Research summary
First-year students were not stressed because the technology was hard — they were stressed by how much of it arrived at once
Summarising the article
Perspectives on Online Learning and Technostress Experienced by Science and Non-science First-year University Students during COVID-19
Asst. Prof. Dr. Teerada (Ne) Chongkolrattanaporn · PASAA · 2023
The question
First-year students moved mid-course from classrooms to online learning. How did they view the two modes — live sessions and recorded material — and which kinds of technology stress did they feel? Did science and non-science students differ?
How it was done
A 45-item online questionnaire in Thai completed by 803 first-year students at one university, from a cohort of 6,778, in the 2020 academic year. Two sections used five-point Likert scales: 20 items on views of the two learning modes and 20 on four kinds of technostress — overload, complexity, insecurity and uncertainty. Content validity was reviewed by three specialists and the instrument was piloted; the two groups were compared with t-tests.
What it found
- Techno-overload stood clearly above the other three in both groups — 3.52 among science students and 3.64 among non-science students, out of 5.
- The other three all sat in the middle-to-low range — complexity 2.83 and 2.88, insecurity 2.95 and 2.96, uncertainty 2.73 and 2.95.
- Only one difference between the groups was significant: techno-uncertainty (t = −3.62, p < .01). Complexity (p = .42) and insecurity (p = .91) showed no difference at all, and overload sat exactly on the line (p = .05).
- On views of the modes, non-science students were more positive about both, but significantly so only for the recorded mode (t(801) = −2.13, p = .03) — 3.06 against 2.94.
- Every group's rating of online learning hovered around 3 out of 5 — neither liked nor disliked.
Why it matters
The finding points somewhere other than the usual remedy. When the high score is quantity while complexity is low, training people to use the tools is not the answer. What has to be managed is the number of platforms and the number of deadlines arriving together from different courses. The authors recommend reducing how many systems a single programme uses, and offering more recorded material for the group that responded better to it, because it lets students set their own pace.
Limits to know before citing this
One university, one cohort, during a period when the institution had mandated fully online teaching — a context that does not recur in normal conditions. The authors note the study is quantitative only and therefore cannot capture the texture of the experience, and they call for interviews as a follow-up. These are self-reported feelings, not measured workload.
Cite this work
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Chongkolrattanaporn, T. (2023). Perspectives on online learning and technostress experienced by science and non-science first-year university students during COVID-19. PASAA, 65(1), 203-233. https://doi.org/10.58837/chula.pasaa.65.1.8
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