Teaching Freshmen Chemistry in India During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Student Perspectives and Challenges

A significant consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic in higher education has been the almost universal switch to a completely online modality of teaching. This work evaluates the efforts taken in teaching a freshmen general chemistry course at IISER Tirupati to students in India during the pandemic. Instructors used a multipronged approach to achieve course outcomes: PowerPoint lectures interspersed with chats and polls for basic content in topics such as behavior of gases, solutions, or introduction to periodic properties and chemical bonding while using a chalkboard or a digital device for problem solving modules and stereochemistry topics. Analysis of student surveys provided valuable insight into the perceived effectiveness of our teaching strategies, learning resources, and assessments. However, they also indicated challenges and concerns from the perspectives of both the students and the instructors. Overall, students expressed positive feedback on effective learning in the online mode; but given a choice, both students and instructors prefer in-class face-to-face learning. This report on our collective experience will hopefully guide faculty in designing their strategies for online courses in chemistry in the future to enhance student learning and engagement. <comment>Superscript/Subscript Available</comment