Considerations For Classroom Instructional Climate Challenges: Dissonance in Student Behaviors and Expectations in An HBCU Health Science Learning Environment
Marilyn Weatherspoon, PhD, Florida Agricultural & Mechanical University
and Cheree Wiltsher, PhD, Texas Southern University
Introduction
The accepted manifestation of what is considered an optimal classroom climate or learning environment has evolved considerably since the start of the COVID Pandemic in 2020 and the reopening of most universities in the latter part of 2021. These changes were an aftermath of pandemic world events and the related acceleration of enterprise-level advancements in technology and educational software. While initially experienced with enthusiasm and appreciation, what were essential adjustments in the delivery of course instruction included leveraging video conference platforms such as Zoom and Microsoft Teams, novelties that later felt like drudgery for many in the teaching and learning equation. In some instances, the transition from traditional face-to-face classroom instruction to the virtual classroom transformed and regressed the ways in which many students function in the learning environment. The very useful adaptations, while still utterly suitable and relevant, may now be seen as the opportunity that arrived with unanticipated perils for scholarship in higher education. As institutions and educators fashioned appropriate, responsively-dynamic solutions to meet the various demands of the real-world challenges presented during pandemic instruction, the specter of the future classroom environment was one that quickly and perhaps inevitably d(evolved) as educators were challenged to find yet newer ways to engage and inspire learning in their seemingly disinterested students.
The pandemic heightened this reality with the national quarantine lockdown and the confinement to our home resulting in us becoming ever more reliant on the Internet for news and informational updates, social connection and communication, and learning. Emergency remote learning meant a virtual environment, creating a larger, less personal, and more abstract space than the physical environment. With a key stroke and/or unmuting of a microphone, an infinite number of people were connected and communicated with, without the need to leave one’s personal space, which for some was their bed. An unavoidable offshoot of the pandemic, this compulsory virtual space resulted in what, in many respects felt like convenience, but along with it came unanticipated solitude. This unfortunately meant the emergence of undeniable silos of isolation in the learning environment as students withdrew and disconnected from the resources and support systems that had served to cement and foster progress to this point. Thus, the marriage of reality and the virtual environment produced the climate that became the ultimate host to online instruction.
Like many other professors, we modified our teaching methods and strategies to accommodate the students, likewise, many students worked to adjust their learning styles. These highly personal mechanisms and related exigencies reshaped the in-classroom experience as we know it.
Pre-pandemic, we placed a strong emphasis on limited use of electronic devices in the classroom for purposes other than following along with the PowerPoint or taking notes on the content of the lecture. For the most part, students were compliant with this request and limited the use of the cell phones in the classroom. Post-pandemic, student engagement behaviors that were shaped and maintained in the traditional classroom had regressed significantly. Students entered the classroom, sat down with no eye contact with anyone, and looked down at their devices until they entered their seats. Without hesitation, students immediately access their cell phones throughout the class as if they were still in the virtual environment. The biggest problem was not the use of the cell phones and devices in the classroom but the fact these devices were being used the same way students used them in the virtual environment, for social media and communication outside of the classroom environment. The efforts to extinguish a behavior in a face-to-face environment that was not “checked” in the virtual environment were extremely difficult.
While their effects are obvious and readily visible, some students may not be keenly aware of the lingering consequences of the quarantine. The availability of both synchronous and asynchronous online course offerings and online degree programs has increased steadily and, to an extent, facilitated the ability to pivot almost seamlessly to virtual classroom instruction. For our students, being in a virtual classroom environment was ideal. Students expressed how convenient it was to sign on to the computer instead of getting dressed, driving to campus, and “fighting” for a parking space to make it to class on time.
Remarkably, tools to tackle these newly presented problems provided solutions that were awaiting the opportunity to take their rightful place in the academic learning environment. Digital technology has absolutely transformed our lives over the past three decades, with nearly one in four adults reporting being online most of the time (Firth et al., 2019). We can use online platforms to interact with others constantly and in real-time, around the clock, if desired. We are also accustomed to incessantly taking in, generating, storing, and processing tremendous amounts of information. Small et al. (2020) discusses findings on how the frequent use of digital technology impacts brain cognition negatively and positively. The authors cite heightened attention-deficit symptoms, impaired emotional and social intelligence, technology addiction, social isolation, impaired brain development and disrupted sleep as the prevailing possible harmful effects. In their study on the “online brain”, Firth et al. (2019) investigated psychological, psychiatric, and neuro-imaging data to explore how the Internet is changing cognition, and influencing attentional capacities, memory processes and social cognition. Their findings suggest that the varied endless stream of incoming information encourages us to engage in attention-switching and multi-tasking rather than sustained focus as a norm. The sustained focus is the hallmark of learning, in the form of reading, researching, writing, studying and the like. The authors assert:
Furthermore, even when not using the Internet for any specific purpose, smartphones have introduced widespread and habitual “checking" behaviors, characterized by quick but frequent inspections of the device for incoming information from news, social media, or personal contacts. These habits are thought to be the result of behavioural reinforcement from “information rewards" that are received immediately on checking the device, potentially engaging the cortico-striatal dopaminergic system due to their readily available nature. The variable-ratio reinforcement schedule inherent to device checking may further perpetuate these compulsive behaviours.
Alternatively, studies have shown the potential benefits and value of various apps, computer programs, videogames, and online tools on brain health in older adults. Specific programs and tools can be used to enhance cognitive abilities like memory, multitasking skills, and even fluid intelligence. Additionally, functional brain imaging scans have shown increased neural activity in internet-naïve older adults who learn to use the web to search online (Small et al., 2009). Further, in terms of mental health, the National Institutes of Health and National Institute of Mental Health highlight the increasing use of digital tools that offer interventions in the form of mood and behavior monitoring, skills training, self-management and the like to support overall wellness (Technology and the Future of Mental Health Treatment, n.d.).
Some have perpetual expectations for unquestioned consideration and flexibility which aren’t paired with reciprocal effort. For instructors, there were more moving pieces to meet the university to requirements to be qualified, online instructors. Although specialized training of faculty was required to maintain the integrity of the curricula to online instructors, this challenge was met by most who were able to make the adjustments and understood the vital importance of the transition to online instruction. Additionally, the subtle changes in how business is conducted and lives are managed may be difficult to fully gauge at a glance. Still, students' attention, communication, and participation in the traditional classroom have resulted in an instructional climate change in the learning environment.
The prevailing conditions have drastically affected student attention, communication, and participation. Each of these behaviors is a demonstration of student engagement which creates an instructional climate conducive to learning. While shifts in student learning behaviors began well before now as a function of what has become an environment of digital super-stimulation, post-pandemic realities show increases in these behaviors. The resultant classroom environment could benefit from real reckoning with how the teaching and learning relationship is more incredibly fluid than ever. Balance is needed in the equation as student motivation to engage in learning should match the instructor’s desire to teach and impart knowledge.
As instructors of Health Science courses, we observed changes in student learning behavior which signal a considerable shift, demanding acknowledgement in order to better reshape and model meaningful learning activities while providing redirection, necessary interventions and support of students. What remains is an opportunity to advance instructional technology borne of this threat to desired learning achievement and outcomes for students, instructors, and institutions. Therefore, from that lens, this paper aims to shed light on the mechanisms and implications of perceived changes in student learning behaviors that underscore the instructional climate and continue to impact the classroom environment as we move beyond the pandemic to a “new and resilient normal.”
Student Learning Behaviors and the Classroom Climate
Student learning behaviors and interactions with peers and the instructor both in and outside the classroom coalesce to shape the instructional climate and learning environment. The behaviors that presented in the classroom included using cell phones and laptops for distractive activities such as watching movies, engaging in social media, and shopping, to name a few. There were several occasions where class was interrupted to reiterate the use of cellphones in the classroom is for notetaking and following the PowerPoints. Students genuinely expressed their lack of understanding as to why boundaries were set on these devices in in-person classes when these devices were used to participate in the virtual classroom. The posing of this question by the student identifies the dire need to reestablish the acceptable classroom behaviors and stabilize the classroom learning climate.
Students’ engagement in learning is inclusive of four specific factors that are hallmarks used to reliably measure the construct: emotional engagement, skills engagement, participation engagement, and performance engagement (Handelsman, Briggs, Sullivan, & Towler, 2005). These dynamic interactions operationalize on all levels between the student and the course environment. These are malleable, constantly changing based on the instructional climate that is reflective of student’s learning behavior as a whole.
The use of teaching and learning techniques that are designed to engage students in a safe, nonjudgmental environment is an essential element of a productive classroom environment. The authors’ observations as instructors consider the importance of revisiting these factors as paramount in redirecting students’ level of attention to classroom activities, communication with their peers and the instructor, and overall attentiveness and commitment to self-directed participation in the learning equation. In effect, we must gauge and address the learning climate to ensure that seeds are planted in soil that is tilled and ripe for supporting the intended growth.
Attention
The degree and the length of time attending to tasks and processing information during lectures and discussion are conditions which significantly impact the temperature of the instructional climate. A student's attention starts to wane between 10 to 15 minutes into a lecture (Bradbury, 2016). A study by Bunce, Flens, and Neiles (2010) revealed that students may not maintain continuous attention, losing focus for 10 to 20 minutes during a lecture. The length of time for loss of attention ranged from one to five minutes. Results indicated that when a student’s “mind wandered,” attempts were made to re-engage in the lecture. The distractions that occupy the time of disengagement from lecture usually involve a cell phone or lap top. This study was completed prior to the present proliferation of electronic devices constantly in the hands of the students with non-stoppings from the digital world. Smartphones may serve as both a gift and a bane of sorts in learning. While they can serve as a central conduit for information access for students, they also reinforce habitual “checking” behaviors in the form of quick but incessant inspections of the device for incoming alerts from news, social media, and personal contacts (Firth, et al., 2019). When instructors have the student’s attention, key conscientious behaviors are expected to be observed. Attention can be subjectively judged as note taking, eye contact with the instructor, nodding as an indication of understanding, or reviewing course-related materials.
Communication
Students are expected to communicate in a variety of ways in the classroom learning environment. Whether it is through writing, speaking, or non-verbal cues students are counted upon to show up for learning by interacting with each other as well as with the instructor through active communication around course activities. Social media connects people around the world in ways that have been important to the quality of the human existence. New, more casual language, syntax and communication styles have emerged with acronyms and symbols/emojis being used to express thoughts. Relatedly, a vernacular that simplifies and shortens words and phrases has become universally acceptable for casual communication. While traditional classrooms include face-to-face lectures and physical interaction, assignments and activities include written and verbal communication products. Student communications increasingly reflect the language styles used in casual discourse on social media platforms and personal messaging. Students appear to have generalized the use of communication across learning platforms, adopting the simplified use of acronyms and abbreviations irrespective of context. This is typically deemed inappropriate for academic and scholarly communication, and can lead to mis-interpretations and miscommunication across all environments.
Beyond formative and summative assessment strategies, purposeful communication between the student and instructor is an inherent means of gauging acquisition of knowledge and the level of understanding of course material. Whether inside or outside the classroom, students need to demonstrate effective oral and written communication voluntarily and when called upon. The communication may include answering questions, responding to discussions, completing assignments, and interacting with peers within small groups in and outside of the classroom. Good communication among peer members includes emailing, and messaging groups that create a forum for sharing ideas in support of learning activity goals. Students write papers according to the American Psychological Association (APA) guidelines with explicit requirements for employing effective syntax, grammar and punctuation. Because a majority of the students in Health Science courses are juniors and seniors, the general education course requirements (including writing) have been completed. As a result, there is an expectation that student’s experience and command (if not mastery) of college writing skills should be reflected in papers and overall written communication within the course.
Participation
Solidifying effective engagement with course content both in and outside of the classroom has become more challenging and requires an eclectic range of techniques to fill the gaps. Classroom participation has been defined in various ways, but it is prevailingly and most importantly defined by the instructor. Burchfield & Sappington (1999) defined participation as “the number of unsolicited responses volunteered.” The level of student participation in the classroom is at the heart of the climate in the instructional environment. In order to comment on material discussed in the class, students must have read and engaged with course material in order to understand the content and concepts. Expected participation is guided by the stated course learning objectives and activities in support of the same. Students are easily apprised of this via the syllabus, related course outline, and ongoing assessment and feedback on assignments. Students demonstrate comprehension and understanding when their responses to questions posed in the classroom reference the course readings or applies to supplemental course material. Asking questions that stimulate meaningful discussion or presenting a perspective that offers a different lens is an example of positive and substantive participation.
Pandemic Effects
The pandemic presented unprecedented conditions which affected daily living and for many, required learning, in ways that are still being reckoned with. Students who were away at school were hastily shepherded back to their family homes. For some, the first taste of independence was snatched away and deferred, for what was for a while, an unknown period of time. Students and instructors were forced to abandon established teaching modalities midstream, and to then adopt the necessary teaching format “on demand.” For student learners, this meant being nimble enough to adjust their learning style to fit with the new instructional modalities and teaching methods. Students who learned best through in-person lectures, face-to-face interaction, and direct student support services struggled as they were tasked with crafting and seeking alternatives to the stimulation and support received in traditional classroom environments.
Mental Health
The importance of mental health continues to demand attention as a central theme in our daily lives, and the prevalence of mental health symptoms in college student populations has almost doubled over the past decade (Duffy et al., 2019). Typically, students manage the demands of being in college and the trials and tribulations that are a part of adulting. There are many competing priorities as students navigate transitioning from home to independence as they pursue academic goals with autonomy and social freedom. Mental health is an essential component for success and the balance needed in accepting the responsibilities that are inherent during this critical juncture. The pandemic effects on college students' mental health included high stress, anxiety, fear, and depression (Jones et. al., 2021; Son et al., 2020). COVID-19 had an overarching presence, dominating the media daily as lives were lost at an alarming rate.
It is telling that the number of young adults experiencing mental health symptoms increased both during and after the pandemic (Kim et al. 2022). The onset of the global crisis added stressors to the college-student experience that were uncharacteristic of the normal college experience. In addition to students adjusting to the changes at school, there were new challenges occurring also at home. There was no real precedent, preparation or accurate prediction of the extraordinary events that would affect every single person in the world. The protracted personal threat of illness or death for self-and/or loved ones was a traumatizing and at times terrifying possibility. When a viable threat is taking the lives of an exorbitant number of people around you, the constant state of fear poses a real threat to wellness and mental health. Students reported experiencing numerous insecurities and psychological symptoms, as they feared not only for their own wellness, but were even more anxious about losing family and friends from contracting the virus (Li et al. 2020). The student response to environmental factors that were beyond anyone’s control made the certainty of stability and mental health, a vulnerability for many. Similar to much of the population in unprecedented circumstances, students reported symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, alcohol, and substance use as they endeavored to endure events and manage their reactions to situations in ways that reflected mechanisms for coping to survive rather than necessarily thriving. Many students reported difficulty concentrating, sleep disturbance, fear and worry about loved ones, and concerns about academic performance.
After over a year of constant news reports of the hundreds of thousands of deaths of Americans, and people across the globe, students returned to the classroom. Some of them with the grief of close family, relatives, and friends who had succumbed or were experiencing lingering effects of the pandemic. However, the pandemic’s mental toll on college student learning must be acknowledged and addressed in the literature. The way students engage and interact in the classroom has changed. As institutions moved to be more fully on-campus for instruction, fewer fully online classes were being offered which meant students were back in the physical classroom environment. As this transition occurred, instructors and student learners had to deal with initial anxiety and health safety protocols. As students have emerged from the virtual environment, the behaviors that showed up as distractedness and apathy in the virtual environment have continued in the physical environment.
In comparison to previous semesters, there were more reports of issues with illness and loss of friends and family members of all ages. These losses were not just from COVID but from other chronic illnesses, accidents and murders. The stress that students reported during that time was extraordinary. The responsibility that came with being the most educated in the family includes taking responsibility for younger siblings, and even helping their parents to survive. Many students who went home because of the pandemic tried to maintain their course load of online classes to maintain the balance they created during the pandemic. They found it cheaper to stay at home than to maintain a living arrangement on or near campus. When faced with no other options than to take a face-to-face course, students missed several class meetings or when they did attend, they were still engaged with their lives outside of the classroom. The lack of eye contact, inattention, and distance in the classroom became a barrier to engagement in the classroom and a disconnect from their classmates and the Instructor. The results of the fear, isolation, and economic uncertainty that defined students’ daily lives may present as a sentinel occurrence, defining the classroom learning environment for a long time to come.
Public recognition of the prevalent and burgeoning crisis fostered more open discussion, with many including celebrities and high-profile public figures offering personal testimonies. This has contributed to a trend of decreasing the stigma around the centering of mental health as a priority. Fifty percent of the cases of onset of mental illness begin by age fifteen and increases to three quarters manifesting by age 24 (APA, 2023). Major mental illness rarely appears “out of the blue,” and the onset may result from a precipitating event. Kim et al.’s 2022 report discusses data reflecting differing realities by age, gender, and race. The trend of increased alcohol use was higher in women than men. It is noteworthy and not surprising that young adults report experiencing higher rates of stress, and black students reported depression more than white students.
The mental health status of minority students attending HBCUs differ according to gender and classification. A majority of the students enrolled in Health Sciences courses are female and classified as juniors and seniors. In the Li et al. (2020) study, female students reported feelings of anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress at rates higher than their male counterparts. Similarly, junior and senior students reported more psychological symptoms than freshmen and sophomores. Of course, some of the psychological symptoms experienced during and after the quarantine were related to the many uncertainties of the pandemic, including those surrounding the length and extent of the overall effects of the quarantine (Brooks, Webster, Smith et al., 2020).
For instructors, adjustments were made to meet students where they were while continuing to stabilize expectations towards regaining a sense of normalcy in course instruction. The pandemic effects on student learning behavior went well beyond the application of normal classroom management strategies (Mosleh et al., 2022). Eighteen months later, students were anxious to resume the life left on campuses and reenter the classroom.
Classroom Learning Climate Challenges: Student Engagement
After six semesters out of the classroom, it was clear that the classroom environment had altered in ways that could not be foreseen or easily countered. The transition from the virtual classroom back into the traditional classroom withstood the effects of quarantine to reestablish fully-integrated classroom attendance and the post-pandemic protocols as recommended by public health officials. Prior to the pandemic, face-to-face course expectations for student behavior were well established and normalized. The policies were clearly documented in the syllabi and acknowledged by students. Students were aware of the consequences of noncompliance to limiting digital device usage to classroom activities. The pandemic forced a change in learning modalities and correspondingly, the techniques and tools needed for course instruction, student attendance, participation, and engagement. The once future goal for fully online course instruction had become the present as many of the routine protocols for student learning and engagement in the classroom were altered in the blink of an eye.
The lingering effects of the pandemic on college students and the classroom climate are still being processed and reckoned with. The virtual classroom removed many characteristics of the personal interactions that served as meaningful identifiers in the traditional classroom. Students would often not turn on their cameras, nor incorporate a picture to represent them on the virtual platform. Thus, instructors were tasked with adding statements to syllabi encouraging or requiring this particular element. The enforcement and accountability piece of this was selective as many instructors also exercised compassion and sensitivity as they were not always privy to student’s respective situations. Once classes resumed with pre-pandemic operations and expectations, there were noticeable shifts in student behavior in the Health Science classroom, which began to manifest in immediately clear and worrying ways. The wearing of a facemask was encouraged to ensure optimal health safety through the transition back into the classroom. It was difficult to identify and recognize students by face but gaining familiarity via name and voice became the norm.
In a face-to-face Health Science course, the student is expected to engage and display attentive behaviors such as listening, responding to questions, and taking notes. However, students have consistently demonstrated less attentiveness to the classroom activities and instruction, have poorer written and verbal communication skills on assignments, and contribute less participation-wise to in class discussions. This is not a novel circumstance. The authors of this manuscript heard much of the same from other instructors. It is clear that this is a point in higher education which requires reconsideration of the teaching and learning environment and all it entails in terms of preparation, discourse, and strategies. An effective blueprint should be based on what is already known as we navigate to restore the readiness and resolve of our students to be actively engaged and responsible for their knowledge attainment both in and outside of the classroom.
The instructional climate represents the temperament and pulse of the learning environment. It includes the engagement with learning activities and is brought forth by the behaviors of both instructors and students. The learning environment is influenced by the instructional climate and is represented by the setting, and includes the learning context with interplay between instructor and student and which demands concerted priming for the desired outcomes. Consider the individual musicians who come together to create an orchestra. Each musician rehearses, practicing their respective parts, and when they come together, the symphony can become magical as the conductor directs and all are using the sheet music to follow along in the performance. The structure frames and supports the goals for the individual participants and the whole. In absence of this arrangement there can be no effective arrival at the desired destination.
Science of Learning: Perspectives on Learning Environments and Considerations for Design
Educational theorists have touted a variety of scholarly approaches to the art and science of teaching. However, it is what happens in the mediating activities that occur on the bridge between teaching and learning that forms the related experiences and outcomes. While noting that the definition of learning depends on the philosophical and psychological approach, the International Bureau of Education describes learning as a “process that brings together personal and environmental experiences and influences for acquiring, enriching or modifying one’s knowledge, skills, values, attitudes, behavior and worldviews.”
Course content is the central point of focus as instructors plan their teaching and as students sign up for learning. Equally important are the learning climate and the environment, which are inclusive of not just the physical setting but also resources made available to support learning, and the social/emotional interactions and engagement taking place within the process. It is the case that these characteristics should be an important consideration in the iterative redesign of learning environments – what is taught, how it is taught, and how it is assessed. Student demographics, peer interactions, accessibility, equity, and inclusivity are critical elements of creating a learning environment that is supportive of all students.
It is important that both instructors and students understand the current status of their own knowledge in order to build on it and optimize strategies for both the teaching and learning activities undertaken. A meta-analysis conducted by Hattie (2012) outlined classroom management, cohesion, and peer influences as the three primary environmental factors that significantly impact student learning. While there is no one simple recipe for the design of learning environments, the National Research Council outlined four perspectives worth examining, each centering an essential element of the learning equation; learner-centered, knowledge-centered, assessment centered, and community centered environments. Each of these factors are interconnected components that are mutually supportive in the learning process.
Learner-centered speaks to environments that focus on the knowledge, skills, attitudes, and beliefs that learners bring to an academic setting. This includes teaching practices that are culturally relevant, responsive, compatible, and appropriate. Additionally, learner-centered instruction includes sensitivity to how the cultural practices of students may impact their learning both inside and outside of the classroom. In this perspective, instructors are mindful of keeping consistently surveying both ends of the bridge – subject matter and learner. Learner-centered environments encourage students to leverage their past experiences and knowledges as they pursue the creation of new knowledge.
Knowledge-centered environments engage learners in the construction of knowledge by organizing, building on, and relating it back to prior knowledge. This approach also cements an emphasis in understanding the subject matter – what is taught, why it is taught, and what affirms competency or mastery of that content. Knowledge-centered design has a goal of sense-making; understanding with subsequent transfer, as students connect new material to what they already know. This perspective intersects with learner-centered environments when instruction begins with careful consideration of where students are as they enter the learning situation.
Assessment-centered environments use prompt, and frequent formative assessments and purposive summative assessments in the pursuit of learning outcome mastery. Students’ thinking process and understanding must be evident in their learning activities and assignments. Feedback has to be provided so that they gain insight from their submissions and participation from discussions to papers, quizzes, and tests. Feedback is most useful to students when they have the opportunity to employ it in revising their thinking as they engage in additional learning activities. Effective instruction also fosters students’ skills and abilities to self-assess. Metacognition is promoted as students learn to assess their own work and have opportunities to assess the work of their peers.
The concept of community-centered learning environments is of special import. The former three approaches – learner, knowledge, and assessment centered can be linked together in the community-centered context. The community can entail the physical classroom, learners, discipline, and the field/industry stake-holders. The community-centered perspective can solidify connections between content and its real-world application outside of the classroom. Brown and Campione (1994) asserted that learning is enhanced by communal norms that value the search for understanding while allowing learners (and teachers) the freedom to make mistakes as they engage in learning. The table below outlines roles of both in the community-centered learning approach.
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Figure 1: Community Centered Learning Environment Roles, University of Buffalo Curriculum, Assessment, and Teaching Transformation. |
It is also worth noting Garrison et.al's (2000) theoretical framework on the Community of Inquiry, representing a mechanism for crafting a deep and meaningful learning experience through the lens of three interdependent elements of presence: social, cognitive, and teaching. As illustrated in the schematic below, these factors help to cement a positive learning community and environment.
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| Figure 2: Garrison et.al (2000) Community of Inquiry Framework |
Social presence entails the ability to engage and interact in a purposeful way. Cognitive presence encapsulates the extent to which participants can construct and confirm meaning through sustained communication. Teaching presence speaks to the design, facilitation, and shepherding of cognitive and social activities towards meaningful learning.
An optimal learning environment design aligns each of the four perspectives in a way that meaningfully informs the instructional process. Getting to understand students through a learner-centered perspective is critical when considering the way content is being taught and the design and types of assessments utilized. Further, alignment between knowledge-centered and assessment-centered perspectives ensures that the evaluation of students’ acquisition of intended knowledge and skills. Once connected, these approaches organize the values and learning goals of the community in which the learning takes place. Together, alignment ensures the formation of an effective instructional environment which situates:
- Learning that begins with and builds upon existing knowledge
- Prompt and frequent feedback
- Development of students’ metacognitive skills
- Acknowledgment of cultural diversity
- Course content that is linked to the real world
- Normalcy of making mistakes
- Student choices in what is being learned
Accountability and Mediating Classroom Learning Classroom Climate Challenges
After considering and accounting for perspectives on approaches to an aligned learning environment, what next? There is no shortage of literature on shaping a positive classroom environment. However, there is still much to learn about shaping the classroom environment post-pandemic. This means taking into consideration that students are bringing issues to the learning environment that may be related to yet unrecognized pandemic-related losses. There is limited research on the student learning environment since the return to pre-pandemic operations. Additional research is essential in quantifying the changes and challenged in the learning environment. There are factors worth further research and consideration in support of making suitable adjustments to the new classroom realities. Motivation and inspiration to learn are intangibles that were easily fostered when there were fewer digital distractions and competing priorities. Although new teaching techniques have been adopted and implemented by instructors, students need assistance beyond the facilitation of course content and materials.
Creating Community in the Classroom (Shaping a positive learning environment)
The mediation of changes in the classroom climate may be addressed from an infinite number of approaches, but central are the roles of the learner and the teacher. The students and the instructor provide key ingredients in the recipe for a strong community. Enrollment in a course does not build a community, it only builds the class roster. Community is built in establishing rapport, knowing your members and interacting on a level that is inclusive of all members. The “self” is one of the most salient components of an inclusive classroom (Goldwasser & Hubbard, 2019). Because each student brings unique characteristics to the learning environment, the instructor is responsible for creating activities that facilitate self-expression towards building the classroom community (Neuwirth, Jovic, & Mukherji, 2021).
Additionally, in this post-pandemic environment, there are factors that may have receive limited attention such as the mental health of students returning to campus and the physical face-to-face environment. Social support can be employed to mediate psychological symptoms (Li et al. 2020). The social support that comes from family can be mirrored in the classroom environment. The classroom can serve as a community that can lend support to its members while easing the stress of reintegrating into the classroom. There must be continued consideration of students who may yet be dealing with symptoms of anxiety, depression, or PTSD that have manifested since the onset of the pandemic. The instructor’s toolbox must continue expanding to meet the evolving demands of supporting student’s academic success both in and outside the classroom.
Evidence-based training on effective teaching practices and improving student engagement towards achieving learning outcomes emphasizes building a community in the classroom. With much of the recent research focus on the practices of online learning, traditional and similar techniques can be employed in the face-to-face classroom to improve student’s interest and willingness to participate in the classroom.
Conclusion
College student engagement is no longer just a focus of concern reserved for student activities and academic support services. Student’s respective resolve, expectations for engagement and priming for their own learning define the instructional climate and classroom learning environment. The digital revolution continues to promote autonomy, allowing students to easily disconnect from the classroom community and navigate the academic journey in isolation.
What has manifested over the past two years must be recognized and dealt with. Once students returned to the in-person classroom environment, the effects of the social isolation that students experienced was evident in how students displayed introversion and reservation in engaging with each other. Each student managed reactions to the pandemic’s havoc on the world and used coping strategies that have become a part of a new normal. The students returning to the classroom need instructors to consider the various experiences students have endured and may still be dealing with as they arrive for learning.
Mental health plays a part in how students function in the classroom. The changes in student behavior in the classroom could signal a shift in the classroom climate that must be mediated through building a supportive learning community in the classroom. Students are more comfortable communicating using casual language to verbalize thoughts and feelings. Classrooms can start by fostering the sense of belonging and supporting inclusiveness and building upon student connections around similar experiences. Instructors can encourage academic engagement by making space for diverse participation; holding space for casual discussion while solidifying the scholarly writing and communication towards academic standards. Students are smart and capable. They stand to benefit the most from insights gleaned through discussion of how to create an optimal shared new classroom reality. The interactive classroom has to compete with personal devices by soliciting frequent participation in group discussion and peer evaluation. Regardless of the approach taken, the student behaviors in the classroom are a significant factor in shaping the student learning climate and environment.
Summary and Implications
In light of the college student experience over the past few years, there must be an acknowledgement of the pandemic's indirect effects on the student learning environment. The unprecedented times entailed an emergency remote learning response with no template or blueprint on navigating the effects of the changes on the human existence and daily life activities. Behaviors were reactive to the needs of the changing environment where learning was not highest on the list of priorities for many, even as they showed up to be counted as present. Both instructors and student learners have displayed nimbleness regarding their role in the teaching and learning equation but not without considerable challenges. The class climate underwent a metamorphosis that was an output of a virtual student learning environment that was the norm for well over a year. Instructors and students were faced with unknowns and ambiguity in re-establishing face-to-face learning interactions after semesters of, in many cases, passive virtual classroom behaviors. Some of the pandemic-related established behaviors may have been unintentional but were latently reinforced and maintained over time. Overall, the observations of the behavioral changes in students in the classroom presented barriers to effective teaching and learning practices that support students in the classroom. Students were less course-focused; rarely demonstrating attentiveness, making very little eye contact, and evidencing even less in-class commitment.
The learning management system and digital platform tools became the default instructional platform in the virtual classroom environment. Similar to the in-person classroom behaviors established to maintain order in the classroom, the virtual environment required the enacting of etiquette and expectations that were required in that space. While flexibility in course modality may be an appreciated new standard, many instructors have been confronted with virtual behaviors that were a function of pandemic realities. The authors appreciate that the reduction in students’ participation could be a function of any of the several factors mentioned and that the pandemic-related experiences must be considered. Because students were given agency with respect to turning on their cameras during course instruction, engaging them became more challenging. There was no way to fully reckon with the effects of social isolation, anxiety, depression, and PTSD symptoms reported by students in research studies conducted during the pandemic (Filho et al., 2021; Kim et al., 2022; Lipson et al, 2021).
Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) are ever invested in not only supporting the excellence and advancement of students in the classroom, but also sustaining their proclivity for life-long learning and service in their selected professions and communities. Classroom observations and the review of the literature confirm and describe the variations in student learning behaviors since the onset of the pandemic. Renewed attention to organizing learning environments that serve the student through assessment and recognition of their learning styles and needs is a mindful step in the right direction. As time passes and the subtleties of change are further noted, there will be plenty of effort needed to unravel the objectionable learning behaviors and push towards a new, optimally functioning learning climate. This accounting is in service of those next phases of work in the form of continued inquiry and research.
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Marilyn A. Weatherspoon is an Assistant Professor and the Rehabilitation Services Management Certificate Coordinator in the Division of Health Science, School of Allied Health Sciences at Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University (FAMU). Dr. Weatherspoon earned a Bachelor of Science degree from FAMU in Psychology. She earned a Master of Social Work degree with a Clinical concentration and a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Rehabilitation Counseling from Florida State University (FSU). In addition, she earned a Graduate Certificate in Aging Studies from the Pepper Institute on Aging and Public Policy at FSU. She is credentialed as a Certified Rehabilitation Counselor by the Commission on Rehabilitation Counselor Certification and serves on the Standards & Exams Committee. She also serves on the National Rehabilitation Counseling Association Board and the American Public Health Association Disability Section Executive Committee. Dr. Weatherspoon has over 15 years of teaching experience in higher education. She received the FAMU Center for Disability Access and Resources Honors Pacesetter Award for her research and teaching on disabilities. Her research interests are in the areas of aging, disabilities, and health disparities among racial and ethnic minorities.
Cheree Y. Wiltsher serves as Executive Director of the Center for Online Learning and Instructional Technology at Texas Southern University. She previously served as Director of the Division of Health Science, and campus lead for the ACUE evidence-based faculty fellows’ community in Effective Teaching Practices at Florida A&M University. Dr. Wiltsher has spent over nineteen years in higher education, a background underscoring her commitment to holistically advancing student learning, achievement, and wellness. One of the accomplishments Dr. Wiltsher is most proud of is having designed and implemented the non-clinical Health Science degree track in support of key performance-based outcome metrics with expansion of student graduate and professional opportunities. Her research interests include first-generation student persistence, and countering minority health disparities.