Assessment of a COVID-induced shift in the evolution of a beef cattle production course

This study investigated student (n = 272) exam grades and group project peer evaluations in a senior-level beef cattle management course during semesters of COVID-imposed transitional instructional delivery methods across the Fall 2019 to Spring 2021 semesters. Each semester identical format exams were administered, and students were assigned to groups of 4 or 5 balanced for previous cattle experience to work on a semester-long on a scenario-based ranch management project. Prior to COVID, exams were administered as closed-note with 1-h time limit, but were made open-note with 12 to 14 h time limit beginning in March 2020. Similar exam grades existed (P > 0.05) across these five semesters with the exception that Exam 3 deviated 3.7% (P = 0.020) from lowest to highest mean score; similar relative variation in exam scores based on CV and SD were seen across these semesters. For the group project, students scored all group members on a 0 (inferior) to 10 (superior) scale at the end of each semester that weighted the project grade by 20%. Remote vs. face-to-face (F2F) status did not influence (P > 0.05) group peer evaluation scores regarding “Overall level of participation” or “Willingness to work for success of your group” when group number or individual student was included in models. Fall 2020 and Spring 2021 semesters had both remote and F2F students and were investigated for online page view and engagement. Across these two semesters, students (n = 125) were 72% females, 36.8% rated themselves as having no or little previous cattle experience, and 34.4% rated themselves as experienced or very experienced with cattle. No metric for online activity was correlated with exam grades, except the number of page views and Exam 3 scores (r = 0.28, P = 0.002). Neither gender (P > 0.05) nor previous cattle experience (P > 0.05) affected online activity metrics, peer evaluation points received on group projects, or exam grades. However, strong correlations (r = 0.33 to 0.45, P < 0.001) were seen between student peer points received and all four exam grades. Additionally, project group accounted for 28% to 37% of the differences in exam grades. Overall, no differences in exam grades (P < 0.05 except Exam 3) or group peer evaluations (P < 0.05) were detected when the course had different delivery styles. These results indicate that attributes of individual students are a major driver of successful course outcomes in this class, no matter what course delivery method is utilized.