RESEARCH PAPER
STEM learning during the COVID-19 pandemic in Qatar: Secondary school students’ and teachers’ perspectives
 
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1
Core Curriculum Program, Deanship of General Studies, Qatar University, Doha, QATAR
 
2
Education Research Center, College of Education, Qatar University, Doha, QATAR
 
3
Social and Economic Survey Research Institute, Qatar University, Doha, QATAR
 
 
Publication date: 2022-05-22
 
 
EURASIA J. Math., Sci Tech. Ed 2022;18(6):em2123
 
KEYWORDS
ABSTRACT
This study examines how students and teachers perceive science, mathematics, engineering and technology (STEM) learning during the COVID-19 pandemic. Data was collected through student and teacher surveys, conducted in 22 public and 17 private secondary schools at Qatar. Participants included 1,505 students and 545 teachers in grades 11 and 12. Results showed students’ and teachers’ demographic factors, including gender, school type, grade level, and majors, emerged as salient predictors of perceptions of the pandemic as disruptive to students’ STEM learning. Specifically, both students and teachers perceived keeping up with coursework, being physically isolated from classmates, and keeping a regular schedule at home to be key barriers. Results further revealed that neither students nor teachers viewed communicating with staff and teachers, losing contact with teachers, or accessing and using technology as barriers. Moreover, school type and gender were important predictors of how students and teachers perceived STEM learning during the pandemic.
 
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