Online learning during the Covid-19 pandemic: How university students’ perceptions, engagement, and performance are related to their personal characteristics

Abstract

University students faced unexpected challenges in online learning during the Covid-19 pandemic. Findings from early phases of the Covid-19 pandemic and before show that online learning experiences may vary from student to student and depend on several personal characteristics. However, the relative importance of different students’ personal characteristics for their online learning experiences at later phases of the Covid-19 pandemic is still unclear. This cross-sectional, correlational study investigates how personal characteristics of university students are related to five dimensions of online learning perception and to their engagement and performance in online courses. In an online survey, 413 students from German universities provided full information on their online learning experiences and personal characteristics in terms of demographic information, Big Five personality traits, self-regulation skills, three facets of self-efficacy, and two types of state anxiety. Results of multiple regression analyses show that students’ age was significantly positively related to all online learning perceptions and engagement in online courses. Our findings also confirm that self-regulation skills and academic and digital media self-efficacy are important factors in various online learning experiences. In contrast, students’ personality traits and state anxiety were less important for most online learning experiences. Noteworthy, several bivariate associations between personal characteristics and online learning experiences are not reflected in the multiple regression model. This underscores the need to consider relevant variables simultaneously to evaluate their relative importance and to identify key personal characteristics. Overall, our results show valuable starting points for theory development and educational interventions.

Social support: mediating the emotional intelligence-academic stress link

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Perceptions of dental students towards abrupt curriculum changes: a qualitative study

“…They also reported that they were able to speed up their studying and developed more self-discipline and a sense of responsibility towards their learning. Studies have shown that adaptation to online learning during the pandemic period was subjected to contextual and personal variations and that some factors such as age, self-e cacy, and selfregulation skills play important roles in university students' level of adaptation [5,30,31].…”

The influence of online education on pre-service teachers’ academic experiences at a higher education institution in the United Arab Emirates

“…Moreover, personal traits and individual variances can impact the effectiveness of online education. Kaspar et al (2023) found that personality factors, educational attainment, and gender all significantly affected the online learning outcomes of university students during the pandemic, while anxiety was found to moderate pre-service teachers' inclination to use digital technologies. Thus, individual circumstances may influence the success of online education.…”

“…The literature review above indicates that positive online academic experiences for pre-service teachers require adaptation to new online platforms and technologies (Zheng et al, 2021). Personal traits and individual variances impact the effectiveness and quality of pre-service teachers' online education (Kaspar et al, 2023), which also require faculty to have a comprehensive understanding of pedagogical principles and the ability to create interactive and engaging learning experiences (Byrka et al, 2022). Understanding faculty's readiness and providing them with the required training and resources, along with effective assessment and feedback, are crucial for the transition to high-quality online teacher education programs (Cutri et al, 2020;Joshi et al, 2020).…”