Stress, Affective Responses, and Coping Mechanisms of Canadian University Students Toward Online Learning During the COVID-19 Lockdown

ABSTRACT This study investigated the sources of stress, affective responses, and coping mechanisms among Canadian university students toward online learning during the COVID-19 lockdown. Based on a survey of 430 undergraduate and graduate students at a Canadian University in Ontario, Canada, it was found that a leading source of student stress is technology unreliability, followed closely by academic experience. The most frequent affective response is disaffection, particularly passive disengagement, as well as feeling distracted and unfocused. Problem-focused coping, especially seeking university help and self-organization, was the dominant approach followed by students in dealing with and trying to overcome the challenges associated with online learning. Institutional managers should dedicate resources to support online services, to offer student training in self-organization techniques, and to invest in reliable learning management systems. Instructors should clearly communicate their academic expectations and avoid ambiguity, encourage students to contact them directly, design course FAQ sections, and allocate extra time to accommodate unexpected technical glitches. Students should embrace the notion of technology unreliability, ambiguity, uncertainty, and other unexpected issues. It is their responsibility to arrange a productive learning environment at home, organize themselves, draw a line between school and home tasks, and secure formal or informal support if needed.