Perception of Peruvian Students Studying in Biological Sciences about the Advantages of Virtual Classes during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

There is significant educational research interest regarding the assessment of the benefits of virtual education implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic for university programs that were essentially face-to-face. The objective of the study was to determine the effect of the management of online resources that the teacher had on the valuation of the advantages of online classes in biological sciences, mediated by the students’ perception of virtual practices as well as the accessibility and use of online resources. A total of 332 Peruvian students studying in biological sciences from a public university, enrolled in five undergraduate academic years, of which 184 were women and 148 were men, participated. A non-experimental predictive design of causal relationships was used with the methodology of structural equation modeling. According to the SEM model (CFI and TLI > 0.95, RMSEA and SRMR p < 0.001). In conclusion, the student’s perception of the teachers’ handling of online resources during the COVID-19 pandemic was determinant as a favorable valuation of the advantages offered by online classes, a relationship that is mediated by virtual practices and accessibility to online resources.

Keywords

• COVID-19 pandemic
• biological science students
• online classes
• teacher