Coping with the COVID-19 pandemic addressed in Brazilian federal public universities / Enfrentamento da pandemia de COVID-19 retratado nas Universidades Públicas Federais do Brasil / Enfrentamiento de la pandemia de COVID-19 reflejado en las universidades públicas nacionales de Brasil

Resumo Objetivo O presente estudo teve como objetivo identificar as medidas sanitárias adotadas pelas universidades públicas federais no contexto da pandemia da COVID-19. Métodos Trata-se de uma pesquisa quali-quantitativa, exploratória e descritiva feita por meio da análise documental dos protocolos, diretrizes, portarias e cartilhas confeccionadas no âmbito universitário federal do Brasil. Quanto aos critérios de inclusão foram o documento estar disponível no site de cada universidade federal no período da coleta e a livre consulta do acervo pela internet. O período de coleta foi de março de 2020 a novembro de 2021. Resultados Foram encontrados 51 documentos. As universidades do Nordeste e Sudeste foram responsáveis por 46,4% das publicações totais das universidades federais do Brasil. Conclusão Diante das medidas adotadas pelas Instituições Federais de Ensino Superior, foi perceptível a congruência em tentar estabelecer rotinas e procedimentos padronizados que fossem capazes de controlar e minimizar a disseminação da COVID-19 dentro da universidade.

Resumen Objetivo El presente estudio tuvo como objetivo identificar las medidas sanitarias adoptadas por las universidades públicas nacionales en el contexto de la pandemia de COVID-19. Métodos Se trata de un estudio cuali-cuantitativo, exploratorio y descriptivo, realizado mediante el análisis documental de los protocolos, directrices, resoluciones y cartillas confeccionadas en el contexto universitario nacional de Brasil. Los criterios de inclusión fueron la disponibilidad del documento en el sitio web de cada universidad nacional en el período de la recopilación y la libre consulta del acervo por internet. El período de recopilación fue de marzo de 2020 a noviembre de 2021. Resultados Se encontraron 51 documentos. Las universidades del nordeste y del sudeste fueron responsables por el 46,4 % de las publicaciones totales de las universidades nacionales de Brasil. Conclusión Ante las medidas adoptadas por las instituciones nacionales de educación superior, se percibió congruencia para intentar establecer rutinas y procedimientos estandarizados que fueran capaces de controlar y minimizar la diseminación de COVID-19 dentro de la universidad.

Abstract Objective The present study aimed to identify the health measures adopted by federal public universities in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods This is a qualitative-quantitative, exploratory and descriptive research carried out through documental analysis of protocols, guidelines, ordinances and booklets made in the federal university scope of Brazil. As for the inclusion criteria, documents must be available on the website of each federal university during the collection period and free consultation of the collection on the internet. The collection period was from March 2020 to November 2021. Results We found 51 documents. Northeastern and southeastern universities were responsible for 46.4% of the total publications of federal universities in Brazil. Conclusion Considering the measures adopted by Higher Education Federal Institutions, the congruence in trying to establish standardized routines and procedures that were able to manage and minimize the spread of COVID-19 within the university was noticeable.

Lessons to Build an Educational Model for Higher Education Institutions Defined as Anchor Institutions to Tackle Public Health Crises: A Pilot Study on COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy Among Faculty and Students in Hebert L. College in the Bronx, NY.

Coronavirus disease 2019 exacerbated health inequities in Bronx Communities. This study explored vaccine hesitancy among a random sample of faculty and students from Hebert Lehman College. Findings suggest faculty are largely vaccinated (87%), while 59% of students are unvaccinated. Significant gaps in information were found related to safety and complications. This suggests universities need to adopt an educational model with a multipronged social support strategy to gain students' trust and a greater sense of belonging.

COVID-19 exacerbó las desigualdades de salud en el Bronx. Herbert Lehman College, es uno de los campos del sistema de la ciudad de New York ubicado en el Bronx, con más del 60% de los estudiantes residiendo en el Bronx. En este estudio, se recolectó una muestra aleatoria de estudiantes y profesores de Lehman para entender la predisposición y resistencia a recibir la vacuna contra el COVID-19. Los resultados sugieren que la mayoría de los profesores reportan están vacunados, mientras que solo el 59% de los estudiantes reportan estar vacunados. Se encontraron lagunas significativas de información relacionadas con seguridad y complicaciones. Este estudio sugiere que las universidades necesitan adoptar un modelo educacional con estrategias de apoyo social múltiple para obtener confianza estudiantil y un mayor sentido de pertenencia.

Teachers' and students' perceptions of a sense of community in blended education.

Universities have renewed interest in blended learning in preparation for post-COVID education. However, unsatisfactory social interactions hinder the quality of blended learning, despite its potential for flexible and personalized learning. In this situation, a sense of community would provide essential academic and social benefits. To develop a sense of community among students, we need to further understand students' and teachers' perceptions concerning this subject by exploring their experiences in blended learning. Therefore, we investigated this for three blended courses using a qualitative case study approach. We conducted: (1) classroom observation; (2) document analysis of course content, assignments, and assessments; and (3) individual interviews with teachers (n = 3) and group interviews with students (n = 18). The results showed the main factors that appeared to contribute to sense of community: group learning activities within courses, non-academic and extracurricular activities across courses, and the campus as a physical place integrating academic and social life after COVID. Further, we identified two obstacles: students valued group learning but struggled to manage group dynamics, and despite teachers' efforts to encourage learning autonomy, students viewed teachers as the ultimate authority in the learning process, which strained the student-teacher relationship. Additionally, this study revealed the limitations that digital tools have for promoting sense of community, as students questioned whether these tools have added value for supporting intricate and in-depth conversations. Finally, based on these findings, we provided practical recommendations for the future development of sense of community in blended learning.

Gender differences in sense of coherence among university students during the COVID-19 pandemic in Turkey.

Non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) implemented to mitigate the COVID-19 pandemic halted everyday life in higher education along with social and psychological impacts. The objective of our study was to explore the factors related to sense of coherence (SoC) from a gender perspective among university students in Turkey. This is a cross-sectional survey conducted online with a convenience sampling method as part of the international COVID-Health Literacy (COVID-HL) Consortium. SoC was measured by a nine-item questionnaire that was adapted to the Turkish language, including socio-demographic information and health status, including psychological well-being, psychosomatic complaints, and future anxiety (FA). 1595 students from four universities, of whom 72% were female, participated in the study. Cronbach's alpha for the SoC scale was 0.75. Based on the median split of the individual scores, levels of SoC showed no statistically significant difference according to gender. Logistic regression analysis indicated that higher SoC was associated with medium and high subjective social status, studying in private universities, high psychological well-being, low FA, and none/one psychosomatic complaint. While results were similar among female students, type of university and psychological well-being showed no statistically significant association with SoC among males. Our results indicate that structural (subjective social status) and contextual (type of university) factors, along with gender-based variations, are associated with SoC among university students in Turkey.

Examining Field Experiences of Teacher Candidates During COVID-19: Systemic Inequities Unveiled for Underserved English Learners in K-12 Grades.

The impact of coronavirus disease 2019 challenged schools and credential programs to adjust pedagogy, but rapid changes impeded equitable practices to K-12 grade English Learners (ELs). The framework stems from critical multicultural education. Data represented 81 credential candidates across three universities. Study confirmed that ELs lacked access to online learning, active engagement with peers/teachers, and differentiated instruction due to rapid changes and uncertainties to their programs.

El Impacto de COVID-19 retó a las escuelas y programas certificados a ajustar su pedagogía, pero cambios rápidos impidieron prácticas egalitarias para estudiantes de inglés (ELs siglas en inglés) en K-12. El marco de referencia se originó en la educación multicultural crítica. La información representó 81 candidatos de credencial a través de tres universidades. El estudio confirmó que ELs no tenían acceso al aprendizaje en línea, al compromiso activo de compañeros/maestros, y a la educación diferenciada debido a los cambios rápidos y la incertidumbre de sus programas.

Erratum: Psychological responses and strategies towards the COVID-19 pandemic among higher education students in Portugal and Switzerland: A mixed-methods study.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.3389/fpsyt.2022.903946.].

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.

E-Learning Readiness Assessment Using Machine Learning Methods

Assessing e-learning readiness is crucial for educational institutions to identify areas in their e-learning systems needing improvement and to develop strategies to enhance students' readiness. This paper presents an effective approach for assessing e-learning readiness by combining the ADKAR model and machine learning-based feature importance identification methods. The motivation behind using machine learning approaches lies in their ability to capture nonlinearity in data and flexibility as data-driven models. This study surveyed faculty members and students in the Economics faculty at Tlemcen University, Algeria, to gather data based on the ADKAR model's five dimensions: awareness, desire, knowledge, ability, and reinforcement. Correlation analysis revealed a significant relationship between all dimensions. Specifically, the pairwise correlation coefficients between readiness and awareness, desire, knowledge, ability, and reinforcement are 0.5233, 0.5983, 0.6374, 0.6645, and 0.3693, respectively. Two machine learning algorithms, random forest (RF) and decision tree (DT), were used to identify the most important ADKAR factors influencing e-learning readiness. In the results, ability and knowledge were consistently identified as the most significant factors, with scores of ability (0.565, 0.514) and knowledge (0.170, 0.251) using RF and DT algorithms, respectively. Additionally, SHapley Additive exPlanations (SHAP) values were used to explore further the impact of each variable on the final prediction, highlighting ability as the most influential factor. These findings suggest that universities should focus on enhancing students' abilities and providing them with the necessary knowledge to increase their readiness for e-learning. This study provides valuable insights into the factors influencing university students' e-learning readiness.

Coping Orientation of Academic Community in the Time of COVID-19 Pandemic: A Pilot Multi-Country Survey Study

In this paper, we have mapped the coping methods used to address the coronavirus pandemic by members of the academic community. We conducted an anonymous survey of a convenient sample of 674 faculty/staff members and students from September to December 2020. A modified version of the RCOPE scale was used for data collection. The results indicate that both religious and existential coping methods were used by respondents. The study also indicates that even though 71% of informants believed in God or another religious figure, 61% reported that they had tried to gain control of the situation directly without the help of God or another religious figure. The ranking of the coping strategies used indicates that the first five methods used by informants were all non-religious coping methods (i.e., secular existential coping methods): regarding life as a part of a greater whole, regarding nature as an important resource, listening to the sound of surrounding nature, being alone and contemplating, and walking/engaging in any activities outdoors giving a spiritual feeling. Our results contribute to the new area of research on academic community's coping with pandemic-related stress and challenges.

MOOCs Usage in Russian Higher Educational Institutions: Why Is Not There Any Increasing Demand for MOOCs During Emergency Distance Learning

The abrupt transition to distance learning during the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic triggered an urgent need for online resources at higher education institutes (HIEs). Creating analogues of traditional full-time courses demanded for competencies and time resources. In this case ready-made massive open online courses (MOOCs) were supposed to be the most obvious and fastest solution for HIEs. However, analytics demonstrated that educational institutions did not consider MOOC a promising option. This contradiction served as an incentive to conduct this research, which includes the analysis of both non-reactive (MOOCs platform analytics) and reactive (online survey and interviews with instructors) data. Based on our research, we can conclude that the reasons for not integrating MOOCs at Russian HIEs during the COVID-19 pandemic are the following: the peculiarities of MOOCs format, low motivation of instructors, administrative risks, and the uncertainty of HIEs' and national policies on MOOCs integration. This article will be useful for those who determine educational policy in Russia, university administrators, methodologists responsible for the development of digital educational technologies in HIEs, as well as researchers of higher education. © 2023 Moscow Polytechnic University. All rights reserved.

Examination of Variables Affecting the Perceptions of Academic Performance of Higher Education Students during the Distance Education Process

COVID-19 has had serious consequences in all areas of social life, including education. In this period, distance education appeared as an inevitable solution. Even today, when the pandemic process is over and re-normalization has begun, online teaching environments have become such an indispensable part of education systems that it has been decided that a certain proportion of the courses will be conducted online in universities. For this reason, determining student experiences in online courses is important in planning the future of distance education. Since academic performance is the output of the teaching process, students' academic performance is one of the topics of interest in higher education research. There may be different factors affecting the academic performance of students in the distance education process, which imposes more responsibility on students and requires self-control. This study aimed to examine the relationship of academic performance in the distance education with home infrastructure, student interaction, computer skills, academic satisfaction. This research is based on a large-scale study, "The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the lives of higher education students", examining the pandemic's impact on higher education student perceptions in 2020. It has been observed that home infrastructure has a significant impact on the student's academic performance. The infrastructure increases the interaction of the student. When home infrastructure is taken as a control variable, students' computer skills are the highest predictor of their perception of academic performance, followed by their online interactions and, finally, perceived satisfaction. Today, pandemic conditions are still ongoing. In addition, even as the pandemic ends, online education has become an indispensable part of our education system. Therefore, the findings of the research would be beneficial for the ongoing planning process.

Japanese University Students Usage of Global Networks During the Pandemic

This research study provides a case study of how the COVID-19 pandemic affected Japanese university students' views and attitudes on international topics and motivations for living and working abroad. During the pandemic, digital information, including social media, played a promi-nent role in how these students interacted and kept up with the news. We surveyed 204 students at a private university in Tokyo to help under-stand how the landscape of internationalization changed during the unique circumstances brought about by the pandemic. © 2023 James Nicholas Publishers.

Exploring the Innovation of Assessment in Higher Education Amid the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Case Study of Postgraduate Programs at Lingnan University, Hong Kong

The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020 has brought tremendous challenges to higher education teaching and learning. Much attention has been put on online course construction and delivery to ensure the effectiveness of online learning. However, higher education assessment deserves more attention as it is also significantly impacted by the sudden switch from face-to-face to online. To examine how higher education institutions responded to the challenges in higher education assessment during the pandemic, this chapter conducted a case study of postgraduate programs at Lingnan University (LU) in Hong Kong to explore an appropriate assessment framework for online learning in a liberal arts education context. Through a quantitative approach, this study surveyed taught postgraduate students to explore the effectiveness, efficiency, and fairness of the assessment approaches applied by LU faculty members in the online and hybrid-mode classes. This case study aims to provide insights for improving higher education assessment under the pandemic crisis. © 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.

The Sociological Role of Empathy in the Classroom

Teaching during a global pandemic has prompted many discussions about how faculty can best support students and create classrooms where deep learning and engagement occur. In this conversation, we argue there is a role for empathy in college classrooms. We present data from interviews with faculty at a small, Midwestern, teaching-focused university during the fall of 2020. We map these perspectives onto the empathy paths framework and suggest that the therapeutic and instrumental paths are most useful for understanding empathy in the classroom. We also discuss why it is important for faculty to think about empathy and the role sociology can play in these conversations. Finally, we present a series of empathetic practices individual faculty can incorporate into their pedagogy and structural supports that departments and universities can provide to help faculty engage in empathetic practices in the classroom.

Navigating old and new terrains of academic practice in higher education: indelible and invisible marks left from the Covid-19 lockdown

Higher education has been (re)shaped by the Covid-19 pandemic in ways which have left both indelible and invisible marks of that period. Drawing on relevant literature, and informed by an exchange catalysed through a visual narrative method, authors from four European universities engage with two reflective questions in this article: As academics, what were our experiences of our practice during the lockdown periods of the Covid-19 pandemic? What might we carry forward, resist or reimagine in landscapes of academic practice emerging in the post-Covid future? The article explores how academics experienced and demonstrated resilience and ingenuity in their academic practice during that turbulent time. Particular insights include entanglements of the personal and professional, and the importance, affordances and limitations of technology. In addition, the authors reflect on some of the ongoing challenges exacerbated by the pandemic, such as education inequalities. The article concludes by reprising the key points about what marks are left behind in the post-Covid present, and how these relate to the future in which relational pedagogy and reflexivity are entangled in the ways in which we cohabit virtual and physical academic spaces. [ FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of London Review of Education is the property of UCL Press 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.)

A Descriptive Quantitative Exploration of College Students of Promise During the COVID-19 Pandemic

The term Students of Promise is used for students considered to have a heightened risk status, which not only has a negative effect on students but also on the higher education institutions they attend. This quantitative study explored how the COVID-19 virus has impacted student populations at various US higher education institutions and to uncover what specific issues (financial, emotional, social) impacted students during this unprecedented time in light of student categories and student demographics. This study found statistical significance in Students of Promise characteristics and presents data on the behaviors, activities, and tools necessary for success, concerns surrounding COVID-19, and opinions on higher education factors. Implications are also discussed to include a deeper understanding of Students of Promise needs, social mobility, and advising. This study shows that Students of Promise continue to need academic resources but also ways to lower stress levels and to afford college. © Journal of Underrepresented and Minority Progress.

Use of information technology and problems faced by students in the teaching-learning process in higher education during the 2019 Covid pandemic

The 2019 Covid pandemic has changed the interaction of human life in the education sector. The teaching-learning process in higher education uses online communication techniques more, both synchronous and synchronous. Various information technology-based applications are used for students learning to obtain learning resources and to conduct teaching-learning interactions. This is useful, but there are also many problems faced by students. This study aims to explore online communication techniques and the problems that arise in using these techniques. The research object included 80 students of the master's program. The research design used mixing methods, supported by google form as a data collection technique. Descriptive statistics were used for qualitative data analysis. The results showed that widely used online techniques by students were Google Meet, WhatsApp, Google Search, Google Scholar, Zoom Meeting, Sipejar, YouTube, and Scopus.Com. Meanwhile. Problems were related to the use of Zoom Meeting, Sipejar, Google Meet, WhatsApp, Scopus.Com, YouTube, Google Scholar, and Google Search. The source of these problems included network problems, mastery of applications, ease of use, costs, the amount of data, the troubles in the using process, and so on. Based on these problems, effective strategies for using online communication techniques are suggested. © 2023 Author(s).

Finding Strength in Times of Crisis? Post-Traumatic Growth During the Covid-19 Pandemic: A Saudi Arabian Perspective

This paper contributes to the Covid-19 literature by exploring the concept of post-traumatic growth (PTG) utilizing a mixed methods approach. The study examines to what extent the participants experienced positive growth and renewal arising from the prolonged period of lockdowns and emergency online learning. Exploring the experiences of 552 female undergraduate students in a private Saudi Arabian university, an online survey was utilized to gather the data. All the students had experienced online education as a result of the pandemic. The findings indicate the participants underwent a diversity of personal growth experiences. In addition, they also developed different coping mechanisms. The study provides insights into the responses of the students to the issues they were facing during the pandemic. It identifies ways in which participants experienced personal growth as well as a shift in perspective about their lives. There are implications for educators, counselors and policymakers emerging from this study. AD -, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia ;, Netherlands ;, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Internship Alternatives: Solutions for the COVID-19 Pandemic and Beyond

Internships are an integral component of most undergraduate and graduate public administration programs. These learning opportunities allow students to get practical experience in a workplace setting before graduation and provide them with an opportunity to apply knowledge gained in the classroom to the "real world." But what are students, departments, and employers to do when circumstances--including major disruptions like the COVID-19 pandemic as well as situations unique to specific students--complicate or even prevent on-site internship experiences? This article outlines a variety of approaches to finding a solution to this problem, weighing the benefits and drawbacks of each.

Development and Application of the Just Employment Policy Assessment in American Higher Education Institutions

The COVID-19 pandemic has heightened the visibility of economic inequality and the inadequacy of current minimum wage laws in the United States. Changes in the minimum wage, a living wage, or just employment practices may be compelled by law or voluntarily enacted by employers. A literature search failed to yield a concise and practical tool to comprehensively assess existing just employment policies or practices in higher education institutions. This article describes the development of a concise and practical assessment based on the "Model Just Employment Policy" from the Kalmanovitz Initiative for Labor and the Working Poor at Georgetown University. The resulting Just Employment Policy Assessment is used to evaluate the publicly available policies of four disparate higher education institutions in the United States. The article concludes with a discussion of implications for future research and administrative practice.