Natl. J. Physiol. Pharm. Pharmacol. (2025), Vol. 15(6): 301-307

Original Research

10.5455/NJPPP.2025.v15.i6.1

A study on the effects of online classes and different student populations during the COVID-19 pandemic

Akshita Lingamneni¹ and Rachula Daniel^2*

¹CRMI (Compulsory Rotating Medical Intern), SRM Medical College Hospital and Research Centre, SRM Institute of Science and Technology, Kattankulathur, India

²Department of Physiology, SRM Medical College Hospital and Research Centre, SRM Institute of Science and Technology, Kattankulathur, India

*Corresponding Author: Akshita Lingamneni. Department of Physiology, SRM Medical College Hospital and Research Centre, SRM Institute of Science and Technology, Kattankulathur, India. Email: ramaraola2 [at] gmail.com

Submitted: 28/11/2024 Revised: 07/05/2025 Accepted: 15/05/2025 Published: 31/06/2025

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Abstract

Background: The outbreak of COVID-19 had a great impact on our everyday lives. People of all professions have been tremendously affected by the pandemic and self-isolation. The lockdown had serious implications for mental health. Many students seldom faced issues and were not able to cope with a sudden change in classes and overall education.

Aim: The aim of this study was to identify the factors affecting students’ performance in online classes during the pandemic period of COVID-19.

Study Design: A descriptive cross-sectional study.

Methods: The respondents were informed about the objective of the study. They were assured about the confidentiality of data. The information used in this study was gathered through an online survey, which was built using Google Forms. It was circulated through social media. Data has been collected from 315 respondents who were studying in schools and universities.

Results: Three hundred fifteen responses were analysed. Descriptive statistics show that 33.1% of the respondents belonged to schools and the rest 66.9% belonged to universities. Only 25% of students thought online classes were better than offline mode. Seventy percent of students agreed that offline learning is more effective than online classes. Seventy-five percent of students agreed that they do not get to spend time with their family members, even though they attend online classes. Students faced difficulties like: Itching in the eyes, watering of eyes, headache, a feeling of dullness, reduced sleep and waking up tired, nausea and dizziness, blurred/double vision, dry/red eyes, neck/back pain

Conclusion: The start of online classes has proved to be a great burden and stressor for the student population.

Keywords: COVID-19*/epidemiology, Mental health, Pandemics, Children and Youth, COVID-19; Impact, Online education, Students.

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Introduction

The COVID-19 pandemic declared by the World Health Organization has affected many countries, rendering everyday lives halted (Lim et al., 2022). The outbreak of COVID-19 had a great impact on our everyday lives. People of all professions have been tremendously affected by the pandemic and self-isolation. The lockdown had serious implications for mental health. The COVID-19 outbreak affected all sections of society, as people were asked to self-quarantine in their homes to prevent the spread of the virus. The lockdown had serious implications on mental health, resulting in psychological problems, including frustration, stress, and depression (Chaturvedi et al., 2021). Many students seldom faced issues and were not able to cope with a sudden change in classes and overall education. A significant chain-mediating effect was found of family communication, loneliness, and depression between social support and college students’ degree of support for online learning (Huang et al., 2022). Students of various age groups were deeply impacted by the pandemic and its havoc. We conducted a survey of 315 individuals of different age groups from various educational institutes, including schools and colleges. We mainly focused on assessing the impact of online education. The study also identified the physical burden of online education on the student population.

The aim was to identify the factors affecting students’ performance in online classes during the COVID-19 pandemic.

This was a descriptive cross-sectional study wherein the variables used were students’ satisfaction, their struggles, and their expectations.

The results showed the impact of online classes on the student population.

The online classes had a great impact on the student.

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Materials and Methods

This was a descriptive cross-sectional study in which data was collected from 315 respondents who were students studying in schools and universities, regarding students’ satisfaction, their struggles and their expectations about online classes during the COVID pandemic. The Institutional Ethics Committee approval was obtained for the study.

The study included students aged 11–32 years and excluded individuals below 11 and above 32 years of age. Among the participants, there were 168 females, 146 males, and one individual who did not want to share the identity. It was conducted from August to October 2022 in SRM Medical College, Kattankulathur, India. The questionnaire consists of demographic variables like gender, age group, and educational status, along with the occupation of the parents. The second part of the questionnaire contains questions about the effects of online classes. The above variables were assessed to obtain the results. In this cross-sectional research, the respondents were informed about the objective of the study. They were assured of data confidentiality. The information used in this study was gathered through an online survey that was created using Google Forms. It was circulated through social media.

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Results

Question 1

Ages involved in the study (Fig. 1)

Question 2

Gender

Fig. 1. Various age groups participated.

Question 3

Category

Question 4

Father’s occupation

Question 5

Mother’s occupation

Question 6

Father’s education

Question 7

Mother’s education

Question 8

Family income (per month)

Question 9

Online learning is interesting for you

Question 10

Online classes are better than offline classes

Question 11

I can pay the most attention in an online class

Question 12

Practically, learning is easy in the online mode

Fig. 2. Visual symptoms.

Question 13

I feel active and confident in online classes

Question 14

It is easier to learn online

Question 15

The interaction with the teacher was minimal

Question 16

Able to spend more time with family

Question 17

Is there any kind of stress you deel at times? (Fig. 3)

Question 18

How long can one focus without distraction?

Fig. 3. Physical and mental health.

Question 19

Do you feel any of these discomforts after a long day of classes? (Fig. 2)

(Can select multiple options)

Question 20

Are you able to access classes without any connection issues?

Question 21

What would you prefer?

Question 22

How well can one learn alone?

(1 – very poor, 2 – poor, 3 – moderate, 4 – good, 5 – excellently well)

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Results

There were 315 responses that were received and analysed. Descriptive statistics show that 33.1% of the respondents belonged to schools and the rest 66.9% belonged to universities. Only 39 (25%) of students thought online classes were better than offline mode, and 34 students agreed that they could pay the utmost attention during online classes. Two hundered twenty one students (70%) of students agreed that offline learning is more effective than online classes. 239 students (75%) of students agreed that they do not get to spend time with their family members, even though they attend online classes.

The average time a student was able to focus without distraction was 45 minutes. A total of 199 students faced connectivity issues during online classes. This is a major challenge. A total of 204 students preferred studying with friends in the school or library rather than studying alone at home. Students faced difficulties like: Itching in the eyes, watering of the eyes, headache, a feeling of dullness, reduced sleep and waking up tired, nausea and dizziness, blurred/double vision, dry/red eyes, and neck/back pain.

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Discussion

Online classes, like a coin, have two sides. The positive side is that students get a lot of time for self-study. We can attend classes from the comforts of our homes, thus reducing the time for commuting. However, it is very easy to become distracted during online classes. In online classes, teaching intensity varies more than in offline classes. Self-monitoring and self-motivation play important roles in online classes. Online learning is good to an extent, but the main learning experience is when hands-on practical sessions are conducted. Successful learning is a continuous and competitive process because offline teaching is comparatively effective. The major failings of online education are social skills. Overall, online classes do work in times of emergencies like the pandemic, but individually, the output of the average student is reduced exponentially due to various conditions. Online learning can have a stressful influence on students. Students attending online classes seldom lose interest and are easily distracted. There is a lack of proper guidance, and this has an impact on students’ educational preferences as well. Interactions with teachers and peer groups happen better when we attend classes and meet them physically. Online classes can deeply downgrade subjects like physical education, for which a didactic approach cannot be effective. Four independent factors were used in the study: quality of instructor, course design, prompt feedback, and expectation of students, all positively impacting student satisfaction, which can further positively impact student performance. For educational management, these four factors are essential to achieve a high level of satisfaction and performance in online courses (Gopal et al., 2021).

E-learning is a powerful tool for teaching medical students. However, successful implementation of online learning in the curriculum requires a well-thought-out strategy and an active approach (Bączek et al., 2021). The COVID-19 pandemic and resulting cancellation of the medical student clinical rotations pose unique challenges to students’ Education (Byrnes et al., 2020). The fear of COVID-19 was associated with a greater Y-BOCS score, suggesting that an environment (COVID-19 pandemic) × psychology (fear and/or anxiety) interaction might be involved in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and that a fear of negative events might play a role in the etiology of OCD (Ji et al., 2020). There was observed to be a relationship and effect between components of college education, overall perception, and students’ performance (Panakaje et al., 2022). Although the students reported no issues related to technological access, they were most troubled by technical problems during online study. For teachers, among the three types of challenges, they were most frustrated by pedagogical ones, especially students’ disengagement in online classes (Zou et al., 2021). The self-directed learning approach and attitude can negatively predict students’ online cognitive fatigue and positively predict their flow (Shao et al., 2022). Coping styles with COVID-19 partially mediate the association between stress-related lifestyle behaviors and anxiety, and depression (Zhang et al., 2023).

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Acknowledgments

None.

Conflict of interest

None.

Funding

None.

Author’s contributions

None.

Data availability

None.

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