Develop your own coding scheme to help you analyze the qualitative data collected

To develop a coding scheme, you first need to read through all of the open-ended responses multiple times to get an idea for the types of ideas that are expressed in them and see if you can notice any patterns in the types of responses your participants provided. Then you can come up with your own codes that you are going to apply to the responses.

Make a codebook. For your assignment this will be quite short. It should contain the research question you are interested in, the exact wording of the question for the open-ended responses, and the name of your codes with their definitions. For example, if your question asked people to describe their favourite sport, one of your codes might be called "Fun" and the definition might be "Mentions how much fun the sport is to play or watch". Your codebook should include at least 3 different codes.

Code your responses. Now that you've decided on your codes, it is time to code your data. The easiest way is to set up a spreadsheet so that each participant's response has its own row and each code has its own column. Then you can read a response and go through each code one at a time, entering a 1 or a 0 to indicate whether or not the code applies to that response. Using the example "fun" code from above, if the response you are reading says "I love to play volleyball, it's the funnest part of my week!" then you would put a 1 under the "fun" column.

Summarize your results. After you have completed coding, tally up your results and make a brief summary of your findings. For example, "Out of the 9 participants who filled out my survey, 7 of them mentioned how fun their favourite sport was."

Open-ended responses

1. The absence of social interaction and participation with peers and teachers is one distinct experience that many people have had with online learning throughout the pandemic. This lack of engagement has had a particularly harmful impact on some people since it can cause a sense of isolation and detachment. Some, however, have found it beneficial because it has given them the freedom to complete their work at their own pace and without the interruptions that often occur in a typical classroom setting. The individual's learning preferences, the calibre of the online learning platform being used, the level of assistance and resources offered by the school or institution, and the availability of social interaction opportunities outside of the online classroom environment are some factors that may have influenced this experience. For instance, in an online learning environment, students who are more independent and self-motivated may succeed while others who require more one-on-one mentoring and support may find it difficult. Similar to this, the quality of the online learning environment and the amount of resources and assistance offered by the institution can have a significant impact on the whole experience. Last but not least, the accessibility of social engagement options, such as online social gatherings or virtual study groups, might help lessen the negative consequences of in person interaction

2. I have had a lot of trouble focusing with online learning. Being home there are so many distractions such as your phone, other family members, getting up constantly to get food, and many more. I found it very difficult to take part in lectures also as I would experience awful headaches which sometimes led me to not even watch my lectures. This then affected my attendance and it would be really hard to go back to watch lectures after they already happened.

3. It is convient to study but can build procrastination in us

4. I personally think that my remote learning experience was/is at its most negative when synchronous zoom classes are held. This is because I believe there are very few teachers, if any, who have found a way to lead their class in a way that is engaging remotely. I also believe that many teachers struggle with creating engaging lessons/lectures even when they happen in-person, let alone when they are held online and all the students are physically separated from one another. I believe if teachers can find a way to make their remote classes more engaging, the quality of online teaching can greatly improve, thus improving the overall quality of online learning for students.

5. Online learning has provided me with more time to study for tests. I used to spend multiple hours commuting which would make me very tired. Now I have more energy and time to focus on my studies and get better grades.

6. For some classes I took I found the work at your own pace classes were the most effective. Taking science classes online was a mission and a half especially when it came to completing labs online.

7. Positive - During the summer, I had a class online, and we had a group meeting via zoom. I had scheduled a week at Sauble beach with my kids, and our meeting fell on that date, and it was so lovely of the professor and my group to allow me to attend the zoom meeting while I was sitting on my beach chair in the sand.

8. I really liked how easy it was to get in touch with professors and TA's during the pandemic. This is probably because everything was online and so platforms like Zoom and emails were just steps away. However as a student studying outside of Canada and struggling to manage with the time differences, this option of accessing professors and TAs was very helpful.

9. I found that professors were relatively forgiving when it came to submitting assignments late due to mental health.

10. I remember at the beginning of online schooling I felt very disconnected from all my teachers. However, I no longer feel that this is the case since now we have zoom classes, discussion boards, etc.

11. The biggest thing about online learning during the pandemic for me was that I didn't have to live in Toronto to continue my education. I was able to keep my job at the time and stay near my supports and online learning meant that I could do school material at my own pace most of the time because all lectures were recorded. Overall, the experience made university more accessible for me.

12. An experience I have had during the pandemic that I found negative was doing tests. From different experiences, tests were always a worry because I was scared that it would crash

13. So for lectures that are pre-recorded, I tend to skip the actual lecture, thinking I will return and just watch it when it is more convenient (especially when I have work stuff to do). Then the exam or test comes around, and I have still not watched this lecture so I scramble to study off lecture notes provided or the slides. I rarely go back in and watch a 3 hour lecture as it feels daunting, especially when I have them piled up. I shoot myself in the foot every time, but just find it so difficult to concentrate in online course work, and because I have a safety net (all content is online at all times) - I tend to procrastinate more because of this false sense of security. If I was learning in person, I knew if I missed the lecture, I would miss out on key information so I made an effort to attend every class, therefore I was learning and better prepared for assignments and tests. The online learning is a different game and not a better one. It is convenient, but at a cost of quality of learning, I think. We tend to retain less through online learning