ABSTRACT
The public health measures put in place in response to the COVID-19 pandemic meant that first-year undergraduate students who entered higher education in the 2020–2021 academic year are believed to have had a substantially different experience than their predecessors. This chapter provides evidence for this hypothesis and quantifies the impact of COVID-19 on first-year undergraduate students in Irish higher education institutions using data from the Irish Survey of Student Engagement (known as StudentSurvey.ie). This chapter focuses on two key cohorts, namely the first-year undergraduate respondents in StudentSurvey.ie 2021, and a baseline comparison group of first-year undergraduate respondents over the previous three years (2018–2020). The analysis unpacks differences with respect to Collaborative Learning, Student-Faculty Interaction, Quality of Interactions and Supportive Environment. The chapter concludes with considerations for policy and practice.
