Equity Focused Digital Pedagogy and Learning

This page provides materials that support students and faculty's mental health and wellness needs. These materials include various resources for those seeking strategies, tools, and experts that promote assistance and relief to their mental well-being journey. Additional materials combine topics concerned with critical digital pedagogies that speak to evaluating mental health in the COVID-19 pandemic landscape which saw an increase in remote learning and teaching. 

Fayed, & Cummings, J. (2022). Teaching in the Post COVID-19 Era : World Education Dilemmas, Teaching Innovations and Solutions in the Age of Crisis. Springer International Publishing AG.

This handbook showcases extraordinary educational responses in exceptional times. The scholarly text discusses valuable innovations for teaching and learning in times of COVID-19 and beyond. It examines effective teaching models and methods, technology innovations and enhancements, strategies for engagement of learners, unique approaches to teacher education and leadership, and important mental health and counseling models and supports.

Gopalan, M., Linden-Carmichael, A., & Lanza, S. (2022). College Students’ Sense of Belonging and Mental Health Amidst the COVID-19 Pandemic. Journal of Adolescent Health, 70(2), 228–233.

Social isolation, anxiety, and depression have significantly increased during the COVID-19 pandemic among college students. This article examines a key protective factor—students’ sense of belonging with their college—to understand (1) how belongingness varies overall and for key sociodemographic groups (first-generation, underrepresented racial/ethnic minority students, first-year students) amidst COVID-19 and (2) if feelings of belonging buffer students from adverse mental health in college.

Carello, & Thompson, P. (2021). Lessons from the Pandemic: Trauma-Informed Approaches to College, Crisis, Change. Springer International Publishing AG.

This collection presents strategies for trauma-informed teaching and learning in higher education during crisis. This book joins a conversation in place about what COVID-19 has taught us and how we are using what we have learned to construct a new discourse around teaching and learning during crisis.

Hamza, C. A., Ewing, L., Heath, N. L., & Goldstein, A. L. (2021). When Social Isolation is Nothing New: A Longitudinal Study on Psychological Distress During COVID-19 Among University Students with and without Preexisting Mental Health Concerns. Canadian Psychology/Psychologie Canadienne, 62(1), 20–30. 

This article examines findings that underscore the importance for colleges and universities to not only continue to support students with preexisting mental health needs but also prioritize early prevention and intervention programming to mitigate the impacts of COVID-19 on students with increasing psychological distress, potentially stemming from increasing social isolation in response to the pandemic.

Dobson, S. (2021). Understanding 'Zoom fatigue' and How to Embrace the Potential. Canadian HR Reporter, 34(5), 8-10. 

In examining the psychological consequences of spending hours per day on social media platforms, this article outlines four possible explanations for Zoom fatigue: excessive amounts of close-up eye gaze; cognitive load; increased self-evaluation from staring at video of oneself; and constraints on physical mobility.

Teresa, Guss, C. D., & Boyd, L. (2021). Thriving during COVID-19: Predictors of Psychological Well-Being and Ways of Coping. PloS One, 16(3), e0248591–e0248591.

This article examines study findings which highlight that ability to sustainably cope with the global shifts in daily life depends on actively and intentionally attending to psychological well being by being one’s own agent for physical health, spiritual health, and social connection.

Grubic, Badovinac, S., & Johri, A. M. (2020). Student Mental Health in the Midst of the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Call for Further Research and Immediate Solutions. International Journal of Social Psychiatry, 66(5), 517–518. 

This article examines preliminary findings that highlight the multiple factors contributing to students’ distress during this pandemic; however, there remains much to be learned about the psychological impacts facing students and what can be done to reduce their negative effects.

Baloran. (2020). Knowledge, Attitudes, Anxiety, and Coping Strategies of Students during COVID-19 Pandemic. Journal of Loss & Trauma, 25(8), 635–642.

This articles details a cross-sectional study aimed to examine students’ knowledge, attitudes, anxiety, and coping strategies during the COVID-19 pandemic. Results showed that students possessed sufficient knowledge and high-risk perceptions. Students utilized various ways to cope up with mental health challenges.

Tasso, Hisli Sahin, N., & San Roman, G. J. (2021). COVID-19 Disruption on College Students: Academic and Socioemotional Implications. Psychological Trauma, 13(1), 9–15. 

This articles details analyses that reveal a positive relationship between academic frustrations and mental health symptoms, the latter also negatively related to trust in the government regarding the preventive measures being implemented. Worries about becoming infected were positively related to mental health symptoms and negatively related to trust in the government. 

Sahi, Schwyck, M. E., Parkinson, C., & Eisenberger, N. I. (2021). Having More Virtual Interaction Partners During COVID-19 Physical Distancing Measures May Benefit Mental Health. Scientific Reports, 11(1), 18273–18273.

Convergent with previous literature on social interactions, this article examines findings that suggest that virtual interactions may benefit overall mental health, particularly during physical distancing and other circumstances where opportunities to interact in-person with different people are limited.

Shamblaw, A. L., Rumas, R. L., & Best, M. W. (2021). Coping During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Relations with Mental Health and Quality of Life. Canadian Psychology/Psychologie Canadienne, 62(1), 92-100. 

This article details the analyses of a study that examines the effectiveness of different coping strategies during the COVID-19 pandemic to help anxiety, depression, and quality of life.

Fruehwirth, Biswas, S., & Perreira, K. M. (2021). The Covid-19 Pandemic and Mental Health of First-Year College Students: Examining the Effect of Covid-19 Stressors Using Longitudinal Data. PloS One, 16(3), e0247999–e0247999. 

The Covid-19 pandemic has brought unprecedented stress to students and educational institutions across the world. This article aims to estimate the effect of the pandemic on the mental health of college students.