EDUCATION AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGIES, vol.1, pp.1-13, 2022 (SSCI)
During the ongoing coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic, over 1.5 billion students
worldwide have been deprived of access to traditional learning. This situation has
necessitated the use of social distancing-based educational methods; consequently, a
tremendous shift towards e-learning has been observed. This study assesses medical
students’ social anxiety levels in e-learning environments. The study was conducted
in two phases. In the first phase, the original Turkish Social Anxiety Scale for
E-Learning Environments (SASE) was adapted in English and tested for validity
and reliability. This instrument has two subscales: social anxiety in learner-learner
interaction and in learner-instructor interaction. In the second stage, we explored
the associations of gender, age, and perceived academic performance with medical
students’ social anxiety levels in e-learning environments. A total of 325 responses
were analysed. Consistent with the original version, the adapted scale is a reliable and valid measure of social anxiety in e-learning. Social anxiety in e-learning
was related to gender (p=0.008) and age (p=0.013). Social anxiety levels were
higher in students with lower perceived performance during e-learning compared
to students with enhanced performance, but the difference was not significant. The
SASE is a useful instrument for evaluating social anxiety in e-learning environments across English educational frameworks. Considering the shift in social interaction environments, efforts are required to reduce medical students’ social anxiety
levels and enhance learning.