Emergency Online Learning: College Students’ Perceptions During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Students who took classes during Spring 2020 went through an unprecedented upheaval due to the impact of COVID-19 on their higher education experience. This research measured the impact and changes students experienced as they transitioned from the typical learning delivery of a traditional on-campus semester to an online learning delivery in response to COVID-19. Students completed an online survey which measured exhaustion, cynicism, and professional efficacy. Students also answered questions connected to COVID-19 changes and the transition from traditional to remote learning. The top barriers students encountered during the online portion of the semester were connected to Wi-Fi quality, finding a quiet space, and finances. Beyond academics, students decreased their social connections with peers, professors, and the college community and their healthy habits connected to exercise and eating during the remote portion of the term. The results indicated that students were more exhausted and generally felt more cynicism relative to other studies/databases. Our results showed that moving to remote learning had implications that went beyond academics and affected social connections, motivation, and healthy behaviors. We recommend that universities consider implementing strategies to address these problems, promote healthy habits, and decrease exhaustion and cynicism. Keywords: remote learning; face-to-face instruction; student burnout; exhaustion; cynicism; Maslach Burnout Inventory-Student Survey; COVID-19.