Capturing Uncertainty in Opinions on Distance Learning Using Fuzzy Sets

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, distance learning has become a hot topic in education. Universities worldwide were forced to replace traditional learning with distance learning without deeper preparation. The focus was mostly put on technical solutions. However, the opinions and feelings of the groups involved - mainly teachers, students, and IT staff, should be also considered. Given the novelty of the situation, it is unreasonable to expect that the collected answers are without vagueness and hesitance. To solve this problem, this work proposes a method of capturing and aggregating such answers. At the first level, the answers of a single respondent are represented as fuzzy numbers whose mean is then calculated to represent their overall opinion. At the second level, the aggregation by the relative quantifier most of reveals whether the majority of members of a group inclines towards a positive or negative opinion. In this way, the uncertainties in answers and non-equal sizes of groups are covered. This model is illustrated by a numerical example followed by discussion and concluding remarks. © Proceedings of the 14th International Conference on Strategic Management and its Support by Information Systems 2021, SMSIS 2021.

Identification elements symmetry in teaching informatics in czech secondary school during the covid-19 outbreak from the perspective of students

This article describes the research results aimed at distance education during the Covid-19 pandemic and closing schools and its symmetry with the classical state in terms of time, difficulty, and the mental and physical condition of students. An important aspect is therefore to maintain the symmetry of attitudes to teaching in face-to-face form and distance form. In terms of the eight-year gymnasium in the Czech Republic, students’ attitudes to the teaching subject informatics were investigated. The main research questions in our study dealt with whether students felt equally balanced regarding the amount of tasks and time taken for home preparation during the Covid-19 outbreak compared with the time before the quarantine and their condition (both mental and physical) during the Covid-19 outbreak. The research was conducted using an anonymous questionnaire, which was answered by 110 out of 180 students. According to the results, it is evident that students felt that during the distance education, there are more tasks compared to face-to-face ones. Students also claimed to spend more time learning at distance education than at school. On the other hand, they agreed that the self-education schedule is suitable for them. In terms of the questionnaire, their condition (both mental and physical) was also evaluated, which was slightly above the average. © 2020 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.