RUME 28
2026
Alexandria, Virginia
STEM Teaching Practices: Before, During, and After Pandemic Response Teaching
Page: 574
Spring 2020 marked the start of a national pandemic response teaching (PRT) period as colleges and universities responded to the public health emergency and associated upheavals and restrictions. Instructional practices and delivery modalities changed during this period, but there have been lingering questions about any lasting impact on pedagogy. In 2025, we conducted a national survey, following up with instructors of undergraduate chemistry, mathematics, and physics courses who had reported on their teaching in 2019, to explore this question. This paper focuses on questions about modality of instruction, distribution of class time between lecture and more active practices, and a set of other common instructional practices. In general, we find an aggregate return to pre-PRT practices, although there has been uptake of certain auxiliary digital practices (e.g., online office hours).