Re-learning to learn post-COVID

While some colleges and universities across Australia have been welcoming students back on campus, regulations on lockdowns and social restrictions are still very volatile.

Students faced with travel restrictions have been very appreciative of the multiple delivery modes offered and studying online has allowed them to progress with their studies. Other students have been enjoying the flexibility but are also keen on seeing friends and lecturers on campus.

Rei Fortes, a third-year Bachelor of Media and Communications (Journalism) student at La Trobe University (previously a La Trobe College Australia/Navitas student), approached students and lecturers on campus as he explored how tertiary students are re-adjusting to new physical learning environments.


Last year, students had to rapidly adjust to online learning as people stayed indoors during the height of the COVID pandemic. A study shows that 75 percent of university students found it difficult transitioning to remote online learning. Now as campuses re-open, students have had to re-adjust to being in a classroom again under new conditions.

So, how are students handling the transition to the new norms of learning?

La Trobe University’s Master of Financial Analysis student Charlene Espique says that having physical classes during her last semester of studies brings back the feeling of what it’s like to be a university student.

“This is the highlight I would like to end my uni. Having face-to-face classes before I graduate because I spent a year doing online classes and I really miss uni,” she says.

“I really like the subjects. My performance in studying this semester is better compared to last semester,” she says.

However, other students had been enjoying online lectures and are still working on getting re-accustomed to the delivery of lectures on campus.

 

To read more perspectives on students’ study transitions, go to Rei’s full article on La Trobe’s upstart magazine: click HERE. You also can follow Rei on Twitter: @ReiFortes_86

Photo by Element5 Digital on Unsplash