The Impact of Environmental Factors on Academic Performance of University Students Taking Online Classes during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Mexico

Arturo Realyvásquez-Vargas, Aidé Aracely Maldonado-Macías, Karina Cecilia Arredondo-Soto, Yolanda Baez-Lopez, Teresa Carrillo-Gutiérrez and Guadalupe Hernández-Escobedo
Additional contact information
Arturo Realyvásquez-Vargas: Department of Industrial Engineering, Tecnológico Nacional de México/Instituto Tecnológico de Tijuana, Tijuana 22414, Mexico
Aidé Aracely Maldonado-Macías: Department of Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering, Autonomous University of Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua 32310, Mexico
Karina Cecilia Arredondo-Soto: Chemical Sciences and Engineering Faculty, Universidad Autónoma de Baja California, Tijuana 22390, Mexico
Yolanda Baez-Lopez: Engineering, Architecture and Design Faculty, Universidad Autónoma de Baja California, Ensenada 22870, Mexico
Teresa Carrillo-Gutiérrez: Chemical Sciences and Engineering Faculty, Universidad Autónoma de Baja California, Tijuana 22390, Mexico
Guadalupe Hernández-Escobedo: Department of Industrial Engineering, Tecnológico Nacional de México/Instituto Tecnológico de Tijuana, Tijuana 22414, Mexico

Sustainability, 2020, vol. 12, issue 21, 1-22

Abstract: The COVID-19 pandemic and the quarantine period determined that university students (human resource) in Mexico had adopted the online class modality, which required them to adapt themselves to new technologies and environmental conditions that are different from classrooms at their university. Specifically, these new environmental conditions can be uncomfortable and have an impact on the students’ academic performance. Consequently, the present study aims to determine the impact that the lighting, noise, and temperature levels (independent variables) have on academic performance (dependent variable) in university students during the COVID-19 pandemic. To do this, a questionnaire was developed, which was applied to 206 university students online, and a structural equation model was built that integrates the four variables through three hypotheses, which were statistically validated through the partial least squares method. Results showed that temperature, lighting, and noise have significant direct effects on university students’ academic performance. As a conclusion, it was obtained that the three independent variables have an impact in the sustainability of university students (human resource).

Keywords: academic performance; COVID-19 pandemic; environmental conditions; lighting; Mexican universities; noise; online classes; structural equation model; temperature; university students (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (7)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/21/9194/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/21/9194/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:12:y:2020:i:21:p:9194-:d:440326

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().