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Navigating the Experiences of Students in the Pandemic and Post-Pandemic Era

Zainab Jamshed and Noor M Humayoun

Department of Sociology, Forman Christian College

SOCL 202

Ma’am Shermeen Bano

29th May 2023

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Abstract

This paper will focus on the experience of students during the pandemic and post-pandemic era.

The paper will focus on two variables that were derived via the methodology, which was a focus

group discussion. Firstly, academic challenges will be assessed which will include the higher

expectations in post-pandemic education with less flexible attitudes by the faculty members. This

variable will also address the issue of a lack of attention span and self-discipline that most

students faced. Secondly, a major and crucial variable, psychological and emotional factors will

be examined which will bring into the limelight matters of demotivation and anxiety. These

variables will aid to answer the following research questions: how have the pandemic and post-

pandemic era affected the education attainment and academic performance of students in

universities? Second, what are the social and emotional consequences of remote learning, and

how prevalent are these in the post-pandemic era? Third, what are students’ perceptions towards

remote learning and how have they been altered during the pandemic era?

Keywords: students, pandemic, post-pandemic, educational attainment, remote learning, social

implications
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Chapter 1

Introduction

Covid-19 had a significant impact on the world in a multitude of ways. One of the

departments which suffered crucially during this timeframe was the education system. With a

rapid shift from conventional methods of learning and a need to adopt remote learning, this

transition created several challenges for students. These issues are also seen to be visibly

translated in the post-pandemic era with frequent complaints of lack of attention span, and

slower response rate from the students. These are just two problems which have been

highlighted- the list of consequences is long and can be divided across social, demographic, and

educational variables.

This pandemic era created a shift from physical classrooms, compelling universities to

include remote and virtual learning as a medium of introduction. While this new learning

mechanism was quickly adopted by several schools and universities across the globe, it held

grave consequences for many students. The main argument of this paper will advocate how

students ultimately upheld the consequences of the pandemic period and how this affected their

learning and behavioural patterns in the post-pandemic era. Ultimately, the paper will attempt to
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show the implications of the pandemic era and how these transferred into the post-pandemic

period.

The structure of the paper is divided into five chapters. The introduction chapter will be

followed by the literature review which will show the available and relevant resources on the

topic. After the literature review, the methodology section will be included which will showcase

the research method used to gather data on the issue being discussed. The methodology will be

followed by a findings section which will discuss the problems and issues found within the

primary and secondary data and their relevance today. In the end, the concluding chapter will

give recommendations for the future, state the possible limitations of the research methodology

used and provide an overview of the entire paper.

Chapter 2

Literature Review

In this chapter, a series of articles and scholarly works will be explored which will help in

assessing student’s experiences during the pandemic and post-pandemic era. The chapter broadly

talks about academic challenges and psychological and emotional variables faced by students

during remote learning and physical classes. These broader variables will cover higher flexibility

in online classes, social anxiety, lack of self-discipline, demotivation, and lack of attention span.

Also, it must be noted that most of these variables are interlinked and will be discussed in

coherence with each other.

The transition from the pandemic to the post-pandemic period contained several

drawbacks for students. One of the main issues was a lack of self-discipline. “Students’
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Difficulties with Self-Discipline During Online Class” by Deski Yolan Septa Tenti and Ningsih

Fatimah Mulya Sari (2022) highlights this issue of struggling with self-discipline. The writers

talk about how students during online classes maintained a “negative self-discipline” (pg 13).

Due to remote learning and an absence of physical classes, many students did not take their

classes and assignments into serious consideration. The writers talk about several causes which

could be the result of this issue- one of them being laziness. The article emphasizes how laziness

is an internal variable that is linked to the motivation to work and study effectively during online

classes. Upon questioning students via surveys, it was brought to attention how most students

deliberately delayed submitting their assignments due to a lack of presence of the instructor.

These internal variables are also explored in the work of Mingzhu Yang who reiterates

this idea of lack of self-discipline amongst students during remote learning. In his paper called

“Factors that Affect Students Online Learning Under the Covid-19: The Example of Hong

Kong” he talks about how the learning environment can be a potential cause that creates a lack of

discipline in students. The writer states that as most of the students are taking classes within the

confines of their homes, there may be several disruptions and distractions for the students which

can result in a lower attention span to online classes and moreover students not feeling involved

in remote learning. Similarly, in “A Level of Student Self-Discipline in E-Learning During

Pandemic Covid-19” by Siti Nurajrina Binti Muksin and Mardzelah Binti Makhsin the writers

talk about how students lose their retention time during remote learning and many get distracted

with the usage of social media platforms. They also emphasize the fact that due to this lack of

self-discipline students’ academic performance also suffers significantly.

In “Exploring the Barriers to Online Learning During the COVID-19 Pandemic. A Case

of Pakistani Students from HEIs [Higher Education Institutions]” the writers Muhammad
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Arsalan Nazir and Mohsin Raza Khan talk about how the attitude of the Pakistani community

does not take remote learning into very serious consideration. This community includes teachers,

students, and even parents who do not aid in creating formal learning spaces at home for their

children. The article further highlights how students from rural areas suffered the most during the

pandemic timeframe due to a lack of access to the internet and communication facilities.

According to Ahmad (2020), students from less developed areas are profoundly devoid of

internet facilities. This viewpoint was also reinforced in the work “Distance Learning in

Engineering Education: Challenges and Opportunities during COVID-19 pandemic crisis in

Pakistan” by Zeashan Khan and Muhammad Abid.

“Challenges of online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic encountered by students

in Pakistan” by Abaid Ullah and Sajjad Ahmed again talks about the challenges faced by

Pakistani students during the pandemic period. They highlight how many students did not have

stable internet connectivity in their homes and lacked the resources to take on online classes.

Madrid in his work “La investigación de los factores motivacionales en el aula de

idiomas [The research in motivational factors in the language classroom]. Granada, ES: Grupo

Editorial Universitario] talks about how teachers' actions and the positions they take regarding

class management affect students' motivation in academics. It is important to note here that this

article dated back to 1999 when the pandemic era did not exist. However, the article goes on how

to show the basic mechanisms of keeping students motivated and active during a class. Class,

here, can be taken in a remote context as well. Hence, this article asserts that it is the

responsibility of the teacher to engage the students, and this could have been used as a strategy to

increase motivational levels amongst students in Pakistan during remote learning.

Chapter 3
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Methodology

The methodology which was used to gather data on the topic was a focus group

discussion. Focus group discussion is defined as “defined focus groups as a research technique

that collects data through group interaction on a topic determined by the researcher” (Morgan

1996) This qualitative data collection method was used to gather information regarding the

pandemic and post-pandemic education from a series of students from Forman Christian College.

The participants who took part in the study were both male and female students.

This specific data collection method was used as it was able to provide insight into the

first-hand experiences of students who underwent remote learning during the pandemic period.

The responses which were given by the students were interestingly all coherent and in line with

each other. For instance, all the respondents agreed towards the fact that remote learning

inculcated a lack of self-discipline and the retention span to online classes was very less. Adding

to this, the students also shared a similar viewpoint towards the fact that adjusting to the post-

pandemic era and education system was the most challenging task for all of them. This opened

the gateway to debates on how the faculty was less flexible and held higher expectations from

the students as they had seemingly learned “effectively” during remote classes.

One of the male respondents talked about how in the post-pandemic period, there were

higher levels of social anxiety since social interaction was being prevented and called off. He

also critiqued his university for not being able to provide the basic protective gear which was

required during the pandemic- masks and sanitary.

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Conclusion

For students, the post-pandemic era offers both opportunities and

challenges. Significant problems that need to be addressed include increased

expectations, trauma from the switch to in-person classes, a lack of self-

discipline, social anxiety, and demotivation. Academic readiness, mental

health, and social integration-focused support programmes must be put in

place by educational institutions to proactively address these issues. Students

can overcome these challenges and thrive in the post-pandemic era with

the aid of strategies like review sessions, student support programmes, time

management workshops, social-emotional well-being initiatives, and career

counselling services. Students can develop resilience, adaptability, and a

clearer sense of purpose by embracing the opportunities offered by the new

learning environment, preparing them to confidently navigate the

uncertainties of the future. It is essential for educational stakeholders to

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collaborate and implement effective interventions to ensure a positive and

enriching student experience in the post-pandemic era.

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https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0020720920988493

https://www.mdpi.com/2227-7102/12/3/166
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https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1309091.pdf