When I saw this optional prompt, I knew that I had to share my experiences and opinions on the idea of “learning loss.” As we slowly start to emerge on the other side of the COVID-19 pandemic, we can begin to assess how fully-remote and hybrid learning has affected us as students. In this New York Times article, author Katherine Schulten describes how students’ test scores and levels of learning are falling behind due to the COVID-19 pandemic. While this might be obvious to some, I do not believe that many of us have accurately understood how much of a loss we have experienced in terms of our education.
While I cannot speak on behalf of others, I can draw upon my experiences and what I have observed within my family when it relates to remote learning during a pandemic. While it is safe to say that no one has ever enjoyed doing homework, before the pandemic, I at least found myself sticking to some scheduled routine regarding it. Since online school, I view my homework with a “we’ll get to it when we get to it” attitude. My strict homework schedule has turned into completing random assignments at different times, and often I find myself too uninterested to put in the same level of effort that I did pre-pandemic. While I am not trying to say that I do not put forth any effort for online school, I think it is safe to say that it requires less attention to detail, less will to succeed, and less need for hard work than pre-pandemic school required. When it comes to studying for tests and quizzes, nearly all of my old study habits have been ditched for quizlets, skim reading textbooks, or no studying at all. This is a far deviation from my old habits of attempting new practice problems, rewriting concepts and notes, and using study guides or resources. I was kind of shocked to see how quickly these habits, which I have built my entire educational career, went out the door. Quite frankly, I’m mortified due to the fact that I will be an in-person college academic setting this fall. I am not going to be used to test stress, mandatory homework, or actually having to study. I think there will most definitely be a couple of wake-up-call moments; it could be a rude awakening.
On another personal level, I have witnessed what this “learning loss” has been like for younger ages. Two of my cousins, ages 12 and 6, are losing out on two of the most academically developmental periods of their lives. We have no idea how much these kids are being harmed by not being in school, since it is much easier to not pay attention as a six year old on zoom. I don’t know if I would have known how to navigate Canvas or join zooms and open activities by myself on a computer when I was six. For the 12 year old cousin in my family, he has some academic developmental disabilities which are amplified by not having an assistant by his side constantly, like he would have had if school never went remote. (I am not saying that school should have stayed fully in-person during a global pandemic, but merely highlighting one large loss during the last year of virtual school.)
I think another valid concern is for young adults in upper level education programs, such as medical school. I’m sure many of us teens have seen memes of collapsed bridges with the caption, “when engineers learning on zoom graduate,” or seeing tweets saying, “why would I let a doctor who learned on zoom operate on me?” While both these concerns are hyperbolic for comedy’s sake, these are valid concerns for young adults entering the workforce. Are they as prepared as they need to be for their demanding jobs? Will they be able to make up for the skills they have lost/missed out on? Will the next 2-3 years of people entering the workforce be noticeably poorly educated or less equipped than past years? These questions cannot be answered at least for another year into the future, but these issues are very real and could have lasting impacts on countless lives.
As us seniors wrap up our final month(ish) of high school, it is important to recognize the educational opportunities and skills that we have lost due to the COVID-19 pandemic. While some students might have experienced more “learning loss” than others, it is safe to say that we all can think of an instance where our pre-COVID self would act, study, or perform differently in school as opposed to now. It will be interesting to see how our class of 2021 adjusts to college as well as other graduates of higher education adjust to the workforce or other educational bodies such as medical school.
Ive seen multiple Tiktoks regarding ¨How 2021 engineers or doctors will be¨ and while it gives off a sense of humor, I wonder if this pandemic will lead to future problems through the loss of our learning. I agree with everything you said. Everything. My homework schedule went from strict and motivated to a ¨whatever and who cares vibe,¨ that might just be from senior year but I haven’t learned as much as I should’ve. Math, Micro/Macro, Anatomy. I’ve lost a step in my learning and hope it doesn’t transition to next year. I don’t think it will or we would experience a hard reality check.
Hello Jake,
I think that the concern of learning loss is certainly a legitimate one. Like yourself, I have noticed a drastic change in my study habits specifically, and certainly my overall production of school work as well. For myself, things like attention to detail have always been internally motivated rather than externally, so this shift to online learning has not diminished the quality of the work that I do complete. However, the quantity of work that I have completed has certainly taken a hit. In the new online learning setting, I share a similar lack of motivation as yourself, and therefore many of the small, perhaps trivial assignments that would previously seem to be necessities to me now have lost their value entirely. While I’ll never turn in an assignment that is poorly done, I have found myself skipping some of these smaller assignments entirely. While this may work in an online environment compounded by the leniency of senior year, I will definitely need to pick up my old habits again as I head into the much more competitive college environment.
Great post, Jake. I have a feeling all of you will adjust right away–being back in a routine will feel like an old habit, and I have confidence you all will resume studying like it’s the norm again!
Hey Jake,
I definitely relate to you with experiencing a severe drop in academic motivation this year, compared to my first three years in high school. Similarly, I am worried that these habits that I’ve adopted in the past year will carry over when I go to college in the fall. Despite this lack of motivation in my schoolwork, I definitely have learned a lot and grown this year.