No one wants to be a host of ghost sessions: Techniques to improve student engagement and active participation

Ensuring students remain active and engaged in online sessions is one of the core challenges for teaching faculty. COVID-19 has thrown challenges at educators, but it has also opened many opportunities to be more practical and creative in our teaching styles. This chapter is based on the practical transformations needed to deal with what we call "ghost students" in remote synchronous online teaching - that is, nervous students behind the dark lens of webcams, sometimes "free riders," and occasionally "write-off" students hanging on in a class due to lack of previous performance and learning. This paper offers insights into complex situations and practical solutions. Different learning activities and techniques are explained to improve the learning curve of such students. © Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021. All rights reserved.

Undergraduate Studies and the Covid Context: Promoting Self-Regulated Learning

With COVID-19 shifting educational institutions to remote teaching globally, Bangladeshi universities, too, began taking classes online from June 2020, using different learning management system (LMS) platforms. Facing students completely unfamiliar with learning outside traditional classrooms, the need for instructors to utilize best practices in online instruction and course design was extra enhanced. How online instructors can promote the use of self-regulated learning strategies (SRLS) amongst students is evaluated by considering a variety of extant methods. Taking universal teaching platforms into the nooks and corners of any country may be the biggest takeaway from this study, but a transition certain to elicit variegated responses. © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2023.

Faculty Perceptions of Health Professional Students' Hybrid-Online Learning Strategies: A Multi-Center Qualitative Study

Purpose: The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the utilization of hybrid-online and fully-online instruction in health professional education. Physical (PT) and occupational therapy (OT) programs have become increasingly reliant upon this mode of instruction. Therefore, it is important to understand advising strategies for this educational environment. Faculty advisors may endorse specific learning strategies over others. However, advising strategies of faculty are not well represented in the scientific literature. Methods: A qualitative phenomenological design used a six-item, open-ended questionnaire to purposefully survey faculty members teaching and advising students in hybrid-online PT and OT graduate programs during COVID-19. Dedoose® v.9.4 qualitative software (Los Angeles, CA;2021) was used to perform coding and thematic analysis. Three investigators performed data analysis to reach consensus on the organization of emerging codes and themes. Results: A sample of N = 36 participants was collected from three states: Florida 14 (38.9%);Texas 12 (33.3%);California 10 (27.8%). Total N (%) of PT and OT faculty enrolled were 26 (72%) and 10 (28%), respectively. Years teaching in hybridonline programs N (%) was: 1e4 years 20 (55.6%);5e9 years 8 (22.2%);10e14 years 5 (13.9%);15þ years 4 (11.1%). Thematic analysis revealed three major themes: Self-regulated Behaviors, Student Engagement, and Studying Strategies. Self-regulated Behaviors and Student Engagement were most prevalent among participant narratives. Coded responses such as " ‘time management', ‘preparedness', ‘chunking study time', ‘daily engagement with learning material', ‘work/ life balance', and ‘peer-to-peer teaching'” were positively associated with perceived student success. Conversely, "'procrastination/cramming', ‘poor work ethic', ‘lack of engagement', ‘lack of preparedness', and ‘rote memorization'” were negatively associated with perceived student success. Discussion: This study identified faculty perceptions of student strategies for success in hybrid-online health professional learning. The self-regulated behaviors of time management, preparedness, work/life balance, and the engagement behaviors of daily engagement with course materials, content application, class participation, and peer collaboration strongly emerged. These findings may help guide novice faculty advisors as hybrid-online instruction becomes more frequently leveraged across health professional education programs. © 2023 Association of Medical Education in the Eastern Mediterranean Region (AMEEMR).

Online Language Learning Strategies in Institutes of Higher Learning (IPT) Malaysia Post Covid-19

The Covid-19 pandemic that spreaded around the world in March 2020 has changed the nation's education landscape. Standard Operating Procedures that demand presence at respective residences have made online learning one of the best platforms that replace face-to-face learning in educational institutions across the country. Thus, this study aims to propose an effective online language learning strategy to be a reference for educators and students to master language skills using post-Covid19 educational technology. This research employs quantitative methods cross sectional studies supported by qualitative data. The research instruments is questionnaires. A total of 280 respondents consisting of university students in the Arabic field at Malaysian universities answered the questionnaire. The results showed that the respondents know how to learn through online learning with a mean rate of 4.24 and the respondents agreed that the instructions given during online learning should be clear with a highest mean rate of 4.46. Among the online learning strategies used by students are always sharing opinions during online learning, responding using chat rooms to engage in discussions and making notes to improve understanding. Respondents are also satisfied with online learning platforms such as google meet, Webex and zoom © 2023, International Journal of Interactive Mobile Technologies.All Rights Reserved.

An Evaluation of the Perceptions of Socio-Humanities Students on the Skills of Critical Thinking

One of the fundamental objectives of higher education is to prepare students to think analytically in order to develop and create knowledge, thus going beyond receiving information and building simple knowledge. That is why higher education must adapt its teaching and learning process to cultivate critical thinking of students. In order for academia to ensure the effectiveness of the development of critical thinking skills, student perceptions cannot be neglected, given that they are the ultimate receptors. In addition, investigating students' perceptions of critical thinking skills could guide future training methods that promote their development. The purpose of this research is to explore students' attitudes and beliefs regarding critical thinking skills, as well as aspects of their development in academia and their transfer to other contexts. The study is conducted at the Dunarea de Jos University of Galaţi and uses the questionnaire survey method to assess students' perceptions of critical thinking, from several perspectives: the level of knowledge on critical thinking skills, strategies for learning critical thinking skills, the qualities of a critical thinker, the way students relate to the COVID 19 pandemic and fake news. To obtain the necessary data, the questionnaire was distributed through Microsoft Forms and subsequently analyzed to describe students' views on critical thinking. A sample of 101 students from specializations in the field of socio-humanities completed this survey. The results of the study showed that students invoke the need to overcome difficulties in developing critical thinking skills by: training teachers to use critical thinking in the classroom;including and practicing critical thinking skills in applied activities at courses and seminars;applying debates and discussions in the classroom as teaching and learning strategies;translating the theories learned in courses into different case studies;use of training skills, questionnaires, homework;participation in group projects in a collaborative environment. [ FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of Romanian Journal for Multidimensional Education / Revista Romaneasca pentru Educatie Multidimensionala is the property of Lumen Publishing House and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full . (Copyright applies to all s.)

The Digitalization of Learning and Teaching Practices in Higher Education Institutions during the COVID-19 Pandemic

In the year 2021, the world was exposed to and is still facing a health pandemic, the COVID-19 pandemic. The modes of learning and teaching had to adapt to the unexpected challenges and multiple demands on education because of the turbulent waters of COVID-19. The situation remains fluid as there is an international and national escalation of the infection rates and as lockdown restrictions are lifted, institutions of higher education are having to re-shape and adapt the rigid learning and teaching approaches to be more flexible and provide solutions to these challenges. This article reports on the transformation of learning and teaching practices in higher education institutions in South Africa during the COVID-19 pandemic. The purpose of this article is to reflect on how the COVID-19 pandemic has changed the modes of learning and teaching, despite several challenges that are still prevalent in these spaces. The article employs a qualitative research methodology approach and uses desktop research as a data collection tool. The findings revealed that the learning and teaching spaces are evolving to adapt to the circumstances, irrespective of the challenges, as it is an ongoing transformative environment that should ensure that these challenges are not exacerbated.

Learning and happiness during Covid-19 school closure in urban Malaysia.

COVID-19 school closure has disrupted education systems globally raising concerns over learning time loss. At the same time, social isolation at home has seen a decline in happiness level among young learners. Understanding the link between cognitive effort and emotional wellbeing is important for post-pandemic learning recovery interventions particularly if there is a feedback loop from happiness to learning. In this context, we use primary survey data collected during the first school closure in urban Malaysia to study the complex association between learning loss and student happiness. Machine learning methods are used to accommodate the multi-dimensional and interaction effects between the covariates that influence this association. Empirically, we find that the most important covariates are student gender, social economic status (SES) proxied by the number of books ownership, time spent on play and religious activity. Based on the results, we develop a conceptual framework of learning continuity by formalizing the importance of investment in emotional wellbeing.

Synchronising Online Resource (Penzu) and Computer Application for Language Instructions: A Pakistani Post Covid-19 Pandemic Context

Pakistan is going through a period of transition after Covid-19 pandemic situation which created a dire need to use computer as a tool and other online resources in the classrooms. To contribute to this situation, the present study investigated the effects of using computer as a tool and Penzu software as online source for language instructions. The study used experimental design and conducted a classroom experiment of 40 higher secondary school students ( 20 experimental & 20 in control group) through pre/post-tests over different period of time to examine development in students' writing skills. On post-test-I, it was observed that students in the control group showed sudden rise in the development of writing skills compared to experimental group. But, on post-test-II and III, students in the experimental group showed consistency in the development in writing skills while control group could not maintain their consistency of development in writings. Hence, findings of the study revealed that using computer as a tool for instructions and Penzu as online resource to conduct writing activities proved more useful in improving students' writing skills compared to the students in the control group. Finally, findings also revealed that students became more independent in self-corrections in the experimental group and continued to expand their learning outside the classroom while control group was dependent on teacher and could only find time in the classroom for corrective feedback which limited students' learning to their classroom. In addition to this, the study recommends that further computer applications and other online resources can be more useful in language instructions apart from teaching writing skills. Besides, findings of this study have significant theoretical and practical implications pertaining to EFL teachers' professional development, teaching skills and students' learning environment.

The effects of online peer-facilitated learning and distributed pair programming on students' learning.

The COVID-19 pandemic has forced universities and schools around the world to adopt online learning. Teachers may wonder if their students can attain satisfactory learning performance in an online learning environment without teachers' on-the-spot attention. In order to develop students' skills in programming, promote their enjoyment of learning and intention to learn to program, the researchers integrated two innovative teaching approaches, using online peer-facilitated learning and distributed pair programming, and investigated the effects of these on students' online learning performance. This study conducted an experiment that included 128 undergraduates from four class sections of Department of Finance. Thus, the experimental design in this research was a 2 (Peer-facilitated learning vs. non-peer-facilitated learning) × 2 (Distributed pair programming vs. non-distributed pair programming) factorial pretest/post-test design. The participants in this research mainly consisted of four classes of students from a non-computer or information department who took a compulsory course on programming design.' Both quantitative and qualitative data were collected in this study. According to the results, the peer-facilitated learning group exhibited significantly better development of programming skills, enjoyment of learning, and intention to learn, than the non-peer-facilitated learning group. However, expected effects of enhancing the learning of the students in this study who received the distributed pair programming were not found. The design of online pedagogy can be a reference for online educators. The implications of applying online peer-facilitated learning and distributed pair programming to support students' learning and the design of online programming courses are discussed.

Teaching web development courses using flipped classroom and Discord: a two-year experience in the Peruvian context during the COVID-19 pandemic

The Flipped Classroom methodology encourages students to interact with content in multiple ways and professors, who provide active learning strategies to create a super engaging group space that can extend beyond the classroom walls. The purpose of the study was to generate learning scenarios that ensure the good performance of students to achieve the skills in two programming courses at a private university in Peru, making its implementation sustainable over the years. The educational proposal presented in this research made use of the flipped classroom methodology and the Discord platform as an agile means of communication. The results are very encouraging because it allowed students to participate in their own learning in an active and self-directed way so that they self-regulate their own learning path individually and in groups;based on flipped classroom and successfully deployed on the Discord platform. © 2023 IEEE.

Digital Language Learning Strategies Subject to Change or Not – Post Pandemic Reflections

The strategic approach to language learning has gained recognition among both language teachers and learners since the early nineties. However, the use of such strategies in technology-enhanced environment has remained marginal, focusing interest of a small group of CALL (TELL, MALL) pioneers. The sudden outburst of the COVID-19 pandemic with its restrictions enhanced the need of learning languages in the digital environments. The change had a big impact on the teachers, who needed to learn quickly how to work online. However, it is interesting whether the change influenced the ways students learn. Reflection on the experience is necessary to incorporate it into development of the domain. In the text, the current digital strategy use among students is compared with the results of the previous study. Both datasets were collected with the use of similar questionnaires – three more answers were only added to let the respondents indicate the change in their use of digital strategies during the pandemic. The results show that the strategies remained the same as before the pandemic. Thus, the intensive use of digital tools may not have a substantial impact on students' learning habits. © 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.

Enhancing technical vocabulary acquisition: a multimedia strategic approach for English for specific purposes during COVID-19

This study focuses on developing specific vocabulary learning strategies to assist the receptive knowledge of English for Specific Purposes (ESP). It aims to provide a practical framework for teaching technical vocabulary. The study introduced the Multimedia Strategic Vocabulary Learning (MSVL) model and investigated its effects on teaching technical vocabulary to pre-engineering students in online courses during the early wave of COVID-19. A total of 88 Saudi undergraduate students randomly assigned to control and experimental groups were treated with an intact pre-engineering ESP course for ten weeks. Vocabulary learning strategies from Schmitt's (1997) vocabulary taxonomy were adopted and incorporated into two stages of the vocabulary acquisition process. The experimental group was treated with the MSVL model through multimedia and explicit vocabulary learning instructions in online classes using Blackboard Learning Management System (LMS) to assist them with specialized vocabulary acquisition. The dependent measure in this study was the participants' receptive knowledge of technical vocabulary, which was assessed using the pre-test, post-test, and delayed post-test. The findings indicated that using the MSVL model significantly improved the experimental group's receptive knowledge of technical vocabulary. This study's guidelines help educators create multimedia resources for ESP learners, preparing them for their professions. © 2023 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

Notes from the editors

We are delighted to announce the release of the first issue of the eleventh volume of IJELS. Our January 2023 issue consists of a diverse selection of topics ranging from linguistic literacy to music literacy. The papers you are about to read cover current issues, including, Mitigation Effects on Pedagogy and Resilience, Turkish Language Curriculum and PISA 2018 Reading Skills Test, Pre-service Teachers' Metaphoric Perceptions on Reading and Reading Disability, Effect of Peer-Assisted Techniques on Students' Reading Skills and Attitudes towards Reading, Vocabulary Learning Strategies Used by Saudi University Students in Pair Work, Expert Opinions on Improving Writing Skills, Development of Persuasive Speaking Skills Rubrics, Children's Literature in the Digital Age, Effect of Theatre and Drama Practices on Social Anxiety, School Administrators' Competencies during COVID-19 Outbreak, Adolescents' Personal Values and Self-Efficacy Perceptions, Effect of School Closures on the Teaching and Learning of English during the COVID-19 Pandemic, Bilingualism on the News Headlines, Monolingual Turkish and Bilingual Turkish-Italian Children's Use of Tense-Aspect-Modality Markers, Evaluation on Turkish Teaching Accounts on Instagram, Being a Social Studies Teacher and Student in the COVID-19 Period, Effect of Retro Walking Training on Dynamic Balance in Sedentary Individuals with Hearing Impairment, Sportsmanlike Behaviors and Self-Confidence of School of Physical Education and Sports Students, School Administrators' Agile Leadership and Innovation Management Competencies, Music Education in relation to Social Intelligence and Communication Skills Levels, Evaluation of Students' Cognitive and Conceptual Learning Levels in Middle School Music Lessons, Evaluation of Music Teaching Undergraduate Programs, and Somaesthetics Approaches in Music and Performance Education.

Nursing students' learning strategies for e-learning during the Covid-19 pandemic in Iran: a qualitative study.

BACKGROUND: In response to the emergency brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic, many universities around the world had to change their teaching methods from in-person classes to e-learning. The purpose of this study was to identify the learning strategies of nursing students in e-learning during the pandemic. METHODS: This study had a qualitative design and used content analysis approach to collect and analyze the data. Sixteen semi-structured interviews were conducted with 12 Iranian undergraduate nursing students who were selected using purposive sampling method. RESULTS: Most nursing students in this study generally used two different strategies for e-learning, namely self-centered learning strategies and collaborative learning strategies. Some students, on the other hand, adopted a passive approach in which they did not take any effective action to contribute to their learning. CONCLUSION: In e-learning during the pandemic, students adopted different learning strategies. Therefore, designing teaching strategies tailored to the students' strategies can promote their learning and academic achievement. Also, knowledge of these strategies helps policy makers and nursing educators to take necessary measures in order to optimize and facilitate student learning in an e-learning environment.

Leveraging affordances in an ecological stance: Reflective language teaching for professional development during COVID-19.

The COVID-19 pandemic has made a prominent impact of social contexts on teachers' professional development in remote classroom teaching. To explore how the change has altered human-environment relationships in university language classes, this qualitative case study investigated three teachers' progressive reflection on their use of affordances for teaching Chinese as a second language (L2) during COVID-19. Under the framework of human ecological language pedagogy, three themes of emergency remote teaching emerged from monthly semi-structured interviews about the three teachers' reflective practice in remote classrooms: computer-dominant teaching conditions, flexible classroom interaction, and rational social empathy in L2 education. The findings suggest the importance of a growth mindset for L2 teachers to leverage their teaching abilities and environmental resources for continuing professional development during COVID-19 and post-pandemic periods.

From face-to-face to online: Teachers' perceived experiences in online distance teaching during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The urgent shift to online distance teaching and learning during the Covid-19 pandemic presented teachers with unique pedagogical, technological, and psychological challenges. The aim of this study was to map the main positive and negative experiences of teachers during this transition, as well as to examine intra- and interpersonal factors that affected teachers' ability to cope effectively with the challenges of online distance teaching. We used a mixed-method approach that combined qualitative (interviews) and quantitative (questionnaires) analyses. The interviews were analyzed using a grounded theory approach, specifically a bottom-up analysis, which led to the identification of five primary categories reflecting teachers' main concerns in online distance teaching (i.e., social, emotional, cognitive, pedagogical, and system support. The two most prominent categories were pedagogy and emotions, illustrating their centrality in teachers' experiences. A regression analysis of the questionnaires' data revealed that the two main variables which predicted both positive and negative experiences in online distance teaching were self-efficacy and teachers' attitudes towards technology integration in teaching. Findings of this study allow formulation of guidelines to promote factors related to positive experiences in online distance teaching.

Educational Challenges and Motivational Orientations in College Students from the Health Sciences Department during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Online classes have become one of the main teaching methods in higher education during the pandemic, which has forced students to adapt themselves to keep their motivation in the face of different educational challenges that have not been fully resolved. The objective of the study was to describe the educational challenges and motivational orientations of college nursing students during the COVID-19 pandemic. Through a descriptive type design, the researchers applied a standardized questionnaire to 300 Mexican university students. As the main discoveries, it was found that students mostly face technological challenges, followed by socio -affective ones. However, the motivational orientation towards learning predominates among students, where the educational context is a determinant of the teaching-learning process. Hence, the authors concluded that motivation (learning orientation) favors learning and acts as an essential intermediary during online learning. Moreover, the transfer from face-to-face education to online teaching has complicated the processes of integration and adaptation for students. The former occurs while educational challenges have become more acute in a pandemic context, and where technological and socio-affective categories represent the elements students must face. Therefore, the researchers recommend a correlational study to provide a better understanding of the possible relationship between the two studied variables. In addition, in the future, different qualitative methods could be used to further explore the meaning of different motivational orientations in online educational environments under different conditions.

Teachers' Appreciation of Benefits and Shortcomings of Online and Blended Higher STEM Education

This paper is devoted to identifying online teaching strategies appropriate for blended and face-to-face higher STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) education. The study is inspired by the experience gained during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown, which forced many higher education institutions worldwide to shift abruptly to distance education and try many new tools, teaching methods, and strategies. Some of these tools and strategies were abandoned as soon as the lockdown had been lifted and the institutions returned to their regular functioning, but some of them are bound to stay. Certainly, it would be beneficial to include the most valuable of the gained skills and competences in traditional on-campus and blended courses. The study is based on an online questionnaire, addressed to the STEM faculty of the University of Aveiro, Portugal (which is an example of an institution that used to provide face-to-face instruction), whose analysis permits to derive a number of important recommendations. The results are compared with our previous work, where the students' perspectives were analyzed, and similarities and discrepancies in appreciation of the involved parties are highlighted. This work extends the body of knowledge about the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on STEM education by examining the challenges and opportunities faced by teachers. The recommendations derived contribute to improving the learning outcomes of online STEM education in many similar institutions.

Teaching-learning in virtual learning environments: a matter of forced compromises away from student-centredness?

In this phenomenographic study, we contribute with a critical view on teachers' understanding of the use of digital technology in education is at the core. By analysing engineering teachers in Sweden's qualitative different ways of experiencing teaching-learning in virtual learning environments (VLEs) pre-COVID-19 pandemic, we found three different approaches: (A) increased transmission possibilities, (B) outlined trail and (C) forced compromises. Based on our findings, the tensions between the possibilities in the virtual learning environment and teachers' teaching-learning intentions are discussed, and teachers' decreased room for action to design for learning is problematised. Notably, teachers with an increased breadth of awareness of teaching-learning appear to experience the greatest tensions, forcing them to compromise their student-centred intentions. © 2023 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

How students view online knowledge: Epistemic beliefs, self-regulated learning and academic misconduct

The use of the internet in education has been greatly encouraged by the COVID-19 epidemic. Studying students' internet-specific epistemic beliefs (ISEB) and possible correlates would benefit online teaching and learning. However, little research has been conducted in this field. Therefore, we investigated the current status of ISEB among college students and considered the impact of self-regulated learning (SRL) and e-academic dishonesty (e-AD) on ISEB. A survey research method and convenience sampling were employed. A total of 538 Chinese college students completed the self-reported questionnaire. Our results indicate that although no significant differences were found in ISEB in terms of gender and academic major, students with different backgrounds also differed in e-AD experience and SRL. Three dimensions of ISEB were negatively correlated with SRL, while one had a significant positive correlation. In addition, the latter dimension of ISEB was negatively correlated with e-AD. Finally, SRL and e-AD jointly significantly predicted students' different ISEB, with explanatory power ranging from 14% to 36%. Study techniques of SRL were common predictors that could negatively predict the certainty, simplicity, and source of ISEB and positively predict justification. Based on the results, specific methods for schools, teachers and librarians to enhance students' ISEB are provided. © 2023