Identifying Strategies Used by Students to Manage their Emotions during Online Learning
Abstract
The coronavirus disease outbreak has disrupted the global economy on an unprecedented scale and speed and forced universities worldwide to abruptly adopt online teaching and learning. Although the concept of online learning is not new and that some universities possess the infrastructure to embrace online learning, many universities across the globe especially those in rural areas were largely unprepared to adapt to the new situation. Due to lack of preparation and many still being accustomed to traditional learning practices, the transition to online learning has taken an emotional toll not only on academics but also on their students. The present study aimed to understand the strategies students use to manage their emotions when engaged in online learning. Utilising a qualitative research method, we recruited 20 undergraduate students studying at a public university in Malaysia using the purposive sampling technique. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews conducted online. Thematic analysis revealed that some students experience fear, anger, and sorrow during online learning. These ‘difficult’ emotions can force the students to develop feelings of alienation and isolation and thus feel emotionally disconnected from their coursemates and lecturers. This is particularly due to the absence of in-person interactions compared to conventional face-to-face lectures. Furthermore, we found that the lack of verbal and non-verbal cues can cause students to lose motivation in learning. The findings of this study are expected to help academics and universities understand ways students cope with online learning and the need for their peers to help improve the students’ emotions.
Downloads
References
Alencar, M. & Netto, J. F. (2020). Measuring student emotions in an online learning environment. 12th International Conference on Agents and Artificial Intelligence.
Anderson, T. (2011). The Theory and Practice of Online Learning. Edmonton, AB: Au Press, Athabasca University.
Artino, A. R. J., Holmboe, E. S., Durning, S. J. (2012). Control-value theory: Using achievement emotions to improve understanding of motivation, learning, and performance in medical education. Medical Teacher, 34(3), 148-160.
Atsani, K. L. G. M. Z. (2020). Transformasi media pembelajaran pada masa pandemi covid-19. Al-Hikmah: Jurnal Studi Islam, 1(1), 82-93.
Azmi, R. A. & Rukun, K. (2020). Analisis kebutuhan pengembangan media pembelajaran berbasis web mata pelajaran administrasi infrastruktur jaringan. Jurnal Ilmiah Pendidikan dan Pembelajaran, 4(2), 303-314.
Braun, V. & Clarke, V. (2006). Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 3(2), 77-101.
Chou, M. J., Tsai, S. S., Hsu, H. M., Ho-Tang, W. (2016). Research on correlation between the life attitude and well-being with spiritual health as the mediator. European Journal of Research in Social Sciences, 4, 76-88.
Chirikov, I., Semenova, T., Maloshonok, N., Bettinger, E. & Kizilcec, R. F. (2020). Online education platforms scale college STEM instruction with equivalent learning outcomes at lower cost. Science Advances, 6(15), 1-10.
Cooper, B. (2016). Empathy, emotion, technology, and learning. In S. Y. Tettegah & M. P. McCreery (Eds). Emotions, Technology, and Learning (p. 265-288). Oxford: Elsevier.
Coppola, I., Rania, N., Parisi, R. & Lagomarsino, F. (2021). Spiritual well-being and mental health during COVID-19 pandemic in Italy. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 12(626944), 1-15.
Damasio, A. (2001). Emotion and the human brain. In A. R. Damasio, A. Harrington, J. Kagan, B. S. McEwen, H. Moss, & R. Shaikh (Eds.), Unity of knowledge: The convergence of natural and human science (pp. 101-106). New York City: New York Academy of Sciences.
Das, S., Punnoose, V. P., Doval, N., Nair, V. Y. (2018). Spirituality, religiousness and coping in patients with schizophrenia: A cross sectional study in a tertiary care hospital. Psychiatry Research, 265, 238-243.
Dirkx, J. (2001). The power of feelings: Emotion, imagination and the construction meaning in adult learning. New Direction for Directions for Adult and Continuing Education, 89, 63-72.
Dumford, A. D., Miller, A. L. (2018). Online learning in higher education: Exploring advantages and disadvantages for engagement. Journal of Computing in Higher Education, 30, 452-465.
Fawaz, M. & Samaha, A. (2020). E-learning: Depression, anxiety, and stress symptomatology among Lebanese university students during COVID-19 quarantine, 56(1), 52-57.
Fernández-Batanero, J., Román-Graván, P., Reyes-Rebollo, M. & Montenegro-Rueda, M. (2021). Impact of educational technology on teacher stress and anxiety: A literature review. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18, 548, 1-13.
Gallagher-Lepak, S., Reilly, J. & Killion, C. M. (2009). Nursing student perceptions of community in online learning Contemporary Nurse, 32(1-2), 133-146.
Giatman, M., Siswati, S., Basri, I. Y. (2020). Online learning quality control in the pandemic Covid-19 era in Indonesia. Journal of Nonformal Education, 6(2), 168-175.
Hara, N., & Kling, R. (2003). Students’ distress with a web-based distance education course. Information, Communication and Society, 3(4), 557-579.
Kamal, A. A., Shaipullah, N. M., Truna, L., Sabri, M. & Junaini, S. N. (2020). Transitioning to Online Learning during COVID-19 Pandemic: Case Study of a Pre-University Centre in Malaysia. International Journal of Advanced Computer Science and Applications, 11(6), 217-223.
König, J., Jäger-Biela, D. J., Glutsch, N. (2020). Adapting to online teaching during COVID-19 school closure: Teacher education and teacher competence effects among early career teachers in Germany, 43(4), 608-622.
Lee, A. & Tettegah, S. (2016). Identifying and tracking emotional and cognitive mathematical processes of middle school students in an online discussion group. In S. Y. Tettegah & M. P. McCreery (Eds). Emotions, Technology, and Learning (p. 135-153). Oxford: Elsevier.
Lewis, R., Romi, S., Qui, X., & Katz, Y. J. (2005). Teachers’ classroom discipline and student misbehavior in Australia, China and Israel. Teaching and Teacher Education, 21(6), 729-741.
Magnusson, E., & Marecek, J. (2015). Doing Interview-Based Qualitative Research. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
Mallinson, B. & Krull, G. (2013). Building academic staff capacity to support online learning in developing countries. Journal of Asynchronous Learning Networks, 17(2), 63-72.
Mega, C., Ronconi, L. & De Beni, R. (2014). What makes a good student? How emotions, self-regulated learning, and motivation contribute to academic achievement. Journal of Educational Psychology, 106(1), 121-131.
Mheidly, N., Fares, M. Y. & Fares, J. (2020). Coping with stress and burnout associated with telecommunication and online learning. Frontiers in Public Health, 8, 574969.
Mohammad, S. M. (2016). Sentiment analysis: Detecting valence, emotions, and other affectual states from text. Emotion Measurement, 201-237.
Mosley, T. H., Perrin, S. G., Neral, S. M., Dubbert, P. M., Grothues, C. A., Pinto, B. M. (1994). Stress, coping, and well-being among third-year medical students. Academic Medicine, 69, 765-767.
Nambiar, D. (2020). The impact of online learning during COVID-19: Students’ and teachers’ perspective. The International Journal of Indian Psychology, 8(2), 783-793.
Parsad, B. & Lewis, L. (2008). Distance education at degree-granting Postsecondary Institutions: 2006-2007 (NCES 2009-044). National Center for Education Statistics, Institute of Education Sciences. Washington, DC: US Department of Education.
Palinkas, L. A., Horwitz, S. M., Green, C. A., Wisdom, J. P., Duan, N., & Hoagwood, K. (2015). Purposeful Sampling for Qualitative Data Collection and Analysis in Mixed Method Implementation Research. Administration and Policy in Mental Health, 42(5), 533–544. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10488-013-0528-y
Pekrun, R. (2006). The control-value theory of achievement emotions: Assumptions, corollaries, and implications for educational research and practice. Educational Psychology Review, 18(3), 315-341.
Pekrun, R., Goetz, T., Frenzel, A. C., Barchfield, P. & Perry, R. P. (2011). Measuring emotions in students’ learning and performance: The Achievement Emotions Questionnaire (AEQ). Contemporary Educational Psychology, 36, 36-48.
Pekrun, R., Goetz, T., Titz, W. & Perry, R. P. (2002). Academic emotions in students’ self-regulated learning and achievement: A program of qualitative and quantitative research. Educational Psychologist, 37, 99-105.
Pekrun, R. & Linnenbrink-garcia, L. (2012). Academic emotions and student engagement. In S. L. Christenson, A. L. Reschly, & C. Wylie (Eds.). Handbook of Research on Student Engagement (p. 259-282). New York: Springer.
Pekrun, R., Maier, M. A. (2009). Achievement goals and achievement emotions: Testing a model of their joint relations with academic performance. Journal of Educational Psychology, 101, 115-135.
Prazeras, F., Passos, L., Simões, J. A., Simões, P., Martins, C. & Teixeira, A. (2021). COVID-19-related fear and anxiety: Spiritual-religious coping in healthcare workers in Portugal. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18(220), 1-11.
Putra, D. F. & Giatman, M. (2020). The development of interactive learning media in computer and basic networks subject on computer and networks engineering of SMKN 2 Lubuk Basung. Jurnal Pendidikan Teknologi dan Kejuruan, 3(1), 50-54.
Rahmadian & Maksum, H. (2020). The contribution of family environment and learning motivation in online learning towards learning outcomes. Journal of Education Technology, 4(4), 385-391.
Ratcliffe, M. M., Goldberg, J., Rogers, B., & Merrigan, K. (2010). A model of garden-based education in school settings: Development of a conceptual framework to improve children’s academic achievement, ecoliteracy, health and wellness while enhancing schools, communities, and bioregions. Unpublished manuscript, Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy, Tufts University, Medford, MA.
Reinhold, F., Schons, C., Scheurer, S., Gritzmann, P., Richter-Gebert, J. & Reiss, K. (2021). Students’ coping with the self-regulatory demand of crisis-driven digitalization in university mathematics instruction: do motivational and emotional orientations make a difference? Computers in Human Behavior, 120(106732), 1-10.
Restauri, S. K., King, F. L. & Nelson, J. G. (2001). Assessment of students’ ratings for two methodologies of teaching via distance learning: An evaluative approach based on accreditation. ERIC document 460-148, reports-research (143).
Rice, R. & Love, G. (1987). Electronic emotion. Communication Research, 14(1), 85-108.
Roberts, A. & Smith, K. I. (2002). Managing emotions in the college classroom: The cultural diversity course as an example. Teaching Sociology, 30(3), 291-301.
Sabri, N., Musa, N. H., Mangshor, N. N. A., Ibrahim, S. & Hamzah, H. H. M. (2020). Student emotion estimation based on facial application in E-learning during COVID-19 pandemic. International Journal of Advanced Trends in Computer Science and Engineering, 9(1.4), 576-582.
Setyawati, V. & Subowo, S. (2018). Pengaruh motivasi belajar, linkungan keluarga dan peran guru terhadap displin belajar siswa. Economic Education Analysis Journal, 7(1), 29-44.
Scherer, K. R. (2009). The dynamic architecture of emotion: Evidence for the component process model. Cognition & Emotion, 23, 1307-1351.
Swerdloff, M. (2016). Online learning, multimedia, and emotions. In S. Y. Tettegah & M. P. McCreery (Eds). Emotions, technology, and learning (p. 155-175). Oxford: Elsevier
Tee, E. (2021). The Science of Feelings. Selangor: Sunway University Press.
Tettegah, S. & McCreery, M. (2016). Foreword. In S. Y. Tettegah & M. P. McCreery (Eds). Emotions, Technology, and Learning (p. 1-3). Oxford: Elsevier
Višnjić, A., Veličkovic, V., Soković, D., Stanković, M., Mijatović, K. et al. (2018). Relationship between the manner of mobile phone use and depression, anxiety, and stress in university students. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 15(4), 697.
Vrasidas, C. & Zembylas, M. (2003). The nature of cross-cultural technology-mediated communication in globalized distance education. International Journal of Training and Development, 7(4), 271-286.
Yong, F. L. (2010). A study on the cultural values, perceptual learning styles, and attitudes toward oracy skills of Malaysian tertiary students. European Journal of Social Sciences, 13(3), 478-492.
Yorks, L. & Kasl, E. (2002). Toward a theory and practice for whole person learning: Reconceptualizing experience and the role of affect. Adult Education Quarterly, 52, 176-192.
Zembylas, M. (2008). Adult learners’ emotions in online learning. Distance Education, 29(1), 71-87.
