Study Approaches of Campus-Based and Distance Learning Undergraduates during Emergency Remote Teaching Amid the COVID-19 Pandemic in India

Abstract One of the significant dimensions of learning design for quality student learning is the student approach to study and their learning strategies. This assumption assumes considerable importance, especially in the contemporary context of the COVID-19 pandemic and the sudden switch to remote teaching-learning. The situation is more vulnerable in developing countries where both campus and distance learning students were compulsorily involved in this new form of learning. The present study was undertaken to determine whether there were any significant differences in undergraduate students’ approaches to learning or learning strategies, or in age, sex, or mode of delivery while undertaking home study at the time of the pandemic in India. The revised version of the Study Process Questionnaire (R-SPQ-2F) was administered to 208 randomly selected undergraduate students studying at two campus-based central universities (n = 92) and one national open university (n = 116) in the national capital Delhi. The results showed that distance learning and female students adopted more deep approaches to study than did the campus students and male students respectively. In both delivery contexts, the female students had greater intrinsic motivation and used more of a deep approach to learning than did their male counterparts. The results of this study have been discussed in relation to previous studies on the student approach to study. There are also implications for national and institutional policy and the practice of teaching-learning in higher education.