Psychological Impacts Of Covid-19 On Graduate Students In Mardan, Pakistan

Abstract

Natural disaster not only brings physical but also psychological destruction. The same is true of the current surge of Covid-19, which has affected mankind across the globe both, at physical and psychological level. The current study is set to focus on the psychological impacts of Covid-19 on the graduate students at Abdul Wali Khan University Mardan. In order to gauge the psychological impact of Covid-19, a close-ended questionnaire was designed. This study adapted Horwitz, Horwitz and Cope (1986) Foreign language classroom anxiety scale (FLCAS) for investigating test anxiety and fear of negative evaluation, faced by the learners. The state-specific anxiety is taken as an approach to study these aspects of anxiety.  A descriptive analysis of the data was conducted which revealed that these learners got anxious because of fear of negative evaluation and test-anxiety regarding online classes, preparing assignments and taking online exams. Further, insufficient knowledge about the topic, lacking classroom environment and technical skills made them irritate to organize their thoughts while preparing assignments. The findings showed that anxiety can be mitigated if the teacher are properly trained in online teaching techniques enabling them to create an online academic environment. Moreover, the students need to be facilitated and encouraged to actively participate in online teaching activities. The instructor should engage the students through collaborative tasks, which will help to create a comfortable and student friendly environment for learning.