Using an Instructional Team during Pandemic Remote Teaching Enhanced Student Outcomes in a Large STEM Course

The unplanned shift to online instruction due to the COVID-19 pandemic challenged many instructors teaching large-enrollment courses to design learning environments that actively engaged all students. We looked at how one instructor used her instructional team--a group of student assistants with diverse, structured responsibilities--to adapt her large-enrollment (>500 students) introductory chemistry course to a live-remote format, as well as the impact the team's involvement had on students' reported experiences of online learning. We found that the instructional team's involvement was instrumental in adapting the course to the live-remote online format. The integration of the instructional team had a significant positive impact on students' experiences in the course, including their perceptions of social and cognitive engagement and teacher presence. Students in the section with the integrated instructional team also outperformed students in other sections of the same course on standardized course exams and final course grade. These results suggest that a structured instructional team composed of students can be a mechanism for promoting positive student experiences and learning in large-enrollment, remote STEM courses.