Exploring the factors influencing the effectiveness of online learning: A study on college students

Abstract

To prevent the rapid transmission of the viruses among students and staff during the COVID-19 epidemic, on-campus classes have been cancelled at colleges and institutions throughout the world. Due to this unexpected disruption in face-to-face learning, pedagogical methods were changed, and colleges quickly accepted online instruction. Both university lecturers and professors as well as university students were impacted by the advent of online learning. The student's performance is what determines how well online learning works. Students' performance is affected by the course material, how a teacher teaches them, and a variety of other factors. So, the study’s focus is to investigate the effect of numerous elements e.g. instructor-student interaction, peer interaction, social media use, family support, and technical support on College students' engagement and performance. Population of this study consist of universities’ under-graduate and post-graduate students. Data were collected from 300 under-graduate and post-graduate students who belong to the three universities/colleges of Jaipur (Rajasthan) namely; JK Lakshmipat University, Arya College of Engineering and I.T., and JECRC University. Data were analyzed using two software Programs “SPSS and AMOS”. After going through validity, reliability, exploratory, and confirmatory factor analysis; we applied structural equation modeling (SEM). Our findings show that Instructor-Student Interaction, Use of social media, Family as well as Technical support have a positive relationship with Students’ Learning Performance through Students Engagement. It was also shown that peer interaction had a minor influence on learners' performance. All the observed Indices are within the threshold limits.