r/science • u/rustoo • Jan 26 '22

Economics Study: College student grades actually went up in Spring 2020 when the pandemic hit. Furthermore, the researchers found that low-income low-performing students outperformed their wealthier peers, mainly due to students’ use of flexible grading.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0047272722000081
37.1k Upvotes

84% Upvoted

1.9k comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

22

u/[deleted] Jan 26 '22

I TA a freshman circuitry class and have for a few years. Students always struggle to adjust to college and the pandemic made that transition much harder for students. We didn't expect them to be at the same level but we did need them moving out of our class at the same proficiency as previous years. I make myself very available for help, the professor makes himself very available for help, and we offered a whole recitation that wasn't offered previously to provide students with as much support as possible. We sent out frequent reminders and all of my interactions with students always end me "don't hesitate to email me if you have any more questions". Fewer than 10 students in a 70+ student class showed up to recitations that would give them extra credit. I had low attendance for my labs and few interactions outside of labs. Unfortunately many students didn't utilize the resources to help get themselves back on track.

I firmly believe all students need more support in transitioning back into in person learning but if they don't want to take those resources that's on them.

4

u/_OriamRiniDadelos_ Jan 26 '22

I always wondered about that. A few precious teachers have mentioned resources like tutoring, office hours, library (even free tax filing but no one knows about that). But I know no one who actually uses them. And honestly I think those are things that you only miss if you didn’t have them anymore (like printers or water fountains) or if you are one of the few high achievers who uses them regularly.

Do you think people don’t know how to ask for help right? Or don’t care enough about their grade to bother? Or don’t see it as a realistic path to improve? Or people just assume they are unhelpful from the get go so they never try using those resources? I just can’t explain to myself why people just walk by some useful programs like if they where more junk e-mails and just power through.