Online Classes Versus On-Site: Impact On Algerian Chemistry Students’ Motivation

Abstract

During the period of COVID-19, the world lockdown compelled educational institutions to switch to online teaching. Algeria was no exception as it opted for a blended mode of teaching at tertiary level. Therefore, students were receiving online and on-site lectures including English for Specific Purposes lectures. This unpredictable shift changed the students’ learning environment and affected their learning psychology. Then, this research explored the effect of face-to-face and online teaching on university students’ affective filter more precisely on motivation using a correlational research design to investigate the relationship between motivation and the learning environment. The sample population consisted of sixteen third year Licence students from the department of chemistry at Djillali Liabes University. They were administered two tests related to motivation, motivation test one and motivation test two. The gathered data were analyzed via the SPSS program. The results revealed that students preferred the virtual classroom, which influenced positively their level of motivation. These findings call for encouraging the use of e-learning environment as being motivational and supportive for the learning process and leading to a better comprehensible input.