Abstract
In this roundtable, we discussed the manner in which changes in the environment of university students influence learning and growth using data from annual surveys for 2008, 2012, 2016, and 2021.
The results revealed that (1) active learning behaviors increase due to the influence of reforms in university education. However, the time allocated for academic learning has not increased. (2) University students are increasingly behaving similar to high school students, and various types of students are emerging. Lastly, (3) the impact of the COVID-19 is occurring in many aspects of academics, such as friendship among peers and online classes. Moreover, the results pointed out problems, such as decreased number of friends and reduced sense of growth, which are more pronounced for students enrolling in 2020.
The changes observed in the learning and life of university students are diverse and displayed a simultaneous increase in active and passive properties. In addition, the effects of educational reforms and damages due to COVID-19 differ across students. Several issues are ongoing, such as the lack of increase in time for academic learning and improvement in the quality of learning.
In the discussion with the participants, the study confirmed the need to understand the ongoing changes, recognize the various difficulties faced by individual students, and continue to consider how to best provide support that fosters independence. In the future, paying close attention to the behaviors and values of university students who were affected by the COVID-19 will be necessary when they become working adults in comparison with previous and future generations.
