Student Satisfaction and Self-Regulation During COVID-Era Online Learning

• Gabriella Morra, Psychology, University of Delaware

• Christina Barbieri, School of Education, University of Delaware

The COVID-19 pandemic brought many challenges to education, including adapting to virtual learning for students, parents, and educators alike. Course delivery format can impact a student’s level of learning satisfaction, which is linked with student success (Martin & Bolliger, 2022). While some types of virtual learning may benefit students (Chen et al., 2016), this project aims to focus on learning satisfaction and self-regulation with the lens of the COVID-19 pandemic, when most students abruptly transitioned to online learning. In this study, we investigate how a student’s learning satisfaction and their self-regulation may be related to their learner instruction delivery format (virtual, hybrid, or in-person). We pose the following questions: How is learner instruction delivery format related to student satisfaction? Does a child’s self-regulation, reported by the parent, vary depending on the instruction delivery format? These data were collected May-September 2021 through survey format using Likert scales. 574 students in grades 4 through 10, as well as their parents responded through an online student survey and a parent survey via Qualtrics. The data were collected as part of a larger longitudinal study with investigators at Temple University and University of Delaware. It was then reviewed, categorized, and analyzed through a one-way ANOVA in Summer 2023. This study has implications on understanding the importance of students feeling that their needs are met in the classroom, and that they can self-regulate their actions and emotions in order to focus on schooling. Through studying student satisfaction and regulation surrounding virtual learning, we can better understand and meet students’ needs.