ABSTRACT
Universities around the world were closed for several months to slow down the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. During this crisis, a tremendous amount of effort was made to use online education to support the teaching and learning process. The COVID-19 pandemic gave us a profound insight into how online education can radically affect students and how students adapt to new challenges. The question is how switching to online education affected dropout? This study shows the results of a research project clarifying the impact of the transition to online courses on dropouts. The data analysed are from a large public university in Europe where online education was introduced in March 2020. This study compares the academic progress of students newly enroled in 2018 and 2019 using IRT modelling. The results show that (1) this period did not contribute significantly to the increase in dropout, and we managed to retain our students.(2) Subjects became more achievable during online education, and students with less ability were also able to pass their exams. (3) Students who participated in online education reported lower average grade points than those who participated in on-campus education. Consequently, on-campus students could win better scholarships because of better grades than students who participated in online education. Analysing students' results could help (1) resolve management issues regarding scholarship problems and (2) administrators develop programmes to increase retention in online education.
ABSTRACT
In this research our aim was to answer the question how the COVID-19 pandemic affected reproductive choices in Hungary. To answer this question, we conducted semi-structured interviews in the autumn of 2020 with forty men and women aged 18-45 having no children or only one child. The results show that the most important direct impact of the pandemic was the burden on the healthcare system, especially mothers and fathers reported this concern. Besides the negative effect on the healthcare system, social distancing rules had mixed effects on fertility plans. If the mother was on maternity leave, while the father worked from home it had a favourable impact, but if the mother worked in a paid job, then that had a negative effect on fertility plans, while childless women did not report any effects. Regardless of the pandemic, the financial situation of families played a key role in fertility intentions. We also found evidence that additional insecurities, such as the fear of losing one’s job and how individuals see their future prospects, can influence reproductive choices. © 2022, Hungarian Sociological Association. All rights reserved.