Different Coping Patterns among US Graduate and Undergraduate Students during COVID-19 Pandemic: A Machine Learning Approach

COVID-19 caused unprecedented disruptions to regular university operations worldwide. Dealing with 100% virtual classrooms and suspension of essential in-person activities resulted in significant stress and anxiety for students coping with isolation, fear, and uncertainties in their academic careers. In this study, we applied a machine learning approach to identify distinct coping patterns between graduate and undergraduate students when facing these challenges. We based our study on a large proprietary dataset collected from 517 students in US professional institutions during an early peak of the pandemic. In particular, we cast our problem under the association rule mining (ARM) framework by introducing a new method to transform survey data into market basket items and customer transactions in which students' behavioral patterns were analogous to customer purchase patterns. Our experimental results suggested that graduate and undergraduate students adopted different ways of coping that could be attributed to their different maturity levels and lifestyles. Our findings can further serve as a focus of attention (FOA) tool to facilitate customized advising or counseling to address the unique challenges associated with each group that may warrant differentiated interventions.