Title: Academic changes experienced by students during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Authors: Suman Katkuri, Neelaydakshi Anandvel, and Shivani Gajbhiye.
Introduction: The impacts of COVID-19 are being experienced in both developed and developing countries. Vulnerable groups, including university students were especially affected. Social distancing, spending most time at home, and e-learning via video conferences were perceived as considerable stressors for students. Students’ academic performance was negatively affected by the pandemic.
Objective: To understand the phenomenon of the academic changes experienced by students during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Literature Review:
1. Pandemic and Academic Stress
As the COVID-19 pandemic moves from nation to nation, universities all over the world should instigate a number of measures to help reduce the negative psychological impact of the situation on their students, such as having proper online academic advisers, as well as psychological counselling for their mental health. Faculty members must be advised on how to incorporate new assessment methods to use with their students and embrace technology while paying attention to their students’ experiences and effective learning (Ruba, 2020).
2. Difficulties during COVID-19
Students who experience a greater lack of academic social isolation are also generally less adjusted to transition to online studying, and poorer adjustment negatively affects their learning and self-regulation in an online environment. Adaptation difficulties and pandemic-related worries could reflect on learning and concentration during online education. Certain teaching related factors should also be included as determinants of the online education’s quality and academic interactions in further similar studies, as well as personal protective factors that could contribute to a better adjustment to online studying and reduce difficulties related to students’ learning and academic functioning during these still unpredictable times of the pandemic. (Tea, 2022).
Data Collection:
The following five questions were prepared on Likert scale, and responses were collected using google form.
1) I faced difficulty in learning online.
2) My motivation to study declined.
3) I experienced a communication gap with my classmates and teachers.
4) My college handled the impact very well.
5) My exposure to extracurricular activities was reduced.
Data Analysis:
The data so collected was then downloaded in excel. Mean, standard deviation, standard error, and z were calculated.
Questions Mean SD SE Z Result
1 I faced difficulty in learning online. 3.63 1.09 0.11 5.79 H1
2 My motivation to study declined. 3.66 1.07 0.11 6.19 H1
3 I experienced a communication gap with my classmates and teachers. 4.08 0.91 0.09 11.91 H1
4 My college handled the impact very well. 3.11 0.96 0.10 1.14 H0
5 My exposure to extracurricular activities was reduced. 4.12 1.03 0.10 10.9 H1
Conclusion:
1) Students face difficulty in learning online.
2) Students’ motivation to study decline.
3) Students experience a communication gap with classmates and teachers.
4) Students are neutral about whether their college handled the impact well or not.
5) Students’ exposure to extracurricular activities reduce
References:
1) Ruba Abdelmatloub Moawad, 2020. “Online Learning during the COVID- 19 Pandemic and Academic Stress in University Students,” Revista romaneasca pentru educatie multidimensionala – Journal for Multidimensional Education, Editura Lumen, Department of Economics, vol. 12(1Sup2), pages 100-107, June.
2) Tea Pavin Ivanec, 2022. “The Lack of Academic Social Interactions and Students’ Learning Difficulties during COVID-19 Faculty Lockdowns in Croatia: The Mediating Role of the Perceived Sense of Life Disruption Caused by the Pa,” Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 11(2), pages 1-11, January.