The Influence of COVID-19 Pandemic on the University Education

Yulia Andreevna Petrova

Rostov State University of Economics (RSUE), Rostov-on-Don, Russia

Keywords: COVID 19, Pandemic, Online Distance Education, New Format, Emotional and Cognitive Components.

Abstract: Since the beginning of the pandemic, significant changes have been made in the sphere of education, where

millions of students at universities around the world in order to keep up with the system's measures taken by

the government. Universities have adapted educational activities, a new practice applied in university

education - distance learning on a global scale has become the basis for the hypothesis that university

education will no longer be identical to the previous model. The paper presents empirical data to support the

hypothesis. The qualitative method of the research is based on materials from various sources, including

scientific articles, statistical data, grey literature. For collection of the primary data, a survey was conducted

by preparing a short questionnaire, which was formatted to collect information reflecting students' views about

the influence of COVID-19 pandemic on the university education. The quantitative method of the research

results of the questionnaire survey made it possible to formulate a logical conclusion that confirmed the

general hypothesis proposed in the study. The research may be of interest to teaching staff and university

administrators for providing better quality of education, taking into account the views of students. Also, the

paper can receive further academic research in order to develop deeper knowledge about university education,

not only during the pandemic.

1 INTRODUCTION

The transition to online learning also took place

before the pandemic. Most universities have already

offered distance learning in one form or another. The

complete or partial cessation of the physical presence

of students and professors in university buildings in

the global pandemic period, the transition to distance

learning led to a global reformation of universities

around the world. Despite the already available

previous research on online teaching and learning, the

willingness of students to participate in online

learning in real time, also implemented on a global

scale since the outbreak of coronavirus in a remote

form, etc., the topic of university education, online or

mixed online and offline forms of education tend to

be studied further, which has become the basis for the

hypothesis that university education will no longer be

identical to the previous model.

https://orcid.org/ 0000-0003-1785-4494

2 MATERIALS AND METHODS

2.1 Field of Study

The serious risks of social isolation suddenly became

relevant to wider sections of the population, as the

world was forced into quarantine. The most important

public health measure - social distancing - a phrase

that most people had never heard or used until

recently, quickly broke many of the bonds that bind

people (Holt-Lunstad, 2015). The COVID-19

pandemic has changed the world, creating a need for

new actions by society, including universities and

academics (Alvarez-Risco, 2021).

The transition to online education also took place

before the pandemic. Teaching technologies allowed

both «synchronous learning» which takes place in

real-time mode, and «asynchronous learning», where

contact between the student and the teacher is delayed

in time: when teachers prepare tasks or record

lectures and students can fulfil them at their own

pace. The global COVID-19 pandemic has demanded

a lot from universities: from transforming classrooms

172

Petrova, Y.

The Inﬂuence of COVID-19 Pandemic on the University Education.

DOI: 10.5220/0011112500003439

In Proceedings of the 2nd International Scientiﬁc and Practical Conference "COVID-19: Implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals" (RTCOV 2021), pages 172-177

ISBN: 978-989-758-617-0

into an online learning environment, to changing the

cognitive architecture of teaching and learning, which

are currently radically changing integrity,

encouraging reflection on the importance of

emotional state and its impact on learning and

memory. In recent years, there has been a growing

interest in the role of emotions in the academic

environment, especially in the question: how

emotions affect student`s engagement into the

educational process (Linnenbrink-Garcia and

Pekrunb, 2011).

Open access technologies and policies to peer-

reviewed scientific journals and conference

proceedings have made it possible to collect material,

to summarize, to conduct an empirical study of the

problem of the emotional component of the influence

of COVID-19 pandemic on the university education,

its impact on student learning during distance

learning in order to study the consequences of the

spread of the coronavirus and new strains of COVID-

19. The use of the quantitative method in the second

part of the research has led to a logical conclusion

about the attitude of students towards the transition of

universities to online and offline methods of study

during the pandemic.

Two recent trends in digital transformation in

education during the COVID-19 pandemic are the

expansion of distance education and the growth of

innovations in educational technologies. These

trends, reinforced by educational needs during the

pandemic, are discussed in the article "How the

COVID-19 pandemic is reshaping the education

service" (Kang, 2021).

In the study "Transition to online learning during

the COVID-19 pandemic", it is concluded on the

increased stress of students, difficulties with

concentration of attention.... etc. suggested that

barriers to full online learning are not only

technological and learning problems, but also social

and emotional problems of isolation and social

distance. A national survey conducted in February

2021 by the Wexner Medical Center at Ohio State

University (Murez, 2021), concluded that the long-

term effects of the pandemic on the older Gen Z was

found.

While the Baby Boomers, Gen X and even Gen Y

can accept the feelings of distance, isolation and

loneliness with the words "this too will pass, sooner

or later", then the older representatives of Gen Z,

graduate and postgraduate students, are more

sensitive to the self-isolation and lockdown caused by

new strains of coronavirus. In the absence of previous

experience, even routine events are more demanding

on emotional, cognitive, and behavioral processes.

Teachers and students spent extra energy trying to

understand and cope with the new situation. Many

new aspects with which facing education as a rule,

were unexpected or even surprising. Surprise evokes

strong involvement and behavioral readiness, that is,

a feeling of willingness to act. However, in the

context of COVID-19, knowing which goal to

approach or what actions to take is quite a challenge.

Emotions caused by changes in reality, forced to

change to a different, unfamiliar form of education,

the impossibility of physical presence in university,

lectures and practical activities, "live"

communication with fellow students and teachers,

etc., which made a significant impact on the cognitive

processes of students, including perception, attention,

learning, memory, reasoning and problem solving,

motivating other actions and behavior of teachers for

students` education (Tyng, 2017).

Taking into account the emotional component

during the pandemic, the issue of optimizing

educational process for reducing cognitive load

became especially acute. It is clear that the pandemic

has already had a serious impact on students'

education. The instability of the situation, the

appearance of new strains will continue to influence

the interaction of students and teachers, learning and

the system of evaluation in online mode. It has

become essential to remove the clutter of learning,

simplify content and communication strategies. Due

to different information processing abilities, there is a

possibility that combinations of teaching methods can

lead to cognitive overload, affecting the ability to

absorb new information in sufficient volume. If

students are unsure of the technology they are using,

or do not feel cognitively engaged and socially

connected, the result may negatively affect their

learning outcomes (Bower, 2019).

The application of cognitive theories in education

process supports students' online, distance learning

and mixed forms of education. By interpreting "the

intellectual resource as a compromise between

advantages such as increased speed, quantity, or

conceptual clarity of knowledge, and costs such as

time, effort, or cognitive resources expended on the

tasks. Mental resources are influenced by three main

criteria: discipline of application, measurement of

design, and individual differences between students"

(Hoffman, 2012). Based on this, teachers during the

pandemic have limited the number of tasks; have

shown flexibility in cases when students have asked

for an extension of time for completing the task; have

integrated and centralized sources of information for

students using the "Course Glossary"; provided

multimodal explanations. In the work on complex

The Inﬂuence of COVID-19 Pandemic on the University Education

173

concepts, some elements were first explained,

including with basic terminology. Virtual coaching

among the students of the course provided students

with a summary of the previous topics of the classes,

in accordance with the previously made changes in

the programs. In the created groups in WhatsApp or

Skype, teachers helped students better understand the

course contents, by sending the links. Emergent

transition to online educatiob also required a certain

degree of self-regulation skills, in which students

have to manage their learning process (at least more

than in face-to-face training). Students should

remember or teaching staff should remind them of

their ability to achieve success (self-efficacy). The

use of metacognitive conversations, according to A.

Patricia Aguilera-Hermida, helped both professors

and students to control the learning process and take

part in what is happening - "this is not an assessment

of the course; this is a strategy for developing self-

regulation skills," the author notes (Aguilera-

Hermida, 2020).

The COVID-19 pandemic has opened up the

opportunities for online learning with a completely

new look for both: teachers and students. Online

education required teachers to move from the old

learning paradigm to new learning methods, with that

use of technologies (Nesmeyanov & Petrova, 2019).

Emotional experiences are ubiquitous in nature,

important and perhaps even critical in the educational

environment, since emotions modulate all aspects of

the cognition. The influence of emotions on learning

and memory is not always unambiguous; they can

both enhance and worsen memorization, learning and

memory. The analysis of teaching and learning

experience based on indicators such as: - student

learning experience, - student performance; - the

observations of educators, reviewed in the article "An

effective blended online teaching and learning

strategy during the COVID-19 pandemic, identified

the positive impact of the combined online teaching

and learning strategy during the COVID-19 pandemic

as an opportunity for students to develop at their own

pace, watching video lectures at a convenient time

This strategy also helped organize the learning task

and manage it through progress trackers and weekly

guides (Lapitan, 2021).

2.2 Questionnaire Survey

This part of our research is based on a questionnaire

survey conducted in 2021 among undergraduate and

master’s degree students of the Rostov State

University of Economics (RSUE), with the aim of

quantitative study of students' opinions on pandemic

changes in university practice. Age of male and

female students who took part in the survey were

to 22

years old youth. The questions were formulated

taking into account that during the pandemic, the

students had the opportunity to compare online and

offline forms of education and have their own opinion

on both forms.

2.3 Students' Selection

For the selection of students, one of the types of

probabilistic sampling was used, which is the result

of sampling from the combination, while the

sampling procedure meets the general requirements

for conducting research. It was not necessary to

require a representative sample and to estimate the

probability. The sampling criteria are based on the

convenience of the questionnaire survey. The author

realizes that such sample cannot be generalized

scientifically because the properties of such sample

do not reflect the information, but the questionnaire

was conducted to confirm and / or refute the

conclusions of the empirical study, for achieving the

goal of the study - students' opinions on pandemic

changes in the university education model.

2.4 Data Collection

For the purpose of conducting the survey, the students

got a link on the website https://www.survio.com, the

platform on which the questionnaire was posted.

Despite the high level of English, each question and

answer is written in native language, taking into

account the specialization of the university. Students

who agreed to take part in the survey completed

online questionnaire. Of those who received a link

and an invitation to participate in the survey, more

than 70%, namely 104 respondents accepted. This is

a good indicator of student activity, and a sufficient

amount to work with the hypothesis put forward in

the research.

2.5 Categorization of Responses and

Percentage Content - Analysis

For a better understanding of the collected data, the

percentage method was used in the analysis (part of

100%) according to the formula P = A1 / A2 * 100%.,

where A2 is a constant value – the number of

respondents who took part in the survey and answered

all questions – 104 students. A1 has a variable value,

which depends on one option, chosen by the

respondents` answers to the questions. Graphs were

based on respondents` answers.

RTCOV 2021 - II International Scientiﬁc and Practical Conference " COVID-19: Implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals

(RTCOV )

174

Figure 1: Reflects the answers of the respondents to the

question: What type of education do you prefer?

University students and staff had to make significant

adjustments. They had to learn how to use online

learning tools and programs such as Moodle,

Blackboard, Brightspace, Google Education, Zoom,

Adobe Connect, etc., but they also had to adapt to new

methods of interaction, virtual learning and

communication between students and teaching staff.

Among the surveyed students who previously studied

in traditional (full-time, part-time) forms of

education, 40.4% preferred online distance learning.

Although more than half of the respondents who took

part in the survey remained adherents to traditional

forms of education: 43.3% for full-time and 16.3%

for part time education. The choice of distance

learning is one of the signals that online education has

great potential for growth, even after the pandemic.

Figure 2: Reflects the answers of the respondents to the

question: Has the pandemic negatively affected your level?

The responses to the question were distributed almost

evenly over 1/3, with a slight variation. For example,

during distance learning, students saw certain

advantages in online learning (increased accessibility,

flexibility, virtual collaboration). 36.5%, noted the

availability of free time, which was spent on self-

education and self-development. The answer that the

amount of knowledge was not enough during online

learning, although less than a third of students - 32.7

%, but this fact shows that: the ongoing COVID-19

pandemic raised problems, misunderstanding and gap

of knowledge in the educational process, what leads

to further improvements in teaching strategies.

Figure 3: Reflects the answers of the respondents to the

question: What is not enough for you during the online

education?

This question has a general direction in order to study

the opinion of students on the general question of

what is insufficient for them during distance learning.

The answers of the respondents showed that 16.3% of

the respondents did not need anything from the

traditional forms of education. At the same time,

83.4% of students were not enough: physical

presence at the university - 38.5%; lectures and

seminars in classrooms - 33.7%; lack of personal

communication with teachers and groupmates - noted

by 29.8% of the total number of respondents.

40,4%

43,3%

16,3%

What type of education do you prefer?

online

education

full-time

education

part-time

education

36,5%

32,7%

30,8%

Has the pandemic negatively affected

your level of education?

No, there was more time for self-development and self-

education

Yes, I didn't get the knowledge that I expected

No, online education was enough for getting knowledge at

this stage of learning process

16,3%

38,5%

33,7%

29,8%

THERE WAS NO

NEED FOR

ANYTHING

PROVIDED BY …

IT WAS NOT

ENOUGH: PHYSICAL

PRESENCE AT THE

UNIVERSITY

IT WAS NOT

ENOUGH: LECTURES

AND SEMINARS IN

CLASSROOMS

LACK OF PERSONAL

COMMUNICATION

WITH TEACHING

STAFF AND …

0 1020304050

What is not enough

for you during the

online education?

The Inﬂuence of COVID-19 Pandemic on the University Education

175

3 RESULTS

As virtual communication is not a substitute for real,

genuine human contacts, as distance learning cannot

be a complete substitute for traditional learning.

Whether the " social distancing" enters the "collective

mind" will depend to a large extent on the timing of

the pandemic. If the threat persists, or repeats itself

due to new strains of coronavirus, social distancing

will remain in the center of human thinking. If the

threat is removed (by collective immunity,

vaccination etc.), social distancing will become less

relevant and may disappear from public

consciousness. This transformative moment for

higher education has become a crisis for those

students who are not ready to switch efforts and be

flexible. The question of whether the traditional form

of university education will return, given the number

of students who have adopted distance learning, with

its pros and cons, tends to be for further academic

research.

In general, universities are coping with the need

for changes associated with the pandemic situation,

including those caused by new strains, without

harming the well-being of students. Despite the new

formats of teaching and assessing knowledge,

universities provide the level of knowledge that

students expected to learn upon entry, as confirmed

by the questionnaire survey.

The teaching staff is not able to replace the

missing students' need for: physical presence at the

university, lectures and seminars in classrooms and

lobbies, as well as personal communication with

teachers and groupmates, despite the technologies

used in teaching as: Moodle, Blackboard programs,

Brightspace, Google Education, Zoom, Adobe

Connect, etc., groups created in WhatsApp and / or

Skype for communication. The transition to online, or

a mixed offline and online form of education is a

challenge and a tool for improving and promoting the

educational process. The intensive introduction of

information technologies in the educational process

has become a priority task of modern educational

institutions all over the world. Studies of the

computer aspect of education, the attributes of the

effectiveness of distance learning make it possible to

analyze the phenomenon of distance education itself,

compare and generalize the results, compare the

conclusions with conceptual approaches to the

learning process, which is more likely to no longer be

identical to the previous model.

4 CONCLUSIONS

Although the results of the study do not represent a

generalized preference for or against online distance

learning, they confirm that there is no one-size-fits-

all approach to the preferred mode of learning. But,

the observed start of the COVID-19 pandemic is a

significant surge in the use of: language applications,

virtual learning, video conferencing tools, online

learning software, the entire integration of

information technology makes it clear that distance or

online education will eventually become an integral

component of universities` education. The article may

be of interest to teaching staff and university

administrators for providing better quality of

education, taking into account the views of students.

The paper can be useful in developing effective

education programs, that provide positive learning

environment for both, traditional learning and

distance learning, through educational online

technologies.

Perhaps researching the pandemic changes, in

university education, and students` attitude towards

these changes, could spare decades of research on

strategies that do not meet students' expectations. The

author expresses the hope that the work will have

further research to develop knowledge as emotional,

behavioural, cognitive components caused by the

influence of COVID-19 pandemic on the university

education, and changes in comprehention of

information and communication through

technologies that, even before the pandemic, affected

teaching, learning and research in traditional and

distance education process.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The author is grateful to the students of the Rostov

State University of Economics who took their time to

answer the questions of the questionnaire survey, and

anonymous reviewers and editors for their comments

and suggestions.

REFERENCES

Aguilera-Hermida, A.P., 2020. College students’ use and

acceptance of emergency online learning due to

COVID-19. International Journal of Educational

Research, 1: 100011.

Alvarez-Risco, A., Del-Aguila-Arcentales, S., Rosen,

M.A., García-Ibarra, V., Maycotte-Felkel, S., Martínez-

Toro, G.M., 2021. Expectations and interests of

RTCOV 2021 - II International Scientiﬁc and Practical Conference " COVID-19: Implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals

(RTCOV )

176

university students in covid-19 times about sustainable

development goals: Evidence from Colombia, Ecuador,

Mexico, and Peru. Sustainability, 13(6), 3306.

Bower, M., 2019. Technology‐mediated learning theory.

British Journal Education Technology, 50: 1035-1048.

Hoffman, B., Schraw, G., McCrudden, M.T., 2012.

Cognitive Efficiency. In: Seel N. M. (eds.)

Encyclopedia of the Sciences of Learning. Springer,

Boston.

Holt-Lunstad, J., Tamir, D., Bavel, J., 2015. Alone together:

Coping with stress social isolation. National Academy of

Sciences, http://scienceandentertainmentexchange.org/

Kang, B., 2021. How the COVID-19 Pandemic Is Reshaping

the Education Service. In: Lee J., Han S.H. (eds) The

Future of Service Post-COVID-19 Pandemic. The ICT

and Evolution of Work. Springer, Singapore, 1: 15-36.

Lapitan, L.D.S., Tiangco, C.E., Sumalinog, D.A.G.,

Sabarillo, N.S., Diaz, J.M., 2021. An effective blended

online teaching and learning strategy during the

COVID-19 pandemic. Education for Chemical

Engineers, 35:116–31.

Linnenbrink-Garcia, L., Pekrunb, R., 2011. Does students’

grit predict their school achievement above and beyond

their personality, motivation, and engagement?

Contemporary Educational Psychology, 36(1): 1-3.

Murez, C., 2021. Survey: many will keep precautions after

pandemic. Ohio State University, news release by

HealthDay Reporter, https://www.webmd.com/.

Nesmeyanov, E., Petrova, Y., 2019. Cross functional effect

between language and culture in the understanding of

the context in the educational process in SHS Web of

Conferences, 70: 05006.

Tyng, C.M., Amin, H.U., Saad, M.N.M., Malik, A.S., 2017.

The Influences of Emotion on Learning and Memory,

Front Psychol, 8: 1454.

The Inﬂuence of COVID-19 Pandemic on the University Education

177