Abstract:
In March 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic forced all Sri Lankan universities to stop face-to-face learning
activities and abruptly shift to an online curriculum. Most of the undergraduates in Sri Lanka are very familiar
with classroom traditional learning procedures. Hence, this study aims to identify the impact of online learning
on undergraduate academic performance. Majority of research on web-based or online management courses have
been done with graduate programs, rather than the undergraduate level, and seems to lack of articles related to
the Sri Lankan context. The current study is quantitative and conducted as a cross-sectional field study. According
to the simple random sampling technique, the final sample remains at 250 observations of final year management
undergraduates in a state university, Sri Lanka. The correlation analysis indicated, there is a significant correlation
between online learning and undergraduate academic performance. According to the regression analysis, findings
presented that online learning significantly impacts on undergraduate academic performance. Furthermore, those
with moderate engagement who have gone for high academic performance than those with extremely high and
extremely low in online engagement. Study on awareness of online learning of undergraduates is very much
important to measure their performances, find pitfalls, and draft online learning policies and guidelines. Further
findings of this study are significant for universities (undergraduate, academic, and administration staff) and all
government institutions for their future decision-making.
