Students: the missing perspective on the COVID experience

Seven months after the World Health Organization announced that the COVID-19 outbreak was a pandemic, higher education institutions in Europe still remain under pressure to deal with the disruption caused by the pandemic in the most appropriate way, reducing the negative effects on teaching and learning, research and societal engagement.

Internationalisation of higher education, particularly student mobility, was one of the most affected areas. Large numbers of students were stranded at their host institutions and exchange semesters suddenly became a remote learning experience.

The mental health of students was negatively impacted by the uncertainty and anxiety they were facing in their everyday lives. The help and support provided to students differed broadly from one institution to another.

The importance of student voices

The lessons we have learned from the first half of this year can help us to manage the crisis situation in a more structured and controlled way and improve the services offered to students. Listening to students’ voices is a crucial part of this and should not be overlooked.

Several surveys have been undertaken to investigate the different aspects of the impact of COVID-19 on higher education. To complete this picture, we need to get an insight into students’ perspectives. How have students experienced the disruption in their exchange programmes? And more importantly, does Erasmus students’ experience of COVID-19’s impact on their studies correspond to the experience of their sending and hosting institutions?

This article presents the main findings of a joint study conducted by the Erasmus Student Network (ESN) and the International Association of Universities (IAU), which attempts to shed light on the above-mentioned questions.

The ESN-IAU joint study compares the results of two surveys on COVID-19 impact; one conducted by IAU, which focuses on higher education institutions’ experience, and one carried out by ESN, focusing on the experience of students.

Comparing students’ and institutions’ perspectives

ESN’s survey was available to students who were taking part in exchange programmes in Europe between 19 March and 30 March 2020. During this relatively short period of time 21,930 answers were collected.

IAU developed its first IAU Global Survey on the impact of COVID-19 on higher education around the globe between 25 March and 17 April 2020. This survey collected answers from 424 higher education institutions, of which 194 were from Europe.

Before focusing on the comparison between the results of the two surveys, it is important to state that the methodologies differed and that they cover a slightly different time period. Notwithstanding these differences, a comparison between the results of the two surveys was possible and presents interesting findings.

Impact on student exchange and student support

Fifty-three per cent of higher education institutions in the IAU survey indicated that exchange students were stranded at their institutions, something that was confirmed by 42% of students in the ESN survey.

In the IAU survey, 42% of higher education institutions answered that contingency plans for student support were put in the place both at their and the partner higher education institutions, 34% had a contingency plan at their own institution only and 23% of institutions had no plan available.

In the ESN Survey, 58% of students indicated that they were supported by their host institutions during the pandemic and only 44.6% named their home university.

Despite the majority of higher education institutions and students having answered positively about the support provided, both surveys show that there is a not-negligible group of students who have not received support and might have faced a challenging situation.

Shift to online learning

Eighty-five per cent of higher education institutions and 85% of students agree that on-campus education has been partially or totally replaced by online learning.

Only 12% of higher education institutions indicated that classes were suspended completely, but they were focusing on developing new solutions for teaching and learning, such as self-study and online methodologies.

This result shows that the higher education sector reacted by seeking solutions to continue teaching and learning.

Communication with students

In the IAU report, 97% of higher education institutions responded that the right infrastructure was put in place in order to communicate with students.

The ESN report includes more detailed information on the topic of communication. It reveals that 74% of students confirmed the availability of information in English, 78% of students agreed on the availability of information regarding health measures and only 65% students answered that there was an adequate amount of information about travel restrictions.

The results of this comparative study confirm a certain degree of correspondence in students’ and higher education institutions’ perceptions of the impact of COVID-19 on higher education. The way European higher education institutions responded to the crisis was relatively rapid and successful.

However, it is important to make sure that contingency plans are available at all higher education institutions to diminish students’ negative experience during the crisis.

To improve the communication between higher education institutions and students, higher education institutions ought to review how information is distributed to students, the relevance of the information and the language used to convey it.

Quality of learning

The online shift appeared to be working well at most European higher education institutions, but it remains to be seen how the quality of learning will be affected by the shift from face-to-face to online teaching, especially when the situation changes from crisis management to a new normal for the new academic year.

Now that many higher education institutions are entering the new academic semester, there is a need to ensure a safe environment on campus and a right balance between face-to-face and distance learning.

The next academic year will definitely be one of blended learning and it will require more effort by both higher education institutions and students and a close dialogue between them in order to provide a meaningful learning experience. ESN and IAU are committed to working together and supporting higher education institutions and students in this effort.

Lucie Weissova is international relations manager at the School of Health and Welfare, Jönköping University, Sweden, and an intern at the International Association of Universities. Giorgio Marinoni is the manager of higher education and internationalisation at the International Association of Universities (IAU). Joana Ribau Leite is the liaison officer for quality education at the Erasmus Student Network AISBL (ESN). The joint paper is available on the IAU website and on the ESN website.