College Students' Learning and Psychological Wellbeing during the Pandemic in Taiwan

Li-Jiuan Lilie Tsay；Hsiang-I Ashley Chen

higher education ； learning ； psychological wellbeing ； impact of pandemic

應用英語期刊

18卷（2024 / 06 / 01）

79 - 95

英文

Data from the World Health Organization indicates that the pandemic resulted in over two million fatalities worldwide and more than 100 million confirmed cases. According to van Hoof, COVID-19 represented the largest biological experiment ever conducted. Following the decline of the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been an increase in studies examining its impact on learners. From Brooks et al., they indicate that the most commonly used measures, such as quarantine, had imposed psychological effects worldwide: producing stress, confusion, anger, and stressors (e.g. fear, frustration, boredom, and financial concerns). The implementation of quarantine and social distancing had made isolation a common phenomenon, and social communication had been limited. Although it has been almost four years since the first outbreak of COVID-19, studies show that its impacts on college students still remain. In higher education, as students become more anxious and stressed due to the uncertainty caused by the pandemic, their psychological wellbeing must receive more attention. Consequently, learning environment changed from schools to homes, shifting from physical layouts to virtual settings using various communication platforms. It is apparent that the swift transition to online learning since 2020 has significantly altered the learning methods of college students worldwide, including those in Taiwan. Hence, the impacts regarding students' learning and psychological wellbeing have drawn considerable attention in the field of education. In this study, in addition to the six dimensions from Li and Yu's Chinese version of Psychological Wellbeing Inventory, students' learning academically was also taken into account. Utilizing a quantitative research method, a questionnaire was employed. One hundred and sixty-one college students participated in the study. The purposes of the study are to determine whether students' learning as well as their psychological wellbeing, were affected by the pandemic and the relationships between the two.