Cautious Optimism About Teaching STEM Online

24 March 2021

11 March 2021 [Inside Higher Ed] – The shift to remote learning forced STEM instructors to increasingly accept online education. But concerns about how to give students meaningful lab experiences remain.

Faculty members in science, technology, engineering and mathematics conduct some of the most technologically groundbreaking research in all of academe, but when it comes to teaching online, STEM has historically lagged behind.

The findings of a new survey, STEM Education in the Time of COVID, suggest that hesitancy to embrace online education may be changing.

Bay View Analytics, a statistical research firm, published the report with the Online Learning Consortium, a membership organization that promotes the use and quality of digital education. The report was supported by Every Learner Everywhere, a network of organizations that promotes online education with a focus on equity, as well as three companies involved in distance education in STEM: Digital Ed, Carolina Distance Learning and HHMI BioInteractive.

“STEM faculty are now cautiously optimistic about the future of online STEM education,” Jeff Seaman, co-director of Bay View Analytics, said in a statement. “This suggests they may reassess how STEM education is delivered and be more open to new approaches that incorporate online education and digital learning into their curricula.”