Factors Influencing Students’ Behavior and Attitude towards Online Education during COVID-19

Abstract

Universities around the world have faced a new pandemic, forcing the closure of campuses that are now conducting educational activities on online platforms. The paper presents a survey about students behavior and attitudes towards online education in the pandemic period from the Technical University of Cluj Napoca, Romania. A group of 300 students participated. The questionnaire was structured in four parts to determine student’s individual characteristics, student’s needs, students’ knowledge in using virtual platforms and students’ quality preferences for online education. The students said that online education in a pandemic situation is beneficial for 78% of them. A total of 41.7% percent of students appreciated the teachers’ teaching skills and the quality of online courses since the beginning of the pandemic, and 18.7% percent of the students appreciated the additional online materials for study to support their education. However, students found online education stressful, but preferred online assessment for evaluation. This pandemic has led to the new stage of Education 4.0, online education, and the need to harmonize methods of education with the requirements of new generations.