Learning Performance Indicators a Statistical Analysis on the Subject of Natural Sciences During the COVID-19 Pandemic at the Tulcán District

Learning systems during the COVID-19 period has been modified in terms of methodology strategies as well as teachers’ remote teaching emergency approach at primary education and higher education institutions. As a consequence, educators had to limitedly teach the basics from prioritized academic curriculums during the health emergency. Natural Sciences was not an exception, and the majority of educators in this field of study have notably identified low-academic performance during the COVID-19 pandemic. In Ecuador, learning expected results was obtained through the evaluation of performance indicators, so in this research project a statistical analysis was performed using scores for these indicators obtained from Middle School samples of students of the Carchi province, with the aim of identifying significantly affected population strata by the application of remote learning and characteristics leading to low-academic performance. Data gathered was statistically evaluated and the test was calibrated using the Item Response Theory; significative difference among variables and performance indicators were analyzed via students’ scores using ANOVA, Pairwise T-Tests, and T-tests. Difference tests were carried out using the weighted score of each student for each indicator as continuous variables and the categorical variables were the internet availability, students’ residence location and quintile they belong to. Results proved that there exist significant differences in the student scores depending on the internet availability and the zone where they live, where the academic performance was significantly higher on those students that had stable internet connection in their homes and resided in urban zones during the pandemic.