Abstract—Happiness is a debatable abstract concept as it is a
term without any exact or precise way of measurement and
evaluation and the current COVID-19 pandemic has affected
the students with their happiness leading to a decrease in
learning. The present study aimed to determine the factors that
affect the students’ happiness during online learning brought
by the COVID-19 pandemic. 622 senior high school students
who underwent online learning were given a questionnaire
composed of 45 questions grouped into 10 factors under
autonomy, competence, and relatedness that were based on the
self-determination theory. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM)
was utilized in this research to determine the causal
relationships between latent variables construct. SEM showed
that autonomy was the most significant factor to students’
happiness because students can cope with the current
COVID-19 pandemic. The second variable was relatedness
because continuous communication and support are evident
among respondents. Lastly, competence was found to be a
negative predictor because students are knowledgeable when it
comes to the current state of the COVID-19 pandemic. As the
first study that utilized the self-determination theory approach
in the happiness context during the COVID-19 pandemic, the
study can provide areas for better innovation in online learning
given that there is no definite timeline for this pandemic.
Moreover, the education sector may take into consideration
students’ autonomy and relatedness to help increase happiness
leading to satisfaction and continue online learning despite the
COVID-19 pandemic.
Index Terms—Happiness, online learning, pandemic, senior
high school, COVID-19.
Ardvin Kester S. Ong and Yogi Tri Prasetyo are with School of Industrial
Engineering and Engineering Management, Mapúa University, Manila,
Philippines. 658 Muralla St.,Intramuros, Manila 1002, Philippines
(corresponding author: Yogi Tri Prasetyo; e-mail: ytprasetyo@yahoo.com).
Mark Kenneth C. Paruli, Trixie M. Alejandro, Angela S. Parais, and Leo
Matthew B. Sarne are with Young Innovators Research Center, Mapúa
University, Manila, Philippines. 658 Muralla St.,Intramuros, Manila 1002,
Philippines.
Cite: Ardvin Kester S. Ong, Yogi Tri Prasetyo, Mark Kenneth C. Paruli, Trixie M. Alejandro, Angela S. Parais, and Leo Matthew B. Sarne, "Factors Affecting Students’ Happiness on Online Learning during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Self Determination Theory Approach," International Journal of Information and Education Technology vol. 12, no. 6, pp. 555-564, 2022.
Copyright © 2022 by the authors. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited (CC BY 4.0).