Connectivity in University Education: Student Satisfaction and Performance Amongst COVID-19 Pandemic

Universities and educational institutions have experienced an accelerated need to develop and stabilize online learning environment. While pre-existing programs and educational platforms provided a basis for the expansion of online learning, it is unclear how such change influences student experience from a connectivity perspective. This study examines survey data from 217 students from Yonsei University Mirae Campus in South Korea to understand how students’ satisfaction and performance may be affected by diverse states of connectivity. Results suggest that feeling properly connected is positively associated with overall satisfaction in college life. In addition, more students felt properly connected and satisfied in offline than online semesters, while the perception of under-connection was more strongly associated with dissatisfaction in online semesters. Meanwhile, the relationship between connectivity and students’ performance, as well as their satisfaction on the performance, were all insignificant. Nor was the result different between online and offline semesters. This implies that while online and offline education both requires a system to enhance student performance and satisfaction, it also needs to establish a different approach towards connectivity for students in online and offline contexts.