Title: Empathy or students' activation? Factors affecting students' remote learning experience during the COVID-19 period

Authors: Hagit Meishar-Tal; Ariella Levenberg; Eyal Rabin

Addresses: Instructional Technologies Faculty, Holon Institute of Technology, Holon, Israel ' School of Education, Gordon Academy of Education, Haifa, Gordon, Israel ' Education and Psychology Department, The Open University of Israel, Raanana, Israel

Abstract: Owing to the COVID-19 pandemic, higher education institutions worldwide were required to shift to an online mode of studying abruptly and without preparation. The purpose of the current study was to examine students' remote learning experience, explore the relationship between the learning experience, the level of students' engagement, and the perceived lecturers' performance in terms of empathy and students' activation. A survey questionnaire was distributed online to students from various academic institutions at the end of the second semester of the academic year. A total of 120 students participated in the study. The findings showed that students' cognitive and physical learning experience was moderate and social experience was low. Lecturers' empathy and students' engagement were significant predictors of students' learning experience. Lecturer-initiated activation of students was a negative predictor of the learning experience. The findings are discussed in light of lecturers' role in times of crisis.

Keywords: COVID-19; learning experience; higher education; empathy; active learning; engagement.

DOI: 10.1504/IJTEL.2023.131868

International Journal of Technology Enhanced Learning, 2023 Vol.15 No.3, pp.311 - 328

Received: 30 May 2022
Received in revised form: 30 Jul 2022
Accepted: 03 Aug 2022
Published online: 04 Jul 2023 *

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