After multiple discussions, polls on twitter and research, I have decided to base my research on “the delaying of studies at university due to COVID, how many and why?”. I was attracted to this topic from reading an article by The Wall Street Journal about why you should or shouldn’t defer university until the end of the pandemic. I read this journal for personal advice yet the case study brought to light the many factors on why people are delaying their studies and its consequences/rewards. The article quoted that “Over 20% of Harvard university students decided to defer their studies in 2020” this quote itself intrigued me to continue an investigation into the reasons behind the delaying of studies due to COVID. The topic itself surrounds personal experience, I, myself, delayed my studies to part time, wanting the in-person experience over online experience. COVID is a relevant and timely topic to investigate due to its personal and global impact of recent years. Every individual has been impacted by COVID in some shape or form. Students, in particular, have been enormously impacted by COVID, in both their personal life and academic. In the scholarly article by Pradeep Sahu named “Closure of universities due to COVID19”, He investigates the full closure of universities putting billions of students across the globe in strife. This academic journal will aid me in my future studies on this topic, giving me coherent information to follow off.
Due to my small audience on twitter and the large usage of the BCM212 hashtag, it has been slightly difficult to both engage and gather results. Both of my polls only gathered 12 votes each. That’s a combined 24 votes, predicting that each poll gathered the same audience. I hope to build my audience before investigating further into individuals and surveying the BCM212 audience. In my first poll I allowed my audience to decide what topic they were interested out of two options. The first being “the delaying of studies at university due to COVID, how many and why?” and the second being “What is the adaptability and accessibility of online university like for international students?”. The poll received a 50/50 result out of 12 people, 6 people choosing each topic. Due to this split I had to result to discussion with a fellow student over which topic is more adaptable, the proposed topic ultimately being chosen.
In my brief research so far, I’ve discovered the reasoning behind delaying of studies for university students in general is mostly due to mental health. In the academic journal called “effects of COVID19 on college students’ mental health” a survey was conducted on over 200 students based on their mental health. The journal stated “Out of 195 participants, 138 (71%) indicated that their stress and anxiety had increased due to the COVID-19 pandemic” it then continuing to explain that the pandemic only continued to deteriorate students’ mental health. Linking to my focus topic, mental health is a major subtopic to investigate. The mental health of students could be a colossal factor of the reasoning behind delaying studies at university due to the pandemic. Another factor to take into consideration is the impact on international students and their studies. According to a study conducted by Mike Churney, international students’ enrolment was down by over 14% in Australia last November. He quoted “Although students can study remotely online, international-student enrolments were already down 14% as of November” the main reasoning being the delaying of studies and the changing of universities to local.
With this gathered knowledge, I am confident with my focus study. My research topic is coherent, timely and highly appropriate. I am excited to embark into my research and discover results that may surprise me or justify my previous instincts.
References:
Dill, K., 2021. The Challenges—and Rewards—of Deferring College During Covid. [online] WSJ. Available at: <https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-challengesand-rewardsof-deferring-college-during-covid-11607288404> (Accessed 15 March 2021).
Sahu, P., 2020. Closure of Universities Due to Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19): Impact on Education and Mental Health of Students and Academic Staff. Cureus,. (Accessed 15 March 2021).
Son, C., Hegde, S., Smith, A., Wang, X. and Sasangohar, F., 2020. Effects of COVID-19 on College Students’ Mental Health in the United States: Interview Survey Study. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 22(9), p.e21279. (Accessed 16 March 2021).
Cherney, M., 2021. Covid-19 Leaves Colleges Short on International Students—and Money. [online] WSJ. Available at: <https://www.wsj.com/articles/covid-19-leaves-colleges-short-on-international-studentsand-money-11612434603> (Accessed 16 March 2021)
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