Performance, Health, and Psychological Challenges Faced by Students of Physical Education in Online Learning during COVID-19 Epidemic: A Qualitative Study in China

The spread of COVID-19 has led students to take classes online (rather than face-to-face) worldwide, including in China. For this study, we conducted qualitative focus group discussions to identify the experience of and difficulties faced by online physical education students in higher education taking online classes, including the impact on their physical activity performance, as well as some health problems they face while taking online classes during the quarantine period, such as weight gain, depression, and anxiety. Finally, utilizing Mayer’s learning model as a conceptual framework, we propose a method that addresses how to effectively manage an optimal future learning system for physical education students, both during and after the COVID-19 outbreak situation. During the isolation period of COVID-19, the required equipment for the participants was rarely available at home while attending the online classes, which inevitably reduced the number of physical education units that could be conveyed. This resulted in a transfer of attention from competition to underperformance, weight gain, and adverse psychological conditions. We conclude that it is important to review and systematize the methods of online physical education learning, particularly highlighting the cultural and educational characteristics of different countries, and to investigate the effectiveness of online physical education as a whole.