Students’ academic performance in the online learning sessions during the movement control order for Covid-19 pandemic: Students’ perspective

Abstract

The whole world had suffered the Covid-19 pandemic and most countries had practiced social distancing and Movement Control Orders (MCO) for a variable duration on time. Because of MCO, educational institutions including universities had to shift to online learning. This dramatic change in the mode of learning is expected to affect the students’ academic performance. This research aimed to explore the students’ reflection regarding the online mode of learning and to detect if this affected their academic performance. A cross-sectional study has been implemented among students of the International Medical School, Management and Science University, Malaysia through an online questionnaire distributed in April 2020 investigating the students’ demographic characteristics and the effectiveness of online learning from their point of view. The results regarding the students’ perception of the effectiveness of online learning, showed that 30.4% of the students agreed that the discussion during online learning was depth and comprehensive. 41.8% of the students agreed that they had discussed more and used more resources during online learning. 23.2% of the students agreed that they learned better through online learning while 19.6% agreed that they learned better through online learning. Regarding participation and interaction during online learning, 25.8% agreed on that online learning promotes more participation and interaction while 42.3% of the students agreed that it was difficult for them to ask and to answer questions through online learning. 45.9% of the students suffered technical issues during the online learning session, and 33.5% of the students required more budget for internet connection. 41.8% agreed that there was an increased distraction during the online session. And 35.1% of the students agreed that it was harder for them to be motivated during the online session. These results are representing this period of time which is one month after the start of MCO, and more research is needed to be implemented after the students get used to the new normal mode of learning.