Evolution of the Perceived Impact of the Pandemic on University Students

The Coronavirus pandemic has taken the world hostage. All aspects of society have been affected, including the education system with the closure of universities and the adoption of abrupt measures to continue offering university programs virtually. Unexpectedly, the difficult situation has continued until at least December 2021. This paper studies the evolution of the perceived impact of the pandemic on students over four semesters, from Winter 2020 to Fall 2021. A survey conducted at the end of each semester captured the evolution of the impact felt by students. Using Text Mining and Sentiment Analysis, per semester, per gender and per age category, the progression of certain sentiments was identified. The study reveals that the professor's attitude and support was a key element at the beginning of the pandemic and for many, it has been a good learning experience overall. The loss of direct/in person communication has been strongly felt and it got worse as time progresses. The level of negative comments seems to decrease over time for Female students, while for Male students, it tends to increase. Students from different age groups also reacted differently. Students in the most prevalent age group from age 25 to 30 show at first a decline in the proportion of negative comments followed by an increase, while older students from the 30 to 35 age group have a steady decrease of negativity. © 2023 by the authors.

Technology as a Key Driver in Enhancing Scientific Education during the COVID-19 Era at the University of Namibia

Student profiling on the use of technology for teaching, learning and assessment has the potential to enable educators to enhance their transformational teaching strategies. Therefore, this study explored the views of students on use of technology to facilitate online learning during COVID-19. The study employed a quantitative approach to collect data using a Google Form questionnaire. Nineteen conveniently sampled respondents (38%) were drawn from a population of 50 students registered for first-year BSc Microbiology and BSc Environmental Biology in 2021. The collected data was analysed through descriptive statistics using Microsoft Excel 2010. The findings revealed that during online learning some students (63%) experienced challenges related to subject knowledge acquisition. A majority of the students (84%) preferred face-to-face or blended teaching learning and assessment to ensure pedagogic access. It is concluded that students' exposure to online learning helped improve skills, such as typing (79%), internet information searching (95%) and general computer skills (89%). Thus, it is recommended that academics and students should be assisted with training, and higher education curricula should encourage the use of digital technology, which prepares students to be relevant in the digital society. © 2023, Commonwealth of Learning. All rights reserved.

Challenges of Teaching and Learning Mathematics Courses in Online Platforms

The study investigated the challenges encountered by mathematics postgraduate students' learning courses via online platforms. An online survey included 31 postgraduate mathematics students. Mean responses and regression analysis were used for data evaluation. The results indicate social-related challenges are the most important factor to learn mathematics in an online platform, although the challenges including accessibility of online learning resource, course nature, online learning skill, and instructor-related challenges are confirmed with a higher mean response. Moreover, a multiple regression analysis has indicated that social and instructor related challenges are significant predictors of students' overall expectation of learning mathematics courses on the online platform. The study concluded that students prefer learning mathematics courses via face-to-face approach over online platforms, and students do not want to extend semester courses with an online approach. From the finding, adapting a blended approach is recommended for a similar situation of the current study.

Re-examining the education for all agenda in "apocalyptic” times

This chapter aims to re-examine the Education for All agenda in "apocalyptic” times. In so doing, it explores how the global pandemic has provided opportunity for alternative perspectives to approach and engage with education in more equitable and inclusive ways. While a shift to online learning was intended to support educational inclusion, it simultaneously served to marginalize some of the most vulnerable learners globally. This chapter proposes a collective responsibility to scrutinize how inclusion and exclusion can be reimagined in order to rebuild education systems that are fairer and more accessible for the learners to which they account. What the global pandemic has evidenced is that there remains great provision to reconsider how education can be enacted in increasingly unpredictable and unstable times. This is no more opportune than as the world begins to emerge from a global pandemic. © 2023 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Hybrid online learning for a software practice course and how it affects students with different self-regulated learning levels

The COVID-19 pandemic has forced universities to make a radical switch from face-to-face traditional teaching (TT) to completely online learning (OL). Thus, many studies proposed the proper OL environment for a specific subject and evaluated its effectiveness. However, few studies have empirically compared the proposed OL environment with TT to determine which has better learning effectiveness. More importantly, an OL environment and the self-regulated learning (SRL) ability of a student interactively influence the student's learning effectiveness. However, few studies have investigated how an OL environment influences the learning behaviours of the students with different SRL abilities. Thus, the aims of this study were to compare the adopted hybrid OL environment with TT and examine how the hybrid OL environment individually influences students with different SRL levels. This study has three significant findings. First, students have better participation rate and work quality in the OL than in TT. Second, the high-SRL and middle-SRL students have higher work quality under the OL than under TT, while the middle-SRL and low-SRL students have higher participation rates under the OL than under TT. Third, while students overall do not particularly favour OL or TT, the middle-SRL students particularly prefer OL.Implications for practice or policy* Educators could consider hybrid OL on software practice courses (e.g., Microsoft Office) and programming courses during the COVID-19 pandemic, because most students benefit more from OL than from TT.* Educators could provide proper assistance for the low-SRL students under the hybrid OL, which could enhance their learning.* Educators in a TT environment could consider giving students more private space to reduce disturbances, which could particularly benefit introverted students with high-SRL and middle-SRL.

Medical Education During COVID-19 Pandemic: A Comparative Effectiveness Study of Face-to-Face Traditional Learning Versus Online Digital Education of Basic Sciences for Medical Students.

BACKGROUND: During the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, internet-based learning modalities and online classes became a tool for the continuous learning process for medical students. The aim of this study was to compare medical student performance in both online versus offline instructional methods. METHODS: The study was conducted on 213 medical students of the basic science program at the American University of Antigua, College of Medicine (AUACOM), who completed the four semesters consecutively between Spring 2018 and Fall 2020. Two cohorts of students were considered in the study: cohort 1 (those who completed years 1 and 2 using traditional offline teaching modality) and cohort 2 (those who completed year 1 offline and year 2 online). The years 1 and 2 National Board of Medical Examiners (NBME) summative assessment scores of the students were used to determine which instructional modality generated better student performance outcomes for the two groups. Additionally, we evaluated the score variabilities between genders to determine if teaching modality had an impact on a specific group. All statistical comparisons were done using two-tailed t-tests. RESULTS: The study involves 213 students (112 in cohort 1, 101 in cohort 2). There was no significant difference in student performance between offline and online learners overall (74 ± 2.3 vs. 73 ± 1.3; p = 0.537) or with respect to gender (73 ± 3.8 vs. 73 ± 3.0; p = 0.709). CONCLUSION: In this comparative effectiveness study of traditional offline education versus online instructional modality, we observed no statistical difference in student performance evaluated with NBME summative assessment scores. Online classes were well-accepted by our students. These data show a significant and promising potential for the future of medical education using online teaching modalities. Remote online teaching could be used again in the future without detriment to student education if face-to-face (F2F) learning is not possible.

Assessing Academics' COVID-19-Induced Emergency Remote Teaching Experiences Using Transformative Learning Theory

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, several educational institutions were thrust into a forced culture change as learning, teaching, and assessment moved from traditional face-to-face (F2F) instruction to remote delivery with a profound effect on pedagogy. This paper uses transformative learning theory to explore various aspects of academics' transition from face-to-face to remote teaching. Findings from an online cross-sectional survey of academics in higher education institutions (n = 95) indicate that academics were confronted with a disorienting dilemma that challenged previously unquestioned teaching experiences, beliefs, and values upon transition to remote teaching. This was followed by reflection, adoption, and implementation of different modes of instructional delivery. The results indicate statistically significant differences in critical reflection, openness, and teaching differently based on race. As higher education institutions transition to a "new” phase of instructional delivery, re-thinking professional development and support for the transformed academic in a new operating environment that remains prone to disruptive events becomes imperative. © The Author(s) 2023.

Achievement of learning outcomes in non-traditional (online) versus traditional (face-to-face) anatomy teaching in medical schools: A mixed method systematic review.

In recent years, the logistical challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic have prompted medical educators teaching gross anatomy to explore an expanded use of online instructional modalities. There is concern that this shift to online anatomy education in medical schools could affect long-term learning outcomes for future healthcare providers. In this systematic review, the educational effectiveness of online anatomy teaching is compared with traditional ("face-to-face") teaching methods, specifically in terms of students' academic performance and satisfaction. A search of four databases identified and screened 162 studies. Subsequently, 31 studies were analyzed, including both (a) teaching outcome measures (test scores) and (b) student satisfaction ratings. Authors chose studies, extracted data, assessed quality and examined risk of bias. Nineteen studies compared students' academic performances between online and face-to-face teaching methods. Twenty-six studies measured students' levels of satisfaction in both teaching methods. Both qualitative and quantitative analyses of the data revealed comparable academic performances with no statistical difference between the two teaching methods, but a higher level of satisfaction with face-to-face teaching. The findings confirm that students can learn from online teaching but are more satisfied with face-to-face teaching. The authors conclude that online teaching cannot replace traditional teaching and there is no preference for one type of modality over the other. Therefore, a multi-modal learning approach combining online with face-to-face educational modalities for medical students could be efficient and successful.

SATISFACTION OF THE NON-PRESENTIAL TEACHING SERVICE IN HEALTH SCIENCES IN LIMA DURING COVID-19

The objective of this research work is to determine the level of satisfaction with the non-classroom teaching service of health science students in Lima during the COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore, an observational and descriptive type of research was used, since the variables were not manipulated and the purpose was to describe the study variable. The population consisted of all students of health careers enrolled in universities in Lima during the year 2020. Obtaining a sample of 385 participants according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria, it was found that most participants expressed a high level of satisfaction with 53.8%, followed by intermediate satisfaction with 38.4% and only 7.8% had a low satisfaction, concluding that the level of satisfaction of the non-classroom teaching service was mostly high in health sciences students in Lima during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Towards the virtualization of university teaching: a methodological change based on three scenarios

The Covid-19 pandemic has caused a forced change in university teaching, both methodologically and practically. The University of Granada has created a triple model based on three different scenarios: virtual learning (e-learning), blended learning (b-learning) and face-to-face learning. The objectives that we intend to achieve consist of presenting, analysing and disseminating this pedagogical model created to face future challenges that may arise. For the analysis process, the classroom experience and the results obtained during the three academic years in which this new model has been implemented in one or more of its scenarios will be evaluated. © GKA Ediciones, authors.

Formative Assessment: Component of Teaching-Learning Process in the University Context in Post-COVID-19

The aim of this study was to reveal formative assessments as being a component of the teaching-learning process in the university context in post-COVID-19 times. This study has focused on the qualitative approach through the interpretive phenomenological method. The data gathering tool used was that of a semi-structured interview with seven professors from the education and engineering programs at the Universidad Nacional José María Arguedas, Peru. The methodological procedure involved the organization through the Atlas.ti computer program and the transcription of the information through content analysis, resulting in the emergence of validated categories through the triangulation process reflecting the phenomenological reduction. The results showed there to be three categories: the role of the professor in the formative assessment, socio-emotional bonding, and learning feedback. In conclusion, formative assessment is a fundamental component of teaching and learning in the classroom where the professor, through feedback in the class sessions, promotes socio-emotional bonding, perceives mistakes to offer correction, and recognizes the work well done to encourage reinforcement and reflection of the teaching practice. A new evaluative culture focused on the formation of skills and competencies is required for which the professor has a high commitment and responsibility not only in terms of preparing and training the student but also themselves. © 2022 Society for Research and Knowledge Management. All rights reserved.

Hybrid online learning for a software practice course and how it affects students with different self-regulated learning levels

The COVID-19 pandemic has forced universities to make a radical switch from face-to-face traditional teaching (TT) to completely online learning (OL). Thus, many studies proposed the proper OL environment for a specific subject and evaluated its effectiveness. However, few studies have empirically compared the proposed OL environment with TT to determine which has better learning effectiveness. More importantly, an OL environment and the self-regulated learning (SRL) ability of a student interactively influence the student's learning effectiveness. However, few studies have investigated how an OL environment influences the learning behaviours of the students with different SRL abilities. Thus, the aims of this study were to compare the adopted hybrid OL environment with TT and examine how the hybrid OL environment individually influences students with different SRL levels. This study has three significant findings. First, students have better participation rate and work quality in the OL than in TT. Second, the high-SRL and middle-SRL students have higher work quality under the OL than under TT, while the middle-SRL and low-SRL students have higher participation rates under the OL than under TT. Third, while students overall do not particularly favour OL or TT, the middle-SRL students particularly prefer OL. Implications for practice or policy • Educators could consider hybrid OL on software practice courses (e.g., Microsoft Office) and programming courses during the COVID-19 pandemic, because most students benefit more from OL than from TT. • Educators could provide proper assistance for the low-SRL students under the hybrid OL, which could enhance their learning. • Educators in a TT environment could consider giving students more private space to reduce disturbances, which could particularly benefit introverted students with high-SRL and middle-SRL. © Articles published in the Australasian Journal of Educational Technology (AJET) are available under Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial No Derivatives Licence (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0). Authors retain copyright in their work and grant AJET right of first publication under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0.

An Analysis of Application the Kahoot! Tool in a Gamified Approach to Face-to-face and Emergency Remote Teaching and Learning of Software Engineering

This Research to Practice Full Paper presents that the use of gamified approaches in education has become increasingly common in classrooms. Aspects related to the motivation and engagement of students with a focus on learning are a constant challenge for professors, who use methodologies and tools to make the classroom a space for fun and learning. In addition, the use of tools and techniques to motivate and present more attractiveness in teaching is a constant challenge for professors. In an increasingly connected society, not using technology in the classroom is not an option. Allied to this approach through the use of gamification, the tools that support this process are highlighted, especially Kahoot!, a tool to encourage learning, is one of the main tools used by professors and students to support the teaching-learning process. The market for this application already has 24 million users. Considering the COVID-19 pandemic scenario, declared in Brazil in March 2020, and the need to continue teaching activities, the main alternative for Educational Institutions to maintain their academic activities was the change to a remote emergency teaching format. Given this scenario, this work aims to present a comparative study on the use of Kahoot! in two subjects of the Information Systems course at Federal University of the South and Southeast of Pará, in Brazil, in both classroom and remote teaching modalities. The motivation for carrying out the study was due to the need to understand and evaluate the use of the tool in the remote context, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and to compare it with the face-to-face format. As a result, the acceptance of 83.3% in face-to-face teaching and 58.8% in remote teaching was obtained for the use of the tool, in addition to the best performance in the Kahoot! in face-to-face teaching in relation to remote teaching, with the general average of correct answers of 62.81% and 47.56% for classroom teaching and remote teaching, respectively. So, this paper presents: (i) the theoretical foundation of this work, (ii) some works related to the research object, (iii) the research methodology for the development of the work, (iv) the structuring of Kahoot!'s application in classes, (v) the results of applying Kahoot! in classes and the discussion of the main results of this work. © 2022 IEEE.

Resilience and Prospective. An Analysis of the Emotional State of Psychology Students at the Technical University of Babahoyo, Ecuador

The return to the face-to-face modality in higher education, after the virtuality that, without other alternatives, was imposed by the Covid-19 pandemic last year, has been the subject of multiple investigations. The emotional state of higher-level students, in the transition from virtual to face-to-face teaching, after the pandemic crisis, has had an impact on the teaching-learning process where student resilience has been vital in this process. In this context, the climate present in organizations must be proactive to favor the control of possible risks inherent in the teaching-learning process in all its magnitude in a way that guarantees the well-being of teachers and students with satisfactory results, preparing them at all stages: before, during and after these extreme events occurred. The purpose of this work is to assess the resilience of Psychology students at the Technical University of Babahoyo, Ecuador, upon returning to teaching in the face-to-face modality. A descriptive-non-experimental study was carried out with a mixed research approach, in which quantitative and qualitative methods are systematically integrated. The Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC10) was applied to a sample of 182 students. The results made it possible to determine the emotional state of the students in terms of their resilience when returning to the face-to-face modality, after the context of absolute virtuality imposed by the pandemic. It is revealed that these students are resilient, with a slight difference in favor of the female gender.

Impact of Non-Face-to-Face Teaching with Passive Training on Personal Protective Equipment Use in Health Science Students: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

BACKGROUND: In the COVID-19 era, there was a call for the transformation of higher education. Universities had to combine non-face-to-face teaching with traditional procedures. This study analyzed the effectiveness and perceived satisfaction in a cohort of health sciences students of non-face-to-face teaching with passive training versus face-to-face teaching with active training in the proper donning and doffing of personal protective equipment (PPE) in a clinical simulation scenario. METHODS: A total of 142 participants were randomized into two groups: (a) non-face-to-face teaching with passive training; (b) face-to-face teaching with active training. The proper protocol for donning and doffing PPE was assessed. Students evaluated their skills before and after training and satisfaction with training received. RESULTS: Significant differences were observed for the statements "I felt more confident in donning after receiving this training" (p = 0.029) and "I felt more confident in doffing after receiving this training" (p = 0.042) in the face-to-face teaching with active training group compared to the non-face-to-face teaching with passive training group, whose number of tasks violated was significantly higher (p = 0.020). Satisfaction was significantly higher in the face-to-face and active training group (p = 0.004). CONCLUSIONS: Face-to-face teaching with active training improves effectiveness and satisfaction more than non-face-to-face teaching with passive training for acquiring skills in donning and doffing PPE properly.

Moving a Project-Based Information Systems Development (ISD) Capstone Module Online: Lessons Learnt

Project-based capstone modules are challenging in a face-to-face environment and even more so when trying to move them online. In an information systems development (ISD) capstone module at a South African university, students are required to work in teams and engage with their real-life clients whilst consulting with their lecturers and completing several deliverables throughout the year. This paper reports on a case where the teaching of this project-based module was moved online due to the COVID-19 worldwide pandemic. The contribution lies in the lessons learnt and insights derived during this time. Students were still able to continue to deliver high quality work that enabled them to meet the learning outcomes of the module. With the IT industry in the post COVID era moving online, working remotely or in a hybrid fashion, the online PBL experience prepared students for the ‘new’ work life which makes them ‘industry ready’. © 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.

Decreased sympathetic cardiovascular influences and hormone-physiological changes in response to Covid-19-related adaptations under different learning environments.

To examine the implications of the transition from face-to-face to online learning from a psychobiological perspective, this study investigated potential differences in physiological stress parameters of students engaged in online or face-to-face learning and determined whether these can be identified as possible mediators between learning experience and achievement emotions. In a randomized experimental field study, medical students (n = 82) attended either regular face-to-face classes of the microscopic anatomy course or the same practical course online using Zoom videoconferencing platform. The present study investigated Heart Rate Variability (HRV) and salivary cortisol concentration as stress correlates, within the contexts of online and face-to-face learning and compared these parameters with a control group that was measured at rest. Additionally, participants completed a standardized questionnaire about their experienced emotions in relation to task achievement and subjective stress levels. A significant reduction in HRV was found in face-to-face learning, suggesting stronger stress responses in the face-to-face learning environment (η2  = 0.421, P < 0.001). Furthermore, participants engaged in face-to-face learning showed significantly higher cortisol concentrations (η2  = 0.115, P = 0.032). Additionally, increased sympathetic activation correlated with the discrete positive emotion of enjoyment exclusively within the face-to-face condition (r = 0.365, P = 0.043). These results indicate that the transfer of a face-to-face practical course in microscopic anatomy to an online learning environment is associated with decreased sympathetic and enhanced vagal cardiovascular influences, together with lower cortisol concentrations in healthy medical students.

Design and Implementation of a Blended Learning System for Higher Education in the Democratic Republic of Congo as a Response to Covid-19 Pandemic

Until now, the higher education system in the Democratic Republic of Congo has relied on the traditional face-to-face teaching method, which consists in the real physical presence of students and teachers during classes and lectures. Thus, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) is currently advocating e-learning as the only alternative for education in the COVID-19 era. It goes without saying that this requires specific frameworks and appropriate resources, including access to a good quality internet connection. Several countries around the world have implemented this recommendation since the first quarter of 2020 to protect their populations from the significant risks of Covid-19 contamination. In educational environment however, given the disadvantageous realities of the Democratic Republic of Congo, including the cost and quality of internet, the low rate of electrification, and the lack of experience of the educational stakeholders involved, the shift to e-learning remains a challenge. Thus, we propose in this paper a blended learning model that can smoothly introduce e-learning through a platform specially designed to integrate the traditional way of delivering courses in Congolese higher education with e-learning based on ICT. © 2022. International Journal of Emerging Technologies in Learning. All Rights Reserved.

K-6 teacher and parent perceptions of face-to-face versus virtual instruction during the COVID-19 pandemic

In March of 2020 the COVID-19 Pandemic changed the world in education as we knew it. Schools, along with businesses and public venues around the world shut their doors in order to attempt to slow the spread of the virus. Just because the brick-and-mortar buildings were being closed did not mean that schooling would stop. Teachers and students from around the globe transitioned to online or virtual instruction in an attempt to continue educating the future generations. Prior to that time only 3% of primary schools in the United States offered any course entirely online to students according to the National Center for Educational Statistics (2018). Through a quantitative approach, this research study focuses on the perceptions of online learning versus traditional in person instruction of teachers and parents in grades kindergarten through six. A survey was sent out to three school districts in Northeast Arkansas to gain insight on what it has been like for teachers and parents of elementary age students during the COVID-19 pandemic. The results of the survey showed no statistical significance as both teachers and parents strongly perceived face-to-face instruction as opposed to online instruction for K-6 students as the preferred and effective method of instruction. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)

Post-COVID-19 Education: A Case of Technology Driven Change?

The transition from face to face to remote teaching during the COVID-19 health crisis, has been viewed by privately owned companies, prestigious universities, international organizations and politicians as an opportunity to promote the digital paradigm in education. A carefully carved rhetoric bundles the reduced funding of education, the maturity of digital technologies and the experience of remote teaching during the COVID-19 restrictions to promote the idea of rewiring and rethinking education as a synonym for change. How will education look like after the COVID-19 crisis? Although an answer to this question cannot be precise at the moment since it involves different stakeholders, this publication attempts to pinpoint some aspects of the post-COVID-19 educational landscape as it emerges comparing various texts and sources.