2021 Education magazine

2021 Education Magazine LINCOLN DAILY NEWS February 18, 2021 Page 11 across the country have reported the number of students failing classes has risen considerably when compared to recent years. For example, Superintendent Steve Wilder of District 427 in Sycamore, Illinois, said that there is a much higher number of failing grades at the district’s high school. Journalist Kevin Bessler cited in the Center Square, “He (Wilder) reported about 850 failing grades – about three times as many as in past years.” Those in higher education share similar stories that the Covid-19 pandemic has negatively impacted their academic performance. OneClass, an education technology company that provides virtual access to study materials, surveyed more than 14,000 freshmen, sophomore and junior college students about their fall 2020 experience. Students from 232 colleges, both public and private, took part in the study. “About 85 percent of respondents said the pandemic had a negative effect on their performance. Another nine percent said the pandemic didn’t affect their performance, and about five percent said the pandemic had a positive influence on their performance,” writes Madeline St. Amour of Inside Higher Ed. One reason for this is that digital interactions can be highly taxing, regardless of external factors. Asynchronous class formats, where communication often takes place through email or discussion boards, and remote connectivity to teachers and classmates, along with limited access to labs and facilities, can mean that “even something as simple as asking a question after class could mean back- and-forth email delays without ever gaining confidence in the class material.” Student mental health has also been strained from family responsibilities, health concerns, feelings of loneliness, and the overall loss of the typical college experience. Students are often faced with the chronic stress and anxiety of trying to learn under very different conditions from what they are accustomed. A report by Suzie An of WBEZ Chicago featured student Paige Gagerman, who considered herself “highly motivated” in the fall. But now in second semester, remote learning “has worn her down.” “I think that all the hope and all the life has been drained out of me and my peers, and really the teachers, too… I’ll stay up for hours during the night, anxious about the homework I couldn’t [be motivated] to do. Or about the Continued p