Impact of COVID-19 on access to laboratories and human participants: exercise science faculty perspectives.

Restrictions due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic impacted the ability of faculty and students in exercise science to work in lab settings with human participants. The purpose of this study was to determine how exercise science faculty were impacted by COVID-19 restrictions with respect to access and use of exercise science lab and research facilities. Of the 100 surveyed participants categorized as requiring access to people and lab spaces (lab-based faculty), 61% (n = 61) reported decreased research productivity with 87% (n = 53) of those faculty in one or more of the following subdisciplines: exercise physiology, clinical exercise physiology, or biomechanics. Of all lab-based faculty, 40% (n = 40) participants reported having access to students and lab spaces and 55% (n = 55) indicated they were allowed to conduct in-person research. Of tenure-track lab-based faculty, 80% (n = 20) reported a decrease in research productivity, of which 60.0% (n = 12) identified as female. Among faculty with 5 or less years of teaching experience (n = 23), 69.6% (n = 16) reported a decrease in productivity, with 68.8% (n = 11) of those being female. All exercise science faculty surveyed reported issues with safety and social distancing, modified lab and research procedures, faculty workload, and research productivity. This information can be leveraged to create better infrastructure to support faculty and develop and implement strategies to reduce workload inequities.

Faculty perceptions of the exercise science student learning experience during the coronavirus pandemic.

Significant disruptions in higher education course delivery occurred during the coronavirus (COVID-19) global pandemic. The implementation of emergency remote teaching (ERT) offered exercise science faculty a safe method to continue educating students in courses generally taught face-to-face. The purpose of this investigation was to explore faculty perceptions of their ERT efforts with respect to student successes, challenges, and faculty expectations. Through an electronic survey, participants (n = 112) from higher education institutions in 31 states and three Canadian provinces provided feedback on their perceptions of the student experience across 315 fall 2020 courses. Data analysis included a thematic analysis to identify themes and trends in participant responses. Faculty identified student adaptability, increased autonomy of learning, and maintenance of learning as successes. Also noted was the increased flexibility of alternative pedagogy methods. Participants perceived student challenges related to technology, time management, and well-being. Faculty perceived students expected increased accommodations and instructor responsiveness during fall 2020. While faculty and students were challenged to adapt during the global pandemic, the perceived ERT experiences during COVID-19 highlight the resiliency of higher education students and underscores changes needed by educational institutions to provide resources and training upon return to traditional education or in response to a future crisis.