Factors influencing graduate students’ perception of online and distance learning in Nepal

Abstract

This study explored the perception of online and distance learning (ODL) experienced by postgraduate students in Nepal during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. An online survey on Graduate Student Perception on ODL (GSPODL) with a five-point Likert-scale was designed and administered to 71 postgraduate (57 male and 14 female) students of science education in a public higher education institution in Nepal in spring 2020. A Principal Component Analysis with rotation in Varimax Kaiser Normalization was employed in the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (IBM SPSS 26) to construct six major components of students’ perception of course delivery and participation. These components were- Quality, Opportunity, Relevance, Development, Support, and Challenges. Mann-Whitney U Test or Kruskal-Wallis Test at 0.05 level of significance showed that the participants’ views about Quality, Opportunity, Relevance, and Support were significantly different across their place of Residence (rural and urban residences). Likewise, there was a significant difference in their views on the Relevancy of the ODL with respect to Device Use. There was no significant difference in their views across the variables Gender, Ethnicity, School Type, and Device Use in all other criteria. These results demonstrated that participants’ hometown location made a big difference in their perception of online and distance classes’ Quality.