EXPLORING STUDENT ACADEMIC FREEDOM DURING ONLINE LEARNING: A MIXED METHODS STUDY

Universities have a long commitment to respond to academic freedom. But it remains ambiguous and not well understood. It is under attack in many places. Therefore, a mixed methods study was undertaken to explore the academic freedom of university students to know the level of academic freedom of online learners in the dimensions of personal learning space access and freedom in learning and find out the significant difference in academic freedom between students with reference to their stream of education and gender. There was a moderate level of academic freedom during online learning of students with respect to personal learning space access and freedom in learning. This statistical analysis found that there is no significant difference in academic freedom during online learning across genders and streams of education. It is also evident that the mean score of male students is slightly more than the mean score of female students concerning their academic freedom during online learning. It is concluded that male students found more access to personal learning space and in carrying out their learning than their counterparts.