Higher Education in a Post-Pandemic World

Abstract

The pandemic caused major disruptions in academic life and led educational institutions to adopt online learning which is likely to leave its mark on post-pandemic higher education. The aim of this study was to contribute to the effort of overcoming the challenges of higher education during the fragile period of transitioning to the post-pandemic era. The objectives were to investigate undergraduate students’ experience during and after the pandemic and to identify the factors that affect their satisfaction with online and in-person learning. To meet these objectives, environmental students, recruited with multistage sampling, were administered questionnaires. Results showed that satisfaction with in-person learning was higher than online learning pointing to a preference for face-to-face modes of education. Although students were optimistic during the transition to the post-pandemic period, the pandemic caused students more stress over their studies than economic difficulties. Moreover, students’ satisfaction with online learning was mostly affected by their anxiety about their studies due to the pandemic, their demographic characteristics, and the type of information sources they used to obtain information about COVID-19. On the other hand, satisfaction with in-person learning was affected by information sources on COVID-19 and their parents’ occupation. Finally, students acknowledged the importance of protecting the environment and biodiversity in order to prevent pandemic outbreaks in the future.