STEM Students' Sensemaking of Instructional Technology After the COVID-19 Pandemic.
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| Title: | STEM Students' Sensemaking of Instructional Technology After the COVID-19 Pandemic. |
|---|---|
| Authors: | Donnelly, Julie1 (AUTHOR) julie.donnelly@ucf.edu, Winkelmann, Kurt2 (AUTHOR) |
| Source: | Journal of Science Education & Technology. Aug2025, Vol. 34 Issue 4, p653-663. 11p. |
| Subject Terms: | *Educational technology, *Distance education, *Students, *Teaching methods, COVID-19, Innovation adoption, Applied sciences, Awareness |
| Abstract: | The sudden transition to remote learning in response to the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in a significant increase in reliance on instructional technology, some unique to STEM disciplines. This violation of students' expectations for the learning experience presented an additional crisis. Students had to react to the disruption without time to carefully consider how best to use new technologies for learning. In crises, sensemaking occurs retroactively; students made sense of new instructional technologies after they had navigated the crisis. They adopted new approaches to engaging with their courses based on what strategies seemed successful during the pandemic. In this article, we use sensemaking as a lens to explore the changes in students' views of instructional technologies as a result of their experiences during the pandemic. We conducted focus groups with 31 undergraduate STEM students at a medium-sized public university in the southeastern US. We found that STEM students were initially overwhelmed with the amount of technology they were required to use in their courses, but that in the long term, they expect more technology after the pandemic, especially to facilitate flexibility in learning space and approach. While they found some new tools that seemed to support their learning, they also developed ineffective strategies (e.g., navigating e-textbooks to find key words rather than reading). The results of our study inform post-COVID best practices for incorporating instructional technology. Faculty should expect to have to teach students how to use technology rather than assuming they will learn naturally. Faculty will also need to consider that while technology affords some support for learning, it introduces opportunities for students to employ strategies that interfere with learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
| Copyright of Journal of Science Education & Technology is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.) | |
| Database: | Education Research Complete |
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| Header | DbId: ehh DbLabel: Education Research Complete An: 186780443 AccessLevel: 6 PubType: Academic Journal PubTypeId: academicJournal PreciseRelevancyScore: 0 |
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| Items | – Name: Title Label: Title Group: Ti Data: STEM Students' Sensemaking of Instructional Technology After the COVID-19 Pandemic. – Name: Author Label: Authors Group: Au Data: <searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Donnelly%2C+Julie%22">Donnelly, Julie</searchLink><relatesTo>1</relatesTo> (AUTHOR)<i> julie.donnelly@ucf.edu</i><br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Winkelmann%2C+Kurt%22">Winkelmann, Kurt</searchLink><relatesTo>2</relatesTo> (AUTHOR) – Name: TitleSource Label: Source Group: Src Data: <searchLink fieldCode="JN" term="%22Journal+of+Science+Education+%26+Technology%22">Journal of Science Education & Technology</searchLink>. Aug2025, Vol. 34 Issue 4, p653-663. 11p. – Name: Subject Label: Subject Terms Group: Su Data: *<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Educational+technology%22">Educational technology</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Distance+education%22">Distance education</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Students%22">Students</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Teaching+methods%22">Teaching methods</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22COVID-19%22">COVID-19</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Innovation+adoption%22">Innovation adoption</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Applied+sciences%22">Applied sciences</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Awareness%22">Awareness</searchLink> – Name: Abstract Label: Abstract Group: Ab Data: The sudden transition to remote learning in response to the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in a significant increase in reliance on instructional technology, some unique to STEM disciplines. This violation of students' expectations for the learning experience presented an additional crisis. Students had to react to the disruption without time to carefully consider how best to use new technologies for learning. In crises, sensemaking occurs retroactively; students made sense of new instructional technologies after they had navigated the crisis. They adopted new approaches to engaging with their courses based on what strategies seemed successful during the pandemic. In this article, we use sensemaking as a lens to explore the changes in students' views of instructional technologies as a result of their experiences during the pandemic. We conducted focus groups with 31 undergraduate STEM students at a medium-sized public university in the southeastern US. We found that STEM students were initially overwhelmed with the amount of technology they were required to use in their courses, but that in the long term, they expect more technology after the pandemic, especially to facilitate flexibility in learning space and approach. While they found some new tools that seemed to support their learning, they also developed ineffective strategies (e.g., navigating e-textbooks to find key words rather than reading). The results of our study inform post-COVID best practices for incorporating instructional technology. Faculty should expect to have to teach students how to use technology rather than assuming they will learn naturally. Faculty will also need to consider that while technology affords some support for learning, it introduces opportunities for students to employ strategies that interfere with learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] – Name: AbstractSuppliedCopyright Label: Group: Ab Data: <i>Copyright of Journal of Science Education & Technology is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract.</i> (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.) |
| PLink | https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=ehh&AN=186780443 |
| RecordInfo | BibRecord: BibEntity: Identifiers: – Type: doi Value: 10.1007/s10956-024-10181-1 Languages: – Code: eng Text: English PhysicalDescription: Pagination: PageCount: 11 StartPage: 653 Subjects: – SubjectFull: Educational technology Type: general – SubjectFull: Distance education Type: general – SubjectFull: Students Type: general – SubjectFull: Teaching methods Type: general – SubjectFull: COVID-19 Type: general – SubjectFull: Innovation adoption Type: general – SubjectFull: Applied sciences Type: general – SubjectFull: Awareness Type: general Titles: – TitleFull: STEM Students' Sensemaking of Instructional Technology After the COVID-19 Pandemic. Type: main BibRelationships: HasContributorRelationships: – PersonEntity: Name: NameFull: Donnelly, Julie – PersonEntity: Name: NameFull: Winkelmann, Kurt IsPartOfRelationships: – BibEntity: Dates: – D: 01 M: 08 Text: Aug2025 Type: published Y: 2025 Identifiers: – Type: issn-print Value: 10590145 Numbering: – Type: volume Value: 34 – Type: issue Value: 4 Titles: – TitleFull: Journal of Science Education & Technology Type: main |
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