Characteristics of Adaptation in Undergraduate University Students Suddenly Exposed to Fully Online Education During the COVID-19 Pandemic

New challenges in mitigating climate change: Digital teaching for the sustainable development and innovation

The phenomenon of climate change has become a global challenge that affects human activities in many ways. Exploring the sustainability and innovativeness of digital education is an important reference for the further implementation of science and education strategies and positive effects on climate change mitigation. This study designed two questionnaires for basic and tertiary education to address variability in education and collected 523 samples for basic education and 412 samples for tertiary education respectively. Using digital teaching practices and digital teaching quality as mediators, structural equation modelling (SEM) was used to examine the impact of digital education on sustainability and innovation in education. Research shows that digital teaching and learning in basic and higher education can significantly contribute to the two-way development of educational sustainability and innovation, through digital teaching and learning practices. Digital teaching practice and digital teaching quality in higher education play a complete mediating role, while basic education only plays a partial mediating role. Higher education emphasizes digital teaching and learning practice processes and teaching quality, and most students hope that online teaching and learning can be further integrated with offline education to form a new model of education. This study will help government departments understand the pedagogical reality of digital education at a deeper level and provide ideas for the subsequent sustainable development and educational innovation of digital teaching. It can also provide new ideas for climate change mitigation and sustainable development.

Criteria for detection of possible risk factors for mental health problems in undergraduate university students

Introduction

Developing approaches for early detection of possible risk clusters for mental health problems among undergraduate university students is warranted to reduce the duration of untreated illness (DUI). However, little is known about indicators of need for care by others. Herein, we aimed to clarify the specific value of study engagement and lifestyle habit variables in predicting potentially high-risk cluster of mental health problems among undergraduate university students.

Methods

This cross-sectional study used a web-based demographic questionnaire [the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale for Students (UWES-S-J)] as study engagement scale. Moreover, information regarding life habits such as sleep duration and meal frequency, along with mental health problems such as depression and fatigue were also collected. Students with both mental health problems were classified as high risk. Characteristics of students in the two groups were compared. Univariate logistic regression was performed to identify predictors of membership. Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curve was used to clarify the specific values that differentiated the groups in terms of significant predictors in univariate logistic analysis. Cut-off point was calculated using Youden index. Statistical significance was set at p < 0.05.

Results

A total of 1,644 students were assessed, and 30.1% were classified as high-risk for mental health problems. Significant differences were found between the two groups in terms of sex, age, study engagement, weekday sleep duration, and meal frequency. In the ROC curve, students who had lower study engagement with UWES-S-J score < 37.5 points (sensitivity, 81.5%; specificity, 38.0%), <6 h sleep duration on weekdays (sensitivity, 82.0%; specificity, 24.0%), and < 2.5 times of meals per day (sensitivity, 73.3%; specificity, 35.8%), were more likely to be classified into the high-risk group for mental health problems.

Conclusion

Academic staff should detect students who meet these criteria at the earliest and provide mental health support to reduce DUI among undergraduate university students.

Impact of COVID-19 pandemic on sleep of undergraduate students: A systematic literature review

The 2019 coronavirus pandemic forced the shift to distance education aggravating mental and physical vulnerabilities of undergraduate students, including sleep. This review aims to describe sleep problem rates and prevalence, sleep pattern disruption, sleep duration, sleep quality, insomnia symptoms, psychological and socio-economic factors affecting sleep of undergraduates in 22 countries. A systematic search for articles published from 2020 to 2021 using 'COVID-19,' 'Coronavirus,' 'Pandemic,' 'Sleep,' 'Mental Health,' and 'Students' from PubMed, Scopus, and Cochrane yielded 2550 articles, where 72 were included. Selection criteria were: English full-text available articles, undergraduates and not postgraduates, reported sleep outcomes, and participants not from allied health courses. Risk of bias was assessed using various Joanna Briggs Institute checklists and outcomes were descriptively synthesized. Prevalence of sleep problems was notable, while longitudinal studies showed increased rates. There was significantly increased sleep duration, and sleep pattern disruption during lockdowns. Several psychological, behavioural, environmental, demographic, and socio-economic factors were found to be associated with sleep changes. These highlight the pandemic's impact on sleep of undergraduate students and reveal opportunities for institutions to intervene with policies and programs to promote the well-being of undergraduates. Limitations include recall bias and underrepresentation of other countries. This study is self-funded with registration number RGAO-2021-0071.

Students’ Perceptions of Online Learning during COVID-19 Pandemic: A Qualitative Approach

In this study, we conducted a thematic analysis of the views and perspectives of university students about online learning, specifically regarding their interpretations and experiences of the transition from traditional face-to-face courses to online teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic. The sample included 209 undergraduate and postgraduate students who were invited to complete five tasks, i.e., a free association task, answering open questions about the advantages and disadvantages of online learning, providing suggestions for improving online learning, and sharing a personal experience lived during this period. Some of the main themes extracted from the data refer to the negative aspects of online learning mentioned by participants in relation to its disadvantages, such as health and psychosocial problems (e.g., stress, anxiety, decreased motivation, isolation/loneliness, and apathy) and learning process problems (e.g., misunderstandings, a lack of feedback, additional academical requirements, a lack of challenge, and disengagement). Other recurrent themes refer to the positive aspects of online learning associated with its benefits: comfort and accessibility, economy (saving time and money), and psychological and medical safety. The personal experiences during COVID-19 shared by our respondents were organised around four main themes (positive, negative, ambivalent, and transformative experiences) related to students’ adaptation to the educational context generated by the pandemic. Based on these findings, practical recommendations for universities and researchers are discussed.

Detecting latent topics and trends in blended learning using LDA topic modeling

With the rapid application of blended learning around the world, a large amount of literature has been accumulated. The analysis of the main research topics and development trends based on a large amount of literature is of great significance. To address this issue, this paper collected abstracts from 3772 eligible papers published between 2003 and 2021 from the Web of Science core collection. Through LDA topic modeling, abstract text content was analyzed, then 7 well-defined research topics were obtained. According to the topic development trends analysis results, the emphasis of topic research shifted from the initial courses about health, medicine, nursing, chemistry and mathematics to learning key elements such as learning outcomes, teacher factors, and presences. Among 7 research topics, the popularity of presences increased significantly, while formative assessment was a rare topic requiring careful intervention. The other five topics had no significant increase or decrease trends, but still accounted for a considerable proportion. Through word cloud analysis technology, the keyword characteristics of each stage and research focus changes of research were obtained. This study provides useful insights and implications for blended learning related research.

Measuring the Impact of the Pandemic on Female and Male Students’ Learning in a Society in Transition: A Must for Sustainable Education

A sustainable education amid a disruptive event (e.g., a pandemic) requires the objective assessment of learning before and during the event and, if necessary, evidence-driven solutions in response to deficiencies. The present action research study illustrates an evidence-based response of educators to the widespread concerns that learning in college students, accustomed to face-to-face courses, might have been damaged during the pandemic by the switch to the online mode. It focuses on general education (GE) courses as they usually enroll students at the beginning of their journey in higher education, and thus, a population that is likely to be particularly sensitive to unforeseen changes. Pass/fail grades in courses taught face-to-face and online synchronously by the same instructors were examined. It was hypothesized that if the switch from face-to-face to online instruction changed the students’ approaches to learning, course performance would differ between the instructional modes. Differences in female and male students’ adaptation responses were expected to be reflected in their course performance. The study found that female students performed better online than face-to-face in Arabic Culture, Natural Science, Math, and Wellness courses. Male students also performed better online in Math and Natural Science courses, whereas they exhibited better performance face-to-face in Arabic Culture, Wellness, and Professional Competency courses. It was concluded that basic indices of uneven performance can guide further analyses into the sources of female and male students’ approaches to instructional modes.