Introductory Physics Students in Algebra-based Courses Who Typically Worked Alone or in Groups: Insights from Gender-Based Analysis before and during COVID-19

Fuente: arXiv
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Auteurs principaux: Ghimire, Apekshya, Singh, Chandralekha
Format: Preprint
Publié: 2025
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author Ghimire, Apekshya
Singh, Chandralekha
author_facet Ghimire, Apekshya
Singh, Chandralekha
contents Collaboration with peers both inside and outside the classroom can be an invaluable tool for helping students learn physics. We investigated the impact of peer collaboration on learning physics by examining the characteristics of women and men who typically worked alone versus those who typically collaborated with peers in their algebra-based introductory physics course when they took the course before and during the COVID-19 pandemic when the classes were on Zoom. Our findings indicate that, on average, students who worked with peers had higher grades and reported greater peer influence on their physics self-efficacy during the pandemic compared to those who worked alone. We also observed that, for both women and men, a larger percentage of students typically worked in groups before the pandemic, while a greater percentage typically worked alone during the pandemic. We discuss these results in relation to students' prior academic preparation, physics grades, self-efficacy and their perception of the effectiveness of peer collaboration on their physics self-efficacy.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2510_14042
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Introductory Physics Students in Algebra-based Courses Who Typically Worked Alone or in Groups: Insights from Gender-Based Analysis before and during COVID-19
Ghimire, Apekshya
Singh, Chandralekha
Physics Education
Collaboration with peers both inside and outside the classroom can be an invaluable tool for helping students learn physics. We investigated the impact of peer collaboration on learning physics by examining the characteristics of women and men who typically worked alone versus those who typically collaborated with peers in their algebra-based introductory physics course when they took the course before and during the COVID-19 pandemic when the classes were on Zoom. Our findings indicate that, on average, students who worked with peers had higher grades and reported greater peer influence on their physics self-efficacy during the pandemic compared to those who worked alone. We also observed that, for both women and men, a larger percentage of students typically worked in groups before the pandemic, while a greater percentage typically worked alone during the pandemic. We discuss these results in relation to students' prior academic preparation, physics grades, self-efficacy and their perception of the effectiveness of peer collaboration on their physics self-efficacy.
title Introductory Physics Students in Algebra-based Courses Who Typically Worked Alone or in Groups: Insights from Gender-Based Analysis before and during COVID-19
topic Physics Education
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2510.14042