Problems Facing University Students in Distance Learning

Abstract

The current study aims to examine the level of problems faced by university students in distance learning, in addition to identify the differences in these problems in terms of the availability of internet services, gender, college, GPA, interactions, academic cohort, and family economic status. The study sample consisted of (3172) students (57.3% females). The researchers developed a questionnaire with (32) items to measure distance learning problems in four areas: Psychological (9 items), academic (10 items), technological (7 items), and study environment (6 items). The responses are scored on a (5) point Likert Scale ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree). Means, standard deviations, and Multivariate Analysis of Variance (MANOVA) were used to analyze the data. The findings showed that students faced high levels of psychological and academic problems and medium levels of technological and study environmental problems. The findings also indicated statistically significant differences in the levels of all problems based on the availability of internet services. In addition, the sample in scientific colleges manifested higher levels of academic problems, and females showed higher levels of study environmental problems. Statistically significant differences also appeared in all types of problems based on study cohort and family economic status.