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  5. Zooming to Class?: Experimental Evidence on College Students’ Online Learning during COVID-19

Zooming to Class?: Experimental Evidence on College Students’ Online Learning during COVID-19

  • Michael S. Kofoed
  • Lucas Gebhart
  • Dallas Gilmore
  • Ryan Moschitto
American Economic Review: Insights (Forthcoming)

Abstract

One persistent question in higher education is the efficacy of online education. In the fall of 2020, we randomized 551 West Point students in a required introductory economics course across twelve instructors to either an online or in-person class as a response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Final grades for online students dropped by 0.215 standard deviations, a result apparent in both assignments and exams and largest for academically at-risk students. A post-course survey finds that online students struggled to concentrate in class and felt less connected to their instructors and peers. Our results show detrimental effects for online learning.

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