Advances in Social Science, Education and Humanities Research, volume 495

Proceedings of the International Conference on Social Science, Political Science, and

Humanities (ICoSPOLHUM 2020)

Students’ Perception on Online Learning During the

Covid-19 Pandemic
(A Case study of Universitas Malikussaleh Students)
Teuku Azhari1, Kurniawati1
1
Universitas Malikusssaleh
*
Corresponding author E-mail: kurniawati@unimal.ac.id
ABSTRACT
This study examines the students' perceptions towards online learning at Universitas Malikusaleh in Lhokseumawe
City during the Covid-19 pandemic. This study reviews the perceptions of students at this higher education institution
about the online learning process during the Covid-19 pandemic. The study covered the learning process, learning
environment, and learning motivation. The method used in this research is a quantitative approach where the
researchers distributed a self-administered questionnaire consisting of 16 items to the respondents online using Google
Form. 100 respondents from Universitas Malikussaleh across faculties participated in the questionnaires. The data
were then processed using SPSS Software. The results of the study exposed that students have negative attitude
towards online learning during Covid-19 pandemic.

Keywords: Students' perspective, Online Learning, Universitas Malikussaleh

1. INTRODUCTION teaching content (Selim, 2007) using internet (Arbaugh,

2000).
The Corona virus (COVID-19) emerged in
Wuhan, Hubei Province, China at the end of 2019. Since This has seriously affected students’ attitude and
then, the virus has spread and attacked several countries performance in learning. Teachers/ lecturers plays
such as Thailand, Japan and South Korea (Susilo et al., important role in students’ learning motivation (Azhari &
2020). As of July 27, 2020, COVID-19 has spread to 215 Dauyah, 2018). Contact and interaction with educators
countries and infected 16,648,616 people with the significantly contribute to their learning motivation.
number of deaths reaching 656,621 people globally. The Pandemic has forced education providers to run teaching
United States, Brazil, and India became the countries and learning online. Teachers/ lectures had to teach in
with the highest number of sufferers with a total of front of their computer/ laptop while also made students
4,443,410, 2,446,397, and 1,484,136 respectively. more dependent on the more dependent towards hand
Since being declared a global pandemic by WHO, there phone. This situation raises a big question mark for
has been great concern in all circles and levels of society. researchers to study students' perceptions of online
This has an impact on changing attitudes and behavior learning during the Covid-19 pandemic.
patterns in society, including the enthusiasm for learning. This research studied and analysed Malikusssaleh
Due to the widespread of COVID-19, the government University students' perceptions about online learning
regulated online learning from elementary to university during the Covid-19 pandemic. This study covered the
level. Online learning, also referred to as e-learning, is attitudes and perceptions of students during the online
the use of modern information communication learning process as well as all matters related to the
technology to convey instruction, information and

Copyright © 2021 The Authors. Published by Atlantis Press SARL.

This is an open access article distributed under the CC BY-NC 4.0 license -http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/. 46
 Advances in Social Science, Education and Humanities Research, volume 495

process such as the learning process, the learning From several research results, it is revealed that the
atmosphere, and learning motivation. success of students in following the learning process
online will be determined by accessibility to learning
1. Factors Affecting Online Learning
media and knowledge using technology which is very
Several factors determined the success of online learning important because learning is not carried out in face-to-
implementation. Learning facilities and infrastructure as face mode but uses media based on information and
well as the readiness of resources, including lecturers and communication technology.
students play key role in the success of online learning.
1.2. Students Perception towards Learning
The factors discussed here, on the students’ perspective Environment
were divided into three main areas, namely the learning
process, the learning environment, and student learning Several studies have shown that the learning environment
motivation. Each aspect was sub-divided into detail. In affects the success of learning. In terms of online
terms of the learning process, the learning aspects learning, this includes a place for implementing learning
discussed were students' perceptions of the delivery of and the media used for learning.
material by lecturers, the ability to absorb material by In online learning, the media used by lecturers and
students, and student learning outcomes. Meanwhile, the students varies. Generally, both students and teacher/
aspects of the learning environment studied were the lecturer use social media and video conference apps for
places for implementing learning and the media used. online learning. They can interact with each other
Motivation to learn is the last aspect examined. In detail, through the use of applications such as e-classroom,
this aspect examined self-confidence in mastery of video conference, telephone or live chat, zoom or
technology, self-confidence in independent learning, and WhatsApp Group (Dhull Indira, 2017).
confidence in online learning and communication.
Currently, the most popular online learning media are
1.1. Students Perception towards Online WhatsApp and Google Classroom. On the other hand,
Learning learning with the use and utilization of technology has
made the learning atmosphere more enjoyable and
The learning process is a continuous activity that involves
comfortable (Bali & Liu, 2018). By using technology to
the absorption of knowledge, skills, and perspectives in
study, students feel they have a greater opportunity to be
attitude and behavior by those who are learning. Students'
more innovative.
perceptions of the learning process include students'
perceptions of the delivery of material by lecturers, the 1.3. Students Perception towards Motivation for
ability of students to absorb learning material during Online Learning
online learning and the results of student learning
Motivation comes from the word 'motive' which means
evaluations. Research conducted by (Aswasulasikin,
encouragement or things that become a reason for doing
2020) showed that students feel boredom of online
something. In the learning process, motivation plays an
learning and students expect lecturers to be more creative
important role and is a major requirement in learning.
and innovative to avoid boredom of online learning.
In online learning, motivation also has an important
Research conducted by Adijaya (Adijaya & Santosa,
contribution to support student learning. Motivation to
2018) revealed that students felt that the interaction
learn through online learning increases due to the use of
between students and lecturers during online learning was
innovative technology (Wida, 2020). Students become
not optimal compared to learning in traditional
more motivated and involved in online learning because
classrooms. Students prefer face-to-face learning to
several things such as topics that are teaching material
online learning.
that students like and existing prior knowledge about the
Meanwhile, in their research, (Astuti & Febrian, 2019) use of media used in learning such as how to use
found that students respond positively to online learning. computers.
Students feel more comfortable doing questions and
In the midst of a pandemic, there is no other choice but to
answers in an online learning pattern than in face-to-face
carry out learning online. Even though it is done online,
classes. They only experienced difficulties at the
students still have high motivation in following the
beginning of the meeting, then they were able to adjust
learning process in terms of concentration, curiosity,
because the instructions given were clear.
enthusiasm, independence, readiness, enthusiasm or

47
 Advances in Social Science, Education and Humanities Research, volume 495

encouragement, never giving up, and self-confidence from the lecturers. Scoring indicated less satisfactory
(Fitriyani, Fauzi, & Sari, 2020). perception on online learning as more students’ claimed
in-activity of the process for maximum outcomes.
2. METHODOLOGY Classroom process contributed greatly to learning
outcomes (Tanta, 2010). Visual attributives in teaching
2.1. Subject learning contributed to students’ learning and retention.
The subject of this research was the students of Even though has been utilized by many educational
Universitas Malikussaleh (Unimal). Inclusion criteria administrators, still, some found online learning not as
used were active students studying at Universitas effective as face-to-face learning. However, this is not to
Malikussaleh across faculties and semester as well as assume that online leaning is not effective at all. Merely,
gender. 100 students across the faculties participated in it is a comparative statement as they expressed their
preferences to classroom teaching. (Mukhtar, 2017)
this survey. Unimal is a state university located at Jl. Cot
indicated similar finding saying that up to 80% of
Tgk Nie Reuleut, Muara Batu, North Aceh, Aceh. students reported positive attitude towards the use of the
Facebook as a sharing platform.
2.2. Method
Sampling method used was purposive random sampling. 3.2. Students’ Perception towards learning
Researchers distributed questionnaires using Google environment
Form and questionnaire items were translated into Table 2 presents the descriptive statistics of students’
Indonesian. The questionnaire was self-administered and perception towards learning environment. This category
developed through a comprehensive literature search. It comprises of 5 items.
consisted of 16 questions and the responses are based on
5-point Likert Scale - 1 (strongly disagree), 2 (disagree), Minimu Mea Std.
3 (somewhat agree), 4 (agree), and 5 (strongly agree). N m Maximum n Deviation
The questions investigated the views of Universitas Q_8 100 1 5 3.29 1.094
Malikussaleh students towards online learning. The 16 Q_9 99 1 5 2.46 1.215
questions in the questionnaire were then categorized into
three groups: the perception of students towards learning Q_10 100 1 5 2.57 1.350
process (7 items), students’ views on online learning Q_11 100 1 5 2.56 1.149
environment including the use of technology (5 items), Q_12 100 1 5 2.73 1.238
and their motivation in learning online (4 items).
Valid N 99
(listwise)
3. RESULT AND DISCUSSION
3.1 Students’ perception towards learning process In general, students responded positively towards the use
of the platform in online learning. They experiences little
Table 1 below provides the descriptive statistics of to issues, apart from the internet connection. Internet
the students’ perception towards online learning connection, also experienced by students at Universitas
particularly towards the learning process. Out of 7 Kristen Satya Wacana (Tanta, 2010), and package were
questions, only 2 questions has a Mean above 3, the other main issues for many. They experienced internet lagging
5 is 2 or below. In average, students’ respondents Mean and had to spend more on internet quota. Thus, the
score is 2.61, less than 3. Detail Mean scores is situation made it less favorable for the students.
elaborated as follows.
At the beginning, few students experienced technology
Minimu Mea Std. gap in the online learning, but now they became more
N m Maximum n Deviation familiar with all the platforms. On the other side,
Q_1 100 1 5 3.03 1.039 however, as lecturers utilized different platform when
Q_2 100 1 5 2.70 .980 teaching their courses, students had to deal with several
applications, which took a lot of their hand phone/ lap top
Q_3 100 1 5 3.13 1.203
hard drive memory. Accessing the subject at home
Q_4 100 1 5 2.65 1.123 created a two-layer effect. On one side, students loved it,
Q_5 100 1 5 2.58 1.148 but on the other, they became distracted and less
Q_6 99 1 5 2.36 1.336 motivated. This fact was also corroborated by a study
Q_7 100 1 5 1.82 1.067 conducted by N. Dewi L et.al as they found students’
Valid N 99 habit in accessing the lesson impacted their intake (Dewi,
(listwise)) Tripalupi, & Artana, 2015).

These items questions asked about clarity of delivery by

the lecturers and students’ ability in task accomplishment

48
 Advances in Social Science, Education and Humanities Research, volume 495

3.3. Motivation of Students in online learning not developed such learning habits yet, which in turn
affect negatively to their study. Descriptive analysis from
Third set consisted of 4 items querying on their learning the questionnaires also noted low scores in this factor,
motivation in online learning as well as their level of which means low self-efficacy and self-confidence in their
confidence over their own understanding. Students grasp of the material. Teaching process, especially with
claimed that they were relatively motivated, however internet issue and skipped materials, have caused negative
their level of understanding were distorted by the internet impact to their motivation and self-confidence.
connection and lecturer’s perception over the subject
level. Some lecturers skipped materials they thought 4. CONCLUSION
simple and understandable by the students. Thus, the
skipped materials causes gap of understanding on Based on the results of the research, it can be concluded
students’ side. that online learning is less preferable for students
compared to face to face learning. It is less preferable as it
Minimu Mea Std. is less effective in terms of the learning and teaching
N m Maximum n Deviation
process. Besides, online learning also poses some
Q_13 100 1 5 2.47 1.150
constraints including the availability of adequate internet
Q_14 99 1 5 2.45 1.062 network needed to access online learning. Students also
Q_15 100 1 5 2.32 1.053 felt less motivated in online learning when compared to
Q_16 100 1 5 2.55 1.313 learning in a traditional classroom.
Valid N 99 A future research, particularly qualitative research is
(listwise) needed to gain more understanding on this issue and to
explore more on why students felt online learning is less
effective especially during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Students’ motivation is crucial in maintaining their
interest and motivation in learning (Azhari & Dauyah,
2018). Other factor that come into play is learning
independence and self-confident (Amina, 2013). Students
at Malikusaleh University, however, claimed that they had

49
 Advances in Social Science, Education and Humanities Research, volume 495

REFERENCES
Dhull Indira, S. M. (2017). Online Learning.
Adijaya, N., & Santosa, L. P. (2018). Persepsi IERI, 3(August), 32–34.
Mahasiswa dalam Pembelajaran Online. Fitriyani, Y., Fauzi, I., & Sari, M. Z. (2020).
Wanastra, 10(2), 105–110. Motivasi Belajar Mahasiswa Pada
Amina, Z. (2013). Pengaruh Kemandirian dan Pembelajaran Daring Selama Pandemik
Rasa Percaya Diri Siswa Terhadap Hasil Covid-19. Profesi Pendidikan Dasar,
Belajar IPA pada Siswa Kelas IV di SD 7(1), 121–132.
Negeri 2 Krangganharjo Tahun Ajaran https://doi.org/10.23917/ppd.v7i1.10973
2012/2013. Mukhtar. (2017). Persepsi Mahasiswa terhadap
Arbaugh, J. B. (2000). Virtual Classroom Pelaksanaan Perkuliahan dan Hubungan
Characteristics and Student Satisfaction dengan Partisipasi dalam Perkuliahan.
with Internet-Based MBA Courses. Jom FISIP, 3(3), 2–4. Retrieved from
Journal of Management Education, 24(1), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.moem.2017.07
32–54. .001%0Ahttp://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.lithos
https://doi.org/10.1177/10525629000240 .2014.07.017%0Ahttp://dx.doi.org/10.101
0104 6/j.mspro.2015.11.130%0Ahttp://dx.doi.o
rg/10.1016/j.jmmm.2010.01.018%0Ahttp:
Astuti, P., & Febrian, F. (2019). Blended //dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jmrt.2014.07.001%
Learning Syarah: Bagaimana Penerapan 0Ahttp://dx.doi.org
dan Persepsi Mahasiswa. Jurnal Gantang,
4(2), 111–119. Selim, H. M. (2007). Critical success factors
https://doi.org/10.31629/jg.v4i2.1560 for e-learning acceptance: Confirmatory
factor models. Computers and Education,
Aswasulasikin, A. (2020). Persepsi Mahasiswa 49(2), 396–413.
Terhadap Kuliah Daring dimasa Pandemi https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2005.0
Corona Virus Disease (COVID-19). 9.004
SALAM: Jurnal Sosial Dan Budaya Syar-
I, 7(8). Susilo, A., Rumende, C. M., Pitoyo, C. W.,
https://doi.org/10.15408/sjsbs.v7i8.15734 Santoso, W. D., Yulianti, M.,
Herikurniawan, H., … Yunihastuti, E.
Azhari, T., & Dauyah, E. (2018). Learning (2020). Coronavirus Disease 2019:
Motivation of Peripheral University Tinjauan Literatur Terkini. Jurnal
Students and its Relation with their Penyakit Dalam Indonesia, 7(1), 45.
English Grades. Emerald Reach https://doi.org/10.7454/jpdi.v7i1.415
Proceeding Series, 1, 473–478.
https://doi.org/10.1108/978-1-78756-793- Tanta. (2010). Pengaruh Gaya Belajar terhadap
1-00028 Hasil Belajar Mahasiswa pada Mata
Kuliah Biologi Umum Progaram Studi
Bali, S., & Liu, M. C. (2018). Students’ Pendidikan Biologi Universitas
perceptions toward online learning and Cendrawasih. Jurnal Pendidikan Dasar,
face-to-face learning courses. Journal of 1(September 2010), 7–21.
Physics: Conference Series, 1108(1).
https://doi.org/10.1088/1742- Wida, S. (2020). Respon Mahasiswa Pada
6596/1108/1/012094 Mata Kuliah Daring. Child Education
Journal, 2(1), 48–52.
Dewi, N. G. A. A. L., Tripalupi, L. E., & https://doi.org/10.33086/cej.v2i1.1506
Artana, M. (2015). Pengaruh pelaksanaan
pembelajaran dan kebiasaan belajar
terhadap hasil belajar ekonomi kelas x
sma lab singaraja. Pendidikan, 1, 1–10.

50