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Student Interest in Healthcare Field on the Rise During COVID-19

  • By Dian Schaffhauser
  • 08/14/20
Subjects that performed better than average during COVID-19

Subjects that performed better than average during COVID-19. Source: "State of Remote Learning Report" from Quizlet

Healthcare has become a big topic of interest to college students. In a study by Quizlet, analysts found that while participation in healthcare (as measured by activity in the company's study tools) initially dropped to 86 percent of usual levels of interest as school closures took place, it rose to 113 percent as remote learning got underway.

That finding and others surfaced in an analysis of data generated on Quizlet's quiz platform and pulled in July. The company claims some 50 million monthly active users in 130 countries.

After an initial decline of interest in all subjects, higher ed students became more engaged in math and science-related subjects, the report noted. While math came in at 87 percent of its pre-COVID levels, arts and humanities stood at just 55 percent.

The subjects that did better than average during COVID-19 levels were, in ranked order:

  • Probability and statistics, which rose 34 percent above average and actually topped pre-COVID-19 levels by a percentage point;
  • Applied math, which has grown by 28 percent;
  • Economics (25 percent);
  • Calculus (22 percent);
  • Medicine (19 percent);
  • Physics (10 percent);
  • Computer science (10 percent); and
  • Law (8 percent).

"As we all enter a unique back-to-school landscape this fall — whether remote or not — we hope these findings will provide awareness and guidance for students to feel engaged in their learning and for teachers to help counter potential learning gaps in their classrooms," wrote Lead Product Analyst Amanda Baker, in an article about the study.

The full report is openly available through the Quizlet website.

About the Author

Dian Schaffhauser is a former senior contributing editor for 1105 Media's education publications THE Journal, Campus Technology and Spaces4Learning.

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