Face-To-Face and Online Learning Environment: Students’ Preferences and Differences among Gender, Study Level and Place of Residence

The COVID-19 pandemic has forced all institutions to migrate from conventional face-to-face to online platforms. After the pandemic, some institutions are still implementing fully online, while others use blended learning and fully transition back to face-to-face. However, studies have reported on the differences in the effectiveness and preferences of these teaching methods. Therefore, this paper examines the students’ preferences between face-to-face and online learning environments and analyzes if there are differences among gender, study level, and place of residence for 202 students at the Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM), Seremban campus. The findings indicate that the majority of students selected blended learning as the preferred teaching method in the first rank, followed by face-to-face and online learning in second and third place, respectively. The findings also show that there are no significant differences between face-to-face and online learning environments for gender or study level. However, for the place of residence, the results show a significant difference in preferences between students who stay in college and those who are from outside the college.