Academia's responses to crisis: A bibliometric analysis of literature on online learning in higher education during COVID-19

Apheresis medicine education during the early phase of the COVID-19 pandemic

BACKGROUND

The COVID-19 pandemic introduced challenges and disruption across healthcare, including apheresis medicine (AM). In this study, we report findings from a survey conducted among American Society for Apheresis Physician Committee (ASFA-PC) members to describe the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on AM education practices.

STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS

A voluntary, anonymous, 24-question, institutional review board-approved survey regarding AM teaching during the pandemic was distributed to ASFA-PC members in the United States between December 1, 2020, and December 15, 2020. Descriptive analyses were reported as number and frequency of respondents for each question. Free text responses were summarized.

RESULTS

Responses were received from 14/31 (45%) of ASFA-PC members, of whom 12 practiced at academic institutions. Among these, 11/12 (92%) transitioned to virtual platform for AM trainee conferences during the pandemic. A variety of resources were employed to support independent AM learning. While 7/12 (58%) respondents did not change the informed consent process for AM procedures, others delegated this process or introduced remote alternatives. The most common method respondents used to conduct AM patient rounding was a hybrid in-person/virtual model.

CONCLUSION

This survey describes the adaptations and changes AM practitioners made to trainee education in response to the early phase of the COVID-19 pandemic. The transition to virtual and/or hybrid trainee learning and AM rounds underscores the importance of digital AM resources. Further study of the effects of the pandemic and its impact on AM trainee education, as well as patient care is warranted.

Digital transformation in higher education: A qualitative evaluative study of a hybrid virtual format using a smart classroom system

This study presents the salient perceptions of students and instructors in a master's program taught in a hybrid virtual format using the pocket Bipolar Laddering tool, a written open-ended electronic data collection system. Perceptions about the hybrid virtual format were tested on the participants of a master's program taught in the 2021-2022 academic year through a hybrid virtual format based on a Smart Classroom system developed as part of the digital innovations implemented to overcome the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions. This work aims to shed light on the users' salient perceptions of the format, detect the positive elements mentioned by the surveyed participants and identify the negative items in a bid to minimize, or even revert, their effects for future editions of the master. As expected, the findings suggest that one of the main advantages of this format is that it allows students who have difficulty attending classes on campus to enroll on courses. However, the participants detected diverse elements that could be improved such as interaction, the degree of socialization, or the technical problems that arose during teaching sessions. It is hoped that these findings will be of use when adjusting new editions of the program and will help to determine the design and implementation of other hybrid virtual programs in the Institution.

Students with learning disabilities/attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder in higher education dealing with remote learning: lessons learned from COVID-19 era

Introduction

The current study aimed to examine how students with learning disabilities (LD) and/or attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) adjusted to higher education during the transition to remote learning (RL) in Israel during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods

The study involved 621 undergraduate students, 330 of whom participated during the COVID-19 pandemic and 291 before the pandemic. Among these students, 198 had been diagnosed with LD and/or ADHD, while 423 had no reported disabilities (control group).

Results

Students with LD/ADHD generally had lower adjustment scores during face-to-face learning and RL than the control group. In-depth analyses of four subgroups revealed that students with LD + ADHD reported lower academic, emotional, and institutional adjustments as well as reported lower satisfaction with life during RL than the control group members. ADHD was found to directly predict low satisfaction with life through the mediation of adjustment scores.

Discussion

In conclusion, it is recommended that support be provided to high-risk LD/ADHD populations during a crisis. Furthermore, the implication of this study can inform intervention during emergency times.

A multimethod synthesis of Covid-19 education research: the tightrope between covidization and meaningfulness

This study offers a comprehensive analysis of COVID-19 research in education. A multi-methods approach was used to capture the full breadth of educational research. As such, a bibliometric analysis, structural topic modeling, and qualitative synthesis of top papers were combined. A total of 4,201 articles were retrieved from Scopus, mostly published from 2019 to 2021. In this work special attention is paid to analyzing and synthesizing findings about: (i) status of research about COVID-19 regarding frequencies, venues, publishing countries, (ii) identification of main topics in the COVID-19 research, and (iii) identification of the major themes in most cited articles and their impact on the educational community. Structural topic modeling identified three main groups of topics that related to education in general, moving to online education, or diverse topics (e.g., perceptions, inclusion, medical education, engagement and motivation, well-being, and equality). A deeper analysis of the papers that received most attention revealed that problem understanding was the dominating theme of papers, followed by challenges, impact, guidance, online migration, and tools and resources. A vast number of papers were produced. However, thoughtful, well-planned, and meaningful research was hard to conceptualize or implement, and a sense of urgency led to a deluge of research with thin contributions in a time of dire need to genuine insights.

Undergraduate business students' learning experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic: Insights for remediation of future disruption

Despite the rapid proliferation of literature exploring student learning during the COVID-19 pandemic, little has been published about its impacts on business undergraduates during the pivots to remote teaching and learning. There is a particular lack of insight and guidance for business schools to optimise program delivery post-COVID or for similar future disruptions. This case study explored the learning experiences of undergraduate business students during the COVID-19 pandemic, drawing insights from an Australian university located in the state of Victoria, one of the ‘most locked down places in the world’. Thematic analysis identified the following emergent themes: (1) Mixed student experiences and perceptions of online learning upon transitioning into lockdown/emergency remote teaching/learning; (2) Limited connections and interactions amongst student-student(s) and student-lecturer/tutor; (3) Perceived ineffective online teaching delivery; (4) Positive aspects of emergency remote learning; (5) Adequacy of support for learning during lockdowns; (6) Preferences for post-COVID-19 learning. The outcomes provide proactive signposts for university educators wishing to improve student engagement and learning, and delivery of business undergraduate programs for a post-COVID world as well as future pandemic and similar disruption settings.

Factors shaping faculty online teaching competencies during the Covid-19 pandemic

In the rush for the Covid-19 pandemic's online transition, the pursuit of quality online learning was frequently overshadowed by the urgency of emergency instruction online. As blended and online teaching became an integral part of education, there emerged a need to investigate how faculty coped with this transition and what competencies they might be acquiring. In this paper, we report on international research about higher education faculty's elicited dispositions and needs while they engaged with online teaching (OT), as these shape aspects of teacher competencies for integrating technology. This study aims to identify factors that shaped faculty competencies as pandemic restrictions forced transitions to OT. Snapshot surveys were conducted at two different phases of the pandemic, i.e. during the acceleration phase and the stasis one, approximately twelve months later. The surveys inquired about internal (e.g. enthusiasm and resolutions) and external (e.g. support) factors of faculty's OT perceptions during two phases of the Covid-19 pandemic, enabling monitoring of the phenomenon beyond the assessment of the first response to the emergency. Results revealed different patterns of dispositions and diverse uses of technological affordances to foster online learning. These patterns were also found to differ over time, highlighting conditions possibly enabling or hindering the development of competencies for OT during different phases of the pandemic. One important finding is that there was a change from internal confidence to institutional support being a strong predictor of intentions to continue OT, over the course of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Is the best option still in low adoption? An investigation on factors affecting the adoption of online school education in rural areas in Sri Lanka

This research investigates rural area students' online adoption during the fourth wave of the coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. The main objective of this study was to identify the factors affecting the adoption of online education in rural areas in Sri Lanka. This case study was carried out based on data gathered from the online survey during the pandemic covering 16 districts in Sri Lanka. Using the ordered probit regression model through the stepwise technique, the study investigates the factors affecting the adoption of online education in rural areas in Sri Lanka. According to the results generated, attitude, perceived use, awareness, and new technology adoption have a positive impact on student adoption of online education in Sri Lanka. Online education so far is one of the effective and feasible solutions for providing education in a pandemic situation in any country. These findings are helpful for responsible educational institutions to address and contribute to key issues such as low perceived use, poor attitude, low awareness, and poor technology adoption. The study will also assist policymakers in preparing a roadmap, at the policy level with the perceived benefits of online education during similar future crises in Sri Lanka.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11423-023-10201-8.

Understanding college students' continuous usage intention of asynchronous online courses through extended technology acceptance model

Asynchronous online learning has gained great popularity in higher education, especially due to the recent COVID-19 pandemic. However, few studies have investigated how to maintain students' continuous usage intention of asynchronous online courses in the context of higher education. This study incorporated four key factors (intrinsic motivation, extrinsic motivation, perception of multiple sources, and cognitive engagement) associated with students' continuous usage intention of asynchronous online courses into technology acceptance model (TAM) to identify the influencing factors on students' continuous usage intention. A survey with 325 college students was conducted to explore their continuous usage intention of asynchronous online courses and structural equation modeling analysis was carried out to analyze the relationships between the key influencing factors and students' continuous usage intention. The results showed that cognitive engagement was the only factor that directly related to continuous usage intention. Intrinsic motivation, extrinsic motivation, and perception of multiple sources indirectly correlated with students' continuous usage intention through different pathways. The results of the study have several theoretical and practical implications. Theoretically, the study verified what key learning factors incorporated into TAM and in what way they relate to the continuous usage intention of asynchronous online courses. Practically, the present study indicated that it is required to take intrinsic motivation, extrinsic motivation, perception of multiple sources, cognitive engagement and TAM into consideration when designing and conducting asynchronous online learning courses to ensure college students' continuous usage intention of asynchronous online courses.

Rewords and Struggle of Online Teaching of Pathology During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Middle East Medical Students' Judgment

INTRODUCTION

Online learning involves the delivery of educational instructions regarding a subject using the internet. Pathology is an experimental subject that requires students to learn about disease development via unpleasant photos and slides. This study aims to determine the rewards and struggles of online pathology learning during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic at the Al-Qunfudah Medical College, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

METHODS

Using an online questionnaire comprising three sections of 23 questions (12 questions about the positive perception of online teaching and 11 about the negative perception), we surveyed second and third-year pathology students about their perception of online education. The positive and negative perceptions of the students were compared using the chi-square test (p < 0.05).

RESULTS

About 77% of the students (n = 85/110) responded to the survey. Female students (n = 43, 50.6%) had a significantly higher positive perception of online learning (p < 0.001); male students (n = 42, 49.4%) had a high negative perception of online teaching (p < 0.035). Nearly 70% of the students agreed that the Blackboard platform (Anthology Inc., Boca Raton, FL) made learning easy. About two-thirds of students agreed that the pre-lecture video produced by the teachers, when shared before the lesson, made the pathology lectures easy.

CONCLUSION

Female students were more favorable toward online pathology learning. Extensive training provided to teachers can significantly increase the support given to students during online teaching.

Exploring university teachers’ online education during COVID-19: Tensions between enthusiasm and stress

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, universities across the world radically shifted to emergency remote teaching. Since then, many universities have moved forward considerably and many lessons were learned in the area of online education. The aim of this qualitative study is to investigate how university teachers in a Belgian university experienced online education since the start of the pandemic and what exactly influences their experiences with online education. Six online focus groups (with thirty-two lecturers) revealed both enthusiasm and stress, and six tension fields that influenced their experiences with online education during COVID-19: (1) connection with students, (2) connection with colleagues, (3) digital opportunities and threats for students’ learning processes (online student feedback, online interaction, structured learning materials, flexibility in time and space), (4) changing teacher roles, (5) tension due to time pressure and (6) support issues. Every tension field contains both opportunities and threats for online education, which can inform practitioners of online education in the future of university education.

Examining the influencing factors and the functioning mechanism of online learning supporting learners’ empowerment

The construction of an effective technology-based environment to promote learning and enable online learning to truly empower learners has become an increasingly important issue of concern. To some extent, an in-depth analysis of the key influencing factors and their functioning mechanism of online learning supporting learners’ empowerment may pave a new way for the understanding of this issue. In view of this, this study, grounded on the reciprocal determinism theory, explored the influencing paths among environment elements, online behaviors, person factors, and learners’ empowerment by using structural equation modeling (SEM) approach, and examined the structure effect relationships among these dimensions. A total of 396 Chinese university students reported on their perceptions of environment elements, online behaviors, person factors, and learners’ empowerment through the questionnaire survey. The results showed that there was a strong correlation between the three dimensions of the reciprocal determinism theory, and the three dimensions all exerted a positive effect on learners’ empowerment. Among them, the item parameter estimates revealed that online environment, online interaction, and online cooperation were significant in explaining the influence of environment elements and online behaviors on learners’ empowerment. Based on the empirical results, this study provided some implications and suggestions for the rationality of the structure devising of online learning environment, the effectiveness of online teacher-student interaction, and the development of students’ learning autonomy in technology-based learning. Thus, this study helped understand the specific contribution of external and internal factors to learners’ empowerment of using technology for online learning and would inform the construction of the optimized online learning environments and teacher-student relationships to enhance students’ sense of online presence and learning initiative.

Explicating the publication paradigm by bibliometric approaches: A case of interplay between nanoscience and ferroptosis

Background

Ferroptosis has been widely investigated as an emerging drug target, while its combination with nanoscience provides bourgeoning application prospects. The development of ferroptosis regulating nanomedicines have attracted worldwide attentions in recent years. It would be meaningful to describe the relevant publication paradigm.

Methods

Herein, a bibliometric analysis was performed using the database of Web of Science Core Collection to clarify the publication paradigm. The development of related publications in the last 6 years was described, and the revolutionary trends were figured out. Ultimately, the possible future exploration directions were proposed.

Results

The bibliometric analysis of 327 documents of interest indicated that the main research focus was in multiple fields including Materials science, Science & technology, Chemistry, and Pharmacology & pharmacy. With widely cooperation and strong funding, the researchers from Chinese organizations contributed most of publications, followed with United States and Australia. Cocitation analysis revealed that several original papers reported the key molecular mechanisms of ferroptosis were considered as the foundation for subsequent studies, and some nanomedicines-related documents were taken as examples and discussed. Mining results showed that the mechanism evaluation of ferroptosis regulation therapy for cancer treatment was the hotspot. Then, several possible future explorations of ferroptosis-related nanoscience were presented and discussed.

Conclusions

The bibliometric profile of nanoscience-ferroptosis research was analyzed in detail. We believe that the bibliometric analysis could act as a robust method for explicating the publication paradigm as a certain field.

Global Trends in the Research on Early Childhood Education during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Bibliometric Analysis

During the COVID-19 pandemic, schools and preschools worldwide have been suspended, causing many challenges for students, parents, and teachers. Through home-schooling, preschool children struggle to accept new (online) learning modes. Teachers need to acquire digital skills quickly to deliver online teaching, while parents need to take on the role of a tutor at home to facilitate their children’s learning. This study aims to gauge the global trends in the research on early childhood education (ECE) during the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly considering the need for a swift response to the impact of the pandemic. We employed the bibliometric approach to studying ECE studies during the pandemic by identifying the countries of most-cited publications, most-cited categories of studies, and research methodologies used in the eligible studies (N = 507). Analysis reveals that technology integration in ECE has grown fast to timely facilitate online teaching and resolve varied challenges such as parental stress, a lack of resources, and the quality of education in this field. Based on the bibliometric approach, we highlighted research focusing on key themes such as online learning and teaching, physical activity, stress and mental health, and families in early childhood. This study offers a global perspective on ECE research during the pandemic and provides researchers, policymakers, and practitioners with future directions.

A Novel Online Dissection Course on Lower Limb Anatomy During the COVID-19 Pandemic

INTRODUCTION

The teaching of human anatomy, a medical subject that relies heavily on live teaching, teacher-student interactivity, and visuospatial skills, has suffered tremendously since the COVID-19 pandemic mandated the shutting down of medical institutions. The medical education fraternity was compelled to replace the traditional teaching method of hands-on cadaveric dissections (HOCDs) with online education to overcome this new challenge, but it came at the cost of reduced student engagement and lesser spatial orientation.

METHOD

In this cross-sectional, questionnaire-based study, we designed a novel online dissection course on lower limb anatomy and collected student feedback on the same from consenting Phase I Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) students of Symbiosis Medical College for Women, Pune, India. The course design consisted of three different modes: a live Zoom session using a handheld camera phone, a pre-recorded video dissection uploaded on the institute learning management system, and a Powerpoint presentation with high-resolution photographs of each dissected layer; and the feedback intended to find out what works best for the students. Overall feedback regarding their preferences in terms of presentation design, use of background music in pre-recorded videos, and overall learning experience was also collected. The course consisted of six two-hour teaching sessions. The first three sessions each used a different mode of teaching, repeating the same pattern in the next three sessions. The first mode of teaching implemented was a live Zoom session where instructors used a hand-held cell phone camera to show specimens that had been dissected a day prior. The second mode involved a pre-recorded video showing step-by-step dissection performed by the instructor which was then uploaded on the Institute Learning Management System. Of the two pre-recorded videos, background music consisting of a low-volume instrumental track was added to the second video. The third mode utilized Powerpoint presentations containing high-resolution photographs of each dissected layer on a separate slide along with labeling. The presentations were shown to the students over a Zoom call. A Google Form (GF) questionnaire was created after validation by subject experts to gather the students' feedback on the teaching and learning of anatomy via these sessions. The GF responses were collected and analyzed using Microsoft Excel.

RESULTS

41.7% of students recommended the use of a combination of all three modes in the same session, while 36.7% favored pre-recorded videos. 86.7% of students said that a good quality presentation design helps in keeping them engaged and only 23% of students favored the use of background music for increasing their ability to concentrate. 63.3% of students found the learning experience highly satisfactory.

CONCLUSION

Although virtual dissection teaching methods may not be able to completely replace HOCDs, a well-planned online dissection course incorporating multiple modes of online dissections with an emphasis on good quality presentation design and frequent teacher-student interactivity can provide a strong impetus for learning in the absence of live teaching methods.