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Zooming to Class?: Experimental Evidence on College Students' Online Learning during COVID-19

Author

Listed:
  • Kofoed, Michael S.

    (University of Tennessee)

  • Gebhart, Lucas

    (U.S. Military Academy)

  • Gilmore, Dallas

    (U.S. Military Academy)

  • Moschitto, Ryan

    (U.S. Military Academy)

Abstract

COVID-19 shifted schools and colleges to online instruction with little causal evidence of outcomes. In the fall of 2020, we randomized 551 West Point students in a required Introductory Economics course across twelve instructors to either an online or in-person class. Final grades for online students dropped by 0.215 standard deviations; a result apparent in both assignments and exams and largest for academically at-risk students. A post-course survey finds that online students struggled to concentrate in class and felt less connected to their instructors and peers. We find that the shift to online education had negative results for learning.

Suggested Citation

  • Kofoed, Michael S. & Gebhart, Lucas & Gilmore, Dallas & Moschitto, Ryan, 2021. "Zooming to Class?: Experimental Evidence on College Students' Online Learning during COVID-19," IZA Discussion Papers 14356, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp14356
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    Cited by:

    1. Remi Jedwab & Roberto Samaniego & Paul Romer & Asif Islam, 2022. "Scars of Pandemics from Lost Schooling and Experience: Aggregate Implications and Gender Differences Through the Lens of COVID-19," Working Papers 2022-02, The George Washington University, Institute for International Economic Policy.
    2. Elisa Failache & Nicolás Fiori & Noemi Katzkowicz & Alina Machado & Luciana Méndez, 2022. "Impact of COVID-19 on higher education: Evidence from Uruguay," Documentos de Trabajo (working papers) 22-02, Instituto de Economía - IECON.
    3. Bandar N. Alarifi & Steve Song, 2024. "Online vs in-person learning in higher education: effects on student achievement and recommendations for leadership," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 11(1), pages 1-8, December.
    4. 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).
    5. 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.
    6. Benjamin Hansen & Joseph J. Sabia & Jessamyn Schaller, 2022. "Schools, Job Flexibility, and Married Women's Labor Supply," NBER Working Papers 29660, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    7. 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.
    8. Anja Žnidaršič & Alenka Brezavšček & Gregor Rus & Janja Jerebic, 2022. "Has the COVID-19 Pandemic Affected Mathematics Achievement? A Case Study of University Students in Social Sciences," Mathematics, MDPI, vol. 10(13), pages 1-23, July.
    9. 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.
    10. Maria De Paola & Francesca Gioia & Vincenzo Scoppa, 2022. "Online Teaching, Procrastination And Students’ Achievement: Evidence From Covid-19 Induced Remote Learning," Working Papers 202202, Università della Calabria, Dipartimento di Economia, Statistica e Finanza "Giovanni Anania" - DESF.
    11. Mustafa Uğraş & Erdal Zengin & Stamatis Papadakis & Michail Kalogiannakis, 2023. "Early Childhood Learning Losses during COVID-19: Systematic Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(7), pages 1-29, April.
    12. Duha Altindag & Samuel Cole & R. Alan Seals Jr, 2022. "The Price of COVID-19 Risk in a Public University," Papers 2204.00894, arXiv.org.
    13. Rodríguez-Planas, Núria, 2022. "Hitting where it hurts most: COVID-19 and low-income urban college students," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 87(C).
    14. Benjamin Hansen & Joseph J. Sabia & Jessamyn Schaller, 2022. "In-Person Schooling and Youth Suicide: Evidence from School Calendars and Pandemic School Closures," NBER Working Papers 30795, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    online learning; COVID-19; randomized control trial;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I21 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Analysis of Education
    • I23 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Higher Education; Research Institutions
    • H75 - Public Economics - - State and Local Government; Intergovernmental Relations - - - State and Local Government: Health, Education, and Welfare

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