What happens to education during a pandemic? Evidence from a Colombian case
Main Article Content
Keywords
Higher education, academic performance, virtual education, Colombia, pandemic, COVID-19
Abstract
In this paper we show the results of an investigation into changes in the performance of EAFIT University students during the two semesters of 2020 compared with statistically similar cohorts from 2019. We used the Differencein-Difference method and find that student performance during emergency virtual education was around 0.2 decimals better than in previous periods, it was measured according to the obtained grade. These results are consistent even when classified by geographical location, economic background, and the discipline the student is enrolled in. To better understand the mechanism that caused this change, we discuss the results using semi structured interviews carried out with teachers, and analysis on student perception surveys performed by the institution. The results suggest that this change could be explained by student abilities, successful actions taken by the institution and increase in collaborative testing methodologies.
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References
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Universidad EAFIT. (2020e). Comunicado n° 42 - Evaluación del aprendizaje en los programas de posgrado durante la contingencia del covid-19. https://www.eafit.edu.co/institucional/comunicados/Paginas/comunicado-n-42-evaluacion-del-aprendizaje-en-los-programas-de-posgrado-durante-lacontingencia-del-covid-19.aspx
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Di Pietro, G., Biagi, F., Costa, P., Karpiński, Z., & Mazza, J. (2020). The Likely Impact of COVID-19 on Education: Reflections based on the Existing Literature and Recent International Datasets. Luxemburgo: Publications Office of the European Union. https://doi.org/10.2760/126686
El Said, G. R. (2021). How Did the COVID-19 Pandemic Affect Higher Education Learning Experience? An Empirical Investigation of Learners’ Academic Performance at a University in a Developing Country. Advances in Human-Computer Interaction, 2021. https://doi.org/10.1155/2021/6649524
Engzell, P., Frey, A., & Verhagen, M. D. (2021). Learning loss due to school closures during the COVID-19 pandemic. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 118(17), e2022376118. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2022376118
Finnegan, M. (2021). The impact on student performance and experience of the move from face-to-face to online delivery in response to Covid-19: A case study in an Irish higher education institute. Aishe-J,13(1), 1-23.
Gobierno de Colombia. (2020a). Acciones tomadas por el Gobierno. https://coronaviruscolombia.gov.co/Covid19/acciones-del-gobierno.html
Gobierno de Colombia. (2020b). Acciones tomadas por el Gobierno: Educación. https://coronaviruscolombia.gov.co/Covid19/acciones/acciones-de-educacion.html
Gonzalez, T., De la Rubia, M. A., Hincz, K. P., Comas-Lopez, M., Subirats, L., Fort, S., & Sacha, G. M. (octubre,2020). Influence of COVID-19 confinement on students’ performance in higher education. PLoSONE, 15(10), 1-24. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0239490
Goodman-Bacon, A. (2021). Difference-in-differences with variation in treatment timing. Journal of Econometrics, 225(2), 254-277. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jeconom.2021.03.014
Hodges, C., Moore, S., Lockee, B., Trust, T., & Bond, A. (2020). The Difference Between Emergency Remote Teaching and Online Learning. EDUCASE Review. https://er.educause.edu/articles/2020/3/thedifference-between-emergency-remote-teaching-and-online-learning
Iglesias-Pradas, S., Hernández-García, Á., Chaparro-Peláez, J., & Prieto, J. L. (2021). Emergency Remote Teaching and Students’ Academic Performance in Higher Education during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Case Study. Computers in Human Behavior, 119, 106713. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2021.106713
Jewitt, S. & Ryley, H. (2014). It’s a girl thing: Menstruation, school attendance, spatial mobility and wider gender inequalities in Kenya. Geoforum, 56, 137-147. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoforum.2014.07.006
Kaffenberger, M. (2020). Modeling the long-run learning impact of the COVID-19 learning shock: Actions to (more than) mitigate loss. RISE. doi.org/10.35489/BSG-RISE-RI_2020/017
Kremer, M. & Miguel, E. (2004). Worms: Identifying impacts on education and health in the presence of treatment externalities. Econometrica, 72(1), 159-217. https://cega.berkeley.edu/assets/cega_research_projects/1/Identifying-Impacts-on-Education-and-Health-in-the-Presence-of-Treatment-Externalities.pdf
Kuhfeld, M., Soland, J., Tarasawa, B., Johnson, A., Ruzek, E., & Liu, J. (2020). Projecting the Potential Impact of COVID-19 School Closures on Academic Achievement. Educational Researcher, 49(8), 549-565. https://doi.org/10.3102/0013189X20965918
Malala Fund (2020). Girls’ education and COVID-19: what past shocks can teach us about mitigating the impact of pandemic. https://www.parlnet.org/girls-education-covid-19-what-past-shocks-can-teachus-about-mitigating-the-impacts-of-pandemics/
Maldonado, J. E. & De Witte, K. (2020). The effect of school closures on standardised student test outcomes. Department of Economics Discussion Paper. https://lirias.kuleuven.be/3189074
Marcotte, D. E. & Hemelt, S. W. (2008). Unscheduled School Closings and Student Performance. Education Finance and Policy, 3(3), 316-338.
Mathews, T., Dempsey, M., & Overstreet, S. (2009). Effects of exposure to community violence on school functioning: The mediating role of posttraumatic stress symptoms. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 47(7), 586-591. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.brat.2009.04.001
Monteiro, J. & Rocha, R. (mayo, 2017). Drug Battles and School Achievement. The Review of Economics and Statistics, 99, 213-228. https://doi.org/10.1162/REST
Nurunnabi, M., Almusharraf, N., & Aldeghaither, D. (2020). Mental health and well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic in higher education: Evidence from G20 countries. Journal of Public Health Research, 9,60-68.
Orlov, G., McKee, D., Berry, J., Boyle, A., DiCiccio, T., Ransom, T., … Stoye, J. (2021). Learning during the COVID-19 pandemic: It is not who you teach, but how you teach. Economics Letters, 202, 109812. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.econlet.2021.109812
Oster, E. & Thornton, R. (2009). Menstruation and Education in Nepal. NBER Working Paper Series. https://www.nber.org/system/files/working_papers/w14853/w14853.pdf
Tran, T., Hoang, A.-D., Nguyen, Y.-C., Nguyen, L.-C., Ta, N.-T., Pham, Q.-H., … Nguyen, T.-T. (2020). Toward Sustainable Learning during School Suspension: Socioeconomic, Occupational Aspirations, and Learning Behavior of Vietnamese Students during COVID-19. Sustainability, 12(10), 4195. https://doi.org/10.3390/su12104195
Universidad EAFIT (2020a). Comunicado n° 26 - Nuevas medidas preventivas para contrarrestar la propagación del covid-19. https://www.eafit.edu.co/medidas-preventivas-covid-19
Universidad EAFIT (2020b). Comunicado n° 29 - Flexibilización de los procesos de enseñanza y aprendizaje con herramientas colaborativas. https://www.eafit.edu.co/institucional/comunicados/Paginas/comunicado-29-flexibilizacion-de-los-procesos-de-ensenanza-y-aprendizaje-con-herramientascolaborativas.aspx
Universidad EAFIT. (2020c). Comunicado n° 32 - EAFIT se prepara para virtualizar sus clases de pregrado y posgrado. https://www.eafit.edu.co/institucional/comunicados/Paginas/eafit-se-prepara-paravirtualizar-sus-clases-de-pregrado-y-posgrado.aspx
Universidad EAFIT. (2020d). Comunicado n° 41 - Evaluación del aprendizaje durante la contingencia delcovid-19 - Programas de pregrado. https://www.eafit.edu.co/institucional/comunicados/Paginas/evaluacion-del-aprendizaje-durante-la-contingencia-del-covid-19-programas-de-pregrado.aspx
Universidad EAFIT. (2020e). Comunicado n° 42 - Evaluación del aprendizaje en los programas de posgrado durante la contingencia del covid-19. https://www.eafit.edu.co/institucional/comunicados/Paginas/comunicado-n-42-evaluacion-del-aprendizaje-en-los-programas-de-posgrado-durante-lacontingencia-del-covid-19.aspx
Xie, X., Siau, K., & Nah, F. F. H. (2020). COVID-19 pandemic–online education in the new normal and the next normal. Journal of Information Technology Case and Application Research, 22(3), 175-187. https://doi.org/10.1080/15228053.2020.1824884
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Published
Jan 10, 2023
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Estrada Barreto, P. A., & Hincapié Acosta, J. S. (2023). What happens to education during a pandemic? : Evidence from a Colombian case. Ecos De Economía, 25(53), 42–66. https://doi.org/10.17230/ecos.2021.53.3
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