Understanding the Role of Teacher-Student Relationships in Students' Online Learning Engagement: Mediating Role of Academic Motivation

Strengthening online learning outcomes requires the establishment of strong student-teacher relationships to engage students actively in learning activities. Teacher-student relationships are also pivotal factors for enhancing academic motivation for online learning engagement. Generally, however, research on online teaching remains underdeveloped. We aimed, in this study, to investigate the complex interplay in higher education in Pakistan between teacher-student relationships, academic motivation, and online learning engagement. We used Self-Determination Theory to frame an exploration of the impact of positive teacher-student relationships as mediated by intrinsic or extrinsic academic motivation on students' engagement in online learning activities. We administered a student self-report questionnaire to 437 participants from diverse universities in Sindh province. Using Structural Equation Modeling, we confirmed a model fit in which there were positive correlations between teacher-student relationships and students' online learning engagement; and between students' intrinsic and extrinsic academic motivations and their on line learning engagement. Our findings emphasized the need for communication, personalized support, and a sense of belonging in virtual education. Moreover, our findings revealed the mediating role of students' intrinsic and extrinsic academic motivation in teacher-student relationships, highlighting the nuanced dynamics of academic motivation in the virtual learning environment, with intrinsic motivation having the greatest mediating impact in the relationship between teacher-student relationships and on line learning engagement. Our study's practical implications include a need for professional educators to foster positive teacher-student relationships and integrate student motivational elements into online course design.

Primary School Students' Experiences using Minecraft Education during a National Project-Based Initiative: An Irish Study

Minecraft Education is a digital game-based learning platform that is thought to support the development of twenty-first century competencies and skills. The purpose of this study is to explore primary students' experiences of using Minecraft Education during an innovative national project-based initiative. The initiative had two phases: 1) educational episodes for teachers and students on how to use the platform and 2) a national competition that required students to re-imagine a sustainable version of their community. We used a mixed-methods design with a sample of classes taking part in the initiative. First, third to sixth class students (N = 173) completed a survey that examined: 1) learning opportunities with Minecraft Education, 2) ease of use, 3) usefulness, and 4) enjoyment. Eight focus group interviews were then conducted with a subsample of sixth class students (n = 30). Students indicated that 1) there were good opportunities for learning with Minecraft Education, particularly for creativity and collaboration, 2) the platform was easy to use and useful and, 3) using Minecraft Education was enjoyable. Thematic analysis of the qualitative data identified five themes: 'collaboration', 'opportunities for creativity', 'immersive learning environment', 'student engagement', and 'technology and digital skills'. This research highlights the value of innovative project-based learning activities with Minecraft Education for supporting student learning.

Factors associated with stress impacting academic success among post-secondary students: A systematic review

Objective: To synthesize peer-reviewed primary research exploring factors associated with perceived stress impacting post-secondary students' academic success. Methods: A systematic review identified research conducted in North America, Europe, and Australia in the last ten years across 12 databases. Results: Of the 6,214 references screened, 14 English articles published between 2011 and 2018 were deemed relevant. Subsequent analysis characterized articles by study design, location, population, factors with a statistically significant relationship with both perceived stress and academic success, and future research directions. Findings reveal a complex relationship among overlapping factors associated with perceived stress on academic success at both the intrapersonal (eg, academic, demographic, psychological, attitudinal, and behavioral characteristics) and interpersonal levels (eg, social capital). Conclusions: Further research should measure the association of the identified factors to inform areas where resources could be targeted within post-secondary institutions to prevent stress from unduly impacting students' educational outcomes.

Remaining motivated despite the limitations: University students' learning propensity during the COVID-19 pandemic

This study explored how university students remained motivated to learn, despite all the limitations they encountered and endured during the COVID-19 pandemic. This work was carried out in Indonesia, but the benefits are beyond a state boundary. The study examines how university students in developing countries have faced obstacles, and yet despite this, they are still trying their hardest to stay focused on achieving their personal goals during the pandemic. This research employed a qualitative phenomenological approach, involving eighty students that were studying at the Faculty of Education at a state university in Jakarta, Indonesia. As data collection techniques, students were asked to write learning log diaries and reflective essays and to participate in an online focus group discussion. The results showed that the students' motivation to remain learning during the COVID-19 pandemic fell into three key themes, each with associated sub-themes. The three themes and sub-themes described were: (a) personal, with sub-themes of challenge, curiosity, self-determination, satisfaction and religious commitment; (b) social, with sub-themes of relationships, inspiration, and well-being of self and others; and (c) environmental, with sub-themes of facilities and conditioning. The themes and sub-themes indicate the source of motivation for these university students to learn during the pandemic. This study concluded that these emerging adults were both intrinsically and extrinsically autonomously motivated and committed to their studies. Most of these students were motivated by their consequential aspirations, not by a controlled motivation, nor were they motivated by a reward, a penalty, or a rule that propelled them. By defining how the students managed to empower themselves, this study recommends the importance of preparing students to be more resilient and to enable them to cultivate the ability to remain optimistic and motivated to succeed and overcome any of life's adversities.

Analyzing the Relevance of Peer Relationship, Learning Motivation, and Learning Effectiveness—Design Students as an Example

In a design department’s practice course there are often group exercises that include intensive interactions between students in the classroom or in the internship factory. In addition, students will deepen the interaction between peers due to course groupings or borrowing of model tools, etc. This study intended to carry out a differential analysis and discussion of the differences among design students from different backgrounds under the three factors of peer relationships, learning motivation, and learning effectiveness. The research method was based on literature analysis and a questionnaire survey, and the research objects were sophomores and seniors in four classes. Statistical analysis methods included the independent sample T-test, one-way ANOVA, and factor and cluster analysis, which were used to summarize different learning styles. The results showed that the students had significant differences of varying degrees in the three factor dimensions. Regarding gender, “care about classmates’ lives” in peer relationships scored higher for the females than the males, and the rest had no effect. Regarding educational system, “care about the classmates’ life” and “sharing life trivia” was included in peer relationships. “keep the enthusiasm in the course of learning” was included in the learning motivation. “recognition for self-directed learning” and “ability improvement” was included in learning effectiveness. The three factors all had significant differences, and the differences for full-time students were higher than for night school students. Regarding grade, there were significant differences in “friends will value my comments” and “sharing life trivia” in peer relationships, “understand course content” in learning motivation, and “data collection ability” and “understanding team member expertise” in learning effectiveness, and seniors scored higher than sophomores in these areas. In addition, the ANOVA and post-hoc tests revealed significant differences in learning the processes between different groups. In peer relationships, full-time seniors scored higher than the other groups; in learning motivation and learning effectiveness, full-time seniors scored higher than night school sophomores. In addition, the overall factors of the full-time seniors were higher than those of the other groups. In the analysis of different learning factors, under the premise of the variation of 58.975%, three factors were extracted by principal axis for analysis with Promax rotation. The different learning factors can be summarized in “emphasizing ability improvement”, “care about peer friendship”, and “careful and active learning”. Classification of learning styles under the three factor dimensions was based on two-stage cluster analysis to obtain two clustering results, including “enthusiastic and friendly” and “active and autonomous”. The results showed that the mastery of self-learning time and the learning experience performance have a key influence on the learning motivation and learning effectiveness of design students from different backgrounds. In addition, the results also showed a new opportunity for course improvement and teaching innovation at night schools. The final results of this study could be used as an important reference for research on peer relationships, learning motivation, and learning effectiveness in design education.

Sustainable Academic Motivation

The article examines motivation in higher education and relates it to the concept of sustainability. It consists of a theoretical examination of the terms ‘sustainable motivation’ and ‘academic motivation’, and specifically postulates and explains the concept of ‘sustainable academic motivation’. Sustainable academic motivation is defined as proactive interconnection of basic ideas of sustainability and basic characteristics of academic motivation. With primary attention on disclosing appropriate measures for building sustainable academic motivation, an empirical part presents the results of sociological questioning carried out on n = 181 teachers, administrators, and managers of Slovak and Polish universities. Higher financial evaluation and creating good relationships were found to be the most desirable motivation measures. Results also emphasized a discrepancy between opinions of university managers versus opinions of scientists and teachers regarding effective motivation. Based on the results, and with the support of other opinions, sustainable academic motivation is subsequently defined from five perspectives: (a) As the most important component of conscious behavior; (b) as the starting point of behavior; (c) as the accelerator of behavior and development; (d) as the process; and (e) as the resultative level of all motivational efforts and powers at higher-education institutions. The final part of the article contains recommendations for university management, when affecting and building sustainable academic motivation.

FLIGBY—A Serious Game Tool to Enhance Motivation and Competencies in Entrepreneurship

Entrepreneurship is currently one of the most fundamental economic activities in the 21st century. Entrepreneurship encourages young generations to generate their self-employment and develop key soft-skills that will be useful throughout their professional career. This study aims to present and explore a case study of a higher education institution that adopts FLIGBY as a serious game, which allows students to develop entrepreneurship skills in an immersive way and based on real challenges that can be found in business environments. The findings indicate that FLIGBY offers relevant potentials and new possibilities in the development of management, leadership, and entrepreneurship skills. Furthermore, the game allows the inclusion of summative and formative assessment elements, which are essential in the process of monitoring and analyzing the student’s performance.

Building Global Health Capacity at a Minority-Serving Institution in the Bronx: The Potential Role of PhotoVoice and the Geo-Social Pathway Framework in This Endeavor

Global health training programs for undergraduate students are expanding in the United States, which includes Minority-Serving Institutions (MSIs), but capacity building is needed at MSIs to develop career pathways into the field, especially for those institutions that serve low-income students who live in communities with high health disparities. Often, global health pathways begin by building a global lens through the examination of local health issues coupled with international educational experiences. This approach is limited for students who come from low-income settings with limited funding for international experiences, and as a result, may not see the feasibility of a global health career. However, there may be opportunity in harnessing student motivations and participatory research methods to build interest in a global health career. This article outlines the course, Fundamentals of Global Health, offered at a public MSI in the Bronx. The course was grounded in the Geo-Social Pathway Framework and utilized PhotoVoice to engage students in individual research projects. A constant comparison method was used to analyze papers, photos, reflections, and presentations in order to identify themes. Analysis of course materials submitted by students suggests that they were motivated to examine health disparities using PhotoVoice and that they focused their research projects on their family and community health disparities, or aligned with educational or professional goals to address their community health needs. This course model may inform future training in global health for students at MSIs, but community-based participatory research priority funding is needed to sustain global health at these key institutions.