%0 Journal Article
%T Undergraduate Students’ Knowledge, Attitudes, and Behaviors Regarding COVID-19 during Emergency Remote Learning
%A Chiara Lombardi
%A Alessio Contini
%A Federica Russo
%J International Journal of Social and Psychological Aspects of Healthcare
%@ 3108-4818
%D 2024
%V 4
%N 1
%R 10.51847/7vTs4Dkjvt
%P 189-197
%X The COVID-19 pandemic severely disrupted the education sector. To reduce disruptions to teaching and learning, the majority of Malaysian universities transitioned to online delivery during this exceptional phase of the pandemic. As increasing numbers of Malaysians achieved full vaccination against COVID-19, the education sector was anticipated to resume in-person instruction in the current year. Evaluating the knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) regarding COVID-19 among undergraduates engaged in emergency remote learning is essential prior to returning to on-campus teaching and learning. Accordingly, a study was undertaken to address this objective. A sample of 299 Malaysian undergraduates was recruited using snowball sampling. The online survey consisted of three primary sections: informed consent, sociodemographic details, and COVID-19 KAP items. Average scores were 4.05 out of 6 for knowledge, 11.14 out of 12 for attitude, and 5.07 out of 7 for practice. Findings indicated that first-year students exhibited significantly higher KAP scores (p < 0.05) compared to fourth-year students. Furthermore, science majors demonstrated significantly higher attitude scores (p < 0.05) than non-science majors. No significant differences in KAP scores were observed across gender, ethnicity, or prior COVID-19 infection history. Partial correlation analyses showed positive associations between knowledge and attitude scores (r = 0.193, p = 0.001), knowledge and practice scores (r = 0.343, p < 0.001), and attitude and practice scores (r = 0.149, p = 0.010). These findings indicate that targeted COVID-19 educational interventions, such as workshops, seminars, or training sessions, for fourth-year students may help improve their KAP levels.
%U https://smerpub.com/article/undergraduate-students-knowledge-attitudes-and-behaviors-regarding-covid-19-during-emergency-remo-obuiflful7lo6tk