Research Proposal

 Mohil Patel

Professor Goeller

Research in Discipline: College!

February 26, 2021

Research Proposal

Working Title: Should Universities Continue to Implement Online Learning During Covid 

Topic

My topic focuses on the impact that covid has on Universities. Specifically, it deals with the two important decisions that colleges have to make when deciding to start their school year during the CoronaVirus: either to stay fully online or to bring students to the campus. Although this may have never been a concern a year ago, this important choice that the colleges will make will not leave anytime soon. My paper will compare the issues that in-person education might put onto universities and students during corona with the issues that online education might put onto students and educators. In addition to that, I will discuss how certain factors that might influence this decision and how much weight this decision will hold on universities in the future to come.

Research Question

Does education take more priority over mental and physical health? Should colleges choose to keep their campuses open or closed during this pandemic? What consequences does each choice have on colleges, staff, and students (and family)? Should colleges justify having colleges open during the pandemic by using education as an excuse?

Theoretical Frame

The article, College After COVID: Higher Education's Online Future by John Ellis, explains the context of the perspective of education before and during the Covid outbreak. He explains that the drop in college enrollment was already present well before the covid outbreak. But whether the outbreak will increase the enrollment prospects or not is dependent on two different factors. Due to colleges transferring to online education, most parents are on board with the education process that students receive because of how close they can be to their child’s education. On the other hand, parents also suspect colleges of ruining the potential education they have to offer to their children. 

Another perspective in this article is comparing the advantages and disadvantages of online learning, and it then uses these comparisons to show how online education can potentially affect the future. One example he gives is the ease of access for students if online learning were to be regularized. The article states, “for example, in the world of college campus learning, students must compete to get into high-prestige institutions. Very few will get into Harvard, Yale, or Princeton. Most will have to settle for less. But in the world of online courses, it’s as if everyone can get to a distinguished campus” (Ellis 96). What Ellis brings to the table is the potential of online learning to be implemented during the pandemic and after it. 

Another topic that can be discussed in the paper is the possibility of colleges losing money and sponsors by implementing online-learning. This is discussed in Covid Presses Student-Housing Owners --- Investment Firms That Deal in Residences Are Strained as Colleges Go to Online Learning. Konrad Putzier, the author of the article, expresses investment firms’ growing concern of colleges switching to online learning because of the share price of Campus incorporations decreasing.

Research and Plan

The study done by Wall Street Journal in Covid Presses Student-Housing Owners --- Investment Firms That Deal in Residences Are Strained as Colleges Go to Online Learning, by Putzier, shows a recent example of how the CoronaVirus has negatively impacted the financial structure of a well-known college. This article states, “investors fled the student-housing sector in the spring as the first universities, including the California State University system, said they would teach remotely in the fall. The share price of American Campus Communities Inc., the only major public student-housing-focused real-estate investment firm, fell by more than half between late February and late March” (Putzier 1). This recent decline in the share price of California State University’s campus system was likely due to students being unable to come on campus and enjoy campus life. What is interesting though, is the fact that the college was able to mostly recover from their 60% drop in share prices; however, they did not fully recover as they still are down 25% of their original share price. An argument could be made here to also support online education because of the fact that the College Campus system was able to recover so much so quickly. They may have seen the long-term financial implications that could’ve happened if campuses were left open, prompting them to transition to online learning.

Another study that could be referenced is a study done in Effects of motivation, academic stress and age in predicting self-directed learning readiness (SDLR): Focused on online college students, by Han Heo, which shows the effects on students’ mental health from online learning. This study was done well before the pandemic started so it could be useful comparing the environment of online learning to in campus learning without the Pandemic being a variable factor. This study shows that, for an online student, motivation and academic stress are the two most important factors that influence their studying habits. What this study also points out is that, unlike other factors, motivation and academic stress are factors that can easily be influenced by others, especially when there is a student in an online environment. This study can be used to make a case that online learning will have a negative impact on students due to the fact that academic stress and motivation will be affected by both the online environment (the comfortableness of staying at home to do work) and the anxiety of the Covid Virus.

Bibliography

Ellis, John M. "College After COVID: Higher education's online future." Claremont Review of Books, vol. 20, no. 4, Fall 2020, p. 95+. Gale Literature Resource Center, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A639993597/LitRC?u=new67449&sid=LitRC&xid=8aa8bdbc. Accessed 9 Feb. 2021.

Heo, J., Han, S. Effects of motivation, academic stress and age in predicting self-directed learning readiness (SDLR): Focused on online college students. Educ Inf Technol 23, 61–71 (2018). https://doi-org.proxy.libraries.rutgers.edu/10.1007/s10639-017-9585-2

Konrad Putzier. “Covid Presses Student-Housing Owners --- Investment Firms That Deal in Residences Are Strained as Colleges Go to Online Learning.” The Wall Street Journal. Eastern Edition, Eastern edition, Dow Jones & Company Inc, 2020.

“Online Classes vs. Traditional Classes - A Learning Comparison.” University of the Potomac, 17 Nov. 2020, potomac.edu/learning/online-learning-vs-traditional-learning/. 

Son, Changwon, et al. “Effects of COVID-19 on College Students' Mental Health in the United States: Interview Survey Study.” Journal of Medical Internet Research, JMIR Publications Inc., Toronto, Canada, www.jmir.org/2020/9/e21279/.