Students’ perspectives on their academic achievement during the Covid-19 pandemic: Learner autonomy, school satisfaction and adult support

Abstract

Distance education, used to contain the spread of Covid-19 in 2020, radically altered adolescents’ learning experiences and affected their academic achievements. Based on a survey with adolescents aged 12–16 in Luxembourg, this study investigates the differences the 332 adolescents perceived in schoolwork when learning at school and from home during the pandemic in 2021, as well as predictors of their reported academic achievement. The findings show that the participants perceived their work as less interesting or useful and more difficult while learning from home and that the main predictors of their academic achievements were school achievements before the pandemic, school satisfaction, learner autonomy, and the ways that adults listen to them. Teacher and parent support played a subordinate role.