Abstract
Background:
The COVID-19 pandemic presented a significant challenge to higher education and could affect health care students to a greater degree due to the wide variety of restrictions those students faced in the classroom, laboratory, and clinical settings. For an associate degree respiratory care program in Texas, the abrupt change to online learning meant making significant changes to how these in-person experiences were delivered. The purpose of this study is to determine the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on students’ perceptions of the abrupt change in a learning format.
Methods:
To determine the respiratory care students’ perception of the change to online learning in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, an online questionnaire was distributed to all students (n = 29) who were directly affected, including academic years 2019-20 and 2020-21. The questionnaire was modified from the student’s perceived abrupt distance learning readiness model, which was evaluated for validity and reliability in the study entitled, Factors Affecting Student’s Perceived Readiness on Abrupt Distance Learning Adoption: Indonesian Higher-Education Perspectives. Permission to modify and use the questionnaire was obtained from the corresponding author. There were 28 questions divided into 7 sections: (1) self-competence/computer self-efficacy, (2) self-directed learning/self-management of learning, (3) motivation, (4) comfort with e-learning, (5) technology, (6) financial, and (7) perceived readiness. As shown in Table 1, demographic data was collected with 5 additional questions. Descriptive statistics and the Mann-Whitney U test were used for data analysis (P < .05).
Results:
The questionnaire received a 100% response rate from the 29 students (21 female and 8 male) and there were no statistically significant differences in the 7 categories between the two cohorts. However, the 2019-20 cohort responded they had more difficulty completing their work due to distractions in the home (42.8% vs 20%, P = .51). Additionally, this cohort was more likely to say that the online learning environment was not at least equal quality to traditional learning (64.3% vs. 33.3%, P = .11).
Conclusions:
While there was no significant difference in the responses between the two cohorts, the 2019-20 cohort seemed to have a more negative perception of the abrupt change in the learning format. This may have been due to distractions at home or a perceived decline in the quality of instruction when compared to traditional learning.
Table 1. Demographics from questionnaire respondents in early- and mid-pandemic groups.
Cohorts
2019-20
2020-21
Graduates
n= 14
n= 15
Mean Age (± SD)
31.43 (± 11.264)
29.53 (± 8.228)
Gender (n, %)
Male
5 (35.7%)
3 (20%)
Female
9 (64.3%)
12 (80%)
Ethnicity (n, %)
Hispanic/Latino
4 (28.6%)
6 (40%)
White
6 (42.9%)
4 (26.7%)
American Indian or Alaskan Native
1 (7.1%)
-
Black/African American
1 (7.1%)
2 (13.3%)
Asian/Pacific Islander
2 (14.3%)
2 (13.3%)
Unknown
-
1 (6.7%)
Employment Status (n, %)
Full-time
3 (21.4%)
1 (6.7%)
Part-time
4 (28.6%)
9 (60%)
No employment
7 (50%)
5 (33.3%)
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