PERSPECTIVES OF ENGINEERING STUDENTS ON THE IMPACT OF COVID-19 ON THE LEARNING AND TEACHING ALGEBRA AND DIFFERENTIAL CALCULUS

Abstract

We present a study whose main objective is to identify engineering students’ perspectives on the impact of COVID-19 on the teaching and learning of Algebra and Differential Calculus, as well as to explore the proposals that they suggest for similar situations. The concern arises from the high failure rates among first-semester students during the February-June 2022 period at the Autonomous University of Ciudad Juarez, which could be related to the learning experience during the COVID-19 lockdown. To gather relevant information, interviews were conducted with ten engineering students, who described their classes, expressed their emotions, evaluated, and analyzed their experiences during the lockdown, and provided conclusions and proposals for future actions. The analysis of the responses revealed a wide range of emotions experienced by the students, including frustration, anxiety, depression, joy, and hope. The students preferred face-to-face interactions with their peers and teachers to remote digital instruction. The findings highlight the need to improve teaching methods and provide training in digital tools to educators to better prepare for similar situations in the future. Additionally, the students emphasized the importance of taking personal responsibility and committing to their education. While this study has provided significant insights from some engineering students, it would be advisable to conduct broader research to verify the generalization of the findings among other students in this discipline.