E-Learning Fatigue and the Cognitive, Educational, and Emotional Impacts on Communication Sciences and Disorders Students During COVID-19

Abstract

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate e-learning fatigue; the cognitive, educational, and emotional impacts on university students; and attitudes toward different course delivery modes after more than a year of COVID-19–mandated distance education in the United States. Method: A survey consisting of 25 Likert items was conducted with a total of 50 graduate and undergraduate students, mostly women between the ages of 18 and 45 years, majoring in communication sciences and disorders (CSD) at a Historically Black College/University (HBCU). Results: Younger, undergraduate, and Black/African American students reported being most unfavorably impacted by the e-learning requirements of COVID-19. Students without a prior history of online and hybrid learning also reported unfavorable effects, but not as consistently. Participants reporting higher levels of e-learning fatigue noted the greatest difficulties across all major areas of the study: learning, mental health, and attitudes toward e-learning. Higher e-learning fatigue was correlated with a higher negative impact on perceptions of future clinical effectiveness. Conclusions: Results show e-learning fatigue and the educational and emotional challenges of mandated e-learning during COVID-19 disproportionately affected certain groups of students, and they reported unfavorable views of e-learning and future clinical ability. This is the first study to examine how CSD students were affected by required distance learning during the pandemic. Future investigations may examine the long-term effects of the pandemic on students and their clinical skills, groups most susceptible to the negative impacts of e-learning, and ways to mitigate these effects to improve students' educational experiences and emotional well-being.