As the COVID pandemic drove learning online at institutions of higher learning worldwide, some U.S. professors sought to reflect the new face of undergraduates, more diverse than ever. Demographic changes have led some to rethink the way they teach undergraduate science. Take Sara Brownell of Arizona State University, who received a Faculty Teaching Achievement Award this year. Brownell recalls the 2012 workshop that upended her science instruction. 

The COVID pandemic's impact on teaching and learning forced instructors to restructure their courses to be more accommodating toward and understanding of their students' situations -- both inside and outside of the classroom. Now that students have returned to classes, many of these instructors have continued to implement some of the lessons learned from teaching during the COVID pandemic into their courses. These new approaches to teaching can have positive effects on the inclusivity and accessibility of university courses. 

“We can look out into our classroom and think that everyone is having a perfectly fine day, but it’s absolutely not true.”

Katelyn Cooper said this, and she would know. Cooper leads the Cooper Biology Education Research Lab at Arizona State University. Her team recently conducted a survey of 2,175 undergraduates who were taking online science classes. The results, published in PLOS ONE in June, showed that a staggering 54% of the students reported experiencing symptoms of depression.