Effect of Virtual Learning on Students’ Academic Performance During COVID-19 Pandemic

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INTRODUCTION AND LITERATURE REVIEW

Introduction

The dominant novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) infection originated in Wuhan, China, in late 2019 and spread quickly to other cities in China and other nations globally (Refaat 2021). By April 25, 2020, coronavirus disease had spread to over 200 countries. The cases of COVID-19 continued to increase, and by September 1, 2021, the cases of COVID-19 infections rose to over 25.5 million, and a death toll of more than 0.85 million was reported. To curb the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, governments enforced strict measures, including movement restrictions, a ban on mass gatherings, and the closure of schools. The untimely closure of schools led to most schools implementing virtual learning to facilitate learning (Rivas et al. 2021). This study seeks to examine the effects of virtual learning on academic performance during the Covid-19 pandemic to add to this area of study.

The rationale of the Study

Research reveals that the literature on how online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic affected academic practices in institutions of higher learning is still underdeveloped (Refaat 2021). The author adds that up to date, very few studies have examined the difference in student performance in online learning during COVID-19 and physical learning environments (Refaat, 2021). Thus, the proposed study aims to contribute to this field of study by examining the effects of virtual learning on academic performance of students during the COVID-19 pandemic. On a different note, Fabian et al. (2022) urge that the results of the studies examining the impact of online learning on student engagement and academic performance during COVID-19 have shown inconsistent results, with some studies showing positive results impacts while others are showing negative impacts. The proposed study also seeks to fill this gap by ascertaining the impact of online learning on student academic performance. The study will explore the differences in students’ performance before the outbreak of COVID-19 and the performance after schools have adopted virtual learning, where teaching and learning activities are conducted online. This study will add to the existing literature by providing more insights into the impact of online classes on student academic performance. The study findings will guide educational leaders and policymakers in determining whether or not schools should be encouraged to adopt online classes or they should resume physical learning.

Research Question

This study’s main question will examine how virtual learning affected academic performance of students during the COVID-19 crisis. Student academic performance is the measure of student achievement across various academic subjects. On the other hand, virtual learning is a web-based learning environment where learning takes place online with the aid of computers and the internet. To determine the effects of virtual learning on student academic performance, the study will explore the differences in academic performance of students who completed a similar course a year prior to the outbreak of the COVID-19 disease when teaching and learning activities took place in physical classrooms and students who completed the same course, taught by same instructors fully online using virtual learning tools. Student performance will be measured in terms of grades on quizzes, final exams, and coursework.

Literature Review

Shamir-Inbal and Blau (2021) examined the teacher experience leading the Emergence of Remote Teaching (ERT) in K-12, undertaking blended asynchronous and synchronous teaching during COVID-19. The authors examined the technological, pedagogical, and organizational challenges faced by teachers after adopting online teaching during COVID-19, as well as the pedagogical strategies utilized by the teachers. Shamir-Inbal and Blau (2021) identified various benefits and challenges associated with ERT. However, the scholars did not examine how these benefits and challenges impact students’ academic performance. Thus, the proposed study will further this study by examining how various ERT tools impact student academic performance.

In a different study, Refaat (2021) explored the impact of the shift from physical learning to online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown on student academic performance using a case study of a University in Egypt. One of the major significant limitations of this study is that it compared student performance between two consecutive semesters. Refaat (2021) recommended that future scholars compare performance for a longer period for more reliable results. The proposed study will replicate this study and put into consideration this recommendation for more reliable results.

Rivas (2021) applied several automatic learning approaches to a public dataset to examine the factors that impact the university learning process. The author explained that virtual learning environments are associated with various factors that may increase or decrease student academic performance. Rivas (2021) reveals that VLEs may negatively or positively impact students’ academic performance. This study forms the basis for the proposed study, which examines the impacts of virtual learning on academic performance of students during the Coronavirus pandemic.

References

Fabian, Khristin, Sally Smith, Ella Taylor‐Smith, and Debbie Meharg. 2022. “Identifying factors influencing study skills engagement and participation for online learners in higher education during COVID‐19.” British Journal of Educational Technology, 56(3): 1915-1936. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjet.13221Refaat El Said, Ghada. (2021). “How Did the COVID-19 Pandemic Affect Higher Education Learning Experience? An Empirical Investigation of Learners’ Academic Performance at a University in a Developing Country.”

Rivas, Alberto, Alfonso Gonzalez-Briones, Guillermo Hernandez, Javier Prieto, and Pablo Chamoso. (2021). “Artificial neural network analysis of the academic performance of students in virtual learning environments.” Neurocomputing 423(2021): 713-720. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neucom.2020.02.125Shamir-Inbal, Tamar, and Ina Blau.2021. Facilitating emergency remote K-12 teaching in computing-enhanced virtual learning environments during COVID-19 pandemic-blessing or curse? Journal of Educational Computing Research, 59(7):1243-1271.https://doi.org/10.1177/0735633121992781