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

Michael Kofoed, Lucas Gebhart, Dallas Gilmore and Ryan Moschitto

American Economic Review: Insights, 2024, vol. 6, issue 3, 324-40

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 12 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 postcourse 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.

JEL-codes: A22 I12 I23 I26 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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Working Paper: Zooming to Class?: Experimental Evidence on College Students' Online Learning during COVID-19 (2021)
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DOI: 10.1257/aeri.20230077

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