JRSSEM 2021, Vol. 01, No. 2, 125 129
E-ISSN: 2807-6311, P-ISSN: 2807-6494
DOI : 10.36418/jrssem.v1i2.7 https://jrssem.publikasiindonesia.id/index.php/jrssem/index
THE EFFECT OF ONLINE LEARNING ON ACADEMIC
STRESS ON STUDENTS
Eric Arizona Samudra
1*
Andik matulessy
2
1,
2
Faculty of Psychology, University of 17 August 1945 Surabaya
e-mail: jacksetengah42@gmail.com
1
, andikmatulessy@yahoo.com
2
*Correspondence: jacksetengah42@gmail.com
Submitted: 03 September 2021, Revised: 15 September 2021, Accepted: 27 September 2021
Abstract. The policies carried out by the Indonesian government to reduce the number of COVID-
19 cases include implementing health protocols, namely maintaining a distance so that the
teaching and learning process in schools and campuses in each university uses the distance method
as an effort to prevent the development and spread of COVID-19. Rapid and sudden changes in
the education system can cause intense academic stress on students. The purpose of this study
was to determine whether online learning can affect academic pressure on students. The subjects
of this study were undergraduate students from several universities, both PTN and PTS spread
across Java Island, who participated in online learning as many as 237 students or participants who
had filled out the online learning scale and the Educational stress scale for adolescents (ESSA). This
test uses SLR (Simple Linear Regression) SPSS 20.0 for windows with the results of a simple linear
regression test between online learning and academic stress, the calculated F value = 5.110 at a
significance level of p = 0.027 (p < 0.01). The results show a significant relationship between
distance learning independent variable (X) and learning stress-dependent variable (Y). So it can be
concluded that there is an important relationship between online learning and academic stress.
The implications of the results of this study are expected to be a reference for related parties to
evaluate the online learning system so that it does not have an impact on increasing academic
stress on students.
Keywords: online learning; academic stress; student.
Eric Arizona Samudra , Andik matulesy| | 126
DOI : 10.36418/jrssem.v1i2.7 https://jrssem.publikasiindonesia.id/index.php/jrssem/index
INTRODUCTION
The world is rocked by an outbreak of
coronavirus disease, which is often called
COVID-19. At the end of 2019, this
outbreak began to be found in Wuhan,
China. All countries in the world are
affected by this outbreak. The WHO has
officially designated this situation as a
pandemic. The number of COVID-19 cases
in the world continues to increase. As of
July 2020, the number of COVID-19 cases
reached 13,224,909 issues found in 215
countries, with a death toll of 574,903
(Organization, 2020)
The policies made by the Indonesian
government to reduce the number of cases
of COVID-19 include implementing health
protocols, namely physical distancing or
social distancing, washing hands, and
wearing masks. All activities that cause
crowds are avoided to prevent the spread
of this virus. (Andiarna & Kusumawati,
2020)
The Circular Letter of the Minister of
Education and Culture Number
36962/MPK.A/HK/2020 explains that every
teaching and learning process in schools
and campuses in every university uses
online methods to prevent the
development and spread of Coronavirus
disease (COVID-19). Educators implement
online learning in various ways during
school closures to anticipate the
coronavirus. However, this implementation
is considered not optimal and shows that
educators are unprepared to adapt to the
digital climate (Charismiadji, 2020) in
(Jannah & Santoso, 2021).
Online learning is a learning activity
utilizing the internet network and local area
network to interact in learning, such as
delivering material (Azhari & Ming, 2015).
Online learning can be done with
computers, laptops, or smartphone
facilities connected to the internet network.
With these facilities, lecturers, students, and
students can study together
simultaneously using platforms such as
WhatsApp, Telegram, Zoom, Meets, Google
Classroom (Andiarna & Kusumawati, 2020).
Cao, Fang, Hou, Han, Xu, Dong, and
Zheng (2020) research that delays in
academic activities are positively related to
symptoms of student anxiety during the
COVID-19 pandemic. According to the
Andiarna research journal in 2020, research
results show that online learning affects
academic stress during the COVID-19
pandemic. (Cao et al., 2020)
In Accordance (Looker & Gregson,
2005), learning stress is a condition of
individuals who experience pressure from
perceiving and assessing academic
stressors related to learning in their school
environment. Students tend to experience
learning focus.
College students have a high risk of
stress and are exposed to various stressors.
Stress experienced by students and
students in schools/colleges is called
academic stress (Barseli et al., 2017).
According to (Sarafino & Smith, 2014),
stress is a condition when individuals feel
unable to face the demands of their
environment, so that individuals feel tense
and uncomfortable. Academic stress occurs
in the school or education environment
(Barseli et al., 2017). (Kadapatti &
Vijayalaxmi, 2012) define academic stress
127 | The Effect of Online Learning on Academic Stress on Students
as a combination of academic-related
demands that exceed the individual's
adaptive resources.
Based on (Yikealo et al., 2018) research,
it is known that most students at the Eritrea
Institute of Technology tend to experience
moderate levels of stress (71%). The study
results stated that the most frequent
stressors that trigger stress in students are
inadequate learning facilities (40.7%),
learning difficulties for a long period
(32.5%), too many assignments, and
academic burdens. (23.5%).
Changes in the education system so
quickly and suddenly can cause intense
stress on students, so this study aims to
identify the causes of academic stress.
(Moawad, 2020)
Research conducted by (Lubis et al.,
2021) stated that students experienced the
most stress in the moderate category,
namely 80 students (39.2%). Stress in the
high academic class was 55 people (27%),
the low class was 48 people (21%), the
exceptionally high category was 14 people
(6.9%), and the deficient type was 11
people (5.4%). This means that students
feel quite heavy pressure while carrying out
bold learning during the Covid19
pandemic.
Based on the explanation above and in
various cases that had arisen, such as
academic stress due to online learning for
students in Surabaya, it began to increase.
Causing students to have difficulty
participating in education, researchers
decided to research online learning on
student stress levels.
METHODS
The independent variable is online
learning, including distance learning. The
dependent variable is academic stress. This
study uses the Educational Stress Scale for
Adolescents (ESSA) containing lecturers'
assignments, student demands for
independent research, and learning
evaluations that lecturers more often give.
Has been consulted with expert judgment
to asked for an assessment and input to
obtain a statement following the research.
The data collection used in this study is
an online learning scale based on the
Regulation of the Minister of Education and
Culture of the Republic of Indonesia
Number 109 of 2013 concerning the
Implementation of Distance Education in
Higher Education with indicators of
distance learning, interaction in distance
learning, understanding in distance
learning consisting of 18 statement items
with a correlation index validity of 0.273 to
0.439. A reliability coefficient of 0.779 using
a Linkert scale with answer choices very
often, often, sometimes, never, and never
with a score of 1 to 5. (Widayati et al., 2020)
The Educational stress scale for
adolescents (ESSA) consists of 16 items
where. The 16 items measure academic
stress, including learning pressure,
workload, worries about grades, self-
expectations, and anxiety. Good internals.
The alpha coefficients for each factor
ranged from 0.660 to 0.750, and most were
above the criteria for an acceptable level of
reliability (Sodiq et al., 2020).
This research uses a quantitative
approach, namely analysis. The data is
expressed in numbers or numbers that can
Eric Arizona Samudra , Andik matulesy| | 128
be calculated systematically and carried out
by statistical formulas. The researcher also
used a random sampling technique. The
adolescent population who met the criteria
were still undergraduate students from
several universities, state universities, and
private universities spread across Java, with
as many as 237 students taking distance
learning. (Creswell & Creswell, 2017)
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
The study results were obtained from
an open scale distributed online via a
google form. This scale is used to measure
academic stress and online learning, which
aims to get information in the form of
whether the academic focus is affected by
online learning
SLR (Simple Linear Regression)
calculation results, this analysis is used to
examine the relationship between online
learning and academic stress. The results of
a simple linear regression test between
online learning and academic focus
obtained a calculated F value of = 5.110 at
a significance level of p = 0.027 (p < 0.01).
The simple linear regression results show a
significant relationship between the
distance learning independent variable (X)
and learning stress-dependent variable (Y).
Based on the results of research using
qualitative methods and through data
collection techniques. On a scale of 237
undergraduate students from several
universities, both PTN and PTS spread
across Java. The results show that online
learning affects academic stress in
students. In addition to staying at home
during the learning process, students'
unpreparedness in participating in the
learning process, such as quotas that run
out quickly, assignments that pile up, and
lecturers' explanations, cannot be
understood.
CONCLUSIONS
Online learning affects increasing
academic stress on students during the
COVID-19 pandemic. Apart from online
learning, which is very minimal in face-to-
face meetings, lecturers give many
assignments without detailed explanations,
signals that sometimes go up and down,
and internet quotas that must adjust.
Buying is also one of the factors that affect
student academic stress. Although on the
other hand, students are also required
always to follow online learning well.
REFERENCES
Andiarna, F., & Kusumawati, E. (2020). The
effect of online learning on student
academic stress during the COVID-19
pandemic. Jurnal Psikologi, 16(2), 139–
149.
Azhari, F. A., & Ming, L. C. (2015). Review of
e-learning Practice at the Tertiary
Education level in Malaysia. Indian
Journal of Pharmaceutical Education
and Research, 49(4), 248–257.
Barseli, M., Ifdil, I., & Nikmarijal, N. (2017).
Concept of student academic stress.
Jurnal Konseling Dan Pendidikan, 5(3),
143–148.
Cao, W., Fang, Z., Hou, G., Han, M., Xu, X.,
Dong, J., & Zheng, J. (2020). The
psychological impact of the COVID-19
epidemic on college students in China.
Psychiatry Research, 287, 112934.
129 | The Effect of Online Learning on Academic Stress on Students
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychres.202
0.112934
Creswell, J. W., & Creswell, J. D. (2017).
Research design: Qualitative,
quantitative, and mixed methods
approach. Sage publications.
Jannah, R., & Santoso, H. (2021). Stress
Levels of Students Participating in
Online Learning During the COVID-19
Pandemic. Jurnal Riset Dan Pengabdian
Masyarakat, 1(1), 130–146.
https://doi.org/10.22373/jrpm.v1i1.638
Kadapatti, M. G., & Vijayalaxmi, A. H. M.
(2012). Stressors of academic stress-a
study on pre-university students. Indian
Journal of Scientific Research, 3(1), 171–
175.
Looker, T., & Gregson, O. (2005). Managing
stress: Coping with stress
independently. Yogyakarta: Baca.
Lubis, H., Ramadhani, A., & Rasyid, M.
(2021). Academic Stress of Students in
Conducting Online Lectures During the
COVID-19 Pandemic. Jurnal Psikologi,
10(1), 31–39.
Moawad, R. A. (2020). Online learning
during the COVID-19 pandemic and
academic stress in university students.
Revista Românească Pentru Educaţie
Multidimensiona, 12(1 Sup2), 100–
107.
Organization, W. H. (2020). Coronavirus
disease (COVID-19): weekly
epidemiological update.
Sarafino, E. P., & Smith, T. W. (2014). Health
psychology: Biopsychosocial
interactions. John Wiley & Sons.
Sodiq, F., Maharani, W., Nisa, I. M., Satria, E.
R. P. B., & Faizah, R. (2020). Validity and
Reliability Test University Stress Scale.
Proceeding of The URECOL, 136–140.
Widayati, S., Hotimah, N., & Rakhmawati, N.
I. S. (2020). Student Responses in the
Online Course Learning Process. Child
Education Journal, 2(1), 48–52.
https://doi.org/10.33086/cej.v2i1.1506
Yikealo, D., Tareke, W., & Karvinen, I. (2018).
The level of stress among college
students: A case in the college of
education, Eritrea Institute of
Technology. Open Science Journal, 3(4).
https://doi.org/10.23954/osj.v3i4.1691
© 2021 by the authors. Submitted
for possible open access publication
under the terms and conditions of the Creative
Commons Attribution (CC BY SA) license
(https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).