Undergraduate Student Perceptions Towards an Abrupt Switch to Remote Delivery of Course-Work Due to Covid-19 Restrictions

In July 2020, an online survey was sent to 1039 undergraduate students in the Faculty of Agricultural, Life and Environmental Sciences at the University of Alberta enrolled in the Winter 2020 term. The 13-question survey was designed to elicit perceptions towards the abrupt transition to online learning in March 2020 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, and their thoughts about the upcoming Fall 2020 semester which was to be taught primarily online. Responses from 432 undergraduate students were received. One third of respondents mentioned that they lacked motivation and experienced difficulty staying engaged in online classes, resulting in boredom, anxiety and in some cases other mental health issues during the Winter 2020 semester. Students tended to favor synchronous online courses that were recorded. Communication with students and professors and between students themselves was challenging, resulting in problems with group work. Regarding the upcoming Fall 2020 semester, students requested professors be empathetic and recognize the potentially stressful situation that students were facing from a lack of proper study space, computer and internet inadequacies, and uncertainly and a lack of familiarity with online classes and exams. More students were not confident (55.2%) than were confident (44.8%) about learning online for the Fall semester. The results were shared with all teaching staff prior to the Fall 2020 term.