Aspects of the impact of COVID-19 on academic performance in Colombia, based on Scalar Expectancy Theory and measurement by social strata

Abstract

Many assessments of the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic argue that there has been a deterioration in teaching practices, explained by the habits of virtual learning and the greater difficulties in accessing technology, which are now accepted as common tools in the teaching environment. However, as measured by the performance of the Saber 11º test (administered to 11th-grade students in Colombia), educational performance showed a slight "spring response," so the idea that educational performance had "lag" does not seem to hold water. However, this statistical test also did not reflect a considerable increase in overall performance from 2018 to 2024, contradicting the effect of planned educational policies. To better explain this diagnosis, this article reflects on the neuroscientific nature of habit as a measure of the relationship between learning and learning time, as revealed by Scalar Expectancy Theory (SET), as well as the effect of inequity in technological coverage hidden in national statistics. The conceptual relevance of this perspective leads to the introduction of educational habits from the early years of education and to increasing coverage in areas not included in the study to improve educational performance.