A pragmatic evaluation of university student experience of remote digital learning during the COVID-19 pandemic, focusing on lessons learned for future practice

Abstract

The Covid-19 pandemic and subsequent national lockdowns resulted in drastic changes to the way that higher education was delivered. A mixed-methods research study was conducted to explore university students’ perceptions of online learning during the 2020/21 academic year. Students from across all Welsh higher education institutions were invited to participate. First, a series of focus groups (n = 13) were conducted to explore students’ experiences of online learning during the pandemic. Two were conducted in Welsh, the remaining eleven in English. Thematic analysis led researchers to develop eight key themes: Seeking the positives, Facilitators to learning, Barriers to learning, Lost sense of community, Let down by University, Workload, Assessment, and Health and well-being. These themes informed the design of a quantitative survey which was completed by 759 students. It was found that students were largely satisfied with the quality of online learning, however there were specific challenges associated with a lack of community, wellbeing concerns, and challenges with loneliness and isolation. Data from the focus groups and survey informed recommendations for practice in three key categories; teaching practice, institutional level recommendations, and student health and wellbeing considerations.

University Students’ Experiences and Reflection on Their Transition to HyFlex Learning During Post-COVID Times

“…HL requires thoughtful integration of experiences (Rasheed et al, 2020) in which teachers and students must manage multiple platforms, LMSs, and communication channels. Juggling between in-person and online assignments could increase workload and stress levels (Brown et al, 2023). A study by Mettis and Väljataga (2021) revealed that teachers had reservations about the potential of HL in providing "consistent learning experiences that emphasise higher order thinking levels, encompass contextual information and integrate knowledge from multiple disciplinary sources" (p. 498).…”

Comparing Hybrid and Flipped Modalities in Remote and Face-to-Face Learning in a Japanese University L2 Academic Writing Course

“…Stine (2010) argued that demands of learning technology and academic rules and practices can result in mental stress and overload for students, which were even more serious during the Covid period (Sharin, 2021). In general, while some of these issues were ameliorated before the pandemic, the loss of community remained a problem in designing courses for online platforms (Brown et al 2023). Many of these issues were true for Japan where educational institutions at all levels were slow to adapt to online learning until Covid hit in 2018 (Wang & Cheng, 2021).…”

The validity of unproctored online exams is undermined by cheating

“…Chan and Ahn propose that improved performance on online unproctored exams is caused by factors other than cheating, specifically, reduced anxiety caused by sitting the exams at home, online, and unproctored. There is evidence that this was associated with reduced stress for some students, even during a global pandemic, but this is balanced by the stress of finding somewhere quiet to take the exam, with a reliable internet connection ( 5 ). Regardless, for this to lead to an increase of g = 0.7 on MCQs would be remarkable.…”