ABSTRACT
Statistical literacy, one of the core skills embedded in tertiary psychology education, is best taught using active learning pedagogy. Although a plethora of research has examined how the implementation of emergency online learning (EOL) in response to COVID-19 impacted teaching and learning in general, limited research has considered how this change affected tertiary teaching of psychology statistics specifically. We conducted an exploratory, two-phase, mixed-method study to consider how the implementation of EOL during COVID-19 impacted the teaching of research methods and statistics at tertiary institutions in Australia. A sample of 21 tertiary educators in Australia (52% females, 48% males), aged 26-55 (M = 39.75) completed an online survey, which included quantitative and qualitative items addressing experiences with online teaching and COVID-19 EOL. Of this cohort, we interviewed three educators about their experience in teaching statistics;changes in teaching conditions from 2019 to the present;challenges and advantages of EOL;and student satisfaction, engagement, and performance. Overall, we found that previous experience with online learning was a better indicator of success in EOL than years of teaching in general. Educators also felt underprepared and underresourced from their institutions. Many challenges of EOL were identified, with access to statistical software being the key challenge unique to teaching statistics. Overcoming technological inequities was recommended to improve EOL outcomes in the future. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)
ABSTRACT
The proliferation of ICT in today's world of work particularly in education has necessitated the need to assess lecturers' views of online assessment use in the covid-19 era given the disruptions in face-to-face teaching and learning process. The study adopted a mixed research design. The population for the study was 84 computer educators made up of 40 males and 44 females from the four public tertiary institutions in Enugu State, Nigeria. Three research questions and two hypotheses guided the study. The instruments used for data collection were a structured questionnaire titled "Computer Educators' Perception of Use of Online Assessment” (CEPUOA) and a guided interview relating to the research questions. The internal consistency was determined using the Cronbach α reliability test which gave an index of.9. The data collected were analyzed using mean and standard deviation while the null hypotheses were tested using a t-test at 0.05 level of significance. The findings of the study indicated that computer educators have a positive disposition toward the use of online assessment in conducting various assessment techniques such as tests/quizzes, semester examinations, and seminar/project evaluations. The findings of the study further showed that the utilization of online assessment techniques facilitates timely monitoring of students' progress, and the provision of immediate feedback to the learners helps in preparing students with digital skills required to function in the 21st-century workplace, among others. In view of these, it was recommended that tertiary institutions should initiate workable policies that will encourage the effective use of online assessment by lecturers. © 2023 Wiley Periodicals LLC.
ABSTRACT
In developing countries, funding is a significant obstacle to receiving higher education. Brilliant but needy students cannot complete their studies since their parents are unemployed and their countries' economies are poor. As a result, the students' talents are not harnessed to their full potential. In order to help students obtain higher education and harness their full potential, governments provide student loans to students in higher education. The government provides loans to students through the ministry of education. The students pay back the loan with interest when they start working. Governments have been the sole funders of student loans. The emergence of COVID-19 and the Russia-Ukraine war have resulted in a global economic crisis. Because of the global economic crisis, the government's spending has increased. In order to help reduce the burden of government and thereby reduce spending, we intend to revolutionize the student loan program through blockchain and crowdsourcing. This work presents a blockchain-based crowdsourcing decentralized loan platform where investors will be brought on board to provide funds for students in higher education. The platform will allow students to apply for loans from investors through registered financial institutions. The students will pay back the loans with interest when they enter the workforce. The proposed platform will allow students to fund their education, investors will get interest on the money they invest, and governments can channel the money they put into student loan programs into other avenues. We perform a thorough security analysis and back the efficiency of our work with numerical results. © 2013 IEEE.
ABSTRACT
The move to online learning from traditional methods has increased recently. With the outbreak of the COVID-19 virus, this change was suddenly at the doorstep of more students. The closing of educational institutions, with particularly stringent rules on tertiary institutions, resulted in numerous challenges faced by students and lecturers alike. This systematic literature review (SLR) investigated the challenges of e-learning implementation faced during the pandemic globally. The main challenges identified included: (a) the digital divide;(b) adaptation to home studies by students;(c) governmental contributions;(d) course quality and content and lecturer competency;and (e) methods of assessment. These challenges were consistent within 36% of the articles analysed. The review discusses useful solutions and innovative teaching methods, including (a) amendment to teaching policies and curriculum design;(b) e-learning workshops to enhance teacher/learner capabilities;(c) cultivation of strong online communities, (d) blended learning methods and (e) course design with the guidance of thinking-based instruction theory. The solutions were consistent in 34% of the articles analysed, while innovations were discussed in 11% of articles. The challenges were generally observed within developing countries. The solutions and innovations were varied across different demographics. Discussion of the challenges with the known requirements can be informative to major stakeholders within the educational landscape such as parents, investors, unaware students, and educators. The solutions and innovations discussed may be tailored according to the context in which an institution exists to enhance the digital learning and teaching experience. © 2022 IEEE.
ABSTRACT
Technology has played an important role in several areas of human endeavour. Emerging challenges such as COVID-19 pandemic is increasing the use of technology in tertiary institutions. This study investigated the technologies for recovery and growth in post-COVID-19 era in tertiary institutions in Nigeria. The study adopted a descriptive survey design focusing on all the academic staff in the 49 federal universities in Nigeria with a total of 490 respondents who were purposively sampled. The findings revealed evidences of positive and negative effects of COVID-19 pandemic on the academia. It showed that the positive effects of COVID-19 pandemic outweighed the negative effects. The findings further showed that technology is an important tool for recovery and growth in post-COVID-19 era that will enhance communication, collaboration, teaching and research of academics. The findings indicated that among the challenging factors affecting recovery and growth in post-COVID-19 era are inadequate support from the Federal Government, unpreparedness of stakeholders, lack of palliative for lecturers, inadequate ICT facilities for distance and online learning among others. The study concluded with several recommendations to improve the use of technology in tertiary institutions for recovery and growth in time of crisis.
ABSTRACT
This study assessed readiness of Nigerian Tertiary institutions towards adopting e-learning education as a new normal post COVID-19, identified e-learning packages available for use in the institutions before and during the COVID-19 Lockdown using the E-Learning Survey for Academic Staff and Students of Nigerian Tertiary Institutions (ELSASSoNTI). This research adopted an online survey using a quantitative method of data collection. A structured Google Form questionnaire was shared with academic staff and students of public and private tertiary institutions in Nigeria via different online platforms. Population comprised all academic staff and students of South-East Nigerian Tertiary Institutions. A sample size of 615 academic staff and students responded to the instrument. Data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Results revealed that: tertiary institutions in Nigeria are to a larger extent not ready for the adoption of e-learning education approaches as teaching-learning alternative during emergencies. Majority of tertiary institutions except private universities did not adopt any e-learning platform for use before and during the COVID-19 lockdown. There is lack of basic resources, logistics, and inadequate capacity for the effective adoption and implementation of e-learning within Nigerian tertiary institutions. The study thus recommends, among other things;provision of facilities needed for smooth transition to the new normal, training programs to improve the confidence of academic staff and students in using e-learning platforms. These would improve their e-learning readiness, overcome the usual disruption of school activities during emergencies and ensure a sustainable post Covid-19 era in the higher education sector.
ABSTRACT
This study investigated the challenges encountered by educators conducting online teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic in Malaysian and Indonesian higher learning institutions. Quantitative and qualitative methods were used to obtain information in this study. The respondents comprised 250 educators from Malaysian and Indonesian higher learning institutions. A self-developed Likert-scale online questionnaire was given to the respondents. The study findings revealed that Malaysian educators faced greater challenges in mental health, time management, and assessments. In comparison, Indonesian educators experienced more challenges in demonstrating compassion to students during online teaching. Educators in both countries encountered poor internet connectivity, lack of interaction and engagement with students, stress, and anxiety. Opportunities created by the COVID-19 pandemic comprise exploring and learning online teaching tools, producing online teaching and learning materials, conducting research, and writing research papers for publication. Recommendations for addressing online teaching challenges and suggestions for future research are also discussed. © 2023, Institute of Advanced Engineering and Science. All rights reserved.
ABSTRACT
As the COVID-19 pandemic was spreading rapidly throughout the world, the most widespread reaction in many countries to curtail the disease was lockdown. As a result, educational institutions had to find an alternative to face-to-face learning. The most obvious solution was e-learning. Conventional tertiary institutions with little virtual learning experience had to deal with an unprecedented challenge. This study delineates practices that can be suggested for conventional institutions of tertiary education that may be planning to acquire more e-learning experience in the post-COVID era so that they may be better prepared to move on beyond traditional classroom teaching. The qualitative research method was utilized to carry out this study. The data collected for the study comprised mainly two sources: the existing literature that tackles the issue of how tertiary institutions around the world shifted to e-learning during the pandemic, and an analysis by the researchers of COVID-related circulars that were issued by the Saudi Ministry of Education and by Prince Sattam bin Abdulaziz University. The review of related literature and the analysis of the circulars enabled the researchers to produce a number of suggestions aimed at improving the e-learning experience of conventional tertiary institutions. The researchers followed five steps in their literature review: (1) pinpointing search terms and then creating a search strategy and implementing it, (2) sorting the studies gathered, excluding duplicates and studies deemed irrelevant, and decreeing standards for deciding what to keep and what to rule out, (3) evaluating the studies in the light of those standards, (4) obtaining data, and (5) analysing data. This study does not recommend that conventional tertiary institutions become 100% online, but it does suggest that those institutions should make some learning content digitally accessible, build community partnerships, encourage self-study skills among students, help students change their learning style from passive to active, and revisit their e-assessment practices. This paper also stresses the importance of giving further support to teaching staff, sheds light on how institution buildings can reopen smoothly as the restrictions ease, discusses what factors influence the outcomes of e-learning, and tackles the issue of student dropouts during the pandemic. This study concludes by outlining the important notion of adopting blended learning and developing e-learning programs on an international scale. © 2022, Academic Conferences and Publishing International Limited. All rights reserved.
ABSTRACT
COVID-19 pandemic has changed the landscape of education globally, posing restrictions and widespread closure of schools, thereby, introducing the paradigm shift from Physical to Virtual, and then blended (Mix mode) learning environments. Hence, teaching and learning process should evolve to accommodate the new normal. It is important to create efficacious virtual learning, however, the behavioral responses of the end-users (students) towards the implementation and adoption of a virtual learning environment are necessary. This paper, therefore, aim to examine students' perception, preferences, and adoption of technology-enabled virtual learning environments and causal factors in process of implementing virtual classes in Nigeria's tertiary institutions. The study seeks to explore the behavioral characteristics of students in virtual classes. The population of the study consists of eight hundred (800) students selected using the non-probability sampling technique. The results of the study reveal that most students still prefer physical to virtual classes. Students faced a series of difficulties during virtual classes which might lead to student failure. It is significant to know that virtual classes cannot replace physical classes but are complementary. © 2022 IEEE.
ABSTRACT
E-learning has numerous potentials to spur education development in tertiary institutions in Nigeria. It impacts positively on the educational process, unlike the physical chalkboard in the classrooms. The outbreak and fast spread of the COVID-19 led to the closed down of schools. Efforts to revamp education due to prolong lockdown made the government enforce e-learning in tertiary institutions across the country. It is however worthy to know that these directives did not make much change as a result of poor infrastructure and networking. Hence, this study investigated compliance with e-learning during COVID-19 pandemic lockdown by the instructors in the private tertiary institutions in Nigeria vis-à-vis their socio-economic factors and limitations encountered. A systematic sampling technique was adopted to select 180 respondents from the staff list. A validated questionnaire was used to collect data on socio-economic variables (SEV), compliance (Ï) to e-learning, and limitations (Ls) while multiple linear regression model (R) was used to test the interaction between the compliance and limitations. Results show that age (ß = 0.351), educational attainment (ß = 0.843) and teaching experience (ß = 0.169) influence e-learning compliance at p < 0.05. It was also found that 67.3% compliance with e-learning took place in the Universities compared to 59.1% in the Polytechnics and 52.8% in the Colleges of Education. Regression shows that constraints affected the level of compliance (R2 = 0.73). The study concludes that constraints are major obstacles to the compliance and prospects of e-learning in the Private Tertiary Institutions in Nigeria.