Abstract:

The spread of COVID-19 has forced educational institutions around the world to operate fully online. In the Philippines, students are challenged by this new normal as education in the country has always followed the traditional learning method in a classroom setting. While technology allows continuous delivery of education despite the pandemic, the shift to an online approach will influence students’ cognitive engagement (CE), the motivation associated with persistence to pursue a task, and emotional engagement (EE), the affective responses such as happiness, anxiety, or interest, which may impact satisfaction (SAT) in the learning process. Moreover, acquired business competencies (ABC), which include conceptual, analytical, and interpersonal skills deemed to be developed through face-to-face interaction and activities may also be affected.

The transition to an online learning approach led to the use of learning management systems, video conferencing tools, and game-based websites, among others, to keep students significantly engaged in the process. This study aims to look at the current scenario of online learning and examine how students’ CE and EE in an online environment affects their SAT in learning as mediated by ABC.

The study followed a descriptive-explanatory research design employing a 5-point Likert scale survey distributed among business students in a private higher education institution in the Philippines. Data on students’ CE and EE, ABC, and perceived SAT were gathered using an online questionnaire published on the school’s learning management system. The process yielded a 55.7% response rate, and the study was participated in by 640 students pursuing a business and business-related program in college.

The observations for CE (M = 3.05, SD = 1.11) and EE (M = 3.12, SD = 1.04) indicate a moderate level of student engagement in the current online learning system. The observations for ABC (M = 3.49, SD = 0.95) and SAT (M = 3.00, SD = 1.10) reveal that skills acquisition and student satisfaction are also at the moderate level. The regressions were examined based on an alpha value of 0.01 and were able to reveal that CE, EE and ABC all significantly predicted SAT. While full mediation cannot happen given the significant relationship between engagement and satisfaction, partial mediation analysis was performed on the data. The indirect and total effects were found to be both significant at 0.01 alpha level, and thus, partial mediation was supported by ABC.

Online learning has a long way to go in terms of engaging the students, leading them to develop the necessary business skills, and meeting their expectations to provide student satisfaction. Presently, business students perceive various aspects of online learning to be at a moderate level. Given the relationship between the variables, satisfaction with online learning can be improved by focusing on increasing the level of student engagement, both cognitively and emotionally. Student engagement will directly impact the acquisition of business competencies and will, directly and indirectly, affect student satisfaction.

Keywords:

cognitive engagement, emotional engagement, satisfaction, business competencies, online learning.