Abstract
The purpose of this research was to explore the relationship between university students’ perceptions of the overall quality of instruction (PQI) they experienced since COVID-19 and their academic well-being. This relationship was examined in the context of a moderated moderation with students’ household income and the cultural value of power distance (PD), which measures the extent to which less powerful members of an organization expect and accept that power is unequally distributed. Two countries with societally moderate levels of PD (South Africa and the United States) were assessed. Moderated moderations between PQI, income, and PD were found for the academic well-being of students from both the United States and South Africa. The patterns of interactions were in some ways similar and other ways different, highlighting the complexity of how students may react to potential stressors in their academic environment. Potential explanations and implications of these results are discussed.
Highlights
In recent years, there has been a growing emphasis on student well-being as an important educational outcome (Govorova et al, 2020)
For students in the United States, a statistically significant three-way interaction was found between PQI, income, and power distance (PD) on academic well-being (b = 0.02, SE = 0.01, p < 0.01, 95% CI: 0.01–0.03; see Figure 2)
In contrast to low-income and middle-income students, the strongest effect for students with income one standard deviation above the mean was for high PD (b = 0.23, SE = 0.04, p < 0.00, 95%CI: 0.15–0.30) and weakest for low PD (b = 0.15, SE = 0.03, p < 0.00, 95%CI: 0.08–0.21)
Summary
There has been a growing emphasis on student well-being as an important educational outcome (Govorova et al, 2020). One considerable change to university life was a rapid transition from in-person to online learning modalities; research with students in higher education worldwide found that 87% experienced such a transition (Aristovnik et al, 2020). This often resulted in alterations to Academic Well-Being course materials and the type of instruction students received (e.g., from in-person instruction to a more remote and/or asynchronous instruction). Two interacting moderators were assessed within the context of this relationship: household income and the cultural value of power distance (PD) These moderators were chosen as they represent two important constructs that often influence students’ academic experiences in educational settings. Two countries with societally moderate levels of PD (South Africa and the United States) were assessed
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