With the national COVID emergency recently lifted and the majority of classes at UMBC having returned to meeting in person again, AY 2023-24 seemed like a good time to pause and reflect on how students have changed as a result of what they collectively and disparately experienced. A growing body of research has suggested that today’s youth have been undergoing mental health challenges at increasing rates, a trend that was observed before the pandemic, but was also greatly exacerbated by it. Even students who are not in crisis have been changed by the pandemic and by social and institutional responses to it. What challenges are students currently facing? What challenges are we as instructors facing in addressing students’ learning needs? How can we help students to become more engaged in learning and in the UMBC community again?
Participants in this FLC, which met during AY 2023-24, read local and national studies of the effects of the pandemic on students’ preparedness to learn, and investigated research-based approaches to addressing such challenges as student disengagement, learning loss, and academic anxiety. Individual participants adopted strategies to address a particular issue of concern to them and their students and shared their efforts and findings with the group.
Members:
Anna Berry Royack (IS)
Mariajosé Castellanos, Facilitator (CBEE)
Dina Glazer (IS)
Kathy Glyshaw (PSYC)
Matthias Gobbert (MATH)
Sarah Leupen, Facilitator (BIOL)
Louise Murray (ESAS)
Lauren Price (ESAS)
Neha Raikar (CBEE)
Susanne Sutton (MLLI)
Samples of Work:
Slides from the End of Year Celebration