Abstract:

The outbreak of COVID-19 has led to a rapidly evolving situation that made the World Health Organization label the COVID-19 as a pandemic and, consequently it has become a hot topic of discussion worldwide. Most universities shifted from conventional to online distance teaching and learning.

The implementation of distance learning in the system of Ukrainian higher education showed that mass transition to distance education involving the use of e-learning tools in the online environment was realized in extreme conditions to ensure continuity of the educational process. Most Ukrainian higher education institutions appeared to be not fully ready to implement mass distance learning, although regulations on distance learning in Ukraine were approved by the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine in 2013. Despite the existing skills in electronic systems, the requirement of immediate, long-term and comprehensive transition to distance learning turned out to be unexpected and problematic for many Ukrainian students. The problems were caused by technical and technological unpreparedness, as well as the students’ psychological readiness to online distance teaching and learning.

The given article represents the data of an empirical study on the psychological readiness of Ukrainian students for distance learning under pandemic conditions. The authors have considered such indicators of students' mental state as emotional tone and mental tension, determined the index of their life satisfaction in the new conditions of learning.

The authors have also examined the concept of the "subjective image of the professional future of the students under the pandemic" taking into account the peculiarities of distance education. It is associated with the development of self-concept and the formation of professional self-concept. The effectiveness of the learning process and the ability to interact with others depend on the self-concept. The professional self-consciousness of students covers various personal features (formation and development of personality, broad world outlook of the student, mastering of professionally important personal qualities and skills of self-regulation).

To achieve the aim of the research, such indicators of students' mental state as a general functional level of mental activity were analyzed, namely: motivational; emotional; volitional. A closed-format questionnaire containing questions with pre-offered answers (multiple choices), Life Satisfaction Index A (LSIA), Assessment of Mental Activation and Emotional Tone were used for the study. The methods of observation, systematization, and summary were used for the analysis of SIPFS under the conditions of distance learning in the pandemic.

The total number of participants was 882, time span is spring and autumn 2020.

Keywords:

Pandemic, distance learning, psychological readiness, life satisfaction, mental activation, emotional tone, students, subjective image, self-concept.