BOSS LAB received an NSF RAPID grant to measure stress in college students and impact of “new” environment on learning during pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused a sudden and unprecedented shift of undergraduate education to online learning. Instructors and students, many of whom have limited experience teaching and learning online, have suddenly been immersed in an exclusively virtual learning experience. This shift has been accompanied by drastic limitations in students’ daily activities, social interactions, and job opportunities. Given that the current disruption in the system is transient in nature, it is urgent to collect and analyze the data needed to understand the impact of the pandemic on undergraduate students. To this end, this project will examine the immediate and long-term impacts of the pandemic on undergraduate students’ emotional well-being, day-to-day functioning, and learning. The study aims to provide insights on how disruptions can affect learners’ stress, engagement, and learning outcomes both during the online learning experience and during the return to learning conditions that are similar to those prior to the disruption. Results from this project will help inform higher-education institutions and policymakers as they develop strategies to mitigate the effects on student learning resulting from the current pandemic and to plan responses for future disruptions.

The goal of this project is to understand the longitudinal and dynamic impact of the pandemic on undergraduate STEM students’ emotional states (such as stress, anxiety, depressive symptoms, and frustration), day-to-day life (such as social isolation, sedentariness, access to outdoor environments, and proximity to outbreak hotspots), and learning engagement and outcomes. Fluctuations in students’ day-to-day functions and emotional states will be evaluated during and after the pandemic, using information from psychological surveys, interviews, computer vision-based analytics, and wearable sensors. Learning outcomes will be assessed using grades and self-evaluation of learning. Quantitative and qualitative analysis of the resulting data will be used to understand the effects of the disruptions in daily life on students’ emotional states and learning outcomes. This project aims to advance the STEM education community’s understanding of the relationship between disruptions in the education system and student learning, and potentially reveal characteristics that promote resilience of students during and following the acute stages of a crisis. This RAPID award is made by the Improving Undergraduate STEM Education program in the Division of Undergraduate Education (Education and Human Resources Directorate), using funds from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act.