Study delay during emergency remote teaching among students at Dutch universities: the role of students’ education satisfaction and academic wellbeing

This study investigated whether the amount of emergency remote teaching (ERT) was negatively associated with students’ academic performance in terms of study delay and explored whether this association was mediated by study-related experiences, i.e. students’ education satisfaction and subsequently academic wellbeing (academic burnout and academic engagement). The study was conducted during the academic year 2020/2021 and 680 students from all conventional Dutch universities participated. The amount of ERT and study-related experiences were measured at three time points throughout the academic year and the respective scores were averaged for data analysis. Study delay was assessed at the end of the academic year (last time point). The hypothesised model was tested using path analysis. A higher amount of ERT was associated with a higher risk of study delay and this association was mediated by study-related experiences in two ways. First, a higher amount of ERT was related to lower education satisfaction, which in turn increased the risk of study delay. Second, a higher amount of ERT was related to lower education satisfaction, which in turn was associated with lower academic wellbeing, i.e. more academic burnout and less academic engagement, which in turn increased the risk of study delay. The findings suggest that education satisfaction and academic wellbeing are mechanisms underlying the detrimental effect of ERT on study performance, with education satisfaction playing a central role. To avoid students incurring study delay, universities are advised to implement ERT and online education in general in such a way that students’ education satisfaction gets preserved.