Already in mid-May, the WiSo Faculty, under the direction of Prof. Dr. Detlef Fetchenhauer (WiSo Chair of Economic and Social Psychology), conducted an online survey to find out how students experience the summer term, which has been shaped by the corona pandemic. A total of 761 students had participated.
An overview of the most important results:
- Overall, online teaching is rated very positively by the students. On a six-level scale, almost two thirds (64%) have ticked a "two" or even "one".
- The positive aspects of online teaching are mainly mentioned by the students as "time saving", "flexibility" and "efficiency", even if some students miss the "personal contact with the teachers".
- In addition, about 70% of all respondents said that the technology works "well" or "very well", only 6% would like "more technical support".
- In line with this positive assessment, about three-quarters of all respondents can imagine that a part of all courses will be held online in the future semesters as well.
- However, these positive results should not hide the fact that the changes caused by corona are a considerable burden for at least a part of all students.
- For example, almost 20% of all respondents have lost their part-time jobs as a result of Corona, and another 10% fear that this could happen to them in the future.
- Moreover, 46% of all respondents expect to acquire fewer credit points this semester than they would have acquired without Corona, while only 13% believe they will acquire more credit points.
Particularly worrying is the fact that in a screening instrument for measuring depression and anxiety disorders, about 30% of the students showed "mild" symptoms, and 15% even "moderate" or "severe" symptoms. For example, more than half of all respondents said they suffered from "depression, melancholy or hopelessness" at least "on some days", more than 40% said they were unable to "stop or control their worries".
Conclusion: Overall, the picture is mixed. Within a very short time, the faculty has succeeded in completely converting its teaching to online formats, which are predominantly rated as good by the students. Nevertheless, students expect their objective performance (i.e. the number of credit points) to decline and some of them are struggling with financial and psychological problems.
The responsibles of the University of Cologne and the WiSo Faculty are aware that the current situation is a great burden for their students and continue to try to keep the negative consequences of the corona pandemic as low as possible.
Thanks to the dedicated commitment of many of the staff, flexible and creative solutions have been found and implemented in many places. For example, a generous free trial regulation has been adopted for the examinations this semester: Exams taken between April 4, 2020 and September 30, 2020 which are not passed will be considered as not taken.
The interlinked counselling and support services in the social and psychological field, offerd by central and decentralised university institutions and external partners were largely maintained, also under the given circumstances. In addition, the WiSo-Faculty offers individual study and career advice online. The faculty will continue to consciously take its responsibility for its students. To enable our students to complete their studies as smoothly as possible will remain the focus of our activities in the coming semester.
