Course grades and self-efficacy before and during the pandemic: A comparison of women and men in introductory physics courses who typically worked alone or in groups

Meaningful collaboration with peers inside and outside the classroom can be an invaluable tool for helping students learn physics. We examined the characteristics of women and men who typically worked alone versus those who worked with peers in their algebra-based introductory physics course. We compared periods before the COVID-19 pandemic, when classes were conducted traditionally, and during the pandemic, when classes were conducted via Zoom. We find that on average, those who typically worked with peers had higher grades and reported greater peer influence on their physics self-efficacy during the COVID pandemic than before it. We discuss these findings in relation to students' prior academic preparation, physics grade and self-efficacy as well as student perception of the effectiveness of working with peers on their physics self-efficacy.