Panic buying in the second wave of COVID-19: the moderating effect of past buying experience

PurposeWith the advent of the second wave of COVID-19 pandemic, there is a need to analyse the scenario of panic buying (PB) behaviour of the customers which was evident in the first wave. This paper aims to examine the PB scenario as well as the moderating effect of past buying experience (PBE) on PB in the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. Design/methodology/approachThis study is based on the theories of stimulus-organism-response model and the competitive arousal model. Based on these theories, this paper investigates how panic situation created by external stimuli such as perceived scarcity (PS), perceived risk (PR), news in media (NM) and social learning affect the perceived arousal (PA) among people which in turn influence the PB behaviour of customers. Data were collected from 253 customers from different parts of India. Structural equation modelling is used to analyse the moderating effect of PBE on the PB in the second wave of COVID-19 pandemic. FindingsThe results indicate that the PS, PR and NM continue to be strong predictors of a buyer for PA. However, the PB is not reinforced by the moderation effect of PBE. Research limitations/implicationsThis paper investigates the consumers' PB behaviours in the wake of third wave of COVID-19 pandemic which add to the existing literature of COVID-19 pandemic. Moreover, this study also examines how previous buying experience can moderate the PB behaviour of the customers in subsequent phases of COVID-19 pandemic. This supports the potential effectiveness of self-regulation as an intervention strategy for reducing PB behaviours during the COVID-19 pandemic. Practical implicationsThis study emphasises the impact of external stimuli like PS, PR and media coverage on PB behaviour, marketers and policymakers should manage to avoid triggers. Although PBE may not moderate PB during a pandemic, it can play a significant role in future buying behaviour. Anticipating potential triggers and designing effective marketing strategies that cater to customers' needs can help manage PB behaviour during disasters or pandemics. In addition, promoting conscious consumption awareness and self-regulation practices among customers can help manage PB behaviour, benefit the environment and society and make customers more responsible buyers. Originality/valueTo the best of the authors' knowledge, this study examines the PB behaviour of customers during the second wave of COVID-19 pandemic for the first time. This study also investigates the moderating effect of PBE on the PB behaviour of customers during a pandemic which is new and significant that extends the literature on PB behaviour during a pandemic.

A qualitative study of parental involvement in middle school character education and social and emotional learning programming

Since the development of the public school system, schools have been tasked with producing upstanding citizens and productive members of society (Smith, 2013). Although the focus of adolescent character development has been incorporated into the U.S. public school system, parents, guardians, and caregivers are often excluded from the decision-making, planning, and implementation of Character Education and Social and Emotional Learning programming (Cavanaugh, 2012). Preventing bullying and cyberbullying, lowering the escalation of school violence, and helping adolescents to cope with the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic increased pressure on schools to evaluate existing Character Education and Social and Emotional Learning programming (DA Custom Publishing, 2019). This qualitative phenomenological study was designed to explore the lived experiences and perceptions of middle school parents and principals on parental involvement in Social and Emotional Learning and Character Education programming in Southwestern Pennsylvania Middle Schools. The findings provide guidance to educational stakeholders including administrators, governing school boards, counselors, and teachers in improving the policies, decision making processes, and inclusion strategies of parental involvement in Character Education and Social and Emotional Learning in public school systems. The results of this study provided strong evidence for the importance of integrating character education, social and emotional learning, and family involvement and engagement at the middle level. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)

The lived experiences of elementary school teachers' implementation of social-emotional learning: transitions from in-person and remote settings

This qualitative study examined elementary school teachers' transitions from in-person to remote social-emotional learning during the COVID-19 pandemic in a northeastern US public school district. This study addressed the following central research question using Bandura's (1977) self-efficacy theory and CASEL's Framework (2021) for social and emotional learning: What were teachers' lived experiences while teaching social-emotional learning (SEL) during both remote and in-person instruction in elementary school throughout the Covid-19 pandemic? Eight teachers from one suburban elementary school shared their experiences meeting students' social-emotional needs during the pandemic. This study examined teacher perspectives on social-emotional learning in in-person and remote settings during the COVID-19 pandemic. Interview questions provided narrative inquiry study answers. According to interviews, teachers implemented social and emotional learning with uncertainty, anxiety, and fear. Teachers believed they could teach social and emotional learning remotely and in person despite the pandemic because of their perseverance, awareness, and social interactions. They did this by relying on their colleagues for support and encouragement, realizing the importance of their work with students, and allowing students to express their emotions and feelings while learning remotely and in person. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)

Scaling-Up Social Learning in Small Groups with Robot Supported Collaborative Learning (RSCL): Effects of Learners' Prior Experience in the Case Study of Planning Poker with the Robot NAO

The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the shift to online learning in higher education, making the need to rethink pedagogical approaches to on-campus education stronger than ever before. While online learning offers a wide range of benefits for both teachers and students, social, face-to-face interaction provides a strong rationale for in-person education. This paper proposes a novel approach to enhancing in-person social learning experiences through robot-supported collaborative learning facilitated by a social robot NAO in the case study "Planning poker with NAO”, which is a collaborative game-based activity facilitated by the robot. The case study was designed to provide a scalable social learning experience in small groups of students. The evaluation results from a study with 46 university students who played Planning poker with NAO explore different quality aspects of the learning experience. The results indicate that students valued both the social learning experience and the robotic facilitator. The analysis revealed some significant differences among students with and without prior experience in interacting with NAO, suggesting directions for future research related to novelty and familiarisation effects as well as to scaling up of social learning in small groups by applying social robots. © 2023 by the author.

Understanding and managing pandemic-related panic buying.

Pandemics are associated with panic buying (PB) of groceries and other supplies. During the COVID-19 pandemic, community leaders expressed frustration and bewilderment about PB. Psychological explanatory concepts, including those from social learning theory and the concept of the behavioral immune system, along with recent research, suggests the following account of pandemic-related PB. PB arises when people are told to go into self-isolation as part of pandemic containment interventions. Empirically, episodes of PB typically last 7-10 days and are likely initiated by highly fearful people. PB by an anxious minority of shoppers leads to fear contagion among other shoppers, amplified by widespread dissemination, via social media, of images and videos of PB and empty shelves in stores. Thus, a snow-balling effect arises where fear of scarcity creates real but short-term scarcity. People who are highly frightened of infection tend to have heightened disgust proneness. Toilet paper is a means of escaping disgust stimuli, and for this and other reasons, toilet paper became a target of PB for people frightened of contracting COVID-19. Exploitative or selfish over-purchasing also occurred, motivated by "dark" (e.g., psychopathic) personality traits. "Don't panic!" messages from community leaders were ineffective or counter-productive. Alternative forms of messaging are discussed.

Students' basic psychological needs in blended teacher learning groups

Introduction: Student teachers (henceforth: students) in higher education often experience feelings of emotional loneliness that negatively impact upon their well-being and motivation to learn. Consequently, the importance of social learning for students has gained increased prominence, with Teacher Learning Groups (TLGs), that is, social configurations in which students, in-service teachers, and teacher educators, sometimes supplemented by researchers and/or experts, collaboratively learn through social interactions, being introduced in teacher training institutes. Ordinarily, TLGs organized their meetings face-to-face;however, due to COVID-19 measures, they had to rapidly transition to blended meetings, which in turn impacted upon students' basic psychological needs. Methods: In the present study, a convergent parallel mixed-methods design was utilized. The variables Social Configurations (Practice integration, Long-term orientation and goals;Shared identity and equal relationships) and Basic Psychological Needs (Competence, Autonomy, Relatedness) were assessed through the use of qualitative interviews and by administering two online quantitative surveys: the "Dimensions of Social Learning Questionnaire” and the "Basic Psychological Need Satisfaction and Frustration Scale”. Seventy students completed the questionnaires, while 14 students were interviewed. The students were recruited from four teacher training institutes. Results: The analyses reveal that the more students perceive Shared identity and equal relationships in blended TLGs, the greater the fulfillment of Basic Psychological Needs they experience. Moreover, the more students experience the fulfillment of the need for Competence, the more students perceive TLGs' Social Configurations. Discussion: Based on the findings, we conclude that, although in-depth learning is more challenging during distance learning, blended TLGs are valuable for students' Basic Psychological Needs during unpredictable times. Copyright © 2023 De Vocht, Vrieling-Teunter, Sins and Vermeulen.

The social transmission of information about mental states: Implications for children's visuospatial and socioemotional learning

Across five studies, this dissertation explores the thesis that children are sensitive to information about others' mental states and that this sensitivity scaffolds their learning in both the physical (Chapter 1) and social (Chapters 2 and 3) domain. Chapter 1 explores the interplay between the physical and mental world during visuospatial learning. Although a 180degree perspective presents the greatest visual disparity between teacher and learner, it may promote social perspective taking through face-to-face interaction and thus improve learning. Children (4-6 years) and young adults (18-27 years) observed a model open a puzzle box from a first-person (0degree) or third-person (90degree or 180degree) perspective. Both children and adults who learned face-to-face at 180degree were fastest to open the box and most likely to discover a novel solution, consistent with goal emulation. Chapter 2 explores children's utilization of a different type of mental state - verbally shared emotions (i.e., emotion talk) - when making social affiliative decisions and their sensitivity to valence and context. Five to 8-year-olds listened to two children describe their day and then indicated their social preferences. Children preferred a child who shared a happy experience over a neutral child and a neutral child over a child who shared a sad experience. However, when the sad experience was presented within the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, children's preference for the neutral child disappeared. Chapter 3 further explores emotion talk in childhood by examining children's developing beliefs about emotion talk. Five to 8-year-olds viewed stories in which characters did or did not engage in emotion talk. Then children guessed which story characters usually affiliated and answered questions about gender and emotion talk. Although girls' social inferences based on emotion talk stayed constant with age, boys became less likely to associate emotion talk and friendship with age. Additionally, children who believed boys "never" talk about feelings were less likely to infer that boys who talked about feelings were friends, demonstrating a link between gender beliefs and inferences. Together these findings offer new insights into how early in development children use others' invisible mental states to learn about the physical and social world. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)

Black screen: Bridging the social and emotional void

This chapter will explore the impact virtual learning had on students and their social and emotional development as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The authors' guiding question(s) for this chapter will be: How has social and emotional growth been considered as part of the missing piece to virtual learning? How are social and emotional learning opportunities addressed to achieve maximum student success and development as future leaders in a global society? What lessons have been learned during the pandemic regarding virtual teaching that can help develop more robust curriculum/learning choices for supporting students' social and emotional well-being? Using research on digital learning and student and teacher interviews, the authors will gather data to report on the positives and opportunities for growth from the impact of the pandemic and virtual learning. The authors discuss implications of this work. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)

A narrative of early childhood educator faculty experiences using synchronous cooperative learning amid a pandemic

The purpose of this qualitative narrative inquiry study was to explore the experiences of Texas higher education faculty in early childhood educator preparation programs (EPP) with the use of cooperative learning (CL) strategies in a synchronous online learning environment during the COVID-19 pandemic. The theory of social interdependence and the elements of cooperative learning comprise the theoretical foundation. The qualitative narrative inquiry design was used to explore the phenomenon of the study and the research questions. The sample included eight faculty in early childhood EPPs in Texas who transitioned from face-to-face instruction to online implementing CL in synchronous modalities amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Data were collected through individual semi-structured interviews. A narrative inquiry design enabled the participants to tell the story of their experiences, providing the researcher with an opportunity to interpret the symbolic meaning and significance of the stories told. The analysis procedures included organization and preparation of the interview data, narrative coding, and interpretive analysis. The restoring process provided detailed description of the temporal commonplace, detailing the time in which the participants experienced the shift, the societal, detailing the social and personal aspect of the experiences, and place commonplace dimension connecting to the phenomenon of the study. The findings included faculty perspectives on redesigning their courses, course work, considering course delivery, restructuring assignments, and ways to stay connected with students and support students' social interdependence. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)

Learning in a post-truth world

Misinformation has emerged as a major societal challenge in the wake of the 2016 U.S. elections, Brexit, and the COVID-19 pandemic. One of the most active areas of inquiry into misinformation examines how the cognitive sophistication of people impacts their ability to fall for misleading content. In this paper, we capture sophistication by studying how misinformation affects the two canonical models of the social learning literature: sophisticated (Bayesian) and naive (DeGroot) learning. We show that sophisticated agents can be more likely to fall for misinformation. Our model helps explain several experimental and empirical facts from cognitive science, psychology, and the social sciences. It also shows that the intuitions developed in a vast social learning literature should be approached with caution when making policy decisions in the presence of misinformation. We conclude by discussing the relationship between misinformation and increased partisanship and provide an example of how our model can inform the actions of policymakers trying to contain the spread of misinformation. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)

Utilizing a critical race theory lens to reduce barriers to social and emotional learning: A call to action

Social and emotional learning (SEL) and equity issues have each been complicated by the COVID-19 pandemic for students of color. This brief seeks to call to action school social workers who can identify social and emotional barriers to learning that students of color experience in schools through a critical race theory (CRT) lens. School social workers are well positioned to address equity concerns and systemic racism in schools. They play a key role in addressing SEL, reducing equity barriers, and navigating the CRT opposition. The authors view the role of the school social worker as an integral part of social and emotional teaching and learning. This is a call to mobilize school social workers to advocacy roles for SEL, equity, and racism concerns that have long impacted students of color. The authors' aim is to provide social workers with actionable strategies in reducing social and emotional barriers to learning for students of color. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)

Universal SEL implementation to improve community and prosocial skills: A pilot study

In the past several years, social and emotional learning (SEL) has become a widely discussed and more frequently addressed area of need in schools. SEL curricula can enhance behavioral practices at the universal tier to be able to comprehensively address the social, emotional, and behavioral needs in school buildings. With the COVID-19 pandemic, these SEL needs have become more pronounced. This case example presents a pilot evaluation of the Open Circle SEL curriculum implementation, delivered universally, at Tier 2 for all students. Universal SEL instruction was conducted weekly across an entire elementary school in the southeastern United States which had other universal, preventative strategies in place. Across the year, pre- and post-implementation teacher ratings of student SEL skills and teacher perceptions of school climate and school-level descriptive outcomes (e.g., academic achievement, office discipline referrals, attendance) were evaluated. Results indicated that the universal SEL implementation yielded differential effectiveness noted by grade level, with the intervention being more effective in increasing prosocial skills for third grade students. There were also moderate improvements in teacher perceptions of school climate and the school-level variables across grade levels. Implications for future research and practice are presented. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)

Leveraging social media for professional learning during the COVID-19 global pandemic

The purpose of this study was to build upon existing research that explored teachers? professional learning expectations and how teachers can utilize social media platforms or social learning environments to aid their professional learning. This information may be used to support thinking differently about time and space for both student and adult learning. Understanding to what extent and why teachers engaged in professional learning experiences in a social media environment can inform future learning options in utilizing these asynchronous platforms. Data generated may aid in the design of engaging professional learning experiences, through social media, that give teachers a venue for rapid, focused, personalized, and asynchronous learning. This qualitative study was limited to a non-random sample of interview participants, which ensured participants had a guaranteed proficiency in using social media environments for professional learning experiences. A survey was conducted to identify individuals who actively engaged in using social media platforms for professional learning, and six qualifying educators were invited to expand upon their experiences through their participation in semi-structured interviews. The open-ended questions inspired a dialogue about their lived experiences, resources located on social media platforms, and interests regarding professional learning during the 2020 pandemic time frame. Responses to the interview questions were coded to examine how and to what extent the teacher participated in a social media platform as a venue for professional learning during the pandemic. A theoretical, thematic analysis was used to identify how teachers participated in a social media environment for professional learning. The responses were coded based on CHAT?s Four C?s of Participation Taxonomy: Contemplator, Curator, Crowdsourcer, or Contributor (Trust, 2017). Additionally, the responses were coded to identify the type of informal learning experience the teachers described. Similarities and differences across demographic areas were reviewed and discussed. The data compiled had several implications. Understanding how teachers interacted in informal social learning environments provided insight into teachers? engagement and how their pedagogical practices were impacted or changed. Results of the study may be used to inform how social-media-based professional learning can be developed or expanded to meet the just-in-time needs of K-12 educators. Ultimately, the feedback received could help districts develop a framework for constructing and evaluating social-media-based professional learning and more educators to interact online as contemplators and as contributors. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)

How assessing district response to COVID-19 can lead to positive change

The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted the lives of students everywhere. This study sought to understand how effective one school district's response was to COVID-19 regarding emergency remote learning from the student and parent perspectives. Participants and data collected in Cycle 1 consisted of parents and students within the school district who had gone through the emergency remote learning period. Action steps were designed, implemented, and evaluated in Cycle 2 to provide additional resources for the school district to support the growing and changing needs of the community. The Social Opportunities website was created to include a wide variety of organizations and opportunities aimed at increasing access and hopefully improving engagement. Parent and student participants provided critical feedback that assisted in the modification and development of the website in the pursuit of creating a more useful resource for all. The study concluded that there is a need for additional support within the district and that the Social Opportunities website is an efficient avenue to fulfill this need. Implications for the organization included increased engagement among students and families within the school district, an established plan to incorporate the resource within the district, and opportunities for growth. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)

Teacher perceptions of the role of challenging student behavior and social-emotional learning

This study aims to explore teachers' perceptions of the role of challenging student behavior and social-emotional learning (SEL). The problem addressed was that challenging student behavior interferes with teachers' ability to teach, and children's academic achievement. The conceptual framework that underpinned this study is the concept of social and emotional learning. The Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning's evidence-based five core competencies were analyzed and utilized as the model for this study. A qualitative case study was chosen as the research method for this study. Four elementary schools within the same district in California were identified, and seven heterogeneous participants were selected, including probationary or permanent teachers with various levels of experience in teaching. Data collection took place following the approval of the Institutional Review Board and consisted of a demographic questionnaire, semi-structured interviews, and artifacts. The two qualitative questions that guided this research were: How do elementary school teachers in a suburban southern California school district describe their understanding of social and emotional learning? The findings revealed that teachers had a basic to advanced level of understanding of the benefits of social and emotional learning in the classroom. How do teachers describe their use of SEL to support their work with students exhibiting challenging student behavior? Findings support that teachers need knowledge and skills to understand student behavior. Emergent themes revealed that SEL must be explicitly taught, relationship is part of the SEL process, teachers' buy-in and leadership in the SEL process are necessary, teachers need support and professional development to increase SEL implementation, SEL increases engagement with students who exhibit challenging behavior, SEL supports building relationships between teachers and students with challenging behaviors, and SEL increases collaboration with school, community, and home. There is a need to expand a qualitative case study with a larger sample size. It might be even more beneficial to explore the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on these perceptions compared to pre-pandemic perceptions. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)

An exploration of organizational culture in the remote work environment: A Delphi study

This study was an exploration of organizational culture in the remote work environment. A classical Delphi study was selected as the most appropriate research methodology available for this exploratory work. The subject matter, organizational culture and the remote work environment were identified as worthy of study given the well-recognized relationship of organizational culture to organizational success and the recent large-scale increase in the number of remote workers initiated by the COVID-19 pandemic.In this study, the researcher led a diverse panel of experienced remote worker managers through a confidential consensus-building process of three rounds of online questionnaires. The results from the study were analyzed and interpreted in the context of Edgar Schein's three element model of organizational culture (artifacts, values, and assumptions) combined with social constructivist learning theory.It was determined that the remote work environment does present several key culturally relevant factors. A total of 97 survey factors were identified, 88 of which achieved consensus by round three. Several key themes were identified including the critical need for trust and to create the opportunity for informal interactions that aid in trust, relationship building and cultural diffusion. Additional focus areas for leadership and management were identified including new skill sets needed for the remote work environment, the importance of consistency, and establishing the norms or acceptable remote environment behaviors. Context or organizational culture type is also discussed. Effectively, if an organization transitions to a dominantly remote work environment, several cultural adaptations are necessary to encourage success. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)

Reconceptualizing informal learning in an online learning environment

In 2020, many organizations moved their formal training programs to an online learning context due to COVID-19. Informal learning, which refers to activities that are self-guided and occur independently outside of formal learning contexts has gained significant interest among researchers and practitioners in the past two decades as it has been identified as the primary type of learning in today's organizations, also had to take place in an online learning environment. Despite the increasing interest in informal learning, no attempt has been made to examine and understand informal learning in an online learning environment. This dissertation provides an integrative review of prior work on formal and informal learning in online and traditional face-to-face environments. It addresses the following research questions: (1) How can informal learning be conceptualized and measured in an online learning environment? (2) How do the coping styles of proactive coping, reflective coping, strategic planning, preventive coping, and support-seeking drive informal learning in an online learning environment? (3) How important are psychological capital and time structure for online learning behavior and, (4) How do contextual influences such as learning conditions and social support moderate the relationships between antecedents, coping, and informal learning behavior? This study contributes to our understanding of how informal learning unfolds in an online learning environment. All five of the examined coping styles are positively related to informal learning behavior online and four of these coping styles (proactive coping, reflective coping, strategic planning, preventive coping,) also mediate the relationship between time structure and informal learning behavior. Support for mediation between psychological capital and informal learning was only found for proactive coping behavior. The results of this study showed that the examined contextual influences of social support, learning conditions, and informal learning did not moderate the relationships between psychological capital, time structure, coping behavior, and informal learning behavior. For this study, data were collected from undergraduate students enrolled in an asynchronous introductory management class in the Fall of 2020. The collected data was analyzed using correlation analysis, descriptive analysis, and path analysis to answer the empirical research questions. This study provides theoretical and practical implications for human resource development and highlights suggestions for future research. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)

Post-Pandemic Rediscovering of Traditional Games for Social and Emotional Learning

PrepaTec Morelia students returned to face-To-face classes in January-May 2022 semester after just over a year in the online class format, because of confinement due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it was a priority to implement activities that promoted the integration, physical activity, and emotional health of the students. This is how, given the popularity generated among adolescents by the South Korean series "The Squid Game"where several traditional games are presented, the idea of implementing similar activities with traditional Mexican games to promote the integration and emotional well-being of the students rose. The games that were chosen were: Jumping Rope. Elastic Skipping, Freeze Tag, Red Light, Green Light, Hopscotch, Marbles, Yoyo, Spinning Top, Cup-And-Ball and Play Tig. The project was applied in the Tutoring and Wellbeing VI class with a total of 124 students between the ages of 17 and 19 who were in their last year of high school. With one week per week for a total of 8 sessions. A survey with the question: What emotions did you experience when playing and interacting with your classmates The results showed that 84.6% of the students experienced a feeling of happiness, followed by 72.6% who said they felt also energetic. In the satisfaction survey within the satisfaction survey with 5-point Likert scale where 5 is very satisfactory and 1, the result was 3.94 with a standard deviation of 1.03, which confirms the importance of generating activities not only focused on the academic area, because without a doubt one of the great lessons learned from the pandemic is that mental health care as part of the optimal personal development of the human being and learning for life. © 2022 Owner/Author.

Psychological underpinning of panic buying during pandemic (COVID-19)

This letter discusses the psychological underpinning of panic buying during the COVID-19 pandemic. Epidemics and pandemics are the impending public health challenges whereby fear and panic are integral human responses historically. Panic behavior during disaster and calamities is an expected response they threaten the ability to cope and destroy the existing equilibrium. Many a time, people develop much-unexplained behavior which differs from country to country, culture to culture. Panic buying / increased buying behavior has been observed during public health emergencies since the ancient period. However, the exact psychological explanation responsible for it has not sought systematically. A perception of scarcity is strongly linked with the panic buying behavior and hoarding behaviors increases if the scarcity develops for the immediate necessaries. It also creates a feeling of insecurity which in turn activates another mechanism to collect things. Fear of scarcity and losing control over the environment, insecurity, social learning, exacerbation of anxiety, the basic primitive response of humans are the core factor responsible for the panic buying phenomenon. Further observational, as well as qualitative studies, are warranted to explore the psychological perspective of panic buying behavior during the crisis moments which in turn would help to find out preventive measures during the future moments. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)

Connecting during COVID: Meeting social and emotional needs of vulnerable elementary students during a pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic necessitated school buildings to close in March of 2020 across the United States. From that time forward, many students remained in virtual learning environments, unable to step onto campus. The remote environments were isolating and struggled to support the academic or social and emotional needs of many students. The inability to access the supports from the physical school environment caused additional challenges for certain student populations, especially those who are considered at-risk academically or described as vulnerable due to conditions within the home environment. This mixed methods action research study, framed around the theoretical foundations of Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs and the Science of Learning and Development model, measured the impact of a social and emotional learning, online mentoring framework on levels of student engagement and connectedness. Teachers met virtually with small groups of students for six weeks, implementing lessons that focused on CASEL's social and emotional learning competencies. Both qualitative and quantitative data from surveys and focus groups measured the impact of these lessons. While the implementation of the framework did not significantly impact levels of engagement, it did yield a substantial impact on connectedness within the elementary environment. The study also explored how professional development can support staff in meeting specific needs of vulnerable students. The findings indicated that comprehensive professional development was needed to meet the needs of this population of students. Such professional development should focus on student need and support fostering relationships within the school environment in order to mitigate the educational inequities that result from isolated, remote learning environments. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)