The Moderating Effect of Social Demographics on the Relationship Between Affective Learning Outcomes and Academic Performances of Students in Private Universities in Kuwait Post-Pandemic

Abstract

The academic performance of undergraduate and postgraduate students at universities is significantly influenced by a variety of student-related factors. One of the main problem students in private universities in Kuwait are facing that affected their academic performance is the hybrid environment during the pandemic. This study aims assess from a higher educational aspect and it examines how affective learning outcomes post pandemic are influenced by the gender of the students and their educational status (undergraduate or postgraduate students). The four main indicators used to build the research method are: satisfaction, perception of experience (perceived usefulness, ease of use, and perceived behavioral control), perception of benefits (general learning effectiveness, knowledge sharing and increasing, study skills improvement, and sense of progress), and academic performance. Gender and educational level were chosen as moderating factors to reveal differences in the measured results. The study is conducted during the fall semester of 2022. We are targeting students of undergraduate and postgraduate levels studying during the semester post pandemic in Kuwait. A total of 125 students from private universities in Kuwait will be taking part in the research. SmartPLS 3.0 and JAMOVI were used for processing data analysis. Structure equational modelling (SEM) approach is implemented to determine the differences between gender and education level in relation to students affective learning outcomes. Lastly, our study reveals how distinctive aspects of affective learning outcomes impact academic learning outcomes post pandemic using linear regression analysis. Conclusively, among the studied factors, the perceived benefit of a postgraduate student had a greater effect on academic performance, while it was the satisfaction level that showed a higher impact on undergraduate students during distance learning. Keywords: Kuwait; university students; affective learning outcome; academic performance; post-pandemic DOI: 10.7176/EJBM/15-5-09 Publication date: February 28 th 2023