MOTIVATION OF STUDENTS TOWARDS ONLINE LECTURE PROCEDURE DURING COVID 19 PANDEMIC: A STUDY IN STATE HIGHER EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTES IN SRI LANKA

Abstract

Although the students in state higher educational institutes in Sri Lanka are encouraged to engage in online teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic, their motivation to learn online is remained under investigated. Hence, the objective of this study is to examine the motivation of students who are learning in state higher educational institutes in Sri Lanka towards online lectures during COVID-19 pandemic. Qualitative data has been collected using convenience sampling method from 20 students those who study in Sri Lankan state universities. Also, a semi-structured questionnaire was distributed among 180 students. The data were analyzed descriptively to reach the research objective. The results of this study revealed that majority of the students have been demotivated to study online. They were mainly lack in extrinsic motivation also faced context-based issues such as lack of resources, network and technical failures. Also, the findings reveled that being novel to the online learning system, lack of interaction among students and lecturers, lack of self efficacy, lack of performance-oriented content, and extrovert personality characteristics of students are the reasons for the low motivation towards on line learning. The findings of this paper contribute novel knowledge to Sri Lankan context in a needed time of such investigation. Taking students feedback on teaching and learning time to time would be the most effective implication to be taken. Further, conducting spot tests, being flexible with lecture time, pay individual attention to students, using visual explanation and videography to keep the attention of students eliminating the monotonous also suggested by the respondents to improve the motivation to online learning.