Online Learning: Student Psychological Challenges During A Pandemic Covid-19

Abstract

Full online learning sessions has been actively applied in teaching and learning as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. Various SOPs have been outlined; including social distancing in which face-to-face encounters are avoided. As such, face-to-face learning in the classroom now has shifted towards full online teaching and learning. While full online learning is the best alternative at the moment, there are various constraints and challenges that need to be faced. This study aims to examine the psychological aspects of students in pursuing online learning. The respondents of the study involved semester 1, 3, 5, and 7 students who enrolled in the Bachelor's Degree in Arabic language Studies at Sultan Zainal Abidin University (UniSZA). The students had been following full online learning for a total of 1 semester or about 14 weeks. They were instructed to answer a distributed questionnaire. In addition, the students also left comments related to the challenges faced during the online learning session. The findings of the study showed that the overall psychological aspects of students were at a moderate level when following the fully online learning sessions, while other challenges faced by students include internet access problems, unconducive environment, workload from lecturers, and lack of cooperation from teammates. As such, these findings can be used as a guide by stakeholders in order to fully improve the online learning system.