«Quantifying the Impact of Severe Weather Conditions on Online Learning during the COVID-19 Pandemic»
Mercedes T. RodrigoAteneo de Manila University, Filipinas
Abstract
From October to November 2020 the Philippines was struck by eight typhoons, two of which caused widespread flooding, utilities interruptions, property destruction, and loss of life. How did these severe weather conditions affect online learning participation of students pursuing their undergraduate and graduate studies in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic? We used CausalImpact analysis to explore September 2020 to January 2021 data collected from the Moodle Learning Management System data of one university in the Philippines. We found that overall student online participation was significantly negatively affected by typhoons. However, the effect on participation in Assignments and Quizzes were not significant. These findings suggested that students continued to invest their time and energy on activities that have a direct bearing on their final grades.
Bio
Ma. Mercedes T. Rodrigo is a professor at the Department of Information Systems and Computer Science of the Ateneo de Manila University. She is also the head of the Ateneo Laboratory for the Learning Sciences. Her areas of specialization include technology in education, artificial intelligence in education, affective computing. She is currently working on three research projects: the first is on the use of Minecraft for STEM education, a collaboration with researchers from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champagne. The second is on the development of a mobile-based game for teaching about the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. The third is on the analysis of learning management systems data during the COVID-19 pandemic. The presentation today is drawn from the results of this study.
