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As more and more students move to online learning, experts say those who have a greater ability to adapt to novel situations and uncertainty are better able to learn online.

In a study published in the American Psychological Association’s journal Scholarship of Teaching and Learning in Psychology, researchers at York University, Hadassah Academic College in Israel and Oakland University examined the extent to which an abrupt transition to online learning is impacting post-secondary students who are trying to learn as the pandemic continues to unfold. They studied a sample of 1,217 college students from Israel who completed an online questionnaire after transitioning to online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The data revealed that postsecondary students who feel like they belong, and have a sense of mattering, are better able to adapt to online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic. Adaptability as defined by the study is the capability of being able to adjust effectively to novel, uncertain and potentially threatening circumstances.