Mixed-mode Emergency Learning: Engineering Students Experience.

Due to the global COVID-19 pandemic, educational institutions were compelled to transition from traditional-learning to emergency remote e-learning rapidly. In light of this, the present study aims to investigate the effect of a broader range of student characteristics on attitudes towards e-learning during the pandemic in a mixed-mode learning environment. The investigated students' characteristics are gender, previous experience in e-learning, perceived level of IT skills, high school background, study program indicative of the extent of technology use, teaching method employed during the pandemic, time devoted to e-learning, the device employed for e-learning, and residence status. The newly developed Students' Attitudes Towards E-learning Scale (SAES) was administered to a sample of 1058 first-year engineering students at the University of Novi Sad. The results of factor analysis revealed three factors of the SAES: positive attitudes, negative attitudes, and institutional support for emergency e-learning. Results showed that students from different study programs showed significant differences in their perception of online learning, indicating the role of the course curriculum. Additionally, students from the gymnasium (grammar school) who attended online classes during the pandemic and had prior experience in e-learning showed more positive attitudes towards e-learning, while students who engaged in the combined teaching method in high school and spent more hours in e-learning showed more negative attitudes towards e-learning. Gender does not affect attitudes towards e-learning. Emphasising the importance of examining diverse student characteristics, this study highlights institutional support for e-learning for commuter students and those who spend more time on e-learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]