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No Campus Life for Us:
Personal Reflections of First-Year Students at a Malaysian University
Ireena Nasiha Ibnu
Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia
Wan Hartini Wan Zainodin
Universiti Teknologi MARA,Malaysia
Faizah Din
Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia

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Abstract
The purpose of this qualitative study was to look into the online learning experiences of firstyear communication and media students. The study was conducted by gathering 45 written
reflection papers from first-year undergraduate students covering their opinions, challenges,
and feelings about online learning. NVivo 12 was used to analyse the contents of thesereflection papers. The findings of this reflective narrative study offer valuable insights into how
first-year communication and media students perceive online learning classes in higher
education, the challenges of working with new virtual classmates, the adjustment and role asstudent and daughters at home, as well as their mental health and emotional feelings towards
online learning. Students learned vital lessons about time management, environmental
awareness and independence as a result of these experiences. Students experienced anxiety andwere demotivated as a result of the lack of face-to-face interaction and effective selfintroduction with new peers. Most importantly, they were dissatisfied because they had lostout on the experiences of living on campus during their first year of study. Furthermore, thisresearch looked into another component of the qualitative technique, which is a reflective
method to study the first-year students’ experiences with online learning in a Malaysian public
university, an insight that can be useful for both lecturers and students.
Keywords: COVID-19, higher education, learning adjustment, online learning experience,
qualitative research

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On 11 March 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared that Coronavirus disease2019 (COVID-19) is a pandemic. According to WHO, the term pandemic can be understoodas the “global spread of a new disease”. The official declaration by WHO was a turning point
for most governments around the world to shut down some of their industries including the
education sectors. The COVID-19 crisis resulted in major disruption in the operation of schools
and universities, particularly those affecting students’ learning and assessments. The decision
was implemented as a preventive measure to combat the spread of the virus. In response to thispandemic, online learning has been the first alternative to embrace the new ways of learning.
Many universities around the world positioned online learning or E-Learning as a form of
distance learning or distance education based on the use of digital technologies to accesseducational materials via email, chat, audio and video conferencing; delivered over computer
networks to enable or facilitate the learning process (Nguyen, 2015; Aparicio et al., 2016).
According to Rodrigues et al., (2015), the main goal of e-learning is to provide interactive
learning and a supportive environment for students with personalized, learner-centred, open
and enjoyable learning processes. With online learning, physical attendance at a university or
school is no longer needed, but both educators and students must have a computer or
technological device to maintain the learning process. Besides, the technological device,technological competencies among students and teachers and internet connection are among
matters that needed to be emphasized when virtual classes were implemented (Almusharraf &Khahro, 2020). In Malaysia, the closure of universities and the emergence of online learning
during the pandemic created a new gap or digital divide between privileged andunderprivileged students. Privileged students here refer to those who have stable and better
access to an internet connection to pursue their online classes, while the underprivileged
students may refer to those who experienced a lack of internet access in their area ortechnological devices due to the poor family economic status.
Literature Review
During the first phase of the movement control order (MCO) in Malaysia, there was acontroversial issue about how online learning could be a great disruption to underprivileged
students like Veveonah Mosibin. In June 2020, Veveonah Mosibin, an 18-year-old, public
university student who lives in a remote part of the eastern state of Sabah shared her experienceon Youtube, as she had to sit for her examination on a tree to ensure a strong connection (TseYin Lee, 2020). The aspirational story of Veveonah’s experience went viral and has beenviewed hundreds of thousand times by netizens. This has reflected how internet connectivity
is a problem for many students living in some rural areas in Malaysia. Unlike those indeveloped countries, the education system in Malaysia is still adapting to this method oflearning (Bartley & Golek, 2004; El Said, 2021). During the early phase of the pandemic, mosthighly affected countries such as China, South Korea, Italy, and Iran have already adopted
online learning platforms to ensure the continuous learning process (Tam & El-Azar, 2020). It
involves many levels of education from pre-schools, primary schools, secondary schools tohigher education institutions.
As a result of this turn in events, the COVID-19 pandemic has led to much research on online
learning experiences which focus on the effectiveness and satisfaction of online learning,
online assessments as well as students’ perceptions and the challenges of those that range fromprimary schools to higher education institutions (Almusharraf & Khahro, 2020; Nguyen, 2015;
Valverde-Berrocoso et al., 2020). However, there is another interesting aspect of the online

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learning experiences which will be explored in this study, the experiences of first-year
undergraduate students.
Entering the university is one of the biggest life transitions for many school and college leavers.
Traditionally, new students or “freshies” will have the induction or orientation week tofamiliarize themselves with the campus activities, library, courses and surroundings (Collins& Dodsworth, 2011). The orientation week serves as a welcome week which is usuallyconducted a week before the semester starts. The activities during the orientation week are
crucial to assist new students in their transition or adjustment into campus life and which could
lead to a positive impact on academic performance (Georgina et al., 2014). At the same time,
students also have fun and get to know their course-mates who potentially will be their friends
who help them to settle in as university students.
There are limited studies focusing on these students’ online learning experiences during
COVID-19. The most recent work in this area centres around the Nursing Students’ Perceptions
and Experiences while studying during the global pandemic. The study used qualitative
inductive content analysis, and the data was collected using an online form. Findings from 33
reports of undergraduate students showed that as much as students are aware of their
responsibility to the community, they are also satisfied with and supported the faculty decision
on distance learning which includes the suspension of clinical activities (Lovrić et al., 2020).
In the same vein, a qualitative survey conducted by Hasan and Khan (2020) on online teachinglearning during COVID-19 pandemic has proven that students enjoy the flexibility of online
learning. The study also suggested that multiple media presentations and different activities
could improve the students’ interaction during online learning. However, like many studies,
this study also agreed that the most common barriers or disadvantages of online learning aretechnical problems, poor internet connectivity, the lack of interaction and deficits in educators’basic computer skills (El Said, 2021; Khalil et al., 2020; Nguyen, 2015; Zalat et al., 2021).
Another crucial aspect of the experience pointed out by many scholars is the emotional state ofstudents in an online learning environment such as stress, anger and embarrassment(Cleveland-Innes & Campbell, 2012; Faria et al., 2015; Zembylas, 2018; Brookfield, 2006;
Lehman, 2006). Furthermore, a recent study found that multiple assignments and long online
classes every day contributed to anxiety, insurmountable stress and health issues to the students(Sundarasen et al., 2020).
In the light of these findings, this research attempts to fill the gap by focusing on the perspective
and personal reflection of first-year undergraduate students toward online learning during the
COVID-19 pandemic. Specifically, this study aims to explore the first-year Communicationand Media students into online learning experiences which cover their opinions, challenges
and feelings during the pandemic situation. The outcome of this research has significant
implications for teaching and learning strategies and emotional support for first-year students
in higher education.
Methodology
This qualitative study employed narrative analysis as an approach to analyse the reflection
papers of the first-year media and communication students. According to Riesman (2008),
narrative analysis is used to understand how research participants construct stories andnarratives from their personal experiences. This approach involved a dual-layer of147

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interpretation that consists of firstly, the interpretation of participants own stories and secondly,
the researcher’s interpretation of the structure of participants’ narratives.
As elucidated by Loseke (2021), narratives can be derived from journals, letters, conversations,
autobiographies as well as transcripts. In this study data collection, forty-five undergraduate
students participated. First-year communication and media students were assigned to write an
open-ended reflection paper using the Google Classroom platform. They were asked toconstruct their reflections to include their opinions, problems and feelings towards the online
learning experience during the pandemic.
Before the students wrote their reflections, they were given three links to online news articles,
one from an international newspaper and two from local newspapers. The headlines of the news
were related to the online lessons’ issues experienced by students during a pandemic. Afterreading the news articles, students must reflect on their own experiences by writing theirreflections online and then submit the report on Google Classroom. The open-ended written
questions style of analysis directly influenced the depth of research and determined the
manifest approach.
Table 1The News Headlines from Selected Newspapers
New Straits Time
25 November 2020
The Guardian
3 April 2020
The Star
16 December 2020

Embracing online teaching during the
pandemic
Forget freshies’ week: universities prepare toteach new first-years online
Online lessons are challenging, say students
Capturing the Narrative Data

As postulated by Sharp et al., (2018) narrative analysis displays the complexities of humanexperience and reveals comprehension of how people make sense of their lives in the contexts
of social, cultural, and historical contexts. The narrative approach entails inquiry concernedwith human experience narratives or inquiry that yields data in narrative form. It is also
includes the compilation of narratives (stories) from persons or small groups (Butina, 2015).
It can be applied to any forms such as documents or written texts, and observations.
Furthermore, this form of analysis greatly adds to a better understanding of human perceptions
and experiences.
Figure 1
Process of Narrative Analysis

Dual

Narrative
approach

1) Participants2) Researchers

Narrative
Anaysis1) Categorizing2) Commenting
3) Look forpattern148

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Data was collected during mid-April, 2021 when all higher education institutions of Malaysia
had switched to online mode of teaching due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The researchers
found that this method allowed the participants to fully convey their internal narratives.
Therefore, the inductive methods of narrative analysis were chosen to keep the individual
narratives intact. The narratives were then split into smaller pieces and clustered by the themewith other participants statements and were coded by using NVivo 12 software.
Findings
There are three main themes in this narrative analysis. These main themes are 1) student’s
opinions about online learning classes, 2) the problems faced during online learning and 3)
their feelings towards online learning. Under the first theme, besides online learning, anothersub-theme that emerged, particularly the home surrounding opposite to the physical class.
Opinion on Online Learning Classes in Higher Education
The media and communication students in this study found that online learning provided
several benefits to both the students and lecturers. Students enjoy the online classes because it
makes them more efficient in managing their daily tasks and schedule. This new norm has
shaped them to be independent and disciplined, allowing them to enjoy self-paced learning.
Besides, without having physical attendance, online classes encouraged some students who
have low self-esteem to become more confident during the presentation and express theiropinion behind the camera.
In my opinion, I do like online learning due to many reasons and one form several
is such a way of teaching a student to be independent and discipline. With no one
around us physically, we tend to schedule our tasks more efficiently rather thanhaving a friend by our side to keep on reminding us of tasks to be done. – Nurul
In my opinion, online class far better suits my situation even though at first, I was
prepared for my things as I thought I am going to UITM. This is because online
class allows me to be more confident during the presentation, asking questions
and express my opinion rather than a physical class where I do not have selfassurance – Anis
Apart from the elaboration provided, students have other reasons as to why they enjoy online
classes, namely because it is cost-efficient, saves time and is environmentally friendly. For
Husna, as a student, online learning minimized her financial expenditure in many ways, suchas printing costs and buying hardcopy books. At the same time, this paperless effort had apositive impact on the environment. For Khairul, besides the reason above, attending the online
class also saves student’s time. He did not have to spend more time to get prepared for classes,
particularly in terms of travel time to the class. Instead, he could use the time to study before
the class, simultaneously without the worry of being late.
Other than giving benefits to the students and lecturer, the Earth also gets benefits
which we can save more trees! It is a really good thing for me as a student because
I can save up more money. We now have e-books, submitting everything throughonline platforms and the good thing is I do not have to spend money to print out
the assignment! – Husna

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I like how I do not have to wake up early every morning just to get prepared to go
to class. I think it did save me some time and I can use that time to brief the lecture
before the class start. – Khairul
Problems Faced During Online Learninga) Challenges of working with new virtual classmates. This theme focuses on the challenges
experienced by students during online learning. From the analysis, three sub-themes emerged.
Since this research focuses on the first-year degree students, it was found that many students
stated that working with new classmates is a challenging experience. This situation faced was
different from those who were in the second and third semesters, as the former have just entered
university life virtually. They did not know each other, as they are from different demographic
backgrounds. Thus, it is became difficult for them to work with each other as classmates,
without having proper ice-breaking sessions like the conventional semester.
The biggest challenge among all is making new friends through online learning.
I believe me and my classmates were strangers before and having the fact that wehave to be working together is a little difficult due to the reason that we don’tknow each other. – Maria
We just entered the university but did not have a chance to get to know each otherand suddenly during the first class, the lecturer just asks us to make a group for
assignment. So, we had to randomly ask people to be in the group based on thefirst impression that we got seeing their faces during an online class. – Suhana
Besides, the students also stated that the lack of physical interaction forced them to feel
uncomfortable with each other, particularly during a group discussion. The group discussion
session can be difficult because they experienced awkwardness, since they were strangers withthe others. Another reason is that some students fail to give full commitment as group members.
Another notable problem would be that it is very hard to be comfortable aroundclassmates or even groupmates because we lack the experience of seeing eachother face-to-face, the awkwardness is comparable to when talking to a stranger
online. – Danial
The problem that I got from online classes is when we got groupmates that does
not want to give cooperate in the group. Sometimes, when we want to do a group
discussion we need to wait for that person, or even sometimes they cannot join the
online classes so they might miss the lecture. – Azaliab) Internet connection problem. The second problem faced by most students during online
learning was internet connectivity. Previous studies have shown that many students faced
internet connection problems during online classes. The participants in this study are also not
exempted from this problem. Although this problem may be perceived as a common problem,
it is important to see how it impacts student’s emotions and motivation towards online learning.
Online classes can be draining and tiring as a student can’t get the idea of what
lecturers teach because of their internet disruption, environment or even thelecturers’ connection. Due to this, some of them have to study by themselves, butdoes what they understand based on their studies is the same as what theirlecturers taught them? - Adam150

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As someone who experienced and was affected by this implementation, I always
had hard times with my Internet connection which at times could be annoying as
I got kicked out all of a sudden from my online class on Google Meet because myInternet went down for a few minutes.- Farhan
However, there are also times where the internet connection is not tolerating fromthe other side. The lecturer had to end the class early and postpone it to next week.
– AliaFrom these findings, it was evident that it was not only the students who experienced internet
connection problems during the class, but the lecturers who teach the subject were similarly
affected. Thus, the former had to be prepared to expect the consequences that they might facesuch as unexpected interruptions to the online class. Consequently, they had to be ready to
study the subject independently, in case they missed the class or if the class had to be
postponed. These situations created a challenge for the students’ learning outcome since they
did not have a smooth learning experience nor full input about the course from the lecturer. As
a result, students experienced mental exhaustion and tiredness due to the internet disruption.
c) Role of gender. Another interesting sub-theme that emerged from this study is the role ofgender. From the analysis, it was found that many female students related their struggles with
online learning in terms of their role as a daughter or a sister at home. For instance, female
students confessed that they had to juggle the role of a student and a daughter. These students
have to compromise their daily routine and duty at home by helping their parents with housechores. At the same time, they were also expected to attend and invest their time in the online
classes.
I also face a problem with my surroundings, carrying responsibility as a daughter
and a sister. As time passed, I tried to adapt to the situation, which is hard for me
to accept. – Husna
Online classes become more issue when you have to be a daughter and a student
at the same time. We could not resist if our mom is calling us for help they need,right? This will make some of the students lose their focus and being left behindon their studies. – Amira
The other problem is the chores. I have a feeling that the girls might relate to thisa lot, as our chores are doubled. This is because online learning is done at home,
so we need to get the assignments given by the lectures done as well as the housechores. Some parents might be understanding, but some are not. – Eva
I have many responsibilities at home, such as cooking meals, cleaning up after
them, doing housework, and so on. The environment at home is different from theclass university. – Izzah
This study found that the female students needed to adapt themselves at home as a student andas a daughter. Having these roles at the same time could be challenging since they needed tobalance their responsibilities when studying online from home. It is challenging for them tofocus during class or even to do the assignments, since they have to help their parents with thehouse chores. For Izzah, this situation will be different if she is living on the campus and forsome students like Eva, Husna and Amira, this situation is unavoidable, since not all parents151

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understand what the students feel, such as losing their focus and completing the task given by
the lecturers on time.
Feelings Towards Online Learning
The final theme that emerged was the discovery of the students’ feelings towards online
learning. After several weeks of online learning, the findings seemed to suggest that students
relayed negative feelings such as being demotivated and sad.
a) Demotivated. Many students in this study considered online learning as a new experience.
Thus, this required them to adjust themselves since they had no experience in online learning.
At the same time, they needed to adapt to the new routine, friends, lecturers and theenvironment. The pandemic affected their mental and physical health.
Online classes have affected me personally because, during this time, I found myself
get easily distracted and less focused. It was because I had no energy andmotivation to study. After all, this is new for me. I felt lost without a routine schedule– FarhanNo doubt, sometimes I feel stress and despair. Online learning makes me feel lostin learning, give up and so on probably because I couldn’t communicate directlyor face to face like before – Nurul
The online class gave students mixed feelings. Personally, feeling easily
demotivated is the main feeling I have as this pandemic affects me mentally andphysically. – Adam
The above findings indicate that students easily feel demotivated to study because they were
not able to cope with the new ways of learning. They needed time to adapt to the new routine
and the environment. Moreover, a lack of face-to-face communication with lecturers andclassmates seemed to lead them to give up on online learning.
b) Sad. Besides feeling demotivated, these students also expressed their feelings of being
unhappy as they were not able to attend the university physically. As first-year undergraduate
students, they hoped to have a wonderful experience when entering university life.
I’m feeling a bit sad since I thought that I can finally feel like a university student
after so long staying at home. It feels really different since usually we need toregister our accommodation in college but we still at home and can’t get to know
our roommate and classmates. – Alia
This is quite sad for us because we as a student wants to enjoy our study life in
the campus and have a face-to-face lecture. We also want to go and have fun with
our fun because university life, is the only time we have when we are studying
together because once we enter our work life, it will definitely be different. Thereis no campus life for us. – Anis
My feeling with this situation is not very happy because I cannot catch up more
about what I learn. This is because most people need a friend for studies and when
we were at home, we must study all alone. I just hope that next semester, I get to152

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attend class physically. I don’t wanna waste my degree’s years by sitting in myroom and not knowing my classmates and lecturers properly. – Suhana
Essentially many of these students feel sad for a range of reasons. Firstly, being freshies, theyfailed to have the opportunity to experience the physical registration and induction on campus.
Secondly, they feel sad as they are unable to get to know their classmates face-to-face, hence,
they missed the diverse activities and learning experiences of being physically on campus.
Discussion
This paper presents the reflections of online learning experiences of the first-year Media andCommunication students during the COVID-19 pandemic. What makes this paper interestingis that it represents the voices of the first batch of first-year undergraduate students whose
university adjustments and learning experiences have been affected due to COVID-19
pandemic. The focus of this group of students has received less attention from many scholars.
Based on the findings above, it has been discovered that many reasons shaped these students
experiences towards online learning. While many western countries have been practising
online learning for the past few decades, Malaysia still has a long way to go. Other countries
reported to have invested substantially in e-learning include the United States, the United
Kingdom, Côte d’Ivoire, South Korea, China, and India (Dos Santos, 2019). To ensure that thelearning process is not disrupted, open and distance learning or e-learning is implemented as
an immediate solution.
In working out the opinion of these students on this issue, the findings of this study show that
although most of the students stated that they were a bit upset about not being able to enter theuniversity physically for their first year of study; they still enjoyed the benefits of the online
classes. For some students, online learning is cost-effective, saves time and is environmentallyfriendly. It is cost-effective because they do not have to spend money to print their assignmentsor reports which have been a custom for many years. Students only needed to submit their tasks
online according to the deadline and an online platform such as Google classroom as instructedby the lecturers. By having online classes and going completely to a paperless environment,
the students and the university contributed to the sustainable development goals (SDG) 12
which is ‘to ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns.’ This is important as itsupports that online learning can be associated with environmentally-friendly andsustainability (Md Harizan, Hilmi, & Atan, 2016; 2017; 2019).
Besides, the students in this study also stated that the online learning environment has
encouraged them to be more disciplined and to work independently when completing theirtasks and assignments with minimal supervision from the lecturers or instructors. Due to theirflexibility, independence, and adaptation to ever-changing demands; it is expected that thesetalents from online learning would prepare them for the labour market, to be more creative inwriting, and help them achieve good academic achievements (Nielsen, 2012; Mohammed
Omer Alamin, 2018; Al & Liu, 2020).
Despite experiencing the benefits of online learning, the students also emphasized how thephysical surroundings could affect their online learning adjustments. Learning from home canbe a blessing for students who have a comfortable and supportive environment. However, it
can also be a calamity for those may be experiencing other disadvantages. Our findings showthat some students suffered from these conditions such as noisy environments, houserenovation and no designated space for studying, all of which left them less focused during the153

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class. Loh Sau Cheong, an expert in Educational Psychology pointed out that a conducive
environment is perceived as important for students for learning as it affects students’ academic
performance. In contrast, it may lead to negative behaviour, low motivation to learn and a lackof interest in learning (Lee Chonghui, 2020).
The second main theme in this study explores the challenges faced by students during online
learning. It is of interest to know what the challenges are that they face to be a university freshie
during this COVID-19 pandemic. Under this theme, the specific focus was on their experience
as a first-year undergraduate student. From the reflection papers, students were found toconfess the challenges they faced when working with new virtual classmates. It is believed that
this finding is crucial considering the situation as a freshie in higher education.
The ice-breakers session in a traditional on-campus setting is helpful as it involves face-to-faceinteraction, breaks down social barriers and creates a beneficial environment (McGrath et al.,2014). Unfortunately, this situation was not the experience of the students in this study. The
challenges faced by these students in this research were different compared to students in manyother studies. It is because they did not undergo common ice breakers during induction or
freshie week. These students had to start their friendships online which left them feelingawkward and uneasy toward one another. This new approach left them feeling uncomfortableworking together as a group. Besides, it seems that the limited experience from the university
and lecturers in handling the session may also affect these students’ online learning
adjustments.
Just like other research, the main findings of this study also pointed out that the internet
connection problem affected these students’ online learning experiences (Teoh, Lin & Belaja,
2014; Almusharraf, 2020; Al & Liu, 2020). In this study, students confessed that internet
disruption left them emotionally exhausted, and the situation became worse when the lecturer
who taught the class was facing the same problem. Finally, another interesting theme thatappeared in this study was gender which was a challenging factor in online learning. From thecontent analysis, several female students found that their role at home was a distraction to their
online learning adjustment. At home, these female students have to commit themselves asdaughters by doing the household chores as expected by their family. At the same time, theyalso hoped that their parents, particularly mothers, may understand the former’s role as a
student may require them to complete their assignments and tasks given by the lecturers.
In the final theme of this study, understanding the feelings or emotions of the students, seemed
to emerge. The findings demonstrated that students felt demotivated and sad having to be
involved in online learning. This was mainly related to their current status as first-year students.
For them, entering university was one of the important events in their life transition. Thus,
there were many expectations when discussing going to the university. Many of them felt sadbecause this pandemic deprived them of their university memories such as excitement and fun
experiences when meeting new friends, registering for the course and being in new
accommodation.
Another reason that they felt demotivated towards online learning was that they lose the funpart of getting to know their classmates. They also needed time to adjust to the different waysof learning, as opposed to their traditional way of learning. Moreover, as first-year students,
they also needed full support, supervision and guidance from lecturers and senior students,
which could be difficult to do with the online learning environment. Thus, sudden transition

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and adoption of the online learning adjustment has impacted students’ negative emotions andmotivation (Al-Kumaim et al., 2021).
Conclusion
To summarize, this paper argued that online learning provides complex experiences to thecommunication and media first-year undergraduate students’ adjustment. They reflected thatonline learning fashioned them with positive characteristics such as independence, selfdisciplined and sustainable behaviours. For some introverted students, the online learning
environment was like a blessing in disguise, as it enabled them to ask questions during class,hence, it boosted their confidence in presentation. Meanwhile, the drawback of online learning
experiences obtained from these reflection papers study is that, not all students are privileged
with a good internet connection and a proper study environment at home. Besides, the female
students in this research also faced a dilemma to perform their duties, between being obliging
daughters and diligent students when they study from home.
It is hoped that the negative feelings and challenges experienced by these students in this study
will help the university and educators to improvise the effectiveness of online learning andvirtual friendship-making. This is crucial in order that students could feel more comfortableand excited to get to know their new classmates. Proper planning by the university requires afocus on students’ educational achievement, while remaining flexible according to the crisisand situations (Bynander & Nohrstedt, 2020; Carver, 2020; Lemoine & Richardson, 2020). In
this case, it was crucial for their learning adjustments and educational achievements since thesestudents will work in the group throughout their undergraduate years. Universities should takethis issue seriously since it is predicted that after the pandemic, learning may be disrupted foranother six months to five years (Dennis, 2020).

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Corresponding author: Wan Hartini Wan Zainodin
Email: wanhartini@uitm.edu.my158