Health and education concerns about returning to campus and online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic among US undergraduate STEM majors.

Palmer, Lindsay E; Pagoto, Sherry L; Workman, Deja; Lewis, Kathrine A; Rudin, Lauren; De Luna, Nina; Herrera, Valeria; Brown, Nathanial; Bibeau, Jessica; Arcangel, Kaylei; Waring, Molly E

OBJECTIVE We examined undergraduates' concerns about returning to campus and online learning from home. PARTICIPANTS Undergraduates majoring in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) at US universities/colleges. METHODS Participants completed an online survey in July 2020. We content-analyzed responses to open-ended questions about concerns about fall 2020. RESULTS Students (N = 64) were 52% women, 47% low socioeconomic status (SES), and 27% non-Hispanic white. Concerns about returning to campus included student noncompliance with university COVID-19 prevention guidelines (28%), infection risk (28%), poor instructional quality (26%), inadequate university plans for preventing/handling outbreaks (25%), negative impacts on social interactions (11%), and transportation/commuting (11%). Concerns about learning from home included difficulty focusing on schoolwork (58%), lack of hands-on/experiential learning (24%), negative impacts on social interactions (19%), family/home environment (15%), concerns that online learning wastes time/money (10%), and inadequate technology/Internet access (5%). CONCLUSIONS Universities should address student concerns and provide resources to overcome barriers to effective learning.