Post-COVID-19 Barriers and Attitudes Associated with Online College Course Selection
During COVID-19 “lockdown” most high school and college students experienced a sudden ending of face-to-face classes and were forced into multiple, rapidly prepared online courses. These experiences produced students more knowledgeable about online education than ever before. With this came a degree...
Saved in:
| Main Authors: | , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
MDPI AG
2025-02-01
|
| Series: | COVID |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2673-8112/5/3/31 |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| Summary: | During COVID-19 “lockdown” most high school and college students experienced a sudden ending of face-to-face classes and were forced into multiple, rapidly prepared online courses. These experiences produced students more knowledgeable about online education than ever before. With this came a degree of certainty regarding their future educational delivery preferences. This survey (2021–2024) examined the attitudes and barriers associated with online course selection at a university within the State University of New York (SUNY) system. Using an introductory nutrition course, 658 surveys were exclusively collected from the face-to-face sections of a Natural Science course. Only 30.2% of these students reported a preference for online courses. Respondents reported similar percentages on Course Difficulty (48.5% online vs. 51.5% face-to-face) and which course required more Work/Time (43.2% online vs. 56.8% face-to-face). Previous negative online experiences were affirmed by 27.4% of the students. Importantly, only 14.5% self-reported a better academic performance in online courses. Major online avoidance variables were boredom (53.1%), inferior learning (52.9%), and communication limitations (43.0%). Surprisingly, 67.7% stated they would consider taking future online courses. Understanding post-COVID-19 student attitudes and barriers provides useful information and should be part of any comprehensive approach to future online education design and implementation. |
|---|---|
| ISSN: | 2673-8112 |