Online Learning and Student Satisfaction During COVID-19

Abstract

The COVID-19 outbreak in the spring of 2020 interrupted the life of every person on this globe. For students taking in-person courses, it meant that traditional learning came to a halt and was replaced with involuntary distance learning instead. This sudden shift may have impacted students’ affective experience in education. In this unprecedented learning environment, it became imperative for educators to test different methods of instruction to restore positive student satisfaction and help maintain academic progress. This project used a two-phased research study that aimed to identify students’ perceptions of the new online learning environment and suggestions for course designs that improve student satisfaction. In Phase I, a survey was used to receive feedback from university students regarding their online learning experience during the pandemic. The survey results reflected that student participation was correlated with course satisfaction, but there was no clear relationship between course design and student satisfaction. The data informed the experimental study in Phase II, which varied course design and opportunities for student engagement to examine what factors may enhance student satisfaction. The findings of the experiment were inconclusive. However, future studies on the topic are expected to investigate ways to provide a richer online learning environment for students during COVID-19 and the general distance learning experience. Keywords: academic satisfaction, online learning, COVID-19