Ability to Deal with it: Self-Management and Problem-Solving Skills, Motivation and Routines Helped High-School Students During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

As the COVID-19 pandemic unfolded, more than 1.5 billion students worldwide started learning remotely, and they faced a range of challenges: a lack of immediate support from teachers, problems with technology, psychological well-being and difficulties in independently coping with their duties. The aim of this study was to understand what helped students cope with distance learning and what hindered and made it difficult for students, as well to examine students’ self-assessed problem-solving and self-management skills. Qualitative and quantitative methods were used in the study with 358 students aged M = 16.65 years. Participants answered two open-ended questions and filled the Problem-Solving Questionnaire and the Metacognitive Awareness Scale. Content analysis of students’ answers shows that most frequently students’ goal-orientation, determination to succeed, diligence and specific routines helped them deal with the distance learning. On the contrary, lack of motivation (among other psychological difficulties), distractions, lack of routines, and felt pressure to manage all school tasks were most frequently the aspects that hindered students from coping with the distance learning. Results show significant correlation between most scales of self-assessed problem solving and self-management skills. Students with higher result in total score of self-reported problem-solving skills felt less stress about the distance learning and the pandemic in general.