Facilitators And Constraints Faced By Freshmen University Students In Online Classes During COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

This study explored the facilitators and constraintsfaced by freshmen university students who had not been exposed to face-to-face instruction due to Covid-19 pandemic. These students were taught using only online classes through Microsoft Teams Platform. A random sample of 2118 freshmen students were selected to participate in the study.A theory-based survey was developed by the researchers to collect data from the sample of the study. The results showed that freshmen students perceived online interaction and technical support as facilitators. Moreover, freshmen students perceived internet speed and connectivity as the major constraint during online. Furthermore, male students from social science colleges perceived higher technical support from the university than did female students. The study provided a number of theoretical and practical recommendations for the field of study.