Remote and on-site cohorts report different collaboration and exhaustion

Updated Sep 07, 2026

Ellinor Elmvik, Erika Löfström, Solveig Cornér and Åsa Mickwitz compared first-year students' experiences before and during emergency remote teaching. The findings concern different cohorts, rather than the same students randomly assigned to teaching modes.

What was compared

HowULearn questionnaires covered 207 on-site respondents in spring 2018 and 2019 and 166 remote respondents in spring 2020 and 2021. Students attended Swedish-language programmes at a Finnish university.

The groups differed in subject composition: the on-site group included 141 social-science and 66 education students, while all remote respondents studied social science.

Students generally perceived constructive alignment even remotely. Remote respondents found feedback more rewarding, reported fewer opportunities for peer collaboration and greater emotional exhaustion. Overall academic self-efficacy levels were similar across settings.

These patterns do not isolate teaching mode from pandemic conditions, cohort differences or subject mix. This briefing uses the author-repository abstract and selected publisher methods, discussion and conclusion sections; it is not a complete-paper review.

A local comparison to make carefully

Our suggestion is to examine several aspects of experience when reviewing delivery: access, feedback, collaboration and workload. An overall satisfaction question may not address the particular decision a course team faces.

Record who answered, when and from which programmes. Compare like contexts where possible, and flag remaining differences. Ask students to explain experiences that the closed questions leave unclear, without assuming that an association reveals its cause.

The NSS open-text methodology guide describes considerations for analysing comments. Applying its ideas to a different survey still requires a review of the local question, sample and intended use.

FAQ

Does this show that online teaching causes exhaustion?

No. Pandemic timing and differences between groups leave alternative explanations.

Were both groups drawn from the same subject mix?

No. That is a material limitation of the comparison, alongside the emergency context.

Reference

Elmvik, E., Löfström, E., Cornér, S., & Mickwitz, Å. (2026). Disrupted studying? University students’ experiences of remote vs. on-site teaching and learning. Journal of Further and Higher Education. Paper source.

Correction, 7 September 2026: Added the unequal subject composition, separated association from causation and limited implications for planned online or hybrid provision.