Relationship between class participation and well-being in university students and the effect of covid-19

Zusammenfassung

The search for quality in higher education necessarily means paying attention to the different variables that can facilitate or obstruct the teaching-learning process on university students. In that field, scientist research has identified psychological well-being in university students as a sign of optimal psychological working, skills development and personal growth. According to that, psychological well-being had been related to academic success, as well as continuity and graduation in the university period. On the other hand, active learning –that is, a way of understanding the student not only as a receiver of information, but as an active participant of the learning process– had been identified as a quality factor in the educational process. Along these lines, the HEA (Higher Education Area) supposed important changes towards more active methodologies, oriented to a significant learning that promotes the participation and empowerment of the students. These changes allow improving critical thinking and developing communication skills, which has been related to better academic performance. However, the literature shows a lack of research focused in attendance and class participation, as well as the relationship between the students own perception of their results and their psychological well-being. Therefore, the aim of this research is to study the relationship between these variables, which have a great relevance to teaching practice. Furthermore, considering the actual situation caused by COVID-19 and its effect on university classes, we hypothesize that the variables we study in this work will be affected. Thus, a second aim is to study how students’ psychological well-being, participation in class and satisfaction with their results could be changed due to the present state. For the first aim, we have a sample of 438 students from different universities and degrees. First, to analyse the variables related to participation and involvement in class, as well as satisfaction with grades, we apply an ad hoc scale. Furthermore, to study the students’ well-being, we apply the Well-Being Psychological Scale (EBP, Escala de Bienestar Psicológico), specifically three subscales: subjective psychological well-being, material well-being and work well-being. Then, we analyse the relationship between both scales, as well as between class involvement and satisfaction with grades variables. For the second aim, we have a new sample composed by 147 students evaluated during COVID-19 confinement which we compare with an equivalent sample of 210 students evaluated time before. The results show a significant positive relation between class involvement and psychological and work well-being; as well as significant positive relation between satisfaction with one’s own results and psychological, work and material well-being. Moreover, there is a relationship between class involvement and satisfaction with results. Finally, students evaluated during COVID-19 have less work well-being. Also, they show less satisfaction with their results, as well as less score in some participation variables. We discuss the limitations of the study and the main implications of the results, oriented to the design of programs to improve the well-being and academic success of the students