Auburn College of Education faculty co-edit books examining effects of COVID-19 on students and teachers

Nearly six years removed from the unprecedented COVID-19 global pandemic, society is still grappling with its effects, and faculty in Auburn’s College of Education have co-edited several books examining how parental and peer relationships affected learning and academic performance during this time period.

Professor Jill Salisbury-Glennon, Professor Chih-hsuan Wang and their colleagues conducted a study over multiple semesters, looking at the effects of parental relationships while college students were away from campus during lockdown, peer relationships when students were able to return to campus, and how those two social support structures impacted college students’ learning, motivation and academic performance.

“It occurred to me that there was really no better time to study the effects of parental and peer support than during a global pandemic,” Salisbury-Glennon said. “So far, this research has led to a series of two books, six book chapters, nine national and two regional conference presentations and additional research in progress into the effects of the COVID-19 global pandemic on students’ learning and academic achievement.”

Throughout the various phases of the pandemic from 2020 to 2023, the researchers collected survey data from over 1,400 participants and conducted interviews to further dig into the data. The research included in their edited books highlights findings on both learners and teachers from multiple countries around the world.

Impacts on Students

One of the co-edited books, Examining the Cognitive and Psychological Effects of the COVID-19 Global Pandemic on High School, College and Graduate Learners, edited by Salisbury-Glennon, Wang and David Shannon, purports that the lack of socialization during the pandemic was a significant stressor for many learners. Decreased socialization and increased mental health challenges directly impacted many students’ motivation, learning strategies, and final grades.

Campus shutdowns brought with them another series of challenges, with many college students struggling to learn in a distance learning setting. For many underserved learners, accommodations such as tutoring, quiet study areas, and even technology were not always available.

The researchers also noticed that familial factors impacted learning, with constantly changing or increasing family roles creating a more negative experience for in-service teachers. Although some participants in the research study enjoyed spending more time at home with their families, others were forced to remain apart from family members due to travel restrictions or quarantine protocols.

On the positive side, some learners were able to become more self-directed and developed strategies to adjust to more independent learning. The shift to online instruction during the pandemic has led to an increase in the use of online instruction, and this trend is unlikely to reverse anytime soon.

“Chapter 20 of the book concluded that the pandemic has fostered significant increases in educational technology and online learning that will have long-lasting effects on the future of education,” Salisbury-Glennon said.

Teachers are still seeing the lingering effects of the pandemic in their learners at all levels. Data shows that many K-12 standardized test scores have dropped following the pandemic, and younger learners who may have missed out on preschool during the shutdown must now learn many basic school readiness skills at an older age.

Impacts on Teachers

Their second edited book, entitled Instructional Survival in the Midst of the Perfect Storm: The Experiences of K-12 Teachers During the COVID-19 Global Pandemic, explored the effects of the pandemic on K-12 educators. They found that when faced with challenges and crises, K-12 teachers must be provided with additional instructional resources and training alongside additional emotional support from administrators, mentors and peer teachers.

“The COVID-19 pandemic forced teachers to implement new teaching methods and use new tools for remote teaching and learning, often without the necessary instruction, preparation or resources,” Salisbury-Glennon explained. “This resulted in less teacher-student interaction and decreased teacher morale as well as higher rates of teacher burnout and career dissatisfaction.”

The pandemic brought many unprecedented and stressful teaching conditions, from the lack of interpersonal interactions to teaching from home to the technology challenges presented by emergency remote instruction.

Overall, the researchers discovered that interpersonal relationships and human interaction are a key part of the educational experience and student success, and that when presented with global challenges, teachers must also be given adequate moral and emotional support. While learners impacted by the pandemic still have some catching up to do, advances in technology stand to expand how instruction is delivered.

As the College of Education continues to prepare future teachers to enter the workforce, Salisbury-Glennon and her colleagues continue to research college students’ learning and are hopeful that the worst of the pandemic is in the past.

Their latest research project is called Helping College Students to THRIVE and they’re looking at how the Transition to college, mental Health, self-Regulation and Resilience, Interpersonal relationships, Volition and External supports such as AI impact college students’ motivation, learning, self-regulated learning and academic performance.

“I’ve always been fascinated by the questions of why some learners perform better than others academically and how we can help every learner to perform to the best of their ability,” Salisbury-Glennon said. “These are very complex questions as every learner learns differently and is motivated by different variables. Our research is helping us to gain a better understanding of the strategies that we can use to help each learner thrive.”

Examining the Cognitive and Psychological Effects of the COVID-19 Global Pandemic on High School, College and Graduate Learners and Instructional Survival in the Midst of the Perfect Storm: The Experiences of K-12 Teachers During the COVID-19 Global Pandemic can be purchased online.