A Systemic Framework to Evaluate Student Satisfaction in Latin American Universities under the COVID-19 Pandemic

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Abstract

Latin American universities (LAUs) have been going through a serious lack of economic resources which has plunged them into a deep financial crisis. The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated this calamity. However, LAUs have implemented online teaching processes in order to mitigate the effects of scheduling and other classroom disruption. There is evidence that these modes of teaching have had a reasonable reception but the level of student satisfaction is yet unknown. This article takes a systemic view of the predicament facing LAUs. It represents the elements related to the disruption caused by COVID-19 in a rich picture, building a systemic framework to explore student satisfaction with remote teaching. Using a sample of 298 students from Brazil, Colombia, and Peru, the study analyzes their situation through: (a) Well-being, educational resources, and learning experience and; (b) General satisfaction with virtual classes. Applying exploratory factor analysis, this study identifies three dimensions: (a) satisfaction with support and adaptation in the virtual modality; (b) satisfaction with the interaction in the virtual classroom; and (c) satisfaction with the development of the study program. Medium/high scores for the dimensions indicate moderate/high levels of satisfaction. The findings suggest that there are still unsatisfied needs regarding access to digital resources and socio-emotional needs. This article could be of interest to Higher Education Institutions (HEI) planners dedicated to post-pandemic, virtual education.

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Impacts of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Life of Higher Education Students: A Global Perspective

Aleksander Aristovnik, Damijana Kerzic, Dejan Ravšelj … (2020)

The paper presents the most comprehensive and large-scale study to date on how students perceive the impacts of the first wave of COVID-19 crisis in early 2020 on various aspects of their lives on a global level. With a sample of 30,383 students from 62 countries, the study reveals that amid the worldwide lockdown and transition to online learning students were most satisfied with the support provided by teaching staff and their universities’ public relations. Still, deficient computer skills and the perception of a higher workload prevented them from perceiving their own improved performance in the new teaching environment. Students were mainly concerned about issues to do with their future professional career and studies, and experienced boredom, anxiety, and frustration. The pandemic has led to the adoption of particular hygienic behaviours (e.g., wearing masks, washing hands) and discouraged certain daily practices (e.g., leaving home, shaking hands). Students were also more satisfied with the role played by hospitals and universities during the epidemic compared to the governments and banks. The findings also show that students with certain socio-demographic characteristics (male, part-time, first-level, applied sciences, a lower living standard, from Africa or Asia) were significantly less satisfied with their academic work/life during the crisis, whereas female, full-time, first-level students and students faced with financial problems were generally affected more by the pandemic in terms of their emotional life and personal circumstances. Key factors influencing students’ satisfaction with the role of their university are also identified. Policymakers and higher education institutions around the world may benefit from these findings while formulating policy recommendations and strategies to support students during this and any future pandemics.

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Projecting the Potential Impact of COVID-19 School Closures on Academic Achievement

Megan Kuhfeld, James Soland, Beth Tarasawa … (2020)

As the COVID-19 pandemic upended the 2019–2020 school year, education systems scrambled to meet the needs of students and families with little available data on how school closures may impact learning. In this study, we produced a series of projections of COVID-19-related learning loss based on (a) estimates from absenteeism literature and (b) analyses of summer learning patterns of 5 million students. Under our projections, returning students are expected to start fall 2020 with approximately 63 to 68% of the learning gains in reading and 37 to 50% of the learning gains in mathematics relative to a typical school year. However, we project that losing ground during the school closures was not universal, with the top third of students potentially making gains in reading.