PERCEIVED TEACHERS' SUPPORT AND ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT: MEDIATING ROLE OF STUDENTS' SATISFACTION WITH ONLINE LEARNING IN MEDICAL AND NON-MEDICAL STUDENTS DURING COVID-19

The main objective of the study was to explore the mediating role of students' satisfaction with online learning between perceived teachers support and academic achievements during the pandemic of COVID-19 in Pakistan. It was hypothesized that Students' Satisfaction with Online Learning is likely to mediate between Perceived Teachers' Support and Academic Achievements of Medical and Non-Medical students. It was also hypothesized that non-medical students are likely to be more satisfied with online learning, perceiving more teachers' support and having high academic achievements than the medical students. A sample of 400 students with the age range of 18-22 Medical Students (M=21.68, SD=1.58) and non-medical students (M=21.91, SD=1.53) was collected through convenient sampling strategy from the different institutions. It was a quasi-correlational study. Students' satisfaction with Online Learning Questionnaire, Teachers' Support Scale and Grade Point Average scores for academic achievements were used. Mediated hierarchical regression analysis revealed after controlling the effect of Students Satisfaction with Online Learning (M), the magnitude of Perceived Teachers' Support reduces from the total effect which indicates partial mediation. Sobel z test was also run to check the indirect effect which is also significant. Findings oft test indicated that medical students significantly perceive less teachers' support than non-medical students. Findings of the study are helpful for educational administration, policy makers, course designer, and curriculum developers for organizing the whole online setup new normal.