As schools moved to a mode of emergency response teaching (ERT) at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, there were distinct differences in the effect it had on students and teachers whether they were in developed or developing countries, a new study shows.
Using data science, researchers at the University of Waterloo analyzed the impact the shift to ERT in early 2020 had on both learning outcomes for students and teaching objectives for instructors. They collected data from developing countries, including Bangladesh, Malaysia and China, and developed countries, including the U.S., Canada, Germany and Spain.
The research team generated the data for their study through a combination of surveys and interviews with students and teachers. They then used data science methods and statistical analysis to sort through the massive amounts of information and draw conclusions.
“There were distinct differences in developed and developing countries,” said Enamul Haque, a PhD student in computer science at Waterloo and lead author of the study. “Students and teachers in developing countries experienced difficulties linked with infrastructure issues, such as lack of internet connectivity in some rural areas. This was also an issue in some rural areas in developed countries, but not to the same extent.”
Read more in the feature article on Waterloo News.