Investigating students’ academic performance during the COVID-19 pandemic: a mixed-methods approach

The COVID-19 pandemic has forced universities to ensure continuity of learning through distance learning (DL). Students and faculty had to equip themselves with the resources to overcome the technical challenges and maintain a sense of normality. To examine the impact of DL on academic performance, this study analyses the trajectories of students at a large Italian university by comparing students’ careers using administrative data before and during the pandemic. The results showed that students responded proactively by maintaining or even improving their performance, regardless of the economic situation, assumed to be a contrasting factor, with only age and degree programme being significant predictors. To better interpret these results based on administrative data, 215 of these students were interviewed to identify the possible influence of personal factors (anxiety related to psychophysical health) and environmental factors (lack of social interaction) on their academic performance. Using multiple regression, the relationship between the 4 interpersonal factors, extracted through a factor analysis from 15 socio-psychological variables, and the changes in university performance was measured. The results showed that physical isolation led to an increase in average performance, while anxiety about psychophysical health had a negative impact on respondents’ performance. Students’ coping mechanisms, particularly those involving positive engagement with their studies, helped to maintain or improve learning during the crisis. However, anxiety about health significantly affected performance for some, highlighting the dual impact of emotional and environmental stressors on academic resilience. The original contribution of this study is the combination of administrative records with psychosocial data.