Motivation
How did remote learning during COVID-19 affect student motivation?
Open access · cc by · source: Europe PMC
Emergency online learning decreased students' self-driven motivation and feelings of social connection, though overall energy levels remained surprisingly stable for experienced students.
Key findings
Students during remote learning reported significantly lower interest-driven motivation and a huge drop in social connection compared to students before the pandemic. Specifically, the sense of connection with peers saw a very large drop, with an effect size of 2.11. Unexpectedly, overall energy levels were slightly higher during remote learning, but this was not true for newly enrolled students, who struggled far more.
Methodology
Researchers compared survey responses from separate cohorts of university students in Austria and Germany. The pre-pandemic cohort consisted of 1,139 students, and the remote-learning cohort consisted of 1,835 students who completed surveys during the 2020 lockdown. Both cohorts reported on their motivational styles, their feelings of competence, autonomy, and relatedness, and their overall energy levels.
Limitations
To begin with, because the researchers compared different cohorts of students rather than tracking the same individuals over time, they cannot prove that the pandemic itself directly caused these psychological shifts. Additionally, the sample consisted largely of students majoring in education, the social sciences, or humanities, meaning these findings might not apply to other fields like engineering or natural sciences. Finally, the study only captured the initial months of forced remote learning, so it does not show how students' motivation or well-being might have changed as they adapted to online courses over a longer period.
How this study connects
Role on claims
Each row is a claim on a concept or method page where this paper supports, challenges, or qualifies the statement. Roles are hand-checked — not a model guess.
Supporting autonomy and satisfying basic psychological needs (autonomy, competence, and relatedness) fosters intrinsic motivation, which in turn enhances subjective vitality and feelings of energy.
Evidence for the claim as stated.
Sudden shifts to forced remote learning environments can significantly lower students' interest-driven motivation and peer connection, highlighting the fragility of motivation under environmental disruptions.
Evidence for the claim as stated.
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