How Does Hybrid Learning Affect Grades and Motivation?
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March 24, 2021
As a result of the coronavirus pandemic, Pentucket students participate in a hybrid learning model. The high school students are split into two main groups: Cohorts A and B. Cohort A goes to school on Tuesdays and Thursdays while Cohort B goes on Wednesdays and Fridays. When one group is at school, the other group is learning remotely at home. Lack of extra space in the high school to promote social distancing requires the at-home students to log onto Google Classroom and do the assignments their teachers have posted for them.
Students are only in school two out of the five weekdays. This is a huge problem for some students, as they suffer without their teachers’ guidance from home. Chemistry teacher Mrs. Lentz says, “Not having a specific daily schedule and being home three of five days significantly affects learning for some students.”
It’s hard for kids to be motivated to learn remotely, especially with all of the distractions being at home brings. Mrs. Lentz also says, “More students turn in work late than I have ever seen, and with access to online material, there is more incentive to Google answers rather than learn the material.”
More students compared to other years are having lower grades and turning in more late assignments. U.S. History teacher Mr. Harty also “feel[s] that most students are a little behind each day.” These late assignments affect students’ grades and can cause a snowball effect. 10th-grade student Kyle Ventola says, “I have no motivation to learn or do school work from home and I procrastinate, so I don’t start doing my homework until late, which causes me to get little sleep.”
Kate Gerrish, another 10th-grade student, says, “Having to go back and forth from virtual learning to in-person learning is very difficult to learn in because there is no structure. Many times in virtual learning I have to do homework for things that I have not been taught yet.” More kids than ever are struggling with staying on top of their school work and is a direct result of being at home more than in school.
As many students as there are struggling with hybrid learning, there are some students who aren’t hurting from it. Not every student needs a teacher in front of them seven hours a day to make sure their work is being done or answering their questions. However, of the students that were interviewed, 90% of them said they were negatively affected by hybrid learning. Whether it’s procrastinating at home or lower grades, hybrid learning is having a significant impact on students
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Yanni Kakouris • Apr 9, 2021 at 10:06 pm
Unfortunately, you are right about at-home learning: students tend to get distracted and procrastinate on their work, and turning in assignments late seems to be a problem for many students. I think that teachers have gone a bit easy this year with accepting late assignments, but it is understandable with the circumstances. It will be interesting to see how students handle going fully back with more pressure and without the privilege of working from home on their own time. Thankfully, as more people get vaccinated, it seems as though the pandemic is coming to an end. Hopefully, we will return to normal learning by next year, as remote learning has definitely been a challenge for many.
Stratton Seymour • Apr 9, 2021 at 12:17 pm
Well written article Max. Really gets across the effects of the hybrid learning model, some of which many not experiencing it might not realize. Interesting to see how hybrid learning compares to the fully remote situation that students experienced in the 2019-2020 school year, it seems obvious that it would be an improvement for all students as well as teachers to be in school for at least a few days each week, but there are still challenges, for most students at least, that the current situation prompts, still its better than nothing I guess. With the mandate placed on middle and elementary schools to go fully back to in-person learning, the new studies revealing a fact-based 3 foot social distancing rule, and not to mention the increasing amount of teachers and those in the community at risk who have been vaccinated, it looks very promising for everyone to be back in school in the near future. Oh how I will miss getting those few extra hours of sleep 3 days a week though.
Anna Tateosian • Apr 9, 2021 at 10:43 am
This article clearly depicts how most students not only at Pentucket, but nationwide are feeling about hybrid learning. Everyone that I have talked to this year has said that their motivation to learn or even just do the work has decreased significantly. I also know many good students who are getting low grades that they have never gotten before. I enjoyed reading this article as it ensures that we are not alone in feeling like this.
Jackson Neumann • Apr 7, 2021 at 9:25 am
This article has a sad truth to it, as many students are struggling with classes this year. Hybrid learning is defiantly not ideal for students. This article shows good incite on how teachers feel about this, I never really thought about it from their perspective until now. I enjoyed reading this article and found it interesting.