Adam Baker a senior majoring in psychology with a minor in philosophy presented “Student Perceptions of Different Classroom Settings.” A nontraditional student from Athens, Georgia, Baker earned his GED and attended his first psychology class in New Haven, Connecticut, when he would have been a senior in high school. He took classes at Piedmont College, followed by Brooklyn College (CUNY), and began classes at UNC Asheville in 2020, finding academic mentors Associate Professor of Psychology Elizabeth Pascoe and Professor of Psychology Tracy Brown.
The spark for his research came during pandemic, when his schedule included a mix of online classes and in-person classes, and he wanted to better understand how learning could work via Zoom.
“My focus is in social psychology, and the idea came to me when I was considering the importance of social cues in learning. It seemed to me that in-person classes were much more engaging due to these social cues, and I felt it was easier to learn that way. I wanted to know how this connection and engagement I felt in-person was different in online classes,” said Baker.
He surveyed students and focused on how connection and engagement worked together and how this changed between formats, finding that performance did not seem to be affected by the class format, but that the relationship between connection and engagement was highly significant, regardless of format.
As Baker summarized, “This means that if connection is increased, engagement will increase in either format. This is important because more engagement usually suggests a better learning experience, and if more connection is achieved in either format, engagement will be better too. Despite the fact that online classes were generally rated lower in learning, connection, and engagement, it shows that if feelings of connection can be improved in online classes, those differences may not be so great.”
Baker also presented research at SEPA in Hilton Head in March and will travel to the Raleigh area to present the Stroop effect study, from Dr. Brown’s research team, at the CPC. He plans to pursue a Ph.D. following graduation in December 2022.