PLoS ONE (Jan 2021)

Academic student satisfaction and perceived performance in the e-learning environment during the COVID-19 pandemic: Evidence across ten countries.

  • Damijana Keržič,
  • Jogymol Kalariparampil Alex,
  • Roxana Pamela Balbontín Alvarado,
  • Denilson da Silva Bezerra,
  • Maria Cheraghi,
  • Beata Dobrowolska,
  • Adeniyi Francis Fagbamigbe,
  • MoezAlIslam Ezzat Faris,
  • Thais França,
  • Belinka González-Fernández,
  • Luz Maria Gonzalez-Robledo,
  • Fany Inasius,
  • Sujita Kumar Kar,
  • Kornélia Lazányi,
  • Florin Lazăr,
  • Juan Daniel Machin-Mastromatteo,
  • João Marôco,
  • Bertil Pires Marques,
  • Oliva Mejía-Rodríguez,
  • Silvia Mariela Méndez Prado,
  • Alpana Mishra,
  • Cristina Mollica,
  • Silvana Guadalupe Navarro Jiménez,
  • Alka Obadić,
  • Daniela Raccanello,
  • Md Mamun Ur Rashid,
  • Dejan Ravšelj,
  • Nina Tomaževič,
  • Chinaza Uleanya,
  • Lan Umek,
  • Giada Vicentini,
  • Özlem Yorulmaz,
  • Ana-Maria Zamfir,
  • Aleksander Aristovnik

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0258807
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 16, no. 10
p. e0258807

Abstract

Read online

The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has dramatically shaped higher education and seen the distinct rise of e-learning as a compulsory element of the modern educational landscape. Accordingly, this study highlights the factors which have influenced how students perceive their academic performance during this emergency changeover to e-learning. The empirical analysis is performed on a sample of 10,092 higher education students from 10 countries across 4 continents during the pandemic's first wave through an online survey. A structural equation model revealed the quality of e-learning was mainly derived from service quality, the teacher's active role in the process of online education, and the overall system quality, while the students' digital competencies and online interactions with their colleagues and teachers were considered to be slightly less important factors. The impact of e-learning quality on the students' performance was strongly mediated by their satisfaction with e-learning. In general, the model gave quite consistent results across countries, gender, study fields, and levels of study. The findings provide a basis for policy recommendations to support decision-makers incorporate e-learning issues in the current and any new similar circumstances.