Effects of teaching modality changes: Evidence from a lab-in-the-field experiment

This study explores how the change from a synchronous virtual teaching environment to a face-to-face one is related to the academic performance of university students. For this purpose, a lab-in-the-field experiment with undergraduate students was conducted, and a difference-in-differences model was estimated. Participants in the experiment were asked to respond to a knowledge test that allowed us to compare their academic performance in the return to face-to-face teaching after the end of restrictions imposed during the COVID-19 pandemic. The students' forgetting curve at the time of the test is an unobserved factor that could bias results; hence we proposed a test designed to be administered in two parts, with an intervention consisting of an intermediate feedback activity as a memory reactivation mechanism. We find evidence of moderately lower knowledge test performance for university students who received virtual classes than face-to-face classes, with average test scores 4.4 % lower but statistically not significant. Therefore, synchronous virtual teaching is not more or less effective than face-to-face classroom learning. Results support the idea that implementing different teaching modalities that allow greater flexibility is an alternative that may not necessarily compromise students' academic performance. However, its effectiveness depends on making technological and pedagogic resources available.