In this project, we apply causal inference techniques to try to objectively evaluate the effects of taking remote/online classes during the pandemic. We hope that this project will help educators and administrators understand the degree to which remote instruction impact student mental health and craft their policies accordingly.

Understanding the impact online schooling has on the mental health of college students is vital for the university staff to help them take corrective actions to guarantee the well-being of students, especially in situations like a pandemic lockdown. With the rise of online instruction format and the fact that college students are more stressed and anxious than ever before, it is important to assess whether online schooling comes at the cost of students’ mental well-being.

In our analysis, we study whether online / hybrid schooling causes higher anxiety levels among students undertaking post-secondary education in the US during the years 2021 to 2022. The aim of this analysis is to gain a deeper understanding of potential causes of higher anxiety levels among students and how US college administrators could address them.

We learned that controlling for differences between individual students, taking online / hybrid classes reduced students’ anxiety during the pandemic compared to in-person classes for both full-time and part-time students. Additionally, whether a student is aware of mental health assistance offered by the school plays a large role in determining the anxiety level of the student. With the knowledge of where to access resources offered by their school, students were less anxious on average compared to students who did not have the knowledge. Otherwise, we did not observe any noticeable differences between online / hybrid and in-person students that would raise any practical concerns.

While our study suggests that online learning is adoptable, and even favorable to in-person learning, we note the inherent tradeoff that college administrators must make between reducing disease spread and ensuring student mental health when deciding on the teaching modality during a pandemic. This analysis addresses the latter part of the tradeoff and tries to quantify its impact using causal inference.

You can read our report paper under 50_docs/UDS_Final_Report.pdf

The report is authored by Genesis Qu, Elisa Chen, Xiaoquan Liu