PS 26-113 - A comparative study between outcomes of an in-person versus online introductory field course

Abstract: The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted many standard approaches to STEM education and led educators to experiment with online alternatives to in-person learning environments. Ecological field courses are considered a high-impact teaching practice and deeply rely on immersion in a field learning environment, generally in an in-person group. With strong evidence that in-person field courses increase student self-efficacy in scientific skills and student success, we aimed to compare and understand what factors may have been lost or gained during the conversion of an introductory field course to an online format. We used a mixed methods approach (pre/post surveys, journal entries, and focus groups) to compare student experiences in an introductory field ecological research course before and after COVID necessitated a change to an online format. We found that while students reported less community building in the online format, they reported greater research and observation skills and connection to their local space. The online field course additionally provided positive mental health breaks for students who described the time outside as a much-needed respite. This study shows that online field-based courses can cultivate science skills linked to science identity and achievement. While not a replacement, this approach holds promise because it can scale with limited cost, a barrier to increased participation in this high-impact teaching practice in ecology. Through intentional design, online field courses can provide participants with critical science learning outcomes, in ways associated with in-person field courses.