University challenge: how has Covid affected student learning?
Students were left with tough decisions as to how to approach their short-term ambitions heading into the 2020/21 academic year. Would they resume? Would they defer? Would they leave higher education altogether?
This article looks at the experiences of three students in a very-much disrupted climate. All three were 20 years old at the beginning of September, and they all are from universities on the south coast; however, they all have very different experiences of the year so far.
Resumption of studies for 2020/21
The return of students to universities was always going to be challenging. Unlike schools, students are not required to be in a ‘catchment area,’ so aspiring students do not necessarily attend their closest university. Of the 31,000 students at the University of Portsmouth, 5,200 come from around 150 different countries.
One such example is Product Design & Innovation student Liam, who has returned from a gap year from his home in Guernsey and is entering his second year at university.
“Settling back has certainly been different; a mask is now part of the keys, wallet & phone check before I go anywhere, which is something I never could have envisioned,” Liam tells me as he reclines in his chair in Costa Coffee.
“Due to the lack of social events with pubs and clubs shutting at 10pm, I’ve only been going out for special occasions, such as my weekly pub quiz. This has meant I have spent a lot more time doing work from home during the day.
“A lot of the work I do is taught through online lectures, which for me is more than ideal. Being able to go over a lecture a few times is invaluable and being able to access them as and when I need is brilliant,” he enthusiastically explains.
“I am less motivated this year”
However, not all students prefer the new experience of online learning. Ethan, another second-year Product Design student but from a different south coast university, was one of many who suffered from the suspension of teaching when lockdown was imposed in the UK. He was still required to hand in work for his assignments with no teaching available.
“The university provided little to no options in terms of support at the end of last year. As a result of this, my grades dropped off whilst studying from home,” says Ethan via Zoom.
Ethan provides an interesting alternative to Liam, believing that virtual learning can never supersede a traditional environment even with the increased flexibility of online lectures.
“I feel as though the university could be doing more to get students on campus, especially the ones which have much more practical learning such as mine. Even if this is done in small groups for a few hours a week, this interaction would definitely motivate me in my studies.
“I have only gone into the university campus once since lockdown. The lack of a physical learning environment saw my grades drop off last year. This year I am less motivated to do my work to a high level due to the lack of physical university presence.”
As he prepares to hang up, Ethan reminds me of his strong results in his first year: “I see no reason as to why I cannot earn another First if I get my head down this year.”
The penny drops — I realise how incredible it is that a service which allows us to speak face-to-face from our own homes can be so beneficial yet so demotivating at the same time. His opinions become reality as I stare at the screen having finished our conversation only 30 seconds prior — the anticipation and reflection of an interview, let alone a lecture, simply isn’t the same without the subsequent journey to reflect on what you have learned.
Decisions on deferring
Liam and Ethan do have one thing in common — aside from their course –with both attending university for the 2020/21 academic year. For Oliver, a German with Spanish student at the University of Southampton, this is not the case.
As part of his degree, Oliver was required to teach English at a private academy in Spain. However, it soon became clear that this would not be possible.
“The pandemic has meant that I was unable to travel in August as originally planned; as a result, I am not enrolled at the university for the academic year 2020/21.
“My decision [to defer] was primarily motivated by getting the most value from my university course, meaning that I was unsatisfied with the option of completing a six-month residency.
“In addition, this option would have entailed paying more tuition fees, namely £1500 for attending university between September and January. Furthermore, I feared that the pandemic would not have eased sufficiently enough to make travel to and residency in the country feasible.”
Oliver is currently working in a pub in his hometown in Maidenhead. He is optimistic, with the sense of somebody making the best of their unfavourable hand at the poker table. Sipping his pint in the spacious but lively bar room, he is clearly focused on the future over the ‘what might have been’ had the pandemic never happened.
“I plan to travel to Spain in August 2021 for my year’s residency and intend also to reapply for the teaching programme for which I was accepted prior to my decision to defer for the academic year 2020/21. After that, I will return to university for one more year of studies after which I will graduate from my undergraduate degree.”
Conclusion
I was expecting far more pessimistic responses given the level of disruption to the university experience this year, so it was good to see my interviewees taking a positive, proactive approach to their year ahead.
The challenges of the pandemic have forced many students to think on their feet, evident here with the three taking different approaches for the year ahead.
Their experiences may be something they were not expecting, for better or worse, but the sense of positivity between Liam, Ethan and Oliver bodes well for the future.
