In-Person Versus Online Learning in Relation to Students’ Perceptions of Mattering During COVID-19: A Brief Report

Abstract

We examined students’ perceptions of mattering during the pandemic in relation to in-person versus online learning in a sample of 6578 Canadian students in Grades 4–12. We found that elementary school students who attended school in-person reported mattering the most, followed by secondary school students who learned part-time in-person and the rest of the time online (blended learning group). The students who felt that they mattered the least were those who learned online full-time during the pandemic (elementary and secondary students). These results were not driven by a selection effect for school choice during the pandemic—our experimental design showed that students’ perceptions of mattering did not differ by current learning modality when they were asked to reflect on their experiences before the pandemic even though some were also learning online full-time at the time they responded to our questions. No gender differences were found. As a validity check, we examined if mattering was correlated with school climate, as it has in past research. Results were similar in that a modest association between mattering and positive school climate was found in both experimental conditions. The results of this brief study show that in-person learning seems to help convey to students that they matter. This is important to know because students who feel like they matter are more protected, resilient, and engaged. Accordingly, mattering is a key educational indicator that ought to be considered when contemplating the merits of remote learning.