Literature Review
Beil, Et Al., 2020
This research builds on the student-led research on student learning experiences during COVID-19 conducted by the 2020 cohort (Beil et al., 2020). The 2020 cohort had the unique experience of being able to compare in-person and virtual learning as the shift to virtual happened abruptly during the Spring semester in 2020 (Beil et al., 2020). Study results indicated that 74% of participants felt that a virtual education was lesser quality than an in-person education (Beil et al., 2020). 63% of respondents also associated quality learning with relationships or connections with peers and instructors. These themes stayed consistent in the current research on student experiences in the data collected to date (Beil et al., 2020). It’s also important to note that the recommendations made in the Beil et al. research on course design, mental health support, tuition adjustment, student choice and agency, and communication have not been adopted by HGSE for AY 2021-2022, signaling the need for a different engagement strategy.
hgse midyear student survey 2020
In December 2020, the Harvard Graduate School of Education also conducted the Mid-Year Student Experience Survey to collect information on the academic and nonacademic experiences of students (HGSE, 2020). Trends from the preliminary data analysis indicate that students do not feel a sense of community and belonging at HGSE and that student supports are not being widely used due to communication issues (HGSE, 2020). While both the Beil study and the HGSE-led survey present valuable quantitative data and trends, data around meaning-making is notably missing as mass surveys were not designed to capture how students feel or think about their HGSE experience. Much is also unknown about what resources, policies, practices, and services positively or negatively impact and shape student experiences. This research has the potential to contribute to novel findings in collecting and analyzing information about the meaning-making of underrepresented students with respect to their virtual HGSE experience. The research also utilizes participatory methods in design and therefore can yield recommendations on how the policies, practice, services, offices, and opportunities at HGSE can be changed to improve the HGSE experience in an equitable manner, drawing from the responses of the students themselves.
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harvard pulse study, 2019
Previous research conducted at the Harvard Presidential Task Force on inclusion and belonging, and ongoing efforts at the Harvard Graduate School of Education to collect information on the academic and nonacademic experiences of students. However, past research has focused specifically on quantitative methods to understand the experiences of underrepresented and underserved students, relying on pulse surveys or mass surveys that were not designed to capture how students feel or think about their Harvard experience. The 2020-2021 Academic Year is also an unprecedented one, where the Ed.M. program was offered fully virtually for the first time in HGSE history and the COVID-19 pandemic and America’s reckoning with racism has severely impact.