ABSTRACT
Mobilizing the public to take anti-pandemic behavior (APB) by strengthening informational support has been recognized as an effective strategy to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. However, it remains unclear how health-related informational support from different channels affects individual factors and, thus, the adoption of different types of APB as the pandemic situation changes. To resolve this issue, we build a multiple mediation model to investigate the associations among informational support from three different channels, two individual internal factors, and two kinds of APB. A three-stage longitudinal study administered to Chinese citizens from February to October 2020 revealed that informational support from media played the most critical role in facilitating individuals' adoption of compliance APB, while informational support from family was the most significant predictor of the adoption of participation APB. Meanwhile, these effects were mediated by risk perception and anti-pandemic motivation, and weakened to varying degrees as the pandemic situation eased. It is recommended that authorities adjust the focus of publicity strategies in light of the changing situation, and make efforts to heighten the public's risk perception and anti-pandemic motivation. This study contributes to deepening the understanding of the dynamic efficacy of informational support from different channels on individuals' adoption of two heterogeneous APBs, and thus to the formulation of more scientific, and situation-based publicity strategies during a public health crisis.
ABSTRACT
The period of confinement due to the Covid-19 virus has not only affected the general population, but also sport in general. The objective of this study was to investigate the emotional and adaptive consequences of rowers who compete nationally and internationally. A quantitative descriptive study was carried out with a non-probabilistic sample, based on convenience sampling, known as a snowball. One hundred and ninety-three rowers who competed nationally and internationally participated in the study, with an average age of 19.49 years. The results showed that the rowers reacted with more unpleasant moods than the rowers. It was also found that stressful thoughts were associated with states of greater anxiety, anger or depressive feelings, while the best training conditions and the acceptance of confinement rules were inversely associated with negative mood states. Linear regression analysis showed that stressful thoughts, along with behavior and motivation problems during lockdown, predicted the level of total mood disturbance.
ABSTRACT
The study compares the effectiveness, popularity, and ease of applicability of different learning tools in virtual classrooms among university teachers and students concerning the users' technological literacy and training, as well as equipment support offered by the universities during the pandemic. Comparisons between face-to-face teaching in classrooms and online virtual classrooms will be drawn concerning limitations, incentives, motivation, and effectiveness toward learning. This study also leads to the question of future course development by exploring the possibility of course design and assessment restructuring with a switch to online education with the new mode of technology as the trend.
ABSTRACT
The usage of mobile technology had been a burning issue in the nation with the prevalence of COVID-19 in society. The research problem was centered on the perception and acceptance of mobile technology in the education industry as it relates to students and teachers. It also ascertained the student achievement, motivation, and willingness to use mobile devices in a high school setting of students in grades ninth through twelfth. The development of mobile technology will massively impact the education industry making accessibility, and knowledge management simple. The purpose of the study was to add to the body of knowledge using a qualitative process of adoption of mobile technology by High School Students, assessing their self-efficacy, motivation, and willingness to utilize technology. The conceptual framework involved the Frame Model, in which teachers' and students' engagement and management of change, along with potential resistance to change may exist. The model considers a device's usability and the social and learner aspects of the learning. The research method for this study was qualitative in nature from a phenomenological perspective and involved 11 participants as determined by previous research as a viable population for consideration. The key results and findings clearly revealed that more than 90% showed that the education system should encourage transitioning to technology usage. Student engagement, willingness, motivation, and confidence were boosted with the use of technology. The implication is that the potential impact for positive social change at the personal, family, and organizational levels will yield satisfaction and active participation or engagement of students in the class, home, and society at large. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)
ABSTRACT
The COVID-19 pandemic has caused many changes in educational settings which have been quite demanding. Shifting to online education has resulted in many erratic changes for students, which could have threatened their learning motivation. Therefore, this study examined perceived challenges, learning motivation and academic procrastination during the COVID-19 pandemic among 458 students of public and non-public universities in Albania, and the data were collected through online questionnaires. The findings reveal a strong relationship between academic procrastination, perceived challenges and learning motivation. Furthermore, a multiple linear regression model revealed that academic procrastination was influenced by perceived challenges and motivation. Sociodemographic variables, such as age and gender, were examined. The results are relevant for understanding learning motivational processes and critical variables that influence students' procrastination, academic achievement and adjustment. © 2023 Blerina Reci Xhakolli and Oriola Hamzallari.
ABSTRACT
PurposeThis paper aims to explore the effect of government support (short work allowances - SWA) on SME employees' job performance and employee motivation perceptions, during the COVID-19 pandemic in Turkey.Design/methodology/approachSurvey data were collected from 2,781 employees working in SMEs registered to Small and Medium Enterprises Development Organization (SMEDO) in Turkey. The relationships were assessed through structural equation modeling with bootstrap estimation.FindingsThe results support the proposed framework illustrating the positive effect of government support on employees' perceived motivation and job performance. Findings indicate that employee motivation has exhibited a mediating effect between government support and job performance. Another important finding is that, contrary to the classical understanding of Herzberg's two-factor theory, SWA system was able to perform as a motivating factor during the pandemic by meeting the hygiene needs.Research limitations/implicationsSince this is a cross-sectional research study, causal inferences cannot be derived from the research results.Originality/valueThere is a lack of empirical study on SME employees' perceptions on the government support during the pandemic, especially on the perspectives of emerging economies are infrequent. Turkey's case is unique in terms of providing insights on how perceived employee motivation is increased by the government supports (SWA) in Turkey, and how this motivation mediates the job performance perceptions. Besides, the impacts of government support are mostly studied at the firm or macro-levels, this study's unit of analysis is at individual level. Regarding the criticism from the motivation perspective of two-factor theory, COVID-19 context and its impact on the motivation needs have not been elaborated before. This article starts new discussions on how crisis contexts influence individual motivator factors.
ABSTRACT
PurposeDuring the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, public health risk communication has been a vital work. Students account for a large proportion of the population and are often highly mobile;thus, they face a high risk of contagion and spreading the disease. Therefore, risk communication to this group during the pandemic has been essential. This research examines the relationship between risk communication to students and their appropriate behaviors (compliance with COVID-19 preventive measures and COVID-19 information sharing).Design/methodology/approachThis research used structural equation model (SEM) and generalized structural equation model (GSEM) to analyze the data collected from students during the COVID-19 pandemic.FindingsThe findings revealed that risk communication in mass media was positively associated with students' compliance with preventive measures and sharing pandemic-related information. Additionally, their compliance behavior was positively associated with their information-sharing behavior.Practical implicationsThis research offers some implications regarding the containment of a highly-infectious virus, especially for the context when the risk of outbreak is high and an effective vaccine is not available, by focusing on risk communication and compliance and information-sharing behaviors.Originality/valueThis research is one of the early attempts to examine the risk communication to students, their compliance with preventive measures and their information-sharing behavior during a pandemic.
ABSTRACT
Despite the reported positive impact of informal personal care on the cared for, carers themselves experience a range of adverse health outcomes. In addition, Australian care policies primarily target the cared for, while the needs of carers tend to be disregarded. This article draws on data collected from 36 interviews with carers who were offered an opportunity to engage in a pilot training programme focused on enhancing opportunities. Viewed through the lens of self-determination theory, the training served as a stimulus in supporting carers' psychological needs, demonstrating that more targeted, nuanced and meaningful supports are required to maintain carers' motivation and well-being.
ABSTRACT
PurposeTelecommuting can reduce traffic congestion, energy consumption, prevalence and a death toll of COVID-19 among employees due to less transportation and fewer physical contacts among employees, on the one hand, and efficiently develop their use of information and communications technology, on the other hand. In this regard, the present study aims to explore antecedents and consequences of telecommuting in public organizations.Design/methodology/approachThe study used a descriptive survey method to collect data. The statistical population includes all employees of government organizations in West Azerbaijan province in 2020, which according to the collected information, their number is equal to 63,079 employees. Based on Cochran's formula, a sample size of 686 people was obtained;stratified random sampling was used to select sampling. The process of calculating the sample volume was such that after referring to the preliminary sample and processing the collected data, the variance of the given answers was approximately 0.446. After obtaining the variance of the data, assuming a maximum acceptable error of 5% and a significance level of 0.05, the Cochran's formula calculated the sample size to be 686 people. In order to collect and measure data for the study, a standard questionnaire and the collected data were analyzed using structural equation modeling.FindingsFindings indicate that there is no meaningful relationship between the employees' physical job conditions or the quality of their life with telecommuting and that telecommuting does not have a significant effect on their life. However, job burnout, training and telecommuting experience have a significant positive effect on telecommuting, which in turn has a positive and significant effect on job security, job flexibility, organizational performance and overall productivity of employees.Research limitations/implicationsThis research is a cross-sectional study, and its data have been collected in a certain period of time, while longitudinal research can provide a richer result. Future research can benefit from the impact of employee isolation and telecommuter organizational commitment.Originality/valueThis study hopes to contribute to the increase of the scientific knowledge in the telecommuting field and to allow organizations to rethink the telecommuting strategies to optimize resources and costs and to improve the organization's productivity without harming the quality of life and well-being of their workers.
ABSTRACT
Being a researcher on a highly sensitive issue and an international PhD student in Melbourne, I have faced significant challenges throughout my ongoing PhD journey. Using an autoethnographic approach, this chapter describes the lived experiences of the intense situations that impacted my research activities under the COVID-19 pandemic. Through my PhD, I am committed to contributing my bit toward changing global perceptions of HIV and AIDS. My intrinsic motivations draw from the death of my brother figure and childhood best friend. These motivations have enabled me to fight back against numerous challenges that have appeared within the circle of research opportunities. I dealt with each challenge by returning to my intrinsic motivations, showing resilience, and progressing with my research. In the beginning, I had challenges getting my project approved by the Human Research Ethics Committee of my University, which took about two years. Once my research was approved, the COVID-19 pandemic situation pushed me back to square one. Subsequently, I chose an online research methodology due to the state of helplessness I experienced as a result of COVID-19 restrictions. These conditions changed my overall research landscape and introduced several unanticipated challenges to my original plans to conduct an ethnographic study. Based on my reflections, I recommend that all PhD researchers, and international students in particular, pay significant attention to the timeline of their candidature. Researchers need to be flexible and rationalise the importance of continuing their research activities amidst difficult situations such as the COVID-19 pandemic. © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2022.
ABSTRACT
Online teaching and learning have become the novel norm amidst COVID-19 pandemic crisis across the world. The educational institutions across the world have switched to online mode of instruction to continue to provide education. Thus, research on effectiveness of online teaching and factors affecting the student's engagement in a virtual classroom has gained importance. Students during pandemic are learning at home and lack motivation and confidence in their academic life. The present study aimed to analyze the student engagement and the factors that affect the student engagement in online learning environment. The study employed a quantitative research design to collect data from 600 students attending online classes in schools and colleges of Bangalore, India. The study found that there is a positive correlation between students' intrinsic motivation and student engagement. Student engagement increases as the academic pressure or tension decreases. The core findings of the study showed that interest towards learning, perceived competence, and perceived choice of students determines student engagement in online classroom. Almost 33.7 % variance in student engagement is because of students' intrinsic motivation. Future researchers may explore external factors affecting student engagement. Student engagement is significant for meaningful learning in online learning environment.
ABSTRACT
The ripples of the pandemic were evident across all the industries, not just locally but on a global scale. The industry which bounced back in no time was the education industry. All thanks to the stakeholders of the educational establishment as they adapted to the change superfluously. The frontline workers in all fields were considered high on the priority list for vaccination as they were more susceptible to the Covid infection. Interestingly, there was a strong recommendation to consider teachers as a frontline worker by the chief of education, UNESCO for their incomparable contribution during the turbulent times. This article focuses on the ways in which the administrators of educational institutions may consider motivating their teaching staff.
ABSTRACT
-This study aimed to explain the structural influence of the implementation of the communicative approach and the use of information technology in Indonesian language learning on students motivation and learning achievement. This research was conducted in Blitar, Indonesia, and 186 students were chosen as the samples. An explanatory research design was used in this research. The data collection techniques used questionnaires and documentation, while data analysis techniques used descriptive statistics and structural equation modeling. The results of the analysis showed that there was a direct effect of the communication approach and the use of information technology on students learning motivation. There was a significant direct effect of students learning motivation on students achievement in the Indonesian language class. The communicative approach had an indirect effect on students achievement and showed a stronger coefficient of the effect on learning motivation compared to the use of information technology. These findings were discussed in depth based on the theory and results of previous studies.
ABSTRACT
Purpose: This study aims to investigate the extent to which global shocks like Covid-19, climate crisis or war in Ukraine represent a negative career shock for hotel employees and how their individual resilience helps them to mitigate such shock. Design/methodology/approach: A qualitative research method is used, and semi-structured interviews were conducted with 30 full-time employees working at four hotels in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt. Thematic analysis was used to extract the main ideas from the transcripts. Findings: The findings showed that some of the addressed employees do not perceive the impact of current wicked problems as a negative career shock that would cause them to divert their career paths particularly because of the recent support they receive from their professional and social circles. However, some respondents are worried about their career prospects owing to the dramatic events affecting beach tourism in Egypt this past decade. Findings reveal that managing negative career shocks necessitates institutional support, as well as employee responsibility and the adaptation. Originality/value: This paper contributes by filling a gap in hospitality, and human resources management, in which empirical studies on the relationship between career shock of hotel employees and their individual resilience have been limited so far. © 2023, Emerald Publishing Limited.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Work-at-home jobs may raise the risk of mental health concerns as they blur the boundaries between one's job and personal responsibility. This study aimed to develop and test the feasibility of an online psychological intervention using the WhatsApp (c) messaging application.MATERIALS AND METHOD: During the 14-day intervention period, two messages were sent twice a day consisting of positive psychological affirmation aimed at assisting participants (N= 48;13 males and 35 females) to achieve work-life balance and better sleep quality. The Indonesian-adapted Fisher's work-life balance scale and the sleep disturbance scale were used to measure both constructs. These measures were administered at the beginning and end of the intervention. In addition, we provided participants with brief open-ended questions to check the program's feasibility and acceptance of the intervention.RESULTS: A paired t-test analysis revealed that although there was an increase in work-life balance scores in the post-test com pared to the pre-test, the difference was not significant (t (47) =-1.75, p >.05). Nevertheless, individuals' sleep quality scores improved significantly after the intervention (t (47) = - 2.85, p <.05). DISCUSSION: The findings of this study are expected to provi de a preliminary argument to further pursue the development of behavioral interventions using online strategies in Indonesia during the pandemic.
ABSTRACT
Due to the global restrictions to decrease the risk of infection in classrooms, the transition from face-to-face education to distance learning was a necessity during the Covid-19 pandemic. Grounded in Self-Determination Theory, the present research sought to explore how the pandemic affects university students during distance learning. Specifically, the study examined the predictors of pressure/tension and attempted to identify the unique and mediator roles of correlates of pressure/tension of university students. This cross-sectional study was conducted with 432 university students from different departments of different universities in Turkey. The online survey was administered between the last week of October and the second week of December 2020. Our findings revealed that there is a positive association between pressure/tension and Covid-specific worry. Also, there is a negative association between learning climate and pressure/tension and between perceived competence and pressure/tension. Further, learning climate mediated the link between Covid-specific worry and pressure/tension. The data of the present study depends on students' academic (learning climate) and also non-academic (Covid worry) experiences during the pandemic. Methodological limitations concerning the research design are discussed.
ABSTRACT
PurposeThe main motivation of the present study is to understand the severity of the effect of health shock on Iran's oil economy and analyze the role of government under these conditions.Design/methodology/approachDynamic stochastic general equilibrium (DSGE) models can show the precise interactions between market decision-makers in the context of general equilibrium. Since the duration of the virus outbreak and its effect on the economy is not known, it is more appropriate to use these models.FindingsThe results of the survey of hands-on policies scenarios compared to the state of hands-off policy indicate that the effect of government expending shocks on the economy under pandemic disease conditions has much less feedback on macroeconomic variables.Originality/valueAs a proposed policy, it is recommended that the government play a stabilizing role under pandemic disease conditions.Key messages There is no study regarding health shock and its economic effects in Iran using DSGE models. Also, in foreign studies, the health shock in an oil economy has not been modeled.The general idea in the present study is how the prevalence of a pandemic infectious disease affects the dynamics of macroeconomic variables.In three different scenarios, according to the persistence of health disaster risk and the deterioration rate of health capital due to this shock, the model is simulated.In modeling pandemic diseases, quarantine hours are considered as part of the total time of individuals.According to the research findings, it is recommended that the government, as a policy-maker, play a stabilizing role under pandemic crises conditions.
ABSTRACT
Adopting a mixed methods approach, this study examined the relationships between undergraduate students' motivation, engagement and learning outcomes during the COVID-19 pandemic. An online questionnaire survey was administered to collect quantitative and qualitative data. A sample of 10,060 undergraduates from 23 universities in China participated in the survey. The results of quantitative analyses largely confirmed the hypothesised relationships between students' motivation, engagement and the two learning outcome indicators (i.e. mastery of generic skills and overall satisfaction). The qualitative analyses not only supported the quantitative findings, but also identified four types of learning outcomes of online learning emerging from the data. The results indicated that emergent online learning had a favourable influence on students' learning strategies, but had mixed or negative effects on their learning effectiveness, attitudes and emotions. The qualitative results revealed eight major factors that facilitated or hindered students' engagement in online learning during the pandemic. These findings contribute to the conceptualisation and measurement of student engagement in online learning, and emphasise the need to conduct mixed methods research in different learning contexts. The implications for improving online learning and teaching in higher education are discussed. [ FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education is the property of Routledge 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.)
ABSTRACT
From October 22 to 23, 2021, the 16th National Postgraduates Symposium on Environmental and Occupational Medicine was successfully held in Central South University, sponsored by the Editorial Board of Journal of Environmental and Occupational Medicine and Xiangya School of Public Health of Central South University, and co-organized by School of Public Health of South China University and Shanghai Preventive Medicine Association. Keeping in view the outbreak of COVID-19, the symposium was held in the form of "offline+online". More than 100 teachers and students from more than 30 universities and research institutions across China attended the conference. A total of 114 excellent papers were submitted to this conference. Focusing on the theme of "Research and practice: Healing the schism", young scholars' forum as well as postgraduates' academic exchanges at the main venue and four parallel sessions were launched. This conference not only provided an excellent platform for postgraduate students in the field of environmental and occupational medicine nationwide to share academic trends and exchange academic research, but also expanded the influence of the Journal of Environmental and Occupational Medicine.Copyright © 2021, Shanghai Municipal Center for Disease Control and Prevention. All rights reserved.
ABSTRACT
During the COVID-19 pandemic, rumors were shared widely and quickly, leading to unfortunate consequences. To explore the dominant motivation underlying such rumor sharing behavior and the potential consequences for sharers' life satisfaction, two studies were conducted. Study 1 was based on representative popular rumors that circulated throughout Chinese society during the pandemic to examine the dominant motivation underlying rumor sharing behavior. Study 2 employed a longitudinal design to further test the dominant motivation underlying rumor sharing behavior and its effects on life satisfaction. The results of these two studies generally supported our hypotheses that people chose to share rumors during the pandemic mainly for the purpose of fact-finding. Regarding the effects of rumor sharing behavior on life satisfaction, although sharing wish rumors (i.e., rumors expressing hopes) had no effect on sharers' life satisfaction, sharing dread rumors (i.e., rumors reflecting fears) and aggression rumors (i.e., rumors implying aggression and hatred) reduced sharers' life satisfaction. This research lends support to the integrative model of rumor and provides practical implications for mitigating the spread of rumors.