STUDENTS' PERCEPTIONS OF ONLINE CURRICULAR COURSES

Online learning gained popularity among the university students in many counties, but they require the high level of self-discipline and organisation. The students of Surgut State University were offered to take one of 4 week long -online courses at the beginning of the 2018/2019 academic year. The courses were an integral part of the programme. The students were offered to combine the learning at the university with the participation in online courses. Most students liked the courses, while the others found it difficult and boring. The study was conducted to learn the reason for a high level of delaying the tasks on the course until the last moment, At the beginning of the study the students were tested on their level of motivation to online learning and the level of procrastination. Most students completed the online programme in time while other students were delayed and finished the programme some weeks later. The hypothesis was that most students who didn't like online courses were procrastinators. They liked the idea to learn online, but the tight timeframes for completing assignments nullified all the potential benefits of the course for such students. As a result, the need to carry out tasks on time hangs over them like the Sword of Damocles, and for procrastinators it is stressful. The research material was based upon online courses designed for use by the Bachelor, Master's and post-graduate students of a Foreign Languages direction. The research method was based upon statistical data analysis and its interpretation. The study showed that it is important to look closely to the factors of students' procrastination in future investigations.