ONLINE LEARNING AND MENTAL STRESS DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC LOCKDOWN: IMPLICATION FOR UNDERGRADUATES’ MENTAL WELL-BEING

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic lockdown prompted all schools around the world, including Nigeria, to go online to continue education. Since most universities in Nigeria were not ready for a full scale online learning, the Emergency Remote Teaching (ERT) that was set up created some challenges for undergraduates. This study was carried out to find out university undergraduates’ perspective of mental stress caused by online learning, and its implication for their mental health. Descriptive survey of the non-experimental design was employed. One research question and two hypotheses were examined. Sample comprised one hundred and twenty-one (121) undergraduates. A 13-item instrument titled “Online Learning and Mental Stress Questionnaire” (OLMSQ) (r = .87) was administered. Analysis was done using Mean (2.5 benchmark), Standard Deviation, Independent Samples t-test and One-Way ANOVA at 0.05 alpha level. Findings showed that online learning influenced university undergraduates’ mental well-being (X = 2.99). There was no significant difference in undergraduates’ perceptions of mental stress across gender (t = -1.952; df = 119; p>.05) or degree of study (F (2; 118) =.40; p> 0.05).This necessitates immediate action by university administrators and other stakeholders to prevent stress and its detrimental effects on undergraduate mental health.