Study-related wellbeing, behavior, and attitudes of university students in the Netherlands during emergency remote teaching in the context of COVID-19: A longitudinal study

Manja Vollmann; Renée A Scheepers; Anna P Nieboer; Femke Hilverda

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2022.1056983

Study-related wellbeing, behavior, and attitudes of university students in the Netherlands during emergency remote teaching in the context of COVID-19: A longitudinal study

Front Psychol. 2022 Dec 6:13:1056983. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.1056983. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Manja Vollmann¹, Renée A Scheepers¹, Anna P Nieboer¹, Femke Hilverda¹

Affiliation

¹ Department of Socio-Medical Sciences, Erasmus School of Health Policy & Management, Erasmus University Rotterdam, Rotterdam, Netherlands.

Abstract

Introduction: During the COVID-19 pandemic, emergency remote teaching was implemented at all conventional Dutch universities; however, the degree of limitations in on-campus teaching and learning varied during the pandemic dependent on the strictness of the measures. In the present study, it will be investigated how study-related experiences of university students changed in the face of varying limitations in on-campus teaching and learning.

Methods: The study had a longitudinal natural experiment design with three points of measurement during the academic year 2020-2021: November-December 2020 (t1; campuses partially open), March 2021 (t2; campuses fully closed) and June-July 2021 (t3; campuses partially open). In total, 680 Dutch university students (65.9% female; age: M = 21 years, SD = 2.06) filled in online surveys measuring study-related wellbeing (academic burnout and study-engagement), study-related behavior (study effort), and study-related attitudes (education satisfaction, online self-efficacy, and attitudes toward online education).

Results: Overall, students reported moderate levels of academic burnout, study engagement, study effort, education satisfaction, and online self-efficacy; their attitudes toward online education were rather negative. Students' study-related wellbeing and education satisfaction decreased in the period when on-campus teaching and learning was impossible (t2) compared to periods in which on-campus teaching and learning was possible at a low level with several restrictions (t1 and t3). Students' attitudes toward online education and online self-efficacy slightly increased at the end of the academic year (t3); however, the attitudes toward online education remained negative.

Discussion: The findings indicate that students' academic burnout, study engagement, and education satisfaction varied over the course of the academic year in the context of changing limitations in on-campus teaching and learning. To facilitate positive study-related experiences, universities are advised to offer as much on-campus education as possible in times of pandemics.

Keywords: academic burnout; attitudes toward online education; education satisfaction; emergency remote teaching; online self-efficacy; study effort; study engagement.