Why Come to Class? Post-Pandemic Perspectives from Students in an Introductory Statistics Course

As more university instructors continue making recordings of in-person classes available, educators should carefully consider how modality options may affect learners. While most existing studies that compare learning modalities rely on survey studies and broader correlations, we conducted an interventional qualitative study to glean more theory about how students experience different modalities. Nine students enrolled in a large introduction to biostatistics course volunteered to participate. For two different 50-min class periods, participating students were randomly assigned to do one of the following: attend class in person, watch the class recording, or watch prerecorded videos made by the instructor. Interviews revealed that students’ ability to self-regulate their learning was a key indicator of whether they could learn richly and successfully with video-based modalities. In-person class attendance had value for several, but typically as a vehicle for maintaining discipline and good habits rather than as an opportunity to learn more richly. We theorize that developing students’ ability to plan, monitor, and evaluate their own learning processes plays a crucial role in their success across multiple modalities. Furthermore, supporting students to notice and focus on conceptual ideas in statistics may better support reflective learning in courses where class recordings are available.