Understanding Mental Wellbeing amongst Potentially Vulnerable Higher Education Students during the COVID-19 Pandemic

During the COVID-19 pandemic, higher education students were reported as one of the most affected in terms of wellbeing. In the current study, we explored higher education students' self-perceptions on why and how their mental wellbeing was affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and its related measures. Focus group discussions with potentially vulnerable university student groups, as well as university staff, revealed that the students described the pandemic as a period of reduced mental wellbeing. Overall, students identified two main reasons for this: the lingering aspect of the pandemic and restricted social contact and support. Moreover, we identified several underlying factors of specific student groups' vulnerability in terms of wellbeing: entering the university during the COVID-19 pandemic and students' living situation, employment status, financial stress, and home environment. Moreover, as a potential mitigating factor, the availability of university facilities during the COVID-19 pandemic emerged as beneficial for students' mental wellbeing. Our results indicate the importance of universities acting as social spaces that facilitate connection and peer support and, thus, working preventively towards the improved mental wellbeing of students. Furthermore, university support in providing facilities to increase inclusivity should be organized or improved. © 2023 by the authors.

Flipped online approach with learning analytics for supporting higher education students' learning. Course feedback results

Using learning analytics and dispositional learning analytics in teaching is difficult. Examples of their use are required for higher educational institutions and teachers. In this paper, we present a flipped learning approach in online settings (due to COVID-19) with particular emphasis on learning analytics and dispositional learning analytics. For this, an understanding of flipped approaches (i.e., flipped classroom and flipped learning) as well as the role of technology in the teaching context is required and presented. The role of technology includes (1) a digital learning system, (2) a conferencing system, (3) the collection and use of learning analytics and dispositional learning analytics, and (4) content-specific technology. Additionally, our aim is to present students' course feedback results from quantitative research methods course practices (2020, 2021) for preservice teachers (i.e., students;N = 70). The content is highly challenging for these students, causing fear, frustration, anxiety, and boredom. Generally, the results for pedagogy were positive, but the results of students' learning perceptions were lower. Based on the approach and results, discussion with new insights is provided. © 2022 Copyright for this paper by its authors. Use permitted under Creative Commons License Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0). CEUR Workshop Proceedings (CEUR-WS.org)

School Belonging in Online Instruction: Cross-Sectional and Prospective Relationships with Academic Adjustment in Higher Education Students During the COVID-19 Pandemic

The study aimed to analyse changes in school belonging in higher education students during online instruction and to verify its cross-sectional and longitudinal relationships with academic adjustment in the first and higher years of study. The research sample consisted of 169 higher education students (90.5% women, M = 21.71;SD = 2.63) in the first measurement (end of the winter term), and 77 respondents (96% women, M = 21.38;SD = 2.03) in the second measurement (end of the summer term). Self-report methods were used. Results showed a decline in school belonging among first-year students. School belonging significantly predicted academic adjustment, and the relationship with internal motivation persisted even four months later. The findings support the key role and need for facilitating school belonging in higher education students in the online environment. © 2023, Adam Marszalek Publishing House. All rights reserved.

A Predictive Model for Assessing Satisfaction with Online Learning for Higher Education Students During and After COVID-19 Using Data Mining and Machine Learning Techniques: A Case of Jordanian Institutions

Higher education institutions confronted an escalating unexpected pressure to rapidly transform throughout and after the COVID-19 pandemic, by replacing most of the traditional teaching practices with online-based education. Such transformation required institutions to frequently strive for qualities that meet conceptual requirements of traditional education due to its agility and flexibility. The challenge of such electronic learning styles remains in their potential of bringing out many challenges, along with the advantages it has brought to the educational systems and students alike. This research came to shed the light on several factors presented as a predictive model and proposed to contribute to the success or failure in terms of students' satisfaction with online learning. The study took the kingdom of Jordan as a case example country experiencing online education while and after the covid -19 intensive implementation. The study used a dataset collected from a sample of over "300” students using online questionnaires. The questionnaire included "25” attributes mined into the Knime analytics platform. The data was rigorously learned and evaluated by both the "Decision Tree” and "Naive Bayes” algorithms. Subsequently, results revealed that the decision tree classifier outperformed the naïve bayes in the prediction of student satisfaction, additionally, the existence of the sense of community while learning electronically among other reasons had the most contribution to the satisfaction. Copyright © 2023 by SCITEPRESS - Science and Technology Publications, Lda. Under CC license (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)

Career flexibility and its relation to time perspective: a study with college students in the Portuguese context.

The volatility of the labor market resulting from globalization, rapid technology changes, economic competition, and the impact of events such as the Covid-2019 Pandemic, demand from vocational psychology a more refined understanding of the processes individuals face while dealing with those new challenges and opportunities, especially in uncertain contexts. Theories such as Planned Happenstance address constructs such as career flexibility, an essential skill to recognize, create and use chance events as career opportunities. Furthermore, when fortuitous events and uncertain contexts are considered for career development, it becomes relevant to understand how subjective time perspective evolves, that is how the life events and career goals are projected, accessed, valued, and organized. Given this context, the objectives of the present study are to adapt and validate a Portuguese version of the Career Flexibility Inventory and to explore the possible relationships between career flexibility, time perspective, and variables inherent to the educational context. The Portuguese version of the Career Flexibility Inventory, the Time Perspective Inventory and a sociodemographic form were answered by 1,380 students from Portuguese higher education institutions. The results indicated that the Portuguese version of the CFI has an adequate three-factor structure with good reliability indices. Some limitations regarding psychometric validity show the importance of further research to improve the measure. However, the findings contribute to theoretically and operationally deepening discussions on the multidimensionality of Career Flexibility. The results regarding the relationships between time perspective and career flexibility seem to be in line with the theoretical indicators of the variables and support the formulated hypotheses, specifically, that future orientation presents a positive correlation with active adaptation; a negative correlation with wavering, and wavering presents a positive correlation with the negative future orientation. The results partially support the hypothesis of differences on time perspective and career flexibility among students with different academic grade averages and from diverse scientific areas of study. Finally, the study advances a theoretical reflection on the different nature of career flexibility dimensions and contributes to broadening and promoting theoretical and operational discussions on the relationships between time perspective and career flexibility, which are still incipient.

Risk Perception and Protective Behaviors Against covid-19 in Higher Education Students: The Mediating Role of Fea / Percepção de risco e comportamentos de proteção face à covid-19 em estudantes do ensino superior: o papel mediador do medo / Percepción del riesgo y conductas protectoras frente al covid-19 en estudiantes de enseñanza superior: el papel mediador del miedo

O estudo tem como objetivo descrever os comportamentos de proteção adotados por estudantes portugue-ses do ensino superior durante a pandemia e analisar a sua relação com a percepção de risco e o papel mediador do medo face à covid-19. Participaram 335 estu-dantes com idades entre os 18 e os 29 anos (m= 21.42; dp= 2.43). Os participantes preencheram um inquérito sobre os comportamentos de proteção (i.e., preventi-vos e de evitamento), a percepção de risco e o medo face à covid-19. Os resultados demonstraram que os comportamentos preventivos mais utilizados foram a lavagem/desinfecção das mãos ao longo do dia e o uso de máscara na via pública ou espaços exteriores. Os comportamentos de evitamento mais adotados foram o de evitar locais com aglomeração e os convívios presenciais com colegas/amigos. Verificouse uma as-sociação positiva entre os comportamentos de proteção, a percepção de gravidade e o medo face à covid-19. O medo face à covid-19 foi mediador da relação entre a percepção de gravidade e os comportamentos preventivos (c' = .26, ic 95% [.11; .44]) e de evitamento (c' = .28, ic 95% [.12; .50]). Os resultados são discutidos aten-dendo ao papel da percepção de risco e do medo nas respostas comportamentais dos jovens, num contexto de pandemia, sendo apresentadas implicações práticas e sugestões para estudos futuros.

El estudio tiene como objetivo describir las conductas protectoras adoptadas por los estudiantes portugueses de educación superior durante la pandemia, y analizar su relación con la percepción de riesgo y el papel mediador del miedo al covid-19. Participaron en el estudio 335 estudiantes de entre 18 y 29 años (m = 21.42; ds = 2.43). Los participantes completaron una encuesta sobre conductas protectoras (es decir, preventivas y de evitación), percepción de riesgo y miedo al covid-19. Los resultados mostraron que las conductas preventivas más utilizadas fueron el lavado/desinfección de manos a lo largo del día y el uso de mascarilla en la vía pública o al aire libre. Los comportamientos de evitación más adoptados fueron evadir lugares con reuniones e interacciones cara a cara con compañeros/amigos. Hubo una correlación positiva entre las conductas protectoras, la percepción de seriedad y el miedo al covid-19. También se encontró que el miedo al covid-19 medió la relación entre la percepción de severidad y las conductas preventivas (c' = .26, ic 95% [.11; .44]) y de evitación (c' = .28, ic 95% [.12; .50]). Los resultados se discuten considerando el papel de la percepción del riesgo y el miedo en las respuestas conductuales de los jóvenes en un contexto pandémico, así mismo se presentan impli-caciones prácticas y sugerencias para estudios futuros.

The study aims to describe the protective behaviors adopted by Portuguese higher education students in during the and to analyze their relationship with the perception of risk and the mediating role of fear of covid-19. A total of 335 students aged be-tween 18 and 29 participated in the study (m= 21.42; sd = 2.43). Participants completed a survey on protective (i.e., preventive and avoidance) behaviors, risk perception, and fear of covid-19. The results showed that the most used preventive behaviors were hand washing/disinfection throughout the day and using masks in public streets or outdoor spaces. The most adopted avoidance behaviors were avoiding crowded places and face-to-face interactions with colleagues/friends. There was a positive correlation between pro-tective behaviors, the perception of severity, and fear of covid-19. Fear of covid-19 mediated the relation between the perception of severity and both preventive (c' = .26, ic 95% [.11; .44]) and avoidance (c' = .28, ic95% [.12; .50]) behaviors. The results are discussed considering the role of risk perception and fear in the behavioral responses of young people in a pandemic context while presenting practical implications and suggestions for future studies.

Digital Capabilities of Teachers: A Comparative Case Study

Online and digital education, which was once perceived as demanding financially and academically, became the most viable option to continue teaching and learning during the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite their lack of prior experience, capabilities, or willingness, many teachers shifted their courses online in a short period to continue teaching during the pandemic. To understand the efficacy in making such a shift, the nature of digital capabilities the teachers recognize within themselves and if these capabilities correlate with their socio-cultural and geographical backgrounds are to be realized. In this study, two cases from the global North and South are compared to investigate the similarities and differences in making choices of digital tools, and, to capture their digital affordances and ability to manage technology in the teaching and learning process. A sample of 50 teachers from two higher education institutions is used to capture the perceptions. The discovered trends in the choice of tools may shed light on region-specific disparities in digital affordances in technology-enhanced learning and global digital education development.

Innovative Technology in Higher Education: Opportunities and Challenges

The rapid rate of technological progress has been a critical aspect of Human History since the advent of the Industrial Revolution. Information Technology has enabled a large amount of flow of Information, ideas, thoughts, goods, and services across the region in a very short time. Higher education is a field that determines the average productivity of Labour, level of innovation, citizenship, and humane qualities in society. Some thinkers contend that the use of Information Technology is highly harmful while some dream of a technological utopia. The paper puts forward the view that reality is situated between extreme viewpoints. This paper discusses the potential of innovative technology in ensuring vast access to data among students;improving the knowledge of students regarding wise use of the Internet;increasing the interaction between teachers and students through Online Platforms;creating scope for greater flexibility as demanded by New Education Policy;increasing the interest of students through the use of Audio-Visual Technology and facilitating education even in times of Corona Pandemic. The paper also brings to light the challenges and limitations in using innovative technology is like a mirage of data reductionism;the paucity of emotional dividends of education;lack of face-to-face interactions among students and teachers;the probability of data banks becoming so static as to be unable to deal with transformations across disciplines, and prejudice against past achievements. Finally, the paper points out that as machines cannot substitute Humanity, Teaching equipment cannot replace the teacher.

THE IMPACT OF COVID 19 PANDEMIC ON HIGHER EDUCATION SECTOR IN AFRICA

The wave of Covid 19 that started in 2020 speedily spread from one part of the world to another. It was quickly carried into the African continent by human migrants that have had contacts with infected persons and objects. Consequently, Covid 19 began to threaten lives and properties of many Africans. While the continent faced the dangerous pandemic, individuals and governments struggled to cope with the crisis that the pandemic has introduced. Many sectors of the economy of African states suffered in different forms, from health to tourism to the education sector. This study focused on the impact of Covid 19 pandemic on higher education sector in Africa. The study used documentary analysis and key informant interviews that were interpreted using theories of knowledge in science education to reveal that the pandemic affected physical teaching and learning. It created hunger, fear, death, lockdown, visa, migration, and vaccination problems as well as the introduction of online mode of teaching and learning. The study recommended the strengthening of the online mode of teaching and learning across the higher institutions of learning in Africa through public and private support, as a way of ensuring that the continent is up to date with the realities of the fast-changing world

Cybersecurity Concerns Under COVID-19: Representations on Increasing Digital Literacy in Higher Education

The COVID-19 brought several new challenges for the students and lecturers, particularly in higher education. The conventional physical classroom was almost instantly pushed into a new environment: a remote session class. And this lecturing paradigm shift occurred, necessarily, in a short period of time. The lecturing players suffered the pressure of using different learning tools and methodologies while exposing themselves to, in most part of cases, unexpected cybersecurity threats. The purpose of this article is to clarify all the new menaces that arose during this period. Also, to understand the level of exposure and impacts on the lecturer and student to this quick but necessary paradigm shift. Methodologically: two focus groups were undertook to capture representations of students about uses of computer technology;differences in exposure to threats before and during the pandemic and impacts on society;student's needs regarding the topic and suggestions about strategies for increasing overall knowledge about it. Answers were treated recurring to software webQDA®—Qualitative Data Analysis Software for analysis of qualitative data. Results depict the exposure to cybersecurity issues and some level of knowledge about them, inducing preventive practices when using informatics technology. Sense of increasing insecurity in society is associated with the statement of increasing activity regarding cybercrime, giving way to the assumption of the need of awareness and knowledge of general public regarding this issues, and rise suggestions on teaching approaches directed to the subject. © 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.

Higher Education in India: Emerging Issues

Higher education has an important role in rebuilding a nation through its significant contribution in overall development of the human resources. However, Indian scenario is not at all encouraging in terms of gross enrolment ratio, research output or employability of university graduates. Some of the recent reforms in higher education sector ignites a little hope about enhancing the effectiveness of higher education institutions in the country. In this article, the authors have tried to look at the emerging issues plaguing the quality of higher education and provide a fresh perspective on reducing the lag.

An ideal university: A Student Growth Incubator

Too often, the student voice on their needs and expectations from a higher education experience is underrepresented. In response to that, by applying a Weberian ideal-type methodological procedure, this work synthesises the students' vision of an ideal university (IU). The model was constructed inductively through a qualitative study using focus groups with Polish bachelor students at a public university. The findings from the IU study reveal up-to-date insights expressed by the students in the third decade of the 21st century, which has been marked by the COVID-19 pandemic and increased digitalisation. According to students the ideal university is characterised by human-centredness, student agency, active teaching and learning methods, flexible studying pathways, and a supportive learning environment. The findings reveal that students' key expectation from an ideal university is that it professionally incubates their growth. They wish to be offered a rich and individualised university experience that positively transforms them. They appreciate the role of teachers in this process and turn to them for guidance, support, inspiration, transformational leadership, expert knowledge, and they look up to them as role models. The results of the study enrich the body of knowledge, especially in the search for ideal types in higher education and provide a reference point for comparisons with reality.

Qualidade de vida dos estudantes do ensino superior dos Politécnicos de Santarém e Leiria no período da pandemia COVID-19

Objective: This study aims to determine the quality of life of higher education students at the Polytechnic Institutes of Santarem and Leiria during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: The population consists of 6483 students attending higher education, from both Institutes. A total of 775 participants selected by convenience sampling, participated in the study. Study with a quantitative, descriptive, correlational character, aiming to describe phenomena and, in addition, identify and explore possible relationships between variables. The WHOQOL-Bref instrument adapted from WHO was applied. The data treatment and analysis were performed using descriptive, correlational, and inferential statistics. Results: Students' self-assessment about Quality of Life is globally superior to the self-assessment with their satisfaction with health, where the female students have lower average values than the male students. The WHOQOL-Bref domains referring to Quality of Life with higher values were the Physical and Environment domain, with the Social Relations and Psychological domains having the lowest values. Conclusion: The results point to the need for intervention to promote the Quality of Life of students, focusing on psychosocial factors, due to the conditions imposed during the confinement period, by the pandemic COVID-19. © Copyright 2018: Servicio de Publicaciones de la Universidad de Murcia

#WedontWantDistanceEducation: A thematic analysis of higher education students' social media posts about online education during Covid-19 pandemic

The current study is based on thematic analysis of 21,722 tweets posted under the #wedontwantdistanceeducation hashtag within a month after the start of online distance education in Turkish universities due to Covid-19 pandemic. Our findings have revealed that Turkish higher education students have faced multiple challenges in accessing and benefiting from online education due to the swift transformation from face-to-face to online format. These challenges included universities' poor technical infrastructure, pedagogical and assessment issues, digital inequality in accessing online education, and general negative attitude towards online education. Further, students have expressed issues about financial, health, and social consequences of online education during Covid-19 pandemic. With regards to such challenges and issues, higher education students have criticized government authorities for ignoring their views when making decisions about how online learning is organized during Covid-19 pandemic. Further, students have offered some alternative solutions (e.g. summer courses) to online education. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)

Analysis of a forced blended-learning program in social sciences higher education during the COVID-19 post-pandemic

PurposeThe main goal of this investigation is to analyze the implementation of a forced blended-learning program in social sciences higher education in a post-pandemic COVID-19 context. To reach that target, the authors suggest two specific objectives (S.O.): S.O.1 To analyze the motivation, the resources and the learning effectiveness of the program. S.O.2 To establish the differences emerged between the participants.Design/methodology/approachThe blended-learning program selected was based on the flipped-classroom model (Krasulia, 2017). The implementation consisted of a 20-min flipped classroom to flexibly follow the theoretical contents through self-elaborated videos uploaded on YouTube and adapted to all kinds of devices, two online theoretical hours driven by the teacher on the Zoom application per week with the whole group to augment explanations and solve doubts and two hours of face-to-face interaction to work cooperatively in small groups of 4–5 students per week. During these practical lessons, the students completed exercises, research reports, oral presentations and a gamification quiz developed each week through the Socrative application to keep the students engaged.FindingsAll the participants agree in very positively valuating the small-group seminars and the teacher's role in the process. This is surely caused because of the pandemic fatigue and the restrictions (Mali and Lim, 2021) that were running during the fall semester of year 2020/2021 when in Spain lived the in-between of the second and third wave of SARS-CoV2. So, as educators and investigators, the authors encourage teachers to incorporate face-to-face interaction elements in forced blended-learning programs, to include seminars in small groups to work cooperatively and to provide the students support and a quick resolution of doubts.Originality/valueThis study provides a significant value in support of a number of studies cited in the study. The study highlights the need for a standardised application of active methods in a standardised way.

Changing trends in remote teaching among instructors in higher education in the shadow of the coronavirus crisis

PurposeThe purpose of the study is to examine whether the remote teaching experience of instructors in higher education during the COVID-19 pandemic has improved after one year.Design/methodology/approachThe study involved 75 instructors teaching at an institution of higher education in Israel, who answered twice (once in 2020 and again in 2021) a quantitative questionnaire that examined their remote teaching experience.FindingsThe hypotheses about greater use of digital tools and about more positive attitudes of instructors toward remote teaching and learning at the second measurement than at the first one were confirmed. This hypothesis about lower levels of technical difficulties in remote teaching at the second measurement was not confirmed, but the level of reported difficulty was already low at the first measurement.Practical implicationsIt is recommended that academic institutions continue the trend of deploying innovation in teaching with confidence in the ability of instructors to adapt to change. At the same time, instructors should be provided with mental and technical support.Originality/valueFew studies have examined the change in attitudes of instructors toward remote teaching over time. In the present study, we used a repeated measures design, which made it possible to monitor the instructors' adaptation to remote teaching. Adaptation to the new teaching method can contribute to innovation in teaching in academic institutions and to improvement in its quality.

Web 3.0 Resources in the Development of Autonomous Work of Higher Education Students in Times of Covid-19 Pandemic

This research on web 3.0 tools and autonomous work analyzes new and interactive possibilities for the generation of educational content in web environments. The research aims to determine the use of web 3.0 tools and the autonomous work of higher education students in times of pandemic. The research methodology was of an experimental type through a quantitative approach, with a documentary bibliographic modality for the understanding of the variables and field where direct contact was maintained with the study population. For the collection of information, the survey technique was used based on a questionnaire on a Likert scale. The study population was 68 students of the Tourism major, a population to which the experimentation was applied based on the ADDIE methodology for the development of digital tools and the application of the TAM model survey. The statistic used to test the hypothesis is Kolmogorov-Smirnov with a value less than 0.05. The results of this research were that the students favorably accepted the technology, that is, the web 3.0 tools in autonomous work since they contribute to generating self-learning skills, motivation, and commitment to the construction of knowledge in a playful way. © 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.

A Study on the Learning Early Warning Prediction Based on Homework Habits: Towards Intelligent Sustainable Evaluation for Higher Education

Teachers need a technique to efficiently understand the learning effects of their students. Early warning prediction mechanisms constitute one solution for assisting teachers in changing their teaching strategies by providing a long-term process for assessing each student's learning status. However, current methods of building models necessitate an excessive amount of data, which is not conducive to the final effect of the model, and it is difficult to collect enough information. In this paper, we use educational data mining techniques to analyze students' homework data and propose an algorithm to extract the three main features: Degree of reliability, degree of enthusiasm, and degree of procrastination. Building a predictive model based on homework habits can provide an individualized evaluation of students' sustainability processes and support teachers in adjusting their teaching strategies. This was cross-validated using multiple machine learning algorithms, of which the highest accuracy was 93.34%.

The Experience of Remote Teaching in Higher Education: A Scenario of Challenges and Opportunities

In March 2020, within a short space of time and no prior preparation, the educational offer of HE institutions shifted from in-person teaching to remote online teaching. All teaching and learning activities started to be conducted through digital platforms and technologies, rarely used before then. This study used qualitative methodology, two data collection instruments were used: semi-structured interviews with 10 teachers from different institutions, and opinion essays about the experience written by 10 students. To analyze the data, we conducted content analysis. The results obtained suggest that this experience of teaching and learning in a digital environment represented a great challenge, both from the teaching point ofview and the way students learn. In addition, it boosted the digitalisation of pedagogical action, advocated for more than a decade by the Bologna Process, opening new paths for the reformulation of teaching and learning processes in higher education. This challenging scenario has opened a window of opportunity for a new paradigm of teaching to emerge, based on the use of digital technologies.

Mathematics Distance Learning and Learning Loss During COVID-19 Pandemic: Teachers' Perspectives

This study aimed to assess the experience of teachers during the Learning Loss and the appropriateness of its content and to identify the mechanisms of confronting it from the mathematics teachers' perspectives in Oman. The sample consisted of (46) male and female teachers who were taught the learning loss of mathematics in public schools during the academic year 2021/2022. A questionnaire with three domains (Learning Loss Content, Teacher, and Mechanisms for Coping with Learning Loss) was adopted. The results showed that the degree of teachers assessment of the learning loss experience came to a high degree. Besides, it showed that the experience of learning loss succeeded wildly among female teachers and achieved the necessary learning outcomes more than in male schools. It is recommended to take advantage of the current results in this study in preparing training programs for teachers to help them dealing with the difficulties that they faced by learning loss and conduct more studies dealing with the issue of learning loss in different samples and other stages.