In March, 2020, university faculty and students across the world shifted to emergency remote teaching and learning with little warning. To better understand successful outcomes as well as barriers to student wellbeing during emergency remote education, an online survey was shared widely with UBC students in April. Responses to the survey have yielded valuable feedback and insights regarding teaching and learning during the COVID-19 outbreak. This is enabling us to develop more effective and resilient teaching practices, and provide corresponding guidance to instructors as they plan their courses for the summer and fall terms.
Participants represented in UBC Student Survey
From the survey, we’ve learned that 75% of UBC students report being “unable to focus on their studies due to non-academic-related challenges”. These challenges arise amongst students in quarantine; students caring for sick family members; students working to cover parents’ lost wages; and students attending lectures at 3am in their time zone. Whilst educators cannot resolve the systemic barriers that students face, they can indirectly help students manage daily challenges and continue their studies by designing distance courses that fit their situations. Wellbeing informs learning, and teaching decisions can affect wellness. We hope the preliminary results infographic of this anonymous survey will help inform remote teaching practices at UBC and beyond.
