creator Nina De Luna
  • Added Creator Valeria Herrera
  • Added Creator Nathanial Brown
  • Added Creator Jessica Bibeau
  • Added Creator Kaylei Arcangel,
  • Added Creator Molly E. Waring
  • Published
  • Updated Work Title Show Changes
    Work Title
    • Health and education concerns about returning to campus and online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic among US undergraduate STEM majors
    • ! Health and education concerns about returning to campus and online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic among US undergraduate STEM majors
  • Updated Keyword Show Changes
    Keyword
    • COVID-19, Undergraduate students, Education, Online learning
  • Updated Work Title Show Changes
    Work Title
    • ! Health and education concerns about returning to campus and online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic among US undergraduate STEM majors
    • Health and education concerns about returning to campus and online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic among US undergraduate STEM majors
  • Updated