Student Attitudes Towards Online Education during the COVID-19 Viral Outbreak of 2020: Distance Learning in a Time of Social Distance

Abstract

In this paper, undergraduate student attitudes towards rapidly shifting to an entirely online learning environment were assessed due to COVID-19. In addition, surveys on perceptions about misinformation in media, overall anxiety towards distance learning, knowledge of disease outbreak, and level of preparedness during the onset of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) 2020 outbreak were analyzed. Students surveyed (N = 82) consisted of Wingate undergraduate students from across majors and academic years as part of an animal behavior course covering psychology and human behavior during the COVID-19 2020 crisis during the first two weeks when students returned to school entirely online from off-campus. The majority of students responded that online learning would not be the same as in-class learning (91.5%), indicating a significant difference in responses. Many students indicated they had witnessed some misinformation on COVID-19 in media (98.8%), and there was a significant difference for student perception on being well informed from standard news media (e.g., TV, newspapers) versus social media (t-test = 3.78, p <0.001). Many students (75.6%) responded they held some level of anxiety towards rapidly shifting to finishing a semester online, with 84.2% having discussed disease transmission actively and yet only 64.6% felt well prepared for emergency situations. The majority of students felt preventative measures (university requiring students to move off campus and remainder of semester moving to online distance learning) were based on good science and medical knowledge. Of the students that freely commented in the survey, overall students displayed a wide range of responses, with most expressing anxiety toward online learning, disappointment regarding graduation ceremony, and online learning being different than standard in-class learning. A follow up survey consisting of one question, revealed improvement in students that stated they felt less anxiety towards online learning after 3 weeks (51.4% Yes: 48.6% No), but still many students exhibiting anxiety towards distance education.

Perceived Benefits of Online Lectures During the Pandemic: A Case Study in Engineering Education

“…The preliminary results show that 66.80% prefer the online format, 22.40% the traditional format, and 10.80% a hybrid format. These results are consistent with the results of this study but are sharply contrasting with the results of other studies that suggest a rejection of the exclusive online learning format (Coman et al, 2020, Unger & Meiran, 2020.…”

Covi̇d-19 Pandemi̇ Süreci̇nde Üni̇versi̇te Öğrenci̇leri̇ni̇n Ve Akademi̇syenleri̇n Uzaktan Eği̇ti̇me Yöneli̇k Görüşleri̇ni̇n Beli̇rlenmesi̇

“…Adnan ve Anvar [13] Pakistan'lı yüksek öğrenim öğrencilerinin Covid-19 sebebiyle zorunlu dijital ve uzaktan öğretime geçişlerine yönelik tutumlarını inceledikleri çalışmalarında, çevrimiçi öğrenmenin, öğrencilerin büyük çoğunluğunun teknik ve maddi sorunlar nedeniyle internete erişemediği Pakistan gibi gelişmemiş ülkelerde uzaktan öğretimin istenen sonuçları veremeyeceğini, eğitmenle yüz yüze etkileşim eksikliği, yanıt süresi ve geleneksel sınıf sosyalleşmesinin olmaması konularının uzaktan öğretimde yaşanan başlıca sorunlar olduğu vurgulamışlardır . Unger ve Meiran [14] lisans öğrencilerinin COVID-19 nedeniyle tamamen çevrimiçi öğrenmeye geçişlerine yönelik tutumlarını, medyadaki yanlış bilgilendirme algıları, uzaktan öğrenmeye karşı genel kaygı, hastalık salgını bilgisi ve Koronavirüs (COVID-19) 2020 salgınının başlangıcı sırasındaki hazırlık düzeyi ile ilgili yapmış oldukları çalışmalarında; öğrencilerin çevrimiçi öğrenmenin sınıf içi öğrenmeyle aynı olmayacağını belirttiklerini, öğrencilerin medyada COVID-19 hakkında geleneksel medya tarafından gerçek olmayan bilgilerin verildiğini belirttikleri vurgulanmıştır. Bununla birlikte öğrencilerin bir yarıyılı çevrimiçi olarak bitirmeye yönelik bir miktar kaygı duyduklarını, öğrencilerin büyük bir kısmının hastalığın bulaşmasını aktif olarak tartıştığını ve ancak daha az bir kısmının acil durumlara hazırlıklı hissettiğini belirtmişlerdir.…”

Anxiety and Social Support as Predictors of Student Academic Motivation During the COVID-19

“…Students were forced to move to online learning, with no prediction of returning to face-to-face classes. This emergency situation and the sudden need to change habits and routines ( Duan and Zhu, 2020 ) impacted students’ perceptions of safety and preparedness to adapt to new learning methods, thereby leading to increased levels of anxiety and stress ( Unger and Meiran, 2020 ).…”