RAPID: Psychosocial Determinants of Successful Remote Learning During the Covid-19 Pandemic: A Study of Promoters and Barriers faced by HBCU Students

史无前例、发展迅速的新冠肺炎疫情扰乱了STEM教育，对学生的毅力和成功产生了负面影响。种族和阶级的社会方面决定了健康和教育的结果。像新冠肺炎这样的公共卫生危机对非裔美国人(AA)、低收入美国人和有心理社会风险因素的个人的影响不成比例。这种不同的影响与较差的基线健康和环境因素有关，这些因素使人们难以遵守社会疏远秩序。与教育相关的国家差距在社会人口群体中表现出类似的模式。低收入大学生获得计算机、电子设备和互联网服务的机会不平等。他们还遇到更多的障碍，如家庭暴力和饥饿，以及对压力和应对的更大担忧。在美国历史上最大的黑人学院和大学--北卡罗来纳农工大学，新冠肺炎在2020年3月强制所有班级转用在线教学模式，导致超过1,700名学生缺课，使他们面临辍学或延长在校时间的风险；这是额外的经济负担。此外，HBCU的许多学生在上学期间兼职工作，主要在基本服务部门工作。这使他们接触新冠肺炎的风险更大，加剧了他们的焦虑和压力水平。北卡罗来纳州农工大学的一个多学科研究团队试图了解这些大学生的风险因素，并利用这些信息制定有效的干预措施，防止远程学习成功中断，为2020年秋季及以后的学期做准备。这一点至关重要，因为在研制出新冠肺炎的药物或疫苗之前，不太可能恢复“正常”的面对面授课模式，而这种情况可能需要数年时间。如果不解决在线和远程学习的障碍，这些学生实际上就会被甩在后面。这项研究旨在强调与当前新冠肺炎大流行相关的心理社会风险因素，包括难以获得技术资源，以及情有可原的情况对学生学习结果的影响程度。为了更好地了解在危机时刻心理社会风险因素与远程学习成功之间的关系，本研究将采用混合方法对北卡罗来纳大学的学生进行在线调查，以收集各种指标的数据：社会人口统计特征、使用新冠肺炎的经历、对新冠肺炎的态度和行为、感知的压力和应对、抑郁、家庭暴力行为和受害、食物不安全感和自我效能、以及对计算机和技术的熟悉程度。随后，将对随机选择的调查受访者进行访谈，以确定量化结果的背景，并发现其他障碍和推动者。调查数据将使用回归模型进行分析，访谈数据将使用内容分析进行分析。调查和访谈数据将通过比较和对比结果进行三角划分，以全面了解影响远程学习成功的心理社会风险因素。结果将为开发移动应用程序(App)提供信息，以吸引这些学生，并将他们与在这些颠覆性条件下维持学习所需的资源联系起来。这项研究的发现将产生关于在学术旅程的关键中断期间成功远程学习的心理社会决定因素的新知识。作为全美最大的哈佛商业大学和顶尖的非裔美国STEM本科生培养机构，北卡罗来纳州立大学有能力评估新冠肺炎疫情对弱势学生的影响，并为其学业成功制定合适的干预措施。这项工作将为未来的政策和预防战略的制定提供信息，以便各机构为未来的大流行做好更好的准备，使所有学生都有必要进行远程和在线学习。这项工作将产生更广泛地应用于HBCU学生和来自相似背景的学生如何过渡到在线学习的见解。这项研究将通过确定在极端破坏性条件下影响学生成功的因素来帮助干预发展。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The unprecedented and fast evolving nature of the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted STEM education, negatively impacting students’ persistence and success. Social aspects of race and class predict health and education outcomes. Public health crises, like COVID-19, disproportionately impact African Americans (AAs), lower income Americans, and individuals with psychosocial risk factors. This disparate impact has been linked to poor baseline health and environmental factors that make it difficult to adhere to social distancing orders. National education-related disparities show similar patterns across sociodemographic groups. Low-income college students have unequal access to computers, electronic devices, and internet service. They also encounter, higher instances of barriers, such as family violence and hunger, and greater concerns around stress and coping. At North Carolina A&T State University (NC A&T), the nation’s largest Historically Black College and University (HBCU), over 1,700 students failed to show up for classes when COVID-19 forced transition of all classes to online instruction modes in March 2020, placing them at risk for dropping out of college or extending their time in school; an additional financial burden. Furthermore, many of the students at HBCUs work part-time while attending school, mostly in the essential services sector. This places them at greater risk for exposure to COVID-19, exacerbating their anxieties and stress levels. A multidisciplinary team of investigators from NC A&T seeks to understand the risk factors for these college students and use the information to develop effective interventions to prevent disruptions in remote learning success in preparation for fall 2020 and subsequent semesters. This is critical because resumption of classes using “normal” face-to-face formats is unlikely to happen until a drug or vaccine for COVID-19 is developed, a scenario that could take years. If the barriers to online and remote learning are not addressed, these students will literally be left behind. This study seeks to highlight the extent to which psychosocial risk factors, including poor access to technology resources, related to the current COVID-19 pandemic and extenuating circumstances are having an impact on student learning outcomes. To better understand the correlations between psychosocial risk factors and remote learning success in times of crisis, this study will utilize a mixed-methods approach for students at NC A&T. An online survey will be administered to collect data on various metrics: sociodemographic characteristics, experience with COVID-19, attitudes and behaviors in response to COVID-19, perceived stress and coping, depression, family violence perpetration and victimization, food insecurity and self-efficacy, and familiarity with computers and technology. This will be followed by interviews with randomly selected survey respondents to contextualize quantitative findings and uncover additional barriers and promoters. Survey data will be analyzed using regression modeling, and interview data will be analyzed using content analyses. The survey and interview data will be triangulated by comparing and contrasting findings to develop a comprehensive understanding of psychosocial risk factors that impact remote learning success. The outcomes will inform development of a mobile Application (App) to engage these students and connect them to resources needed to sustain their learning in these disruptive conditions. Findings from this study will produce new knowledge regarding psychosocial determinants of successful remote learning during a critical disruption in the academic journey. As the nation’s largest HBCU and top producer of African American STEM undergraduates, NC A&T is positioned to evaluate how the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted vulnerable students and develop suitable interventions for academic success. This work will inform future policy and development of prevention strategies so that institutions are better prepared for future pandemics that make remote and online learning necessary for all students. This work will produce insights that may be applied more generally to how HBCU students’ and students from similar backgrounds transition to online learning. This research will aid intervention development by identifying factors impacting student success under extreme disruptive conditions.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.