ISRRT_COVID-19_book

times. The only downside was that the students needed money to be able to contact the
psychologist by phone or online.
Unconducive study environment
This was another example that exposed the different social classes – the have’s and have nots.
Students who came from the less privileged households had some serious challenges with
studying from home as compared to the ones from privileged households. This became a
reality that South Africa still have a big economic divide. Economic status impacts on the
ability of the students to achieve their goals of studying towards their chosen careers.
The examples of unconducive study environment as related by the students who applied to
be reinstated in residences were:
• Overcrowded homes and struggle for study space.
• Family providers losing their jobs due to the economic crises during the pandemic,
leading to many students not able to continue their studies due to financial
constraints.
• Family members expected students/children to help with house chores
• Overstretching family budgets by staying for long hours on the internet
• Having more mouths to feed now that the students were not in residences
• Having young children and babies who either needed minding or their crying was
a distraction.
• Learning to learn online (devices to use).
Assessment for speed or for knowledge
This expression came from the feedback on the test that was written by the honors students.
Of importance to note about this group is that is a mixed generation. Some of the students
qualified some time back and have just decided to come back and further their studies. What
this means is that some of them have not used computers before. There might be computers
in the working environments, but those are used for basic management of the department.
Coming to study on-line and write assessments on-line posed different challenges to the
students. Having to work on blackboard collaborate for the first time was a challenge to some
of the students. Lecturers attempted to research different students by setting different kinds
of questions. These related to essay, short question and multiple-choice questions. The less
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