Lab instruction during the COVID-19 pandemic: Effects on student views about experimental physics in comparison with previous years

• Main Authors: Michael F. J. Fox, Jessica R. Hoehn, Alexandra Werth, H. J. Lewandowski
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: American Physical Society 2021-06-01
• Series: Physical Review Physics Education Research
• Online Access: http://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevPhysEducRes.17.010148

Physics lab instructors were forced to adapt their courses in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. We investigate the impact these changes had on student views towards experimental physics as measured by the Colorado Learning Attitudes about Science Survey for Experimental Physics (E-CLASS). Analysis of the responses from over 1600 students in both spring and fall semesters and performing a comparison with the same courses in 2019 shows that student total E-CLASS scores were not lower in 2020 compared to 2019. Nevertheless, in the Fall 2020 data, we find that there is a variation in the mean E-CLASS scores on some individual questions when compared to previous years.