POST-COVID COLLAPSE OF HISTORIC DIFFERENCES IN STUDENT PERFORMANCE IN ONLINE VS IN-PERSON NON-MAJOR GEOLOGY CLASSES, AND EVIDENCE OF CONTINUED DECLINE IN COLLEGE READINESS

Studies comparing student outcomes for online vs in-person classes have reported mixed results, though with a majority finding that lower-performing students, on average, fare worse in online classes, likely due to the lack of built-in structure provided by in-person instruction. The online/in-person outcome disparity was normative for non-major geology classes at the University of Mississippi prior to Covid, but the difference disappeared in the years after 2020. Previously distinct trend-lines of GPA-based predictions of earned-grade for online and in-person classes merged. Of particular concern, outcomes for in-person classes declined to match pre-Covid online expectations, with lower-GPA students adversely impacted to a greater degree. Objective evidence of continued decline in student learning is also presented with a long-term record of exam scores for one class, drawing from the same question pool for over a decade, where average scores remained relatively constant until Covid. Scores then declined in each successive semester, attributed to an increase over time in the percentage of enrolled students who had been in high school during the pandemic shutdowns. At the close of 2023, exam scores showed no signs of returning to pre-Covid outcomes. The negative impacts of the shutdowns, with greater impact on those who were in high school during the pandemic, appear to be more related to a loss in developmental life-skills (e.g. self-motivation, focus, critical thinking, social development) needed to thrive in college, not just reduced exposure to K12 educational subject material.