EXPLORING THE CHALLENGES FOR UNDERGRADUATES IN LEARNING ESSAY WRITING ONLINE DURING THE PANDEMIC: A CASE STUDY

Abstract

Writing is a very essential skill given that undergraduates have to write a lot during their degree programs. An essay is one of the written products that students are supposed to produce. Usually, students seek teachers’ help, peer assistance, and library aid to master this skill of essay writing. However, due to COVID-19, students lost access to all these benefits as this novel disease affected education, and all educational institutions were closed around the world. Higher Education Commission (HEC) Pakistan instructed the higher education institutes to switch to online mode of learning. Thus, universities started online classes using different learning management systems. Since the online mode of learning is practiced only in a few universities in Pakistan, it was pretty difficult for all stakeholders (administration, teachers, and students) in other universities to switch to a new mode of teaching and learning. This study explored the challenges undergraduates faced in learning essay writing online during the pandemic. The data was collected through semi-structured interviews which were conducted from six participants of essay writing class. Thematic analysis of the data from purposively chosen participants revealed that lack of and unfamiliarity with technological gadgets, unavailability of or poor internet, house chore, attitude of family members, feedback (whether written or oral) from the teachers, and limited interaction with peers or other resources hampered their learning in essay writing class. The study will have implications for teachers and university administrators. The study concludes with directions for future research.

Keywords: Essay writing; challenges; undergraduates; online; COVID-19; pandemic.