The Relationship between the Students’ Attitude toward Distance Learning, Alienation from Studying and Emotional Burnout

This article describes the study of the link between the students' preference for distance or traditional education and alienation from studying and emotional burnout.Additional variables such as the subjective evaluation of the success of studies, self-control, and academic control were also analysed.An empirical study was conducted on a sample of 359 students using the questionnaire to evaluate 1) preferred forms of education, 2) subjective alienation and burnout for students by E.N.Osin, 3) the scale of academic control by R.Perry and 4) the short scale of self-control by J.Tangney.Data analysis showed that a cautious, rather negative attitude toward distance learning prevailed among students, combined with a preference for traditional and mixed forms of education.Positive correlations were found between the preference for distance learning and alienation and burnout, as well as negative correlations with academic performance, self-control, and academic control.Structural equation modelling confirmed the assumption that the preference for distance learning is directly related to alienation and burnout, as well as indirectly (through burnout and alienation) and inversely related to self-control and academic control.It is concluded that under the conditions of forced distance learning at a university caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the preference for distance learning is more typical for less successful students experiencing alienation from study and emotional burnout, combined with a lower level of academic control and self-control.

 

           

Introduction

The period of distance learning during the COVID-19 pandemic provided an important experience for all participants in this process that requires reflection and scientific analysis.In its most general form, the evaluation of this experience is reflected in whether the participants of the educational process (first of all, students) consider distance learning as a preferable or undesirable option.The observed range of views may be a consequence of individual characteristics of learning activities in their motivational and regulatory aspects.The study of the relationship between students’ peculiarities and their preference for distance or traditional format of learning is of practical importance for expanding the opportunities for individualization of learning.

The probable reason for preference of distance learning as an alternative to a traditional one is a negative attitude to the latter, caused by alienation from study and emotional burnout.These negative motivational and emotional states are combined with an unproductive profile of academic motivation and are expressed, first of all, in loss of meaning of learning activities, and interest in learning [5—8].The main causes of emotional burnout are high demands with a lack of resources in the learning environment [14].Students’ burnout has some negative consequences, including, along with a drop in motivation, a decrease in academic achievement (the results of a recent meta-analysis demonstrate the effect size r = -0.24 [16]) and life satisfaction [11].Various personal resources, such as self-control [21], emotional intelligence [11], dispositional optimism and self-efficacy [23], help counteract academic burnout.

The state of emotional burnout is closely related to alienation from studying [7].According to E.N.Osin, the importance of the category of alienation in the research field of learning activities is determined by the fact that it gives a well-developed theoretical basis for the analysis of more specific, private phenomena, such as burnout, extrinsic motivation, cynicism [7].Without delving into theoretical approaches to the analysis of alienation, discussed in detail in the works of other authors [5; 6], we note that alienation from studying is manifested in the experience of powerlessness and meaninglessness of learning, reduction of interest, superficiality, nihilism, and dissatisfaction with education [5; 7].E.N.Osin points out the excessive workload, lack of clear learning objectives and assessment criteria, lack of support from teachers and scarcity of opportunities for creativity and choice as the main reasons for learning alienation [7; 10].Since alienation, like burnout, is associated with depressed academic success [7], monitoring of academic success is desirable in investigating their association with a preference for distance learning.

Unfavourable characteristics of the learning environment (for example, insufficiently clear goals and criteria) and inadequate requirements, making it difficult for a student to succeed, may thereby reduce the sense of controllability of learning activities.Perceived academic control represents the students’ perceptions of their impact on academic achievement and their characteristics necessary for academic success, including intelligence, knowledge and skills, willpower, social skills, etc.[18].Academic control is related to academic performance and intention to drop out or discontinue a course, academic motivation, and emotional states in learning activities (inverse correlations with boredom and anxiety) [13; 18; 20].All this suggests that a decrease in academic control can be an important factor of emotional burnout and learning alienation.

Self-control as an ability to manage one’s thoughts, feelings, and actions in accordance with a long-term meaningful goal and to resist more attractive current temptations plays an important role in learning activities [12; 22].Self-control is one of the most significant predictors of academic achievement at all stages of learning: results of a meta-analysis show that averaged over 138 samples, the partial correlation of self-control (measured with the Big Five Conscientiousness Scale) with academic achievement after controlling for intelligence is 0.24 [19].Self-control is inversely related to students’ burnout and is a moderator of the relationship between burnout and academic performance [21], which indicates its important role in preventing burnout and its negative consequences.Although pupils’ and students’ attitudes towards distance learning were repeatedly studied [1; 4; 17], we could not find any information concerning the link between distance learning preference and the considered psychological characteristics.Considering the above-mentioned manifestations of burnout and alienation, it was suggested that these states are associated with a negative attitude to traditional learning and a preference for distance learning.Thus, this study tested the hypothesis that preference for distance learning is more typical for students who experience emotional burnout and alienation from study, combined with low academic and self-control.At the same time, the connection of self-control and academic control with a preference for distance learning can be mediated through emotional burnout and alienation from studying.

Sample and Measures

Participants.Sample comprised 359 university students, 221 females (61.6% of the sample) and 138 males (38.4%), mean age M19.34; SD=2.27.The majority of the respondents are studying in the humanities, social sciences, and economics in Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation (46%) and National Research University Higher School of Economics (41%).The survey was conducted online from March 31 to April 5, 2020, it was launched two weeks after the transition to distance learning at these universities, which took place on March 17, 2020, so that each participant had at least two weeks of experience with distance learning.According to the survey data, most survey participants (97%) had not encountered distance learning before the introduction of distance learning in higher education.

Measures.The original questionnaire was used to measure preference for distance learning.It consisted of three questions, each had three alternative answers:

1. Think in general about distance learning (DL).From your point of view: is DL worse than the traditional format (1 point), is DL no better, no worse (2 points), is DL better than the traditional format (3 points)?
2. From your point of view, will the quality of education as a result of the transition to DL: decrease (1), remain the same (2), increase (3)?
3. In general, would you prefer: to return to the traditional format (1), to switch to blended learning (2), to stay on DL (3)?

The mean score for the three questions was used as an indicator of preference for distance learning.The Cronbach’s α coefficients for this and other scales used, which confirm their sufficient internal consistency, are presented in Table 1.

Alienation from studying was measured using E.N.Osin’s subjective alienation questionnaire for students [7] based on S.Maddi’s concept of alienation [15].The questionnaire includes 16 positive items describing four forms of alienation: vegetativeness, powerlessness, nihilism, and adventurousness.In this study, a general index of “alienation from studying” was used.

Diagnostics of emotional burnout was carried out using a burnout scale for students by E.N.Osin [7].It includes nine positive items with a six-point scale, grouped into three subscales: emotional exhaustion, cynicism, feeling of incompetence.In this study we used an overall measure of burnout. R.Perry’s scale [18] in adaptation by T.O.Gordeeva [2] was used to estimate the perceived academic control.It includes eight statements (four positive and four reversed items), agreement with each of them is evaluated on a five-point scale.

Self-control was measured using J.P. Tangney, R.L.Baumeister, and A.L. Boone’s short self-control scale [22] as adapted by T.O.Gordeeva et al.[3].The scale consists of 13 items (four positive and nine reversed), agreement with which is assessed on a five-point scale.

To obtain information about academic success, students were asked to rate their average performance in the last session on a scale: “1 (Low — I am among 25% of the least successful students), “2 (Below average)”, “3 (Average)”, “4 (Above average)”, “5 (High — I am among 25% of the most successful students)” [7].Such a scale cannot be recognized as an objective measure of academic performance similar to exam grades, but it characterizes subjective evaluation of academic success (hereinafter for short — “academic success”), which is of the greatest interest in the context of the objectives of this study, since it is subjective experience of failure that contributes to negative states like emotional burnout and alienation from the study.

Data processing was conducted using R, structural equation modelling (SEM) was performed in Mplus 8.To estimate the statistical significance of mediated effects in Mplus, bootstrap analysis was used (5000 samples) [24].The statistical significance of the deviation in the frequency of different response options to the questions of the questionnaire from the expected probability (33.3%) was estimated using the chi-square test with the Yates’ correction («prop.test» in R).

Results

Analysis of preference or rejection of distance learning based on answers to each item shows that students more often believe that compared to the traditional format it is worse or less preferable (41.2%; deviation from expected probability is significant: χ2(1)=9.79; p ≤ 0.01) and only 22.3% (χ2(1)=19.12; p ≤ 0.001) believe that it is better.The majority of students (57.4%; χ2(1)=92.65; p ≤ 0.001) believe that due to the transition to a distance learning format, the quality of education will decrease, and the proportion of those who expect an increase in quality is only 18.1% (χ2(1)=36.63; p ≤ 0.001).At the same time, only 15% (χ2(1)=53.06; p ≤ 0.001) of the respondents would like to stay in distance learning, 44.6% (χ2(1)=20.02; p ≤ 0.001) would like to return to the traditional format, but the proportion of those who would prefer a mixed format is also quite significant (40.4%; χ2(1)=7.81; p ≤ 0.01).The answers to these questions correlate closely with each other (0.48 ≤ r ≤ 0.64), which allows combining them into a distance learning preference scale with a reliability coefficient (Cronbach’s α) of 0.75.

The results of the correlation analysis presented in the table below show that preference for distance learning is directly related to alienation from studying, burnout, and inversely related to academic control.Weak inverse correlations were also revealed with self-control and academic performance.Consequently, in general, distance learning looks more attractive for students with lower success in learning activities, for those who are more characterized by emotional burnout and alienation from learning activities.

Alienation from studying and burnout showed the expected close direct corre

Table 1

Descriptive statistics and correlations between study variables (N = 359)

lation.Self-control and academic control demonstrated significant correlations with alienation and burnout.Academic success showed correlations with all other variables, while the strongest (inverse) correlations were with alienation and burnout.Weak inverse correlations were found between age and academic control and academic success.Gender showed a correlation only with academic success: the latter was slightly higher in female.

To analyse the contribution of academic success, alienation, and burnout in the preference for distance learning, considering the relationships between them, SEM was applied.Using SEM, we also tested the hypothesis of a mediated relationship of academic control and self-control with the distance learning preference factor, composed of three categorical indicators (relevant items).Academic success, burnout, and alienation from study were considered as direct predictors of distance learning preference in the model.In turn, these three variables were considered as a function of self-control and academic control.After a preliminary evaluation of the model based on modification indices (Lagrange multiplier test), the covariance between self-control and academic control was introduced into the model.The resulting model (see Figure 1) showed a good fit to the data: χ2 = 26.19 (WLSMV estimator); df = 12; p = 0.01; CFI = 0.986; TLI = 0.967; RMSEA = 0.057; 90%-CI for RMSEA: 0.027-0.088; PCLOSE = 0.306; N = 359.

A bootstrap analysis of mediated relationships showed statistically significant, though rather weak, inverse associations of preference for distance learning through burnout and alienation with both academic control (-0.15; p ≤ 0.001) and self-control (-0.13; ≤ 0.001).

Discussion

The prevailing in our sample cautious, rather negative attitudes toward distance learning, manifested in a preference for traditional and mixed forms, corresponds to the results of other foreign and domestic studies

Fig. 1. Structural model of relationships between preference for distant learning, alienation from studying, emotional burnout and their predictors (dashed line indicates insignificant path, the other path coefficients are significant at p ≤0.05)

[1; 17].Comparing the quality of learning in the traditional and distance forms, students rate traditional education higher, which corresponds to the results of studies conducted before the pandemic [4].Blended learning, according to our data, is also much more likely to be rated as preferable to distance learning.It means that students are aware of the differences between these formats and their implications for educational quality.This fact is consistent with the findings of a recent study showing positive attitudes toward blended learning among undergraduate and graduate students [9].

In accordance with the results of past studies, burnout and alienation from study showed a close intercorrelation, as well as inverse correlations with academic success [7].Burnout and alienation are inversely related to academic control and self-control, which once again confirms the important role of these personal resources in the prevention of such conditions [21].

The obtained results testify to the confirmation of the hypothesis: preference for distance learning is positively and directly connected with alienation and burnout.Besides, mediated inverse relations of distance learning preference with self-control and academic control were revealed.Although the correlational design does not provide a basis for conclusions about the causal relationship, the obtained pattern of relationships corresponds to the assumption that lacks personal resources (self-control) together with low perceived academic control contribute to burnout and alienation from studying, which is expressed in a negative attitude towards the traditional learning and preference for distance learning.

The results of the study do not answer the question of whether distance learning is more or less effective for the students who prefer it.Given that the role of external control is lower in distance learning, self-control and self-regulation should play a more important role.Nevertheless, paradoxically, distance learning is preferred by students with less self-control.This may mean that for students who prefer the distance form, its effectiveness may actually be lower.Testing this assumption constitutes the perspective of the study.

Perhaps the situation of transition from habitual, traditional to new, distance learning due to the stress of adapting to a new environment influenced the evaluation of its preference.The adaptation to the conditions of

distance learning that requires a higher level of self-regulation and self-control should proceed more favourably in more successful students with a lower level of burnout and alienation, so that in such a situation they have less reason to reject distance learning than in burnt-out students with less self-control.However, the results of our study show the opposite: it is the burnt-out students who are more inclined to prefer distance learning, probably due to the fact that they are less adapted to the traditional one.

A limitation of the study is the moderate representativeness of the sample, which includes mainly students from two Moscow universities, so that verification in other student samples is required.The possibility of generalizing conclusions is also limited by the fact that the experience of distance learning was gained by the participants under conditions of an emergency and forced transition to it due to the unfolding pandemic of COVID-19.Insufficient readiness of universities to implementing distance learning, which caused inevitable difficulties, combined with its forced introduction, frustrating the need for autonomy in students, could be important factors that reduce the subjective attractiveness of this form of learning.This means that the results of this study characterize not the attitude to distance education in general, but rather to that particular form of its implementation, which took place in Moscow universities at the beginning of the pandemic.

The conclusions obtained in the study are limited in that they state only students’ preferences, without revealing their subjective basis.The questions of how students with different individual characteristics explain their preferences, what criteria they are guided by in their evaluation require a special analysis, which constitutes the perspective of this study.

Conclusions

The preference for distance or traditional forms of education reflects the motivational and regulatory features of students’ learning activities.The preference for distance learning by students experiencing alienation from studying and emotional burnout, revealed in this study, may mean that the desire to find a new, more suitable format that better suits their needs and characteristics, caused by the difficulty of adapting to the traditional format lies behind it.Subsequent studies of the relationship between personality characteristics and educational activities of students with a preference for different forms of education are of great importance for the effective individualization of education in the context of the further spread of distance and mixed forms.

In the practice of distance learning, it should be considered that the preference for this form is more a characteristic of students experiencing negative motivational states in their studies, combined with a relatively low formation of regulatory qualities: self-control and academic control.Considering the great importance of self-control in distance learning, when developing distance courses for students who prefer this form of education, it is desirable to provide special measures that contribute to the maintenance and development of self-control.

From a practical point of view, it is important to conclude that the transition to distance learning at a university for most students looks like an unattractive alternative to traditional education that threatens the quality of education, while blended learning is assessed much more positively.Therefore, if we can choose between distance learning and blended learning in situations like the current pandemic, the use of blended learning in universities seems more justified.

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