Computer Science Majors’ Experiences of Their Distance Education Caused by the COVID-19 Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic caused many universities to switch from on-campus education to distance education, in just a couple of days. In this study, we investigate how computer science (CS) majors experienced the emergency remote education during the first months of the pandemic. We sent out a survey to bachelor's and master's students, which yielded 794 responses. In the survey, we asked the students to compare the online education to their on-campus education on a number of aspects, such as motivation, experienced stress and the possibility to collaborate with other students. We also asked the students to compare the quality of learning activities, such as lectures and tutorials. The results show that students preferred the on-campus setting in all aspects, but on open-ended questions about advantages, the students stated the new education format made their schedule more flexible, increased accessibility of learning material, and reduced commuting time. We also identified some differences between the students' year of study, implying that different courses did not adapt to the new conditions equally well.