With the aim of appraising the impact of Emergency Remote Teaching (ERT) amidst the COVID-19 pandemic on college students, an online survey was conducted in December 2020 on a total of 588 undergraduate students at the American University of Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates. The purpose of the study was to probe into the perceptions of college students regarding their learning process and its influence on their mental health with the abrupt transition from face-to-face classes to ERT in the Spring 2020 semester. A comprehensive analysis was performed using structural equation modeling and other statistical techniques to reveal crucial results associated with the factors that have an effect on the students' psychological distress, such as quality of courses, academic performance, and readiness for future work or studies. Findings suggest that the students' perceived quality of courses under ERT has a significant impact on their academic performance and readiness for future work or studies. Moreover, they indicate that these factors serve as a vital mediating role in provoking psychological distress among the students. The study also shows that gender, previous history of anxiety/distress, education being at risk due to financial issues caused by COVID-19, and year of study significantly affect the students' distress levels. In order to ensure and prioritize the well-being of college students during these turbulent times, new strategies are urgently needed to develop and enhance resilient ERT environments in higher education. The study concludes with limitations and suggestions for further research.
Keywords: COVID-19; academic performance; confirmatory factor analysis; emergency remote teaching; psychological distress; quality of courses; readiness for future work or studies; structural equation modeling.