The impact of extreme weather on student online learning participation

Abstract

In March 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic forced over 1 billion learners to shift from face-to-face instruction to online learning. Seven months after it began, this transition became even more challenging for Filipino online learners. Eight typhoons struck the Philippines from October to November 2020. Two of these typhoons caused widespread flooding, utilities interruptions, property destruction, and loss of life. We examine how these severe weather conditions affected online learning participation of Filipino students pursuing their undergraduate and graduate studies. We used CausalImpact analysis to explore September 2020 to January 2021 data collected from the Moodle Learning Management System data of one university in the Philippines. We found that overall student online participation was significantly negatively affected by typhoons. However, the effect on participation in Assignments and Quizzes was not significant. These findings suggested that students continued to participate in activities that have a direct bearing on their final grades, rather than activities that had no impact on their course outcomes.

Impact of natural disasters on student enrollment in higher education programs: A systematic review

“…Students and their families may experience severe financial hardship due to natural disasters, resulting in property damage, lost income, and increased costs for recovery and reconstruction. Lagmay and Rodrigo [ 63 ] reported that extreme weather occurrences cause physical and financial harm, which negatively affects academic success. Young children from economically challenged households have less parental involvement and financial support for their schooling, which leads to a performance difference that widens with time.…”

College Students and Environmental Disasters: A Review of the Literature

“…Research also focused on educational impacts and university support provisions. Overall, research on academic outcomes for students following a disaster was less pronounced (Breen and Meyer 2021;Di Pietro 2018;Doyle et al 2017;Lagmay and Rodrigo 2022). It is imperative to study the effect that disasters have on students' academic performance because without understanding the entire scope it will be difficult to apply the proper interventions and educational strategies to protect students' academic progress when it is disrupted by disasters.…”

“…Several studies in our analysis focused on how various disasters disrupt or shape academic outcomes, shedding light on the intricate interplay between these external forces and students' pursuit of knowledge (Breen and Meyer 2021;Carales and Lopez 2022;Collings et al 2018;Di Pietro 2018;Lagmay and Rodrigo 2022;Sholes et al 2023). Several aspects of a student's academic experience in higher education have been found to be impacted by disasters.…”

“…Several aspects of a student's academic experience in higher education have been found to be impacted by disasters. These impacts occur because disasters disrupt the overall learning environment, causing attendance issues, lower participation in class, and grade changes (Di Pietro 2018; Doyle et al 2017;Lagmay and Rodrigo 2022). It should also be noted that students' education may still be impacted by disasters even if the disaster does not impact the campus directly.…”

Research on the Engagement of Chinese College Students in Online Teaching

“…Online learning is that students learn in virtual space through electronic devices and networks. E-learning is also called digital learning, and its basic elements are digital learning environment, digital learning resources and digital learning methods [2]. The difference between online learning participation and learning participation is the learning environment of students.According to Hrastinski, online learning participation refers to the complex process of students' learning by participating in and maintaining relationships with others, which is manifested in students' behavior, communication, thinking, feeling and belonging in the process of online and offline learning.Although students' learning environment has changed, the nature of students' participation in learning has not changed.…”