A Masked Engagement? The Influence of Mask-wearing on Students Learning Engagement

Abstract

Educational system was dangerously challenged by COVID-19 without preparation. Schools and students cannot afford another strike. Mask-wearing has become a new normal. Scholars researched the potential effects of mask-wearing, but no direct study focuses on students learning engagement under mask-wearing conditions. In our study, we implemented a quantitative method to study students learning engagement in four aspects: emotional, behavioral, academic, and cognitive engagement. We received 218 questionnaire responses from native Chinese college students. Then, 90 valid responses were generated after exposure to three different stimuli: a native Chinese instructor lecturing English morphology in a quiet environment (SNR > 15 dB) without wearing a mask, the instructor lecturing the same content in the same acoustic environment (SNR > 15 dB) wearing a mask, and the instructor lecturing in the presence of noise (SNR < 15 dB) with mask-wearing. Our finding indicates that neither mask-wearing nor a noisy environment has a substantial influence on our participants emotional, behavioral, and cognitive engagement. However, our participants academic engagement was discouraged significantly after being lectured in noise after mask-wearing.