Factors influencing study engagement during the COVID-19 pandemic: A cross-sectional study among health and social professions students

Conditional reciprocal stressor-strain effects in university students: a cross-lagged panel study in Germany

University students worldwide are facing increasing mental health challenges. Traditional stress models, like the Job/Study Demand-Resources Model, link stressors directly to strain. Yet, recent studies suggest the influence of strain on stressors may be even stronger. Our research explored these reciprocal dynamics among university students, considering social support and mindfulness as potential moderators. We conducted a two-wave panel study with 264 university students. We ran separate cross-lagged panel structural equation analyses for three key health outcomes-emotional exhaustion, depression, and well-being-each paired with perceived study stressors, specifically workload and work complexity. Findings revealed significant stressor and strain effects, with social support notably moderating the impact of emotional exhaustion on workload. These insights challenge traditional stress theories and underscore the importance of mental health support and effective stress management strategies for students, emphasizing the need for proactive mental health initiatives in academic environments.

The COVID-19 pandemic and adolescents' and young adults' experiences at school: A systematic narrative review

The COVID-19 pandemic upended the lives of adolescents and young adults across the globe. In response to the pandemic onset, educational institutions were forced to pivot to online learning, a new teaching and learning format for most secondary and university students. This systematic narrative review summarizes findings from 168 publications spanning 56 countries on students' educational outcomes and school climate as well as the internal assets and contextual supports that promoted academic well-being during the pandemic. Our findings suggest that young people commonly reported declines in their academic-related outcomes and school-based relationships due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Internal assets (e.g., intrinsic motivation and self-efficacy) and contextual supports (i.e., relationships with teachers, peers, and parents) promoted academic well-being during the pandemic. Next steps for research on young people's academic well-being during the pandemic are suggested.

Nursing Students' Learning Engagement Experiences During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Namibia: Implications for Nursing Education

Introduction

Ensuring strong student engagement in both traditional and virtual learning settings was essential for achieving positive educational results during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, fostering student engagement in both the traditional (face-to-face) and virtual learning environments has been accompanied by distinct challenges. There has been a lack of research specifically addressing the issue of nursing students' engagement within a blended learning setting in Namibia.

Aim

To explore and describe nursing students' learning engagement experiences at a university campus in Namibia during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods

A qualitative, descriptive, phenomenological study was employed to collect data from 10 purposively selected nursing students at a university campus in Namibia. Data from in-depth, face-to-face, individual interviews were collected using a semistructured interview guide. Data were analyzed using Colaizzi's seven-step method.

Results

The findings of the study describe students' learning engagement experiences under four distinct themes: (a) conditions and contexts of engagement; (b) student acts of engagement: positionality of teacher- and student-facilitated engagement; (c) consequences of engagement in a blended learning environment; and (d) student engagement dispositions: students' initiatives.

Conclusion

The research findings revealed that despite mental health challenges, both teacher-facilitated and student-facilitated engagement were necessary for positive learning engagement in the blended learning environment. Student-facilitated engagement was significantly responsible for enabling students to maintain focus, adhere to guidelines, and adapt to the blended learning environment. These findings are useful in understanding the challenges faced by students during the COVID-19 pandemic. The findings thus provide valuable data for future studies seeking to address challenges associated with the blended learning environment.

Resilience of undergraduate health sciences students during COVID-19: An integrative review

Background

COVID-19 pandemic placed pressure on global health systems, healthcare providers and undergraduate students in health sciences. Students experienced change in the teaching and learning as well as the clinical context resulting in increased stress levels. Resilience assisted students to adapt and develop competencies and effective coping mechanisms.

Aim

The purpose of this integrative review is to identify resilience of undergraduate students in health sciences during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Setting

Online platforms.

Methods

An integrative review was conducted with keywords: resilience, undergraduate students, health sciences and COVID-19. Three different searches were conducted for the time frame 2020-2022 on the relevant electronic data bases with full text articles. A total of 1665 records were identified and 49 potentially relevant articles were identified. Screening resulted in 34 articles that were analysed using the John Hopkins critical appraisal criteria.

Results

Four themes were identified: attributes of students' resilience, aspects enhancing the development of resilience, aspects hindering the development of resilience and recommendations to cultivate resilience.

Conclusion

Resilience is key to withstand the challenges in the global health system. The development of resilience in undergraduate health sciences students should be prioritised to ensure cognitive adaptability, effective coping skills and sufficient support.

Contribution

These findings can assist higher educational institutions to improve their undergraduate health science programs to cultivate resilient health care professionals.

Student engagement in health professions education: AMEE Guide No. 152

This guide aims to support our colleagues to have comprehensive understanding of student engagement in health professions education. Despite the universal agreement about the significance of student engagement, there is lack of uniformity in conceptualizing and operationalizing this emerging construct. We review the theoretical basis explaining student engagement from three main perspectives: behavioral, psychological, and socio-cultural. In addition, we propose a contemporary and comprehensive framework for the student engagement in higher education, which is applicable to health professions education contexts. Drawing from this framework, we explain the conceptualization of the construct and its preceding factors, mediators, dimensions, spheres, and outcomes of student engagement. The proposed framework introduces student 'engagement through partnerships' as a novel component compared with the existing models of student engagement in higher education. This way, we are proposing a mixed model that not only considers the student as a 'customer' but also as a 'partner' in education. Engagement of students through partnerships include four areas: (1) provision of the education program, (2) scholarly research, (3) governance and quality assurance, and (4) community activities. This guide will provide practical applications on how to improve student engagement in health professions education. Finally, we highlight the current gaps in areas of research in the student engagement literature and suggested plans for future directions.[Box: see text].

Depression and social isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic in a student population: the effects of establishing and relaxing social restrictions

Introduction

In a quasi-naturalistic study design, we evaluate the change in psychopathological syndromes and general well-being after the alleviation of social restrictions. The aim of this study was to investigate the specific relationship between social isolation and depressive syndromes.

Methods

At two timepoints, the first during maximal social restrictions, the second after social restrictions had widely ended for 9 months, depressive and other syndromes were measured in an online survey addressing the total cohort of students registered at Heidelberg University, Germany via e-mail (n = 27,162). The complete Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ) was used with nine items for depressive syndromes. In addition, well-being was measured by the Well-Being Index WHO-5. In the quantitative and qualitative part of the study psychopathological syndromes and well-being were related to social isolation and feelings of loneliness.

Results

After 1.5 years of pandemic-related social restrictions, "major" depressive syndromes were reported by 40.16% of the respondents to the PHQ in a sample of 2,318 university students. 72.52% showed a severely reduced Well-Being-Index. Nine months after the end of social restrictions, "major" depressive syndromes were reported by 28.50% of the participants. Well-being improved after the alleviation of social restrictions, as well: 53.96% showed a Well-Being Index of below 50 vs. 72.52% in the first study. The quantitative and qualitative analysis of the free texts of the respondents suggest that a significant amount of depressive syndromes and reduced well-being are related to social isolation and loneliness. While in the times of the pandemic restrictions the participants mostly reported "loneliness and social isolation" (24.2%) as their main problem, only 7.7% described these as their main problem after social restrictions had been loosened for 9 months. The qualitative analysis hints that at t2 participants were more likely to mention possible ways to actively deal with loneliness than at t1, which might be interpreted along the lines of the decrease in depressive syndromes.

Discussion

Keeping the self-selection bias in mind our study results suggest that one third of "major" depressive syndromes and one quarter of severely reduced well-being accompany social restrictions or are even caused by them, with loneliness being an important factor. These results should be taken into account by health policies when coping with future pandemics.

The Impact of COVID-19 on the Academic Life of Social Work Students: Resilience as a Mediating Variable

PURPOSE

The aim of this study is to analyze the relationship between emotions and concerns stemming from COVID-19 and the academic engagement of social work students, taking into account the mediating role played by resilience.

METHOD

We carried out a cross-cutting quantitative study by means of an online questionnaire. The participants comprised a total of 474 students currently enrolled on the Degree in Social Work at the University of Valencia (Spain).

RESULTS

The results show that the effects of emotions and concerns stemming from COVID-19 on student engagement were fully mediated by resilience. Indeed, positive emotions and concerns about the future had a positive impact on student engagement through resilience.

DISCUSSION

Resilience stands as a potential protective factor against the social and academic challenges generated by COVID-19. The pandemic could therefore be seen as a real opportunity for sweeping change in the teaching and practice of social work.

The impact of community of inquiry and self-efficacy on student attitudes in sustained remote health professions learning environments

BACKGROUND

Sustained remote learning environments, like those experienced in late 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, share characteristics with online courses but were not intentionally designed to delivered virtually. The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of Community of Inquiry, a widely used online learning environment framework, and self-efficacy on perceived student attitudes within sustained remote learning environments.

METHODS

An interinstitutional team of health professions education researchers collected survey data from 205 students representing a wide range of health professions in five U.S. institutions. Latent mediation models under structural equation modeling framework were used to examine whether student self-efficacy mediates the relationship between Community of Inquiry presence and student's favorability of sustained remote learning delivered in the prolonged stages of the COVID-19 pandemic.

RESULTS

Higher levels of teaching presence and social presence in the remote learning environment were associated with higher levels of remote learning self-efficacy which, in turn, predicts variance in positive attitudes toward remote learning. When mediated by self-efficacy, significant variance in student's favorability of sustained remote learning was explained by teaching presence (61%), social presence (64%), and cognitive presence (88%) and self-efficacy. Significant direct and indirect effects for teaching and social presence, and only direct effects for cognitive presence were observed.

CONCLUSIONS

This study establishes the Community of Inquiry and its three presence types as a relevant and stable framework for investigating sustained remote health professions teaching and learning environments, not only carefully designed online learning environments. Faculty may focus course design strategies which enhance presence and increase student self-efficacy for the sustained remote learning environment.

Measurement of student engagement in health professions education: a review of literature

Student engagement is a complex multidimensional construct that has attained great interest in health professions education (HPE). Definition and conceptualization of student engagement is an important step that should drive the development of the instruments for its measurement. We have recently proposed a comprehensive framework for student engagement in HPE with a definition of engagement as student investment of time and energy in academic and non-academic experiences that include learning, teaching, research, governance, and community activities. The dimensions of student engagement in this framework included the cognitive, affective, behavioral, agentic, and socio-cultural. Guided by the student engagement framework, this non-systematic review aims to identify, critically appraise, and summarize the existing methods for measuring student engagement in HPE. Extrapolating from higher education literature, we attempted to link the theoretical perspectives of student engagement with the published methods of its measurement in HPE context. In addition, we have described the different methods of measuring student engagement including self-report surveys, real time measures, direct observation, interviews/focus groups, and the use of multiple instruments. The span of engagement dimensions measured by self-report surveys ranges from one to five dimensions. However, measurement of agentic and sociocultural dimensions of engagement in HPE is still limited and further research is required. We have also reflected on the existing methods of measuring engagement of students as active partners in HPE. The review also describes the advantages, limitations, and psychometric properties of each method for measuring student engagement. We ended the review with a guiding conclusion on how to develop and select an instrument for measuring student engagement in HPE. Finally, we addressed the gaps in the literature about measuring engagement of HPE students and future research plans.

The effect of teacher support on Chinese university students' sustainable online learning engagement and online academic persistence in the post-epidemic era

Since entering the post-epidemic era of COVID-19 at the end of 2021, schools have mostly adopted a combined online and offline teaching mode to effectively respond to the normalized epidemic, which has changed the traditional learning mode of students. Based on the study demand-resources (SD-R) model theory, this study developed a research model and proposed six research hypotheses to explore the relationship between Chinese university students' perceived teacher support (PTS), online academic self-efficacy (OAS-E), online academic emotions (OAE), sustainable online learning engagement (SOLE), and online academic persistence (OAP) in the post-epidemic era. In this study, 593 Chinese university students were invited to respond to a questionnaire survey using the convenience sampling method. The results of the study showed that: PTS had a positive effect on OAS-E and OAE; OAS-E had a positive effect on OAE; OAS-E and OAE had a positive effect on the students' SOLE; and SOLE had a positive effect on their OAP. Based on the analysis, it is recommended that teachers provide more support and resources to further enhance students' academic self-efficacy and academic emotions, and thus ensure students' SOLE and OAP.

Have we failed them? Online learning self-efficacy of physiotherapy students during COVID-19 pandemic

BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVE

The use of online learning systems during COVID-19 pandemic created concerns about students' ability to successfully navigate the online learning environment. This study aims to capture the experience and changes in self-efficacy of physiotherapy students in Jordan.

METHODS

A mixed methods online survey was used. Physiotherapy entry-level students in public universities completed the online learning self-efficacy (OLSE) and the academic self-efficacy (ASE) scales. A free-entry text box was used to document the factors that augmented or reduced the perceived level of self-efficacy.

RESULTS

A statistically significant decrease in OLSE (t = 6.043, p < 0.001) and in ASE (t = 3.960, p < 0.001) was identified. Four main qualitative themes were identified, namely: availability of time, resources and learning skills; social and psychological stress; educators' skills and access; and accepting the need for a change.

CONCLUSION

Contrary to expectations, the findings indicated a decrease in self-efficacy. This has implications in light of the new direction to formalise online learning in Jordanian higher education institutes post COVID-19 pandemic. Training educators as well as students on best online learning practices could increase students' perceived efficacy.

Can flipped classroom pedagogy offer promising perspectives for mathematics education on pandemic-related issues? A systematic literature review

Educators sometimes effect changes in education through the implementation of new ideas, and sometimes extraordinary circumstances force them to change their educational approaches, as during the COVID-19 crisis. Although we live in a digital age, the limited use of technology in education, particularly prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, and teachers' insufficient experience with online or hybrid learning and teaching approaches resulted in several countries being unprepared for education during the pandemic. The flipped classroom (FC) is an innovative pedagogy with the potential to engage students in mathematics education using hybrid education combined with online and face-to-face learning, which is especially important during a pandemic. However, despite the high expectations surrounding this innovative approach, to date, no systematic literature review has discussed the opportunities and pitfalls of FCs in mathematics education regarding pandemic-related issues. In the present systematic review, we aim to bridge this gap and highlight the importance of flipping mathematics instruction during the pandemic and beyond. The results, which are based on textual analysis of 97 eligible articles, demonstrate that FC is a promising pedagogy that has numerous benefits for mathematics teaching and learning, although it is not a panacea for pandemic-related issues, as it also has several significant pitfalls. Overall, if the mechanism of mathematics education is to be crisis-ready, we should learn from experiences during the pandemic. In this regard, the current review contributes to research in mathematics education with the aim of gaining insight into successful implementations of FC pedagogy, not only during the pandemic but also beyond the crisis era of a pandemic.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11858-022-01388-w.

Adaptive behaviors in education institutions before and after COVID-19: A systematic literature review

Background

The final third of the year 2019 was marked by the outbreak of the deadly coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. This virus paralyzed almost all economic sectors, including governments, forcing educational institutions to close. School closures resulted in significant learning losses and increased inequality in the education sector across the world. Despite these disruptions, however, available evidence reveals that some countries quickly developed adaptive mechanisms of emergency remote learning systems and other alternative methods to recover from learning losses, such as televisions, telephones, Zoom, social media, Google Classrooms, email, and even the post office. These learning recovery programs are instrumental in preparing world economies for future shocks. Various studies are being conducted to assess the impact of this pandemic from different sectors and perspectives. However, systematic literature reviews documenting the adaptive behaviors in educational institutions before and after COVID-19 are either sparse or nonexistent. Additionally, systematic reviews provide a synthesis of the available evidence, indicate directions for further research, and inform decision-making. This systematic literature review focuses on documenting the adaptation strategies and subsequent positive outcomes emerging from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Purpose

The purpose of this study was to review published articles on adaptive behavior in educational institutions, and, in particular, review the outcomes of adaptive behavior and coping strategies/mechanisms over time.

Methodology

The study used a systematic literature review approach as a core methodology for defining answerable research questions, searching the literature for the best available evidence, appraising the quality of the evidence, and collecting and aggregating available data for answering the identified questions. The material was collected using the Science Direct and Emerald databases, which are highly regarded as comprehensive and authoritative. Other documents, especially the reports, were collected from the Google Scholar search engine. Search strings used include "COVID-19 adaptive behavior in educational institutions", "COVID-19 coping strategies in educational institutions", "COVID-19 adaptation mechanisms in the education sector", "adaptive work behavior and COVID-19", "COVID-19 positive outcomes", "adaptive work behavior in educational institutions", and "adaptation strategies in educational institutions".

Findings and conclusion

Although the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic wreaked havoc on many aspects of life, the education sector was hit more than most other enterprises, and most, if not all, educational institutions were closed as all students were sent home. Educational institutions transitioned to remote teaching and learning strategies. Several studies report a number of positive outcomes ranging from personal (individuals) and institutional (organizations) to technology-based. Among the key technology-based positive outcomes frequently reported in the literature are increased innovations and increased digital resilience in educational institutions, among others.

Fostering study crafting to increase engagement and reduce exhaustion among higher education students: A randomized controlled trial of the STUDYCoach online intervention

The study demands-resources framework states that study demands increase exhaustion and study resources increase engagement. Study crafting describes a student's proactive adaption to demands and resources. To date, no intervention in the higher education context has aimed to foster study crafting. Accordingly, this study developed and evaluated the STUDYCoach online intervention, which aimed to increase engagement and reduce exhaustion by promoting study crafting. The study was a randomized controlled trial with a waiting-list control group. All participants (N = 209) completed a questionnaire before (T1) and after (T2) the intervention and at a 20-week follow-up (T3). Participants in the intervention group (n = 149) used the STUDYCoach over three consecutive weeks. Results showed that overall study crafting, decreasing hindering demands, and engagement significantly increased in the intervention group compared to the control group after the intervention. All effects remained stable at follow-up. Notably, exhaustion decreased significantly in the intervention group from T1 to T3 and T2 to T3. Study crafting mediated the intervention's effect on engagement and exhaustion. Our study extends the study demands-resources framework and the literature on job crafting by confirming that study crafting interventions can be effective in higher education.

Teaching style and academic engagement in pre-service teachers during the COVID-19 lockdown: Mediation of motivational climate

COVID-19 and the resulting confinement has had a great impact on the educational environment. Although research in initial teacher education has focused on studying the factors that lead to increased academic engagement, there is no evidence that examines the role of teacher interpersonal style and motivational classroom in a virtual learning context. The aim of this research was to analyze the mediating role of motivational climate between teacher interpersonal style (i.e., autonomy support and controlling style) and academic engagement climate in pre-service teachers in a resilient context. The research design was observational, descriptive, cross-sectional, and non-randomized. A total of 1,410 university students (pre-service teachers) participated (M_age = 23.85; SD = 5.13) (59.6% female; 40.3% male; 0.1% other). The scales of interpersonal teaching style, classroom motivational climate, academic commitment, and resilience were used, and a structural equation analysis with latent variables was carried out controlling resilience and gender. The results of the structural equation model show the importance of student perception of teacher autonomy support on academic engagement of the pre-service teachers, as well as the mediation of the mastery climate between autonomy support and academic engagement. For this reason, in order to increase academic engagement in pre-service teachers, it is recommended the use of motivating styles and instructional strategies focused on supporting the decision-making process, initiative, and significant learning.

Experiences Shared by the (Future) Public Health Workforce during the COVD-19 Pandemic in Germany: Results of a Survey on Workload, Work Content, and Related Challenges among Students and Young Professionals

Although previous studies have focused on the adverse effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on various professional groups (particularly in the health and nursing care sector), this study aims to close a research gap by assessing perspectives of students and young professionals in epidemiology and public health in Germany in terms of shifts in workload, work content, and related challenges caused by the pandemic. We conducted a cross-sectional survey between mid-February and mid-March 2022. Quantitative data were analyzed via standardized mean differences. Qualitative data based on answers to open-ended questions were analyzed via a qualitative content analysis. Overall, 172 individuals participated in this survey. Results indicate that students felt burdened the most by lack of exchange with other students and lecturers. Study participants employed in public health experienced changes in their employment because they had changes in their work content- and administration, which was accompanied by a high burden due to the workload. Multiple demands that can have an impact on both acquired skills and mental health during the professional qualification phase were mentioned by the participants. Therefore, more in-depth analyses are needed to investigate the impact the pandemic will have on the (future) public health workforce in the long run.

The Psychological Well-Being and Civic Engagement of Polish, Croatian and Lithuanian Academic Students during COVID-19 Outbreak

The aim of this research was to recognize the relationship between well-being and civic engagement under the difficult circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic amongst students from Poland, Lithuania and Croatia. Overall, 1362 academic students (Poland, n = 596, Croatia, n = 386, and Lithuania, n = 379) participated in the study. Mean rank differences in civic engagement level (overall CE) were analysed by levels of psychological well-being (overall PWB and its subscales) using the Kruskal-Wallis test (one-way ANOVA on ranks). We conducted post hoc analysis with Bonferroni tests to measure the significance of differences in CE between the detailed levels of PWB. To avoid biases due to interaction effects between dependent variables, the analysis of mean ranks was followed by a binomial logistic regression analysis model and subgroups analysis (by gender and by country). Results obtained showed that students with higher levels of psychological well-being have higher levels of civic engagement. The differences in the CE level are most pronounced in relation to the dimension of a PWB, such as "positive relations with others", followed by "personal growth", "autonomy", and "self-acceptance". In a crisis, such as a pandemic, it is worth encouraging students to take targeted actions, as well as to create actions referring to personal development and relationships. There were no differences in the direction and shape of the associations between psychological well-being and civic engagement with respect to the country and the gender of the participants, which leads us to draw conclusions pointing to the globalised nature of student experience during the pandemic in this part of Europe.

Impact of COVID-19 on international medical education and the future plans of medical students in Japan

Background: The aim of this study was to assess the impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic on the current study methods and future plans of medical students compared to those in the pre-pandemic period.

Methods: Second-grade medical students reported their academic experiences, study methods, and future career plans before (between 2016 and 2019) and during the pandemic (2020) using a questionnaire-based survey at Hokkaido University, Japan (n = 534).

Results: From 2016 to 2019, we found an increasing trend for participation in short-term international exchange programs, taking the United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE), clinical training, and undertaking research abroad among the students. However, these percentages significantly declined (to 35.5%) during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 for all the assessed future plans, including short-term exchange programs (-27.9%), taking USMLE (-19.8%), clinical training (-24.5%), and undertaking research abroad (-13.2%) compared to 2019, wherein 67.9% of the students wished to have at least one of these four above-mentioned academic activities.

Conclusions: The COVID-19 pandemic adversely and significantly influenced our medical students’ plans to go abroad for clinical and research training. Future studies are warranted to assess the long-term influence of this pandemic on the career planning of medical students.

First-Year College Students' Mental Health in the Post-COVID-19 Era in Guangxi, China: A Study Demands-Resources Model Perspective

The post-COVID-19 era means that the COVID-19 is basically under control; however, the risk of the pandemic still affects people's work, study, and life, physically and psychologically. In this era, due to the more challenges first-year college students face, more attention should be paid to their mental health. An emerging study demands-resources (SD-R) model can explain the influencing mechanism of college students' mental health. This model suggests that study demands increase the risk of student burnout, which results in mental health problems; meanwhile, study resources reduce student burnout and increase student engagement, thus improving mental health. Based on the SD-R model, this study explores the impacts of time pressure, emotional exhaustion, perceived social support, and student engagement on mental health and provides adequate measures to reduce the risk of mental health problems among first-year students. Time pressure, perceived social support, emotional exhaustion, student engagement, and mental health scales were used to investigate 537 first-year students at three universities in Guangxi, China, of whom 290 (54%) were female, and 247 (46%) were male, and the average age was 18.97 ± 1.01. Results indicated that: (1) Moderate scores on time pressure and emotional exhaustion and slightly-above-the-median scores on perceived social support, student engagement, and mental health were found among first-year students in the post-COVID-19 era. (2) Time pressure had a positive relationship with emotional exhaustion and a negative relationship with mental health. (3) Perceived social support was negatively correlated with emotional exhaustion but positively correlated with student engagement, and thus improved mental health. Results of this study with a sample of first-year college students in China support the hypotheses based on the SD-R model. These findings suggest that increasing perceived social support and student engagement while decreasing time pressure and emotional exhaustion may promote mental health among first-year college students.

The Predictive Effects of Family and Individual Wellbeing on University Students' Online Learning During the COVID-19 Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly changed university students' life routines, such as prolonged stay at home and learning online without prior preparation. Identifying factors influencing student online learning has become a great concern of educators and researchers. The present study aimed to investigate whether family wellbeing (i.e., family support and conflict) would significantly predict university students' online learning effectiveness indicated by engagement and gains. The mediational role of individual wellbeing such as life satisfaction and sleep difficulties was also tested. This study collected data from 511 undergraduate students (Mean age = 20.04 ± 1.79 years, 64.8% female students) via an online survey. Structural equation modeling analysis revealed positive effects of family support on students' learning engagement and gains through the mediational effects of life satisfaction and sleep difficulties. In contrast to our expectation, family conflict during the pandemic also positively predicted students' learning gains, which, however, was not mediated by individual wellbeing. The findings add value to the existing literature by delineating the inter-relationships between family wellbeing, individual wellbeing, and online learning effectiveness. The study also sheds light on the unique meaning of family conflict, which needs further clarification in future studies.

Predictors of Learning Engagement in the Context of Online Learning During the COVID-19 Pandemic

The main aim of the present research is to analyze the predictive value of individual characteristics such as online self-efficacy, adaptability to uncertainty, and sources of stress during online learning on learning engagement. We also aimed to highlight if these relationships could be mediated by the online self-regulated learning strategies, during the COVID-19 pandemic. The participants were 529 university students and the design was cross-sectional. The results showed significant associations of the sources of stress in online learning with self-efficacy, leaning engagement and self-regulated learning strategies. Self-regulated strategies—task strategies and goal setting represent mediators of stressors perceived by the students under the conditions of the sudden shift to online activity and online learning engagement. The most relevant self-regulation strategies seemed to be goal setting and task strategies, which confirm the need for a clear structure of learning in the context of online activities. The implications of this study reside in the increased awareness regarding how learning engagement in online learning can be predicted by individual characteristics.

Online Learning Methods during COVID-19 Pandemic: On an Indonesian Nursing Student Experience

BACKGROUND: The policy of limiting community activities during the COVID-19 pandemic affects the learning process. The expectation of the online learning methods is a stressor for the students. For this reason, it is necessary to explore the experiences of the students during online learning. AIM: The purpose of this study was to explore the experiences, especially hopes and needs of the students, while undergoing online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS: This study applied a qualitative approach with a phenomenological design. The participants involved were six health students from the Faculty of Health Sciences in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. They were recruited using a purposive sampling technique. Data were collected through online interview. The data were then analyzed using the Colaizzi technique. RESULTS: The results illustrated that there are two themes of the students’ expectations during the learning, including the expectations of the learning process and the expectations of the lecturers. There are two themes for the students’ needs during the online learning, namely, family support and internet network support. The students expect that the learning process is carried out with a combination of learning methods and the lecturers to understand the problems faced by students. CONCLUSION: The students need the support of a good internet network and family support so that they can participate in the online learning well.

Well-Being and Mental Health of Students during the COVID-19 Pandemic

BACKGROUND

During the COVID-19 pandemic, a decrease in well-being and an increase in mental health problems were registered in medical and psychotherapeutic practices, counseling centers, and clinics. According to previous studies, younger people and women seemed to be particularly affected. The aim of this study was to describe mental health problems of students and to draw consequences for the further handling of pandemics and other crises.

METHOD

Students at the University of Heidelberg, a typical German "full university," were surveyed online using internationally comparable screening instruments like the Well-Being Index (WHO-5) and the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ). In addition, the students had the opportunity to describe in a narrative form their well-being and to make suggestions how to improve their situation.

RESULTS

Out of a population of 27,162 students who were contacted by email, 2,137 students completed the questionnaire. The salient finding is that according to the WHO-5 Well-Being Index, 72.2% of the respondents feel seriously impaired in their well-being. This corresponds to the finding that 75.8% of the respondents in the PHQ-D show indications of at least one syndrome diagnosis. Depression was found in 41.8% of the respondents in the PHQ-D. Indications of moderate to severe and severe depressive syndromes were present in 31.8%. Signs of somatoform syndromes are found in 25.4% and of anxiety syndromes in 20.0%. 1,089 students gave narrative reports on how they were feeling and made suggestions for improvement. About 75% reported severely reduced well-being. Their main complaints were loneliness and depression and lack of recognition for their specific academic and life situation during the pandemic. By far, the largest proportion of students supposed that their mental health issues were caused and/or intensified by the pandemic-related social contact restrictions. The vast majority of them made reasonable suggestions for controlled relaxation of contact restrictions.

CONCLUSIONS

Students suffer severely from the pandemic-related social restriction. In respect to future pandemic outbreaks or other crises leading to social isolation, the dramatic consequences of social lockdowns should be taken into account. Under pandemic conditions, we especially should support persons lacking social networks.