Do Academic Stress, Academic Burnout, Resilience Influence Student Achievement Motivation?

Distress in online learning issues that have caused student stress, burnout and influenced student motivation achievement in the post-COVID-19 pandemic. The survey's primary purpose was to understand the effect of academic stress, burnout, and resilience on student achievement motivation. It consisted of 152 participants of Thai and international students who filled out the questionnaires. The data were analyzed utilizing SPSS (demographic data) and Smart PLS 3. The results denoted a direct and significant influence of academic stress on burnout and resilience on achievement motivation, a positive and insignificant impact of stress on resilience and burnout on achievement motivation, and a negative and non-significant influence of stress on achievement motivation and burnout on resilience. © 2023 IEEE.

Tailoring Arduino for Interactive Digital Fabrication: Mechanism, Algorithms, Cases

This study presents the introduction of Arduino to undergraduate architecture students through a series of project-based exercises in two different universities. The main motivation of study is based on supporting students' motivation, engagement, and creativity under remote education conditions in the context of digital fabrication. This research consolidates the digital fabrication pedagogy efficiency in the time of post COVID-19 using both distant and hybrid learning modes. Students have exerted a dedication effort and enjoyed digital craft especially while using Arduino despite the virtual teaching classes. Kinetic applications have received students' total endorsement and hands-on involvement supported with theoretical lectures focusing on fabrication techniques, materials and tools along with parametric algorithmic design. Assignments are both structured and semi-structured to promote their skills and grant them a free-flexible pedagogical approach. © 2023 IEEE.

Does active participation via integrated questions in large lectures matter?

This paper investigates whether the intensity of participation in large lecture quizzes in a tertiary education context, facilitated and monitored by an online platform, is associated with better examination performance. The platform mirrors lecture slides onto student devices and uses integrated "clicker" style questions within the lecture to quiz students on concepts learned. Using regression, we find that the intensity of quiz participation is positively related to students' performance. Student study perceptions, based on study and career plans, moderate the results. These findings are relevant to educators, especially in a post-COVID-19 learning environment, where the online quiz function could be used to foster participation.

How to motivate student engagement in emergency online learning? Evidence from the COVID-19 situation.

COVID-19 has caused the overnight migration of learning and teaching to online platforms and has significantly impacted students' learning opportunities and experiences worldwide. The results of emergency online learning have heavily relied on students' abilities to exercise agency in maintaining active motivation and engagement with online learning. Despite the wide application of motivation theories to diverse contexts, how to adapt motivation theories to develop online learning effectively and sustainably in complex and situational online learning environments is still under-investigated. Using a large sample of 14,935 postgraduate students from 31 universities in China, this study examined the effects of student motivation and engagement on students' academic achievement in the COVID-induced online learning anchored by the theoretical perspective of self-determination theory. This study made contribution to the self-determination theory by extending it to the complex emergency situation and supported its main argument that online emergency learning environments satisfying students' psychological needs of autonomy and competence promote optimal motivation, positive engagement and academic achievement. This study also contributed to reveal the 'sophisticated' nature of relatedness satisfaction in the case wherein its specific effects depend on the cultural configuration of the contexts and on the specific types of engagement. Given the fact that COVID-19 continues to be a public challenge throughout the world, implications for improving the quality of online teaching in the future were also discussed.

A countless variant simulation-based toolkit for remote learning and evaluation

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought about a profound transformation in the educational landscape in recent months. Educators worldwide have been challenged to tackle academic issues they could never have imagined. Among the most stressful situations faced by students and teachers is implementing online assessments. This paper proposes a system that includes exam prototypes for computer architecture modules at the higher education level. This system generates a wide range of questions and variations on the server side, supported by a set of simulators, resulting in many unique examination proposals. This system streamlines the monitoring process for the teacher, as it eliminates the possibility of two students receiving similar exams and reduces student stress by allowing them to practice with a limitless number of exam samples. This paper also highlights several indicators that demonstrate the advantages of this framework. © 2023 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

Students' Perception of Metaverses for Online Learning in Higher Education: Hype or Hope?

Online learning environments have been widely adopted, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic. Today, their usage is envisioned for multiple teaching scenarios, including international courses involving students from different locations. However, as e-learning frameworks lack many advantages of physical interaction, diverse technologies to enhance the learning experience in this regard, including the use of metaverses, are currently in demand. In this study, we implemented an educational metaverse platform for engineering courses at four different European Universities from Poland, Portugal, Germany, and Spain, then had it quantitatively evaluated by students from these higher education institutions. The obtained results illustrate positive student perceptions of its ease of use, satisfaction and fun, and immersion, although their opinions with respect to learning experience and usefulness are less clear. The students seem to agree that interactivity remains insufficient in comparison with face-to-face teaching. For this reason, we provide an examination other related works and finalize this article by suggesting future research directions in the field.

Post-COVID-19 e-learning acceptance and its impact on community college students in Kelantan, Malaysia: A quantitative analysis

The purpose of this study is to explore the relationship between student motivation, student mindset, computer competency, and behavioural intention to continue using e-learning in the post-COVID-19 era among students at the community colleges in Kelantan, Malaysia. This quantitative study used a self-administered online survey questionnaire, and a convenience sampling method was employed to reach the respondents. Partial least square structural equation modelling (SmartPLS) 4.0 was then used for data analysis. The results of the current study reveal that community college students have a high behavioural intention to continue using e-learning in the post-COVID-19 era, and that behavioural intention positively correlates with student motivation and computer competency. However, there is limited evidence to support the relationship between student mindset and their behavioural intention to continue using e-learning in the post-COVID-19 era. Practically, the findings from this study can be an essential landmark to the management of Community Colleges in determining the direction of future learning in community colleges. © 2023 by the authors.

Is online education mutating into something it shouldn't?

Online education has fortunately allowed many students in higher education to continue learning throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the rapid transition from traditional face-to-face education to an online mode was disruptive and difficult for institutions, staff, and students. This chapter will discuss how institutions adapted to the COVID-19 pandemic and highlight a number of challenges that may have negatively impacted perceptions and attitudes towards online education. To serve as a useful reminder as we emerge out of this pandemic, a number of important factors central to good online education are discussed. It is argued that these factors may have been neglected during the pandemic and should not be forgotten as we look toward the future of online education. © 2022 Nova Science Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved.

A survey of student motivations for enrolling in engineering and technology undergraduate programs

Despite many efforts to attract and retain students in STEM programs in U.S. universities, it has proven to be a significant challenge. The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has added to the struggles of students and educational institutions. At the same time, there is significant interest among funding agencies, including the National Science Foundation and philanthropic organizations to encourage enrollment in minority populations. This requires that we need to better understand the student population. Many national surveys and data sources including the Integrated Postsecondary Education System (IPEDS) provide a macro-level view across the entire country. This is insufficient for producing classroom-level changes. We need detailed information at the micro-level such as student surveys across multiple institutions to probe student motivations and ensure that their expectations are met and nurtured. We present the results of conducting a survey among 32 STEMs students enrolled in an introductory engineering course at Fairleigh Dickinson University. This is the first semester after the pandemic that courses were taught in person. We found significant differences along gender and racial lines. For the male students, 38% chose their STEM major due to parental or social influence, whereas for females it was 12.5%. For whites, parental/social influence accounted for 28% of STEM choices, whereas for African Americans, it was 0%. Across all students, 50% chose a STEM major due to an early interest in the field, or due to self-realization that they were good at STEM-related activities such as problem-solving. Our results indicate the importance of hands-on STEM exposure to students at the K-12 level and the role of mentors. Due to the recency of the data collected, we expect our findings to be valuable to the STEM education community. © 2022 IEEE.

Impact of Emergency Online Classes on Students' Motivation and Engagement in University During the Covid-19 Pandemic: A Study Case

The Covid-19 pandemic has had dramatic impact on many dimensions of living and studying conditions of students at University. This paper analyses student satisfaction and motivation during the lockdown period and try to understand whether different socio-economic and environmental conditions have influenced needs and demands of students during the emergency online didactics. Drawing from the results of a questionnaire administered to students enrolled in the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, this research is aimed at describing which factors, beyond the quality and the professionalism of the lecturers and the quality of the education received, influence the satisfaction with the online learning experience and impact on students' motivations and perceived engagement. Moreover, the study investigates the pandemic's direct effects on gender differences and inequalities, analysing the obstacles affecting the self-organization of study at home. © 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.

Developing Gamification Strategies for International, Interdisciplinary, Team-Based Online Courses in Engineering Design

Student motivation is a highly relevant topic, especially since the increased implementation of online courses during the Corona pandemic. The concept of gamification offers a modern approach to the strategic design of courses, among others, concerning the optimal motivation of participants. Based on a case study of the international, interdisciplinary online course of the International Design and Engineering Education Association (IDEEA) and the subsequent evaluation with modern digital simulation tools, this research shows how gamification strategies can be sustainably integrated into digital courses to strengthen the motivation and participation of students. The results show a fundamental consistency between the case study and the newly developed simulation model and will therefore be transferred into a process for the general application of gamification in courses for teaching staff at universities. © 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.

Ease of use and perceived usefulness and its influence on motivation, collaboration and behavioral intention in university students in times of Covid-19

The purpose of this study was to test the relationship of influence of ease of use and perceived usefulness on motivation, collaboration, and behavioral intention in university students in times of Covid-19. The methodology used for the study corresponds to a non-experimental investigation, a questionnaire was applied to a convenience sample of 530 university students (n=19;α=0.944 ω=0.946), using Factor Exploratory and Confirmatory Analysis as tests of validity and reliability, through the Modeling of Structural Equations of Partial Least Squares PLS-SEM. The results have shown that there is a positive effect of causality of perceived ease of use on student collaboration, student motivation and perceived usefulness;in the same way, there exists a causal relationship between the perceived usefulness and the student's collaboration, the intention of the behavior and the student's motivation. Contrarily, there would not be an influence relationship between perceived ease of use on behavioral intention in university students in a context of Covid-19. © 2022 IEEE.

What Kind of Teaching in the Post-Digital Era? The Challenges of Schools and Universities after the Pandemic: An Explorative Survey at University of Bari Aldo Moro

All around the world, schools and universities should re-think and update teaching to adjust to technological changes and exploit their potentialities by means of hybrid teaching (Limone, 2013). Considering teaching in presence as absolutely good and online teaching as bad and necessary only during the pandemic is ideological, reductive and wrong (Ferri, Moriggi, 2018). If properly used in an ad-hoc pedagogical approach, technology represents an opportunity for students (Bonaiuti, Dipace, 2021), who can participate in training and updating processes and better adapt to changes. The long and complex post-pandemic period should allow the experimentation of a better integration between teaching in the classroom and technologically 'augmented' teaching. The process of digitalisation and methodological innovation should become permanent, as suggested in Mission number 4 -- Education and Research of the NPRR. This was the starting point for an explorative survey (Lucisano, Salerni, 2002) conducted with 400 students of the University of Bari in order to research their challenges and levels of satisfaction with the online courses attended in the a.a. 2020/2021. The survey shows the difficulties with distance teaching and presents an overview on possible future blended approaches.

Using Archetypes to Teach Systems Thinking in an Engineering Master's Course

Systems Thinking can help to solve complex problems in different domains. For an engineering master's program, we designed a seminar course to teach Systems Thinking. For the seminar we use qualitative models known as archetypes as conceptual models and the Covid-19 pandemic as problem context. In this paper we describe the course design and report findings from running it. Based on students' evaluation and the materials they produced throughout the course, our findings (1) support our design assumptions regarding student motivation, (2) give hints on students' struggling with Systems Thinking and understanding and applying archetypes in particular. With this we want to contribute to the discussion of how to teach Systems Thinking in Higher Education. © 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.

Exploring Factors Impacting Students' Motivation to Learn Using Face-to-Face, Online and Hybrid Learning

Purpose: This study aims to explore and compare the approach and avoidance factors in motivating students to study using three different learning methods--face-to-face learning, online learning and hybrid learning. Design/methodology/approach: This research uses in-depth online interviews to gain insights from students. Purposive sampling was applied to recruit 33 informants from two private universities in Indonesia. The verbatim data were analyzed using a thematic content analysis to identify motivational factors. Findings: This study revealed four motivational factors regarding the approach to face-to-face learning/avoidance of online learning and five motivational factors regarding the approach to online learning/avoidance of face-to-face learning. Most of the motivational factors (i.e. learning effectiveness, social interaction, campus life experiences, physical wellness, flexibility and technological learning) are also found in the approach to hybrid learning. Research limitations/implications: The existing qualitative research suffers from generalizability, as does this study. Future research can investigate other contexts or use quantitative research to validate the findings. Practical implications: By identifying the approach and avoidance motivational factors, higher education institutions can enhance the approach (positive) factors and minimize or eliminate the avoidance (negative) factors that motivate their students to study using different learning methods. Originality/value: This research complements the existing literature using new perspectives, namely, the approach and avoidance factors that motivate students to study through face-to-face learning, online learning and hybrid learning post-COVID-19.

Influence of teacher on student motivation: Opportunities to increase motivational factors during mobile learning.

Amid the COVID-19 lockdown many countries have replaced traditional learning with remote or mobile one. It was noted that students' motivation has become much less with the transition to distance learning. This study analyzes how motivational processes influence mobile learning quality and aimed to analyze the factors boosted the motivation of students to learn in modern conditions of isolation and identify the major demotivating factors affecting the quality of mobile learning. Motivation is considered a key factor in improving students' involvement in distance learning. The author surveyed 200 students and 46 teachers of The University of Jordan and Jordan University of Science and Technology regarding the factors that influenced their motivation in terms of mobile learning. The results revealed that 178 out of 200 participants agreed that intrinsic motivation impacted their interest in mobile learning. Some 78% of the students approved of mobile learning, while the remaining 22% believe it is necessary to return to the traditional face-to-face education format. The importance of feedback and communication with teachers and its impact on the process of mobile learning is considered. The role of built-in mechanisms in information systems and the positive role of gamification is equally important. Plug-ins compatible with the convenient WordPress system, i.e. applications that help organize the educational process were examined in the scientific work. The specific recommendations for raising the motivation of students in the learning process, which can be used by relevant institutions worldwide presented.

"What Motivates Me?”: A Qualitative Perspective on Student Collaboration in Small Groups

Collaborative learning, social interdependence and computer mediated communication (CMC) have been broadly studied in higher education research. Collaborative learning has often been associated with a social interdependence understanding. However, this study explores the relationship from an exclusively student motivation perspective in order to gain insight over the factors that encourage students' positive interdependence in small peer groups. Moreover, due to the COVID-19 pandemic which, has shifted student learning to online platforms learners have found themselves engaging in computer mediated communication more than ever. Therefore, the study aims to explore CMC's influence over student motivations towards achieving mutual-interest in their small groups. Besides that, past studies concerning these areas have been mostly quantitative in nature, thus, this study used a qualitative approach by conducting semi-structured interviews with 9 participants from the Communications programme of a private higher educational institution in Klang Valley, Malaysia. The interview findings identified few factors that transformed their self-interest motivation to mutual-interest motivation. These being: accountability, quality of work outcome, type of coursework & group size. Additionally, CMC was not directly influential in encouraging students to grow mutualinterest in their small group. Besides that, there were no significant difference between the roles of synchronous or asynchronous communication in specifically motivating students towards achieving positive social interdependence. The findings prove beneficial for educators and educational administrators when designing collaborative tasks and relevant policies or guidelines. © 2022, The International Academic Forum (IAFOR). All rights reserved.

Teaching Writing in Emergency Distance Education: The Case of Primary School Teachers

This is a case study examining the writing teaching processes of primary school teachers during the COVID-19 pandemic. Fifty-four primary school teachers who conduct their writing teaching practices by distance education took part in the study. The data were gathered through a semi-structured interview form developed by the researcher under the guidance of an expert. The interviews were conducted via video chat programs. After having the participant's consent, the interviews were recorded. In the analysis of the transcribed texts, descriptive and content analysis methods were used. The results were divided into five groups after the data analysis, and these are: first writing experiences, situations originating from the teacher, situations originating from the student, situations originating from the student's parents, and recommendations. The results revealed that sufficient significance was not given to the writing tasks during the pandemic, and these efforts were postponed to the next semester when it was expected that face-to-face education would begin. In the process, the study revealed that student motivation was poor, there were issues in the management of the classroom environment, and writings of students could not be provided with the necessary feedback and corrections. Besides, what stands out that for teaching writing, parent support is required, and parents do not pay desired attention to the writing. However, primary school teachers have provided some suggestions for more effective writing teaching.

Student Outcomes Related to Academic Performance, Motivation, and Mental Health in an Online Materials and Energy Balances Course during the COVID-19 Pandemic

This study evaluates students' outcomes in an online materials and energy balances course during the COVID-19 pandemic. Using multiple linear regression, we found that students' "competence" and "autonomy" beliefs decreased across the semester, with a negative change in competence beliefs predicting higher grades for students, especially women. Also, we used path analysis to model the relationship between "psychological distress," motivation, and final grades. These results give insight into how to support students during difficult circumstances.

Entrepreneurially Minded Learning in the Unit Operations Laboratory through Community Engagement in a Blended Teaching Environment

Online and blended learning opportunities in Chemical Engineering curriculum emerged due to COVID-19. After eight weeks of in-person Unit Operations Laboratory sessions, a remote-learning open-ended final project was assigned to student teams. The assignment involved aspects related to entrepreneurially-minded learning (EML) and community-based learning (CBL). Results show correlations between self-directed learning and the EML framework. Continuous support and involvement of a community partner correlate to students' motivation, critical for successful remote-learning implementations in engineering education.