Comparison of parent-rated teaching activities during the first and second school lockdowns and its association with students’ learning outcomes during distant teaching

Abstract

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, schools were closed twice in Germany for several months. The aim of the present study was to investigate whether distant teaching activities increased from the first school lockdown to the second school lockdown and whether the frequency of distant teaching activities were related to students’ outcomes (motivation, competent and independent learning, perceived learning progress) during distant learning. To this end, N = 3,480 legal guardians filled in an online questionnaire during the second lockdown (see Steinmayr et al., 2021). Distant teaching activities greatly increased from the first lockdown to the second lockdown. Besides communication with a parent, all other distant teaching activities were more frequent at secondary schools. However, in both elementary and secondary schools, distant teaching activities varied greatly. Distant teaching activities as well as children’s characteristics and social background were independently important for students’ outcomes. The results are discussed with regard to their practical implications for realizing distant teaching.