Work

Post-COVID-19 Barriers and Attitudes Associated with Online College Course Selection

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: 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.

Source: COVID

DOI: 10.3390/covid5030031

Authors: Jack R. Thomas, Amanda A. Harb, Pam Watters, Ashley S. Pothen

Institutions: Farmingdale State College, Roger Williams University

Language: English

Topic: Education during COVID-19 pandemic

Subfield: Education

Field: Social Sciences

Domain: Social Sciences

SDG: Quality education

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $1,207