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What do university students say about online learning and the COVID-19 pandemic in central Fiji? A qualitative study
Globally, the spread of COVID-19 has led to the closure of schools, thereby accelerating the expansion of the online learning environment. Though, Fiji National University students’ (FNU), had no option than to quickly adopt to this mode of learning, within limited period, their learning experiences...
Autores principales: | , , , |
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Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
Publicado: |
Public Library of Science
2022
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Materias: | |
Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9592056/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35998190 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0273187 |
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author | Okyere, Eunice Salusalu, Mosese Goundar, Ramneek Marfoh, Kissinger |
author_facet | Okyere, Eunice Salusalu, Mosese Goundar, Ramneek Marfoh, Kissinger |
author_sort | Okyere, Eunice |
collection | PubMed |
description | Globally, the spread of COVID-19 has led to the closure of schools, thereby accelerating the expansion of the online learning environment. Though, Fiji National University students’ (FNU), had no option than to quickly adopt to this mode of learning, within limited period, their learning experiences are yet to be examined and documented. We used phenomenological study design to explore students’ online learning challenges, coping strategies and their perceptions on the causes of COVID-19. A total of 120 in-depth interviews were conducted with FNU students, at different levels and colleges, and analysed thematically, using inductive approach. The three themes emerged included COVID-19 misconception beliefs among students, online learning challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic and online learning coping strategies during the COVID-19 pandemic. The misconception beliefs identified were natural occurrence, manmade for depopulation, unreal/fake and as a means of soliciting for funds. The challenges included ineffective tutorial sessions, lack of learning devices, unstable internet service, inadequate learning environment, socio-cultural practices, feeling of loneliness, anxiety and stress, and difficulties accessing online platforms and acquiring practical skills. The coping strategies used by students ranged from support from family and counsellors, help-seeking, frequent communication, time management, learning flexibility to control over learning environment. The findings highlight the need for policy makers, school managers, lecturers and other key stakeholders to address online learning challenges to improve online learning among FNU students. Relevant information should be provided on the COVID-19 pandemic to clear misconceptions. |
format | Online Article Text |
id | pubmed-9592056 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 2022 |
publisher | Public Library of Science |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
spelling | pubmed-95920562022-10-25 What do university students say about online learning and the COVID-19 pandemic in central Fiji? A qualitative study Okyere, Eunice Salusalu, Mosese Goundar, Ramneek Marfoh, Kissinger PLoS One Research Article Globally, the spread of COVID-19 has led to the closure of schools, thereby accelerating the expansion of the online learning environment. Though, Fiji National University students’ (FNU), had no option than to quickly adopt to this mode of learning, within limited period, their learning experiences are yet to be examined and documented. We used phenomenological study design to explore students’ online learning challenges, coping strategies and their perceptions on the causes of COVID-19. A total of 120 in-depth interviews were conducted with FNU students, at different levels and colleges, and analysed thematically, using inductive approach. The three themes emerged included COVID-19 misconception beliefs among students, online learning challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic and online learning coping strategies during the COVID-19 pandemic. The misconception beliefs identified were natural occurrence, manmade for depopulation, unreal/fake and as a means of soliciting for funds. The challenges included ineffective tutorial sessions, lack of learning devices, unstable internet service, inadequate learning environment, socio-cultural practices, feeling of loneliness, anxiety and stress, and difficulties accessing online platforms and acquiring practical skills. The coping strategies used by students ranged from support from family and counsellors, help-seeking, frequent communication, time management, learning flexibility to control over learning environment. The findings highlight the need for policy makers, school managers, lecturers and other key stakeholders to address online learning challenges to improve online learning among FNU students. Relevant information should be provided on the COVID-19 pandemic to clear misconceptions. Public Library of Science 2022-08-23 /pmc/articles/PMC9592056/ /pubmed/35998190 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0273187 Text en © 2022 Okyere et al https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) , which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. |
spellingShingle | Research Article Okyere, Eunice Salusalu, Mosese Goundar, Ramneek Marfoh, Kissinger What do university students say about online learning and the COVID-19 pandemic in central Fiji? A qualitative study |
title | What do university students say about online learning and the
COVID-19 pandemic in central Fiji? A qualitative study |
title_full | What do university students say about online learning and the
COVID-19 pandemic in central Fiji? A qualitative study |
title_fullStr | What do university students say about online learning and the
COVID-19 pandemic in central Fiji? A qualitative study |
title_full_unstemmed | What do university students say about online learning and the
COVID-19 pandemic in central Fiji? A qualitative study |
title_short | What do university students say about online learning and the
COVID-19 pandemic in central Fiji? A qualitative study |
title_sort | what do university students say about online learning and the
covid-19 pandemic in central fiji? a qualitative study |
topic | Research Article |
url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9592056/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35998190 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0273187 |
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