How College Students Experienced the Coronavirus Lockdown: Challenges and Opportunities from a Qualitative Study

Background: Lockdown due to COVID-19changed the educational life of students from traditional to virtual learning; It posed many challenges to students’ success and has had psychological and social implications for them. The present study aimed to investigate the students’ experiences of living in lockdown during the COVID-19 pandemic. Identifying and obtaining this information can prepare policymakers to better plan for future pandemics.Methods: In this qualitative study, 20 students from 6 faculties of the University of Medical Sciences were selected by purposeful and snowball sampling method considering the maximum diversity in gender, educational level, school of study, marital status, and age. Data were collected through in-depth individual interviews and data collection continued until saturation. Data were analyzed using the conventional content analysis approach and a continuous comparison method. MAXQDA10 software was used for data management.Results: The present findings led to the identification of 4 main categories (educational challenges, media impact, multidimensional problems, and coping) and 17 sub-categories.Conclusion: According to the results, planning for and resolving the educational challenges, increasing students’ media and electronic literacy, identifying and solving students’ problems, and encouraging students to use appropriate coping strategies will help overcome this crisis.