Influence of satisfaction and preparedness on online students' feelings of anxiety

As they transition from a face-to-face to an online learning environment, online students are likely to feel anxious about their ability to succeed in what could be an unfamiliar learning environment. To ease this transition, online learning orientations are intended to defuse students' feelings of anxiety by clarifying course expectations and requirements while boosting their self-confidence and preparedness. This study examined how various factors associated with the online learning experience – students' demographics, prior online learning experience, satisfaction, and sense of preparedness for the course after completing an online learning orientation – influence online students' feelings of anxiety. Using a binary logistic regression, our findings confirmed that demographics (i.e., female, full-time, first-year online student), prior online learning experience, and sense of preparedness predicted online students' feelings of anxiety. Student age and student satisfaction were less conclusive. Overall, our study reiterates the need to address factors associated with online students' feelings of anxiety, in order to boost their confidence, motivation, and preparedness to succeed in online courses.