Pandemia de covid-19: Impactos no desempenho acadêmico dos discentes do curso de licenciatura em química CCA/UFPB

Abstract

The educational system needed adaptation in response to the imposed social distancing due to the Covid 19 pandemic, implementing the Emergency Remote Education (ERE), as an alternative teaching method mediated by technology tools. However, ERE has many limitations, as it is dependent on several variables such as good internet connection and the availability of a suitable environment to perform academic activities, which is not always possible in some cases. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic on the academic performance of students from the Chemistry Degree course at the Centro de Ciências Agrárias da Universidade da Paraíba. This research had a qualitative approach and was classified as descriptive according to the objectives and defined as a field study according to the procedures adopted. Sixteen students from the Universidade Federal da Paraíba, Campus II, that participated in the transition from in-person to ERE, participated in this study. For data acquisition, we developed individual conversations to assess students’ conceptions about which variables influenced their academic performance during the pandemic and what were the biggest challenges identified. We used the content analysis (CA) proposed by Bardin, and established four categories to discuss the results: 1) Adaptations to remote teaching: The willing to learn and the distance from the classroom; 2) Socioeconomic conditions and remote teaching: understanding this relationship in the training of the students; 3) “When the death toll started, the future was uncertain”: thinking about the emotional issues of graduate students; and 4) “The biggest impact was on my learning”: reflecting the academic performance of undergraduate students in a uncertain context. From the study, we identified main factors negatively impacting the performance of the students were: emotional disorders, inadequate study environment, failure to adapt to the ERE, and difficulty in reconciling work duties with studies. Regarding the biggest challenges faced, the delay in the learning process, lack of motivation and retention at the university were the most mentioned. Therefore, it is evident that although ERE was the best option to be adopted during the shutdown of the presential educational system, this teaching mode resulted in a lot of damage and left deep marks in the field of education. Hence, we hope that this study will contribute to the development of strategies and actions that can improve the academic environment, and consequently, fill the gaps left by the pandemic panorama.