Did you know that 4 in 5 Year 12 students feel disadvantaged for their HSC in 2020 as a result of COVID-19 restrictions?
It’s not surprising when you think about how what this year’s HSC cohort are up against. With COVID-19 restrictions in place, thousands of HSC students are being forced to study from home via online learning.
But what sort of impact is this having on students?
Art of Smart recently surveyed almost 400 HSC students to:
- Analyse the impact of the COVID-19 restrictions upon HSC students across public and selective, private and independent, and Catholic school sectors and;
- Analyse the effectiveness of schools’ transition to online learning.
We’re here to give you a wrap up of the report with some key outtakes!
So, let’s dive in!
Reason #1: Online learning is less effective than face-to-face teaching
You’ve probably realised by now that online learning is far less effective than face-to-face teaching.
In fact, 85 per cent of students agreed that face-to-face teaching was effective while only 24 per cent found online teaching to be effective.Â
That’s a HUGE disparity! And there are a number of reasons as to why.
There’s a greater pressure on students to conduct independent learning, where they may be set independent tasks with no live video teaching.
With independent learning, there’s no chance for you to speak up and explain that you haven’t understood something and gain clarity through asking your teacher questions. There’s also no one holding you accountable to actually complete your work!
It’s also much harder for your teacher to read your body language and notice that you may not have understood something that’s being taught in class.
Over half of students are taught using a mixture of independent tasks and live video sessions, with 19 per cent being taught solely through independent tasks.
This means that for most students, teaching methods differ from class to class – some where your teacher may be teaching your lesson via a video platform and others where you’re simply set tasks.
Reason #2: Not all schools have effective online teaching resources
The report also revealed that there’s a lack of equity across all schools when it comes to their access to effective online resources.
Three times as many public school students compared to private school students, believe their school does not have the resources for effective online learning!
Comparatively, 3 in 4 private and independent school students agreed that their school has effective resources, with only 1 in 2 of public and selective school students recording their school’s resources as effective.
It’s obvious that the access to online learning resources and the effectiveness of these resources varies MASSIVELY!
The report further found that one in two students did not agree that their school had made an effective transition to online learning.
You can read our HSC COVID-19 Impact Report in full here!
Reason #3: HSC students’ mental health has been significantly impacted
Distraction is at an all time high and motivation at an all time low with this year’s HSC cohort.
In fact, three in five HSC students agreed that their mental health has been impacted by COVID-19 restrictions.
This could be a result of the lack of social interaction that attending school provided, an increased amount of time indoors and a changed routine.
The uncertainty around when/if assessments will be held, changed assessment weightings and whether this will impact students’ assessment performance and ability to gain entrance into their goal university course are also sources of anxiety and stress.
Research by the Black Dog Institute has also revealed that changes in routine can have a large impact on students’ mental health, with students experiencing sleeping problems and unable to create boundaries between school work, study time and rest.
Almost four in five students said they felt distracted while studying at home, 76% agreed their motivation levels had dropped significantly and over half have exercised less!
These are all causes for concern, especially during an already stressful period such as the HSC.
Looking for some extra help with your HSC?
We have an incredible team of HSC tutors and mentors who are new HSC syllabus experts!
We can help you master the HSC syllabus and ace your upcoming HSC assessments with personalised lessons conducted one-on-one in your home or at our state of the art campus in Hornsby!
We’ve supported over 5,000 students over the last 10 years, and on average our students score mark improvements of over 19%!
To find out more and get started with an inspirational HSC English tutor and mentor, get in touch today or give us a ring on 1300 267 888!
