Student approach to learning does not change before and during COVID-19 pandemic in a degree level subject

Abstract

[EN] Different approaches to learning depending on the context of teaching environment, personal perception of learning process, and several intrinsic factors appear in University students. These approaches to learning can be divided into two groups: surface approach, in which memory-based techniques are used and students participate poorly, and deep approach, which involves a higher understanding and integration of different concepts. The coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic that has devastated the world since the end of 2019 may have changed the students¿ approach to learning as the new personal situations may have modified in many complex ways the teaching environment, the perceptions of learning processes, and the intrinsic factors (psychological traits, economic situations...). The main objective of the present study is to evaluate these possible changes on students of the second year of a life science degree, to who pandemic has affected their process of adaptation to the University life. The R-SPQ-2F questionnaire was used at the beginning and at the end of the first semester for the subject "Fundamentals of forest botany and zoology", in two different years: 2019-2020, when the subject was not affected yet by COVID-19, and 2020-2021, when the whole Spanish society was recovering from a complete lockdown that lasted more than three months and punctual lockdowns continued. Results shows a high item reliability for the main scales but not for the subscales. The main scales and subscales of the questionnaire were compared both between the beginning and the end of each academic year, and between years and gender. In both academic years, no statistical differences were found between the beginning and the end of the semester. The same result was observed related to gender, with non-significant differences. Surprisingly, there was also no significant differences between academic years. This result reveals that the pandemic has not significantly affected the approaches to learning of the students of this forest biology subject.