Vibe check: Unmuting the possible effects of emergency remote teaching on first year students research

Abstract

Background

Through previous literature we know students has experienced a wide variety of emotions throughout their research (Blocksidge & Primeau, 2024, Bostik, 1992; Onwuegbuzie, Jiao, & Bostick, 2004; McAfee, 2018), but the impact emergency remote teaching has had on those emotions is yet to be explored, despite knowing that students are encountering more mental health challenges than pre-pandemic (Pasquini & Keeter, 2022; Schaeffer, 2022). Having a robust data set of first year students from 2019 we set out to identify what has changed post-emergency remote teaching. Our goal is to create a set of findings for others to use to create their own evidence-based practices.

Methods

In 2019 and 2023 all first-year students on a large regional campus of a school in the Midwest had the opportunity to participate in a survey as well as interviews. Interviews were recorded and then transcribed, allowing us to move to using a grounded theory approach to coding.

Results

We discovered when comparing our 2019 and 2023 results that the emotional codes had a change with an increased expression of frustrations by 15 % and a slight increase of 35 % of Problem-Solving Persistence. When exploring the data related to research activities, we found a 57 % increase in students looking to find a source a different way with a 59 % decrease in students giving up on a source or a 46 % decreased in finding a completely different source. Additionally, there was a 34 % increase in ambiguous language in reference to evaluation.

Conclusion

While first-year students are still using ambiguous language when evaluating sources and express frustration with roadblocks to finding information, they are giving up on sources less, and becoming more persistent when trying multiple methods to find the exact source they believe they need. More research is still needed but this preliminary work shows that there have been changes in their information behaviors, ones that can't be dismissed when evaluating and revising our own practices.