Do Academic Stress, Burnout and Problematic Internet Use Affect Perceived Learning? Evidence from India during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Savitha Basri,Iqbal Thonse Hawaldar,Raveendranath Nayak,Habeeb Ur Rahiman

doi:10.3390/su14031409

Savitha Basri, Iqbal Thonse Hawaldar + Show 2 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/su14031409

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Abstract

Distress in online classrooms and problematic internet use are two issues that have caused student burnout and affect perceived learning during the COVID-19 pandemic. Given the high pressure placed on students throughout COVID-19, it is critical to understand the influence of problematic internet use (PIU), psychological stress, academic burnout, and resilience on perceived learning (PL). A cross-sectional analytical study was chosen to collect data from 350 learners pursuing undergraduate and postgraduate business/management degrees in Karnataka, India. The data were analyzed using SPSS (Statistical Package for Social Science) and Smart PLS 3. The present study reports a non-significant negative total effect of stress on PL, while there was a significant positive direct effect but a significant indirect negative effect of multiple mediators, namely PIU, burnout, and resilience. In the relationship between stress and PL, burnout has full competitive mediation, and the suppressive effect of burnout and resilience wipes out the beneficial benefit of stress on PL, resulting in reduced PL. As a societal problem, a change in educational policy and prevention strategies for students and organizations (reducing the number of courses, number of exams, and handling parental expectations) would be effective. Emotional intelligence to improve resilience, which assists students in sailing through a current challenging situation and using IT for reducing negative and unexpected emotional outbursts should be encouraged.

Highlights

Several countries, including India, resorted to the imposition of nationwide lockdown as a means of curtailing the spread of the novel coronavirus 2019
The present study found no direct effect of stress on resilience but suppressing the mediating effect of burnout in reducing the resilience of students, implying that if stress causes burnout, the resilience capacity of learners would be negatively affected that hampers learning
The intensive use of these sites causes psychological distress; we found a direct effect of problematic internet use (PIU) during the pandemic and burnout experienced by the students

Summary

Introduction

Several countries, including India, resorted to the imposition of nationwide lockdown as a means of curtailing the spread of the novel coronavirus 2019. Many businesses, sports and entertainment facilities, hospitality, and educational institutions were physically closed. Digital migration in higher education is a recent phenomenon where Information and Communications Technology (ICT) has been applied in classroom delivery, assessment tasks, and conducting examinations using e-Pads, it was rapidly adopted during the pandemic with externally assisted migration online platforms such as Microsoft Teams, Zoom, GoToMeeting, Google Meet, and RingCentral video [1]. Online curriculum transactions put pressure on students to adopt newer instructional methods and virtual interactions in online classrooms, online submission of assignments and tests, and minimize face-to-face interactions with instructors and peers [4,5].

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