E-Learning Fatigue and the Cognitive, Educational, and Emotional Impacts on Communication Sciences and Disorders Students During COVID-19

ABSTRACT

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate e-learning fatigue;the cognitive, educational, and emotional impacts on university students;and attitudes toward different course delivery modes after more than a year of COVID-19--mandated distance education in the United States. Method: A survey consisting of 25 Likert items was conducted with a total of 50 graduate and undergraduate students, mostly women between the ages of 18 and 45 years, majoring in communication sciences and disorders (CSD) at a Historically Black College/University (HBCU). Results: Younger, undergraduate, and Black/African American students reported being most unfavorably impacted by the e-learning requirements of COVID-19. Students without a prior history of online and hybrid learning also reported unfavorable effects, but not as consistently. Participants reporting higher levels of e-learning fatigue noted the greatest difficulties across all major areas of the study learning, mental health, and attitudes toward e-learning. Higher e-learning fatigue was correlated with a higher negative impact on perceptions of future clinical effectiveness. Conclusions: Results show e-learning fatigue and the educational and emotional challenges of mandated e-learning during COVID-19 disproportionately affected certain groups of students, and they reported unfavorable views of elearning and future clinical ability. This is the first study to examine how CSD students were affected by required distance learning during the pandemic. Future investigations may examine the long-term effects of the pandemic on students and their clinical skills, groups most susceptible to the negative impacts of e-learning, and ways to mitigate these effects to improve students' educational experiences and emotional well-being.