Background and Purpose: The coronavirus pandemic led to changes all over the world, especially in the education system, which created various challenges and opportunities for the education system in the post-corona era. Therefore, this study was conducted to examine the psychological and academic consequences of the coronavirus pandemic on students and to find proper coping strategies.
Method: The present study employed a mixed-methods design (quantitative–qualitative). The statistical population consisted of sixth-grade elementary school students, teachers, and parents in Ardabil Province during the 2023–2024 academic year. Sampling was conducted in two stages. In the first stage, 45 participants (15 students, 15 teachers, and 15 parents) were purposively selected, and qualitative data were collected through semi-structured interviews. In the second stage, a sample of 90 students was selected from three regions — Namin, Khalkhal, and Parsabad — using the cluster sampling method. For quantitative data collection, the Demographic Questionnaire, and the Iranian Child Behavioral Problems Diagnostic Test (ICBPD) (Motamedin et al., 2021) were administered. The data obtained from the interviews were analyzed using thematic analysis with MAXQDA-20, and the quantitative data was analyzed using two-way ANOVA and the Chi-Square test with SPSS- 23.
Results: In the qualitative phase, the results revealed six main themes, namely education and treatment, a healthy social and family environment, the use of electronic learning, coronavirus prevention, empowerment of parents and teachers, and enhancement of educational quality, all of which were identified as effective strategies for reducing the psychological and academic consequences of the coronavirus period. In the quantitative phase, the findings showed that the severity of students’ behavioral problems increased following the coronavirus pandemic. Furthermore, there was no interaction between gender and coronavirus infection in students’ emotional-behavioral problems (χ²= 2.485, p= 0.289), and no significant interaction between gender and academic status (χ² = 6.301, p= 0.178) or psychological status (χ² = 2.038, p= 0.729) of students after the coronavirus period. Additionally, the results of a two-way ANOVA showed that the interaction effects of gender and coronavirus infection on students’ emotional-behavioral problems after the pandemic were not significant (F (1, 54) = 0.688, p = 0.411, η² = 0.013).
Conclusion: The obtained results highlight the necessity of designing and implementing educational interventions and teacher empowerment programs tailored to the needs of students in the post- coronavirus period. Moreover, the findings of this study can serve as a theoretical and practical framework to guide educational professionals, counselors, and therapists in providing best services to students. |
