CURRICULUM AND TEACHING IMPACTS OF COVID-19: A COMPARATIVE PRE- AND POST-PANDEMIC STUDY OF GEOSCIENCE FACULTY IN CALIFORNIA

The COVID-19 pandemic caused many disruptions for students, faculty, and staff in higher education systems. Faculty in geoscience departments (n=51) at public higher education institutions in California were surveyed to assess three main questions: the aspects of geoscience teaching that were most and least affected by the pandemic, the pandemic’s impact on grading bases and teaching practices and methods, and whether or not pandemic-related instructional changes were maintained. Faculty cited the change in course modality to online teaching and increased use of online class materials as the most impacted features of their course, though course design and subject matter stayed the same. Use of exams decreased and use of quizzes increased. Real-time response activities increased while soliciting responses from students decreased. Faculty also reported a notable decrease in student engagement compared to before Spring 2020. Increased use of online class materials was a commonly cited change to be maintained in the future, and online teaching a change to be reversed. The results imply that while in-person remains the preferred teaching modality for faculty, online learning tools used during the COVID-19 pandemic may still be useful for supplementing in-class experiences. Comparative studies that center faculty perspectives are an important part of a multi-faceted, multi-scalar assessment of the pandemic’s impacts on geoscience education.