University Students’ Mental Workload and Sleep Quality due to Online Lecture during Covid-19 Pandemic

Abstract

Regarding covid-19 pandemic, the government makes a policy of social distancing for Indonesian society which also gives impact to learning methods in university. The learning method which previously conducted inside the class is dismissed for a while and it is replaced by an online learning method which is conducted at home. This drastic learning method change indeed will affect students’ mental condition, moreover for students who were not used to conducting such online learning methods. There are complaints regarding online learning methods such as the increase of stress level and feeling sleepy when having online class. The aim of this study is to analyze mental students’ workload and sleep quality during online class, so that a recommendation for improvement can be given. Questionnaire of NASA- TLX was used to measure mental workload and a questionnaire of PSQI (Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index) was used to measure sleep quality. The respondents are 209 Industrial Engineering students of Mulawarman University. The result of the study shows that 58.8% of students experienced high metal workload; 26.3% of students experienced medium metal workload; 12.9% of students experienced very high metal workload; and the rest experienced low and very low mental workload. Meanwhile the majority of students had poor sleep quality. The recommendation to decrease the mental load and the poor sleep quality among students are to increase the readiness level of an organization to face an online lecture situation, maintain good work organization, and maintain good life habits.