Online education during COVID-19: perception of academic stress and emotional intelligence coping strategies among college students

Abstract

PurposeDue to COVID-19 pandemic, the government around the world has closed all the educational institutions to control the spread of disease, which is creating a direct impact on students, educators and institutions. The sudden shift from the physical classroom to virtual space is creating a disruption among students. The purpose of this study was to analyze the perception of academic stress experienced by students during current online education and coping strategies using emotional intelligence adopted by them.Design/methodology/approachUsing a purposive sampling method, data were collected on a sample of 94 students pursuing undergraduation and postgraduation from two Indian cities, Ahmedabad, and Mumbai. The survey was conducted using two online questionnaires, Perceptions of Academic Stress Scale and Emotional Intelligence Scale and analyzed using descriptive statistics with chi-square analysis. A telephonic discussion was also conducted with some respondents to understand different coping strategies used by them to handle the stress.FindingsThe findings indicated significant differences were observed between the fear of academic failure and online and home environment among male and female students. Many of them have started diverting themselves to various creative activities and taking up courses that are helping them to learn new technical skills. By using emotional intelligence and distancing from boredom and depressive thoughts, students were trying to cope with negative effects arising from the current pandemic situation.Research limitations/implicationsThis research study will be beneficial to educators, scholars, students, parents and will add a contribution to its field. However, the key factors studied were limited to a small sample from selected institutions and cities, which cannot be used to generalize to a large population.Practical implicationsThe findings of this paper will be useful to assess the key challenges of online education especially at the time when it is the only option.Social implicationsThe findings of this paper will be beneficial to understand the academic stress experienced by students and how a cultural and educational modification will be implemented.Originality/valueThis research study was conducted during the lockdown in India (April–May 2020), and the results derived through it are original in nature.