Validation of an Instrument to Measure Students' Perceptions of Online Learning

Abstract

In the context of the COVID-19 global pandemic and the health measures derived from it, emergency online learning (EOL) became the only possible alternative to be able to continue the training process in the university context. The general objective of the present research is to know the perceptions and evaluations of students at a Chilean public university about the "emergency" online learning process that occurred in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Based on several previous works related to online learning (OL), an instrument (questionnaire) was developed and implemented with the participation of 117 students. The research is quantitative-descriptive and had the following specific objectives: (1) To determine the attitude of university students towards EOL; (2) To characterize the learning experience of students in online modality; (3) To know about the available resources of students for EOL; and (4) To validate the developed questionnaire through a factor structure analysis. In general, the results show that students are proficient in the aspects related to self-management of learning, but have a low level of motivation for EOL and suffer a deficit in aspects related to interaction with others (teachers and peers). These results provide a first approximation of Chilean students' perceptions of EOL and allow us to identify several aspects that should be improved by professors and university authorities. This research was financially supported by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) as part of the project “Praxispartnerschaften zwischen Hochschulen und Unternehmen in Deutschland und in Entwicklungsländern ab 2017” (Project Nr. 57334905).