Study Challenges: Why Students Lose Interest

Study Challenges: Why Students Lose Interest
By the middle of 2020, undergraduate students suddenly found themselves packing up their belongings and finishing their courses away from campus. Furthermore, it forced many colleges and students to move to distance learning because of COVID-19-related policies, a change that they didn’t anticipate.
The pandemic has transformed several aspects of life, significantly higher education. A recent College Reaction in New York survey found that 77% of college students feel online learning is worse than in-person learning. Therefore, this article presents some of the most common student challenges with online knowledge and strategies for addressing them.
Need For More Structure and Support
Keeping track of assignments can be challenging without the structure and support of an in-person school. Students need to be independent and responsible when learning through distance learning. Most families try to help, but they are also juggling work while their children learn. Catching up can be challenging if students get behind on their assignments and miss a few. Disengagement may be their only option.
The best thing to do is to be upfront with grading and missed work policies. However, look for ways to relieve the stress of deadlines and a large workload. Help students make assignments more manageable by breaking them into chunks. You could suggest they complement their studies with online tools that allow them to download valuable reading materials like this undergraduate research presentation that promotes their learning.
Constant Distractions
Despite distance learning’s advantages, distractions are inevitable. This distraction — along with additional responsibilities — makes time management more difficult. Self-motivation is perhaps the most significant challenge students face with time management. There is no substitute for being serious about your education, learning time management, scheduling your daily tasks, and studying despite constant distractions.
Build a schedule for what you’re going to do and share it with the others in your home. Also, if you need to do your coursework late at night, identify a quiet place and time. When you have to focus on school and want to avoid distractions such as social media or browsing the internet, use tools to block these distractions while distance learning. You can also determine the best times to tackle each task by creating a to-do list for each day or week.
Staying Motivated
Without a schedule on a physical campus, students may struggle to find the motivation to begin coursework. If you don’t think of your house as a place of work, it can be hard to get into that mindset. However, assigning different home parts to school can help you succeed. Consider your short and long-term goals and why you want to attend school. As you achieve your goals, cross them off.
It can also motivate them to keep in touch with classmates and reach out to faculty and academic staff when necessary. Distance education will be at the top of your mind as you become more involved. Keep up with class discussions and course updates by logging in daily. Share questions or perspectives with students and teachers.
Changes in Students’ Lives
In the wake of a pandemic, a recession, or social unrest, your students’ lives may have changed dramatically since your school closed. It is common for families to struggle financially with illness, loss, homelessness, and food insecurity. Other vulnerabilities may exist as well. Sometimes, students may not have access to the internet, a device, or a place to study. There may be times when students are unavailable to meet. Others may hide or block out what is happening in the background.
The classroom allows you to learn about your student’s home lives as you work with them daily. You can check in privately to keep up with how things are going. With distance learning, connecting with students one-on-one is more challenging, mainly if they’re not engaged. Try checking in with a student’s family to see if their behavior has changed significantly.
Some Students Struggle to Keep Up
The teacher can adjust the pace of the class to accommodate any student who needs additional time in the traditional classroom. But, it is more challenging to do so in an online learning environment. Learning without the ability to read body language virtually can lead to learners remaining silent or putting on a brave face and leaving the classroom discouraged, frustrated, and not having gained any knowledge.
Ask for information on access to the classes and any applicable apps you don’t understand. In addition, make sure you know how to approach your teacher with concerns, whether through an online course, email, or another method.
Conclusion
There are several challenges students go through while studying, which might make them lose interest in their studies. It is critical to identify them and come up with a viable solution. This post has identified some of the most common ones to motivate you and help you stay positive.