Learned helplessness and mental health issues related to distance learning due to COVID-19

Abstract

When the COVID-19 pandemic struck in March 2020, universities worldwide were forced to suddenly move all in-person students online. In isolation and away from their regular structures and coping mechanisms, students were forced to rely on online learning technology (OLT) as a full replacement for in-person learning. We hypothesize that students in this circumstance will experience feelings of learned helplessness regarding OLT and suffer from overall poorer mental health. We present a mixed-methods study to investigate these phenomena during the Spring 2020 semester among a diverse group of students. We explore multiple factors that contributed to these phenomena, such as motivation, growing exhaustion with online learning, and feelings of connectedness that were lost and cannot be recreated via online meeting software.