Reflective Practice in Times of Covid-19: A Tool to Improve Education for Sustainable Development in Pre-Service Teacher Training

Further development of the reflective practice questionnaire

Background

This article provides an update of the Reflective Practice Questionnaire (RPQ). The original RPQ consisted of 40-items with 10-sub-scales. In this article, the RPQ is streamlined into a 10-item single reflective practice construct, and a 30-item extended version that includes additional sub-scales of confidence, uncertainty/stress, and work satisfaction.

Methods

A total of 501 university students filled out an online questionnaire that contained the original Reflective Practice Questionnaire, and two general measures of reflection: The Self-Reflection and Insight Scale, and the Rumination-Reflection Questionnaire.

Results

Based on factor analysis, the RPQ was streamlined into a brief 10-item version, and an extended 30-item version. Small positive correlations were found between the RPQ reflective practice measure and the two measures of general reflection, providing discriminant validity evidence for the RPQ. The RPQ was found to be sensitive to differences among industries, whereas the general measures of reflection were not. Average reflective practice scores were higher for health and education industries compared to retail and food/accommodation industries.

Strategic human resource management practitioners' emotional intelligence and affective organizational commitment in higher education institutions in Georgia during post-COVID-19

The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly affected the global workforce, presenting unprecedented challenges to managers and practitioners of strategic human resource management. Pandemic-influenced changes in the employment relationship highlighting the need for adaptation in order to facilitate a return to pre-pandemic conditions. Crises such as this can have a detrimental effect on employees' psychological contract, which in turn can hinder the organization's ability to thrive in the post-COVID-19 era and impede the development of high commitment levels in the aftermath of the crisis. Emotional intelligence plays an increasingly vital role in effectively navigating the crisis and providing support to employees, while also facilitating the reconstruction of the psychological contract. Therefore, this study aims to explain the role of emotional intelligence of strategic human resource management practitioners on affective organizational commitment and the possible mediating effect of the psychological contract in that relationship. A quantitative study took place in February 2023 among 286 HR directors, HR managers, and HR officers in higher education institutions in Georgia. Partial Least Squares for Structural Equation Modelling was applied for data analysis. The results revealed that the emotional intelligence of strategic human resource management practitioners has a positive impact on the psychological contract and the affective organizational commitment. This study supports the idea that emotional intelligence can transform strategic human resource management practitioners into individuals who engage in people-orientated activities. These activities aim to effectively acquire, utilize, and retain employees within an organization. The study also suggests that emotional intelligence can provide solutions to maintain high employee commitment during times of crisis and in the aftermath of unprecedented situations.

Medical students' reflective capacity and its role in their critical thinking disposition

BACKGROUND

Developing reflective capacity and critical thinking is one of the prerequisites of education in health professions, especially medicine. This study aimed to determine the reflective capacity of medical students and its role in their critical thinking disposition.

METHODS

In this cross-sectional descriptive research, conducted in 2022, a total of 240 medical intern students were selected using the convenient sampling method. Data were collected using a reflective capacity questionnaire and critical thinking disposition questionnaire and analyzed with descriptive and inferential statistics using SPSS20.

RESULTS

The mean reflective capacity was 4.53 ± 0.50, and mean critical thinking disposition was 127.52 ± 10.85. Among the dimensions of reflection, "active self-appraisal (SA)" and "reflective with others (RO)" had the highest and lowest means, respectively. The dimensions of critical thinking disposition with the highest and lowest means were related to innovation and intellectual maturity, respectively. Reflective capacity and its dimensions were found to have a direct and statistically significant relationship with critical thinking disposition and its dimensions. Regression analysis results showed that reflective capacity accounts for 28% of students' critical thinking disposition.

CONCLUSION

The relationship between students' reflective capacity and their critical thinking disposition has rendered reflection as one of the necessary components of medical education. Thus, determining the learning activities by considering the reflection process and models will be very effective in creating and strengthening critical thinking disposition.

Some Reflections on the Role of the Eco-Schools Program in the Promotion of Sustainable HEIs: A Case Study in Portugal

Currently, the Eco-Schools program plays a key role in the application of the concepts of environmental education and management in the daily life of schools. This program is considered the largest environmental education program for schools of different levels in the world and continues to grow with the constant and ambitious mission to improve literacy and change environmental behaviors, particularly among the youngest who are now students, but will be the future decision-makers, politicians, managers, teachers, and parents. Thus, it is essential to involve this younger generation in the construction not only of a school, but also of a more sustainable community. This research study presents a set of reflections on the main guidelines of the Eco-Schools program, focusing on its methodology and areas of activity. It also analyzes the reality in Portugal, a country where the Eco-Schools program has been developed since 1996 by the European Blue Flag Association (ABAE), an association that works in the three components of sustainability (environmental, economic, and social), reinforcing the importance of educating and involving all the individuals of the community in joint actions for a more sustainable society. The case study consists of a Portuguese Higher Education Institution (HEI) awarded the Green Flag since the year it enrolled in the program, 2018/19. A description, analysis, and reflections are made on some of the main measures implemented in the last academic year within the scope of the Eco-Schools program, noting that, despite some implementation difficulties, the program was successfully developed, involving the participation of students, teachers, staff, and outside school community members, thus contributing to a more sustainable society.

Gamification as a Promoting Tool of Motivation for Creating Sustainable Higher Education Institutions

Higher Educational Institutions (HEIs) are responsible for creating healthy and sustainable environments for students and teachers through diverse educational paradigms such as gamification. In this sense, the Healthy People 2030 and the Sustainable Development Goals indicated the imperative to provide inclusive and equitable quality education to promote a healthy environment and life. The principal objective was to analyse the impact of gamification on health development in HEIs, highlighting their positive and negative effects. To achieve such an objective, a bibliometric analysis was carried out. The 257 documents showed no significant increasing trend in the last decade (p > 0.05) related to the pandemic. Most of the publications were conferences (45%), and the few published articles were the documents with more citations (p < 0.001). According to their index in Journal Citation Reports, there were significant differences between the citations of articles published in journals (p < 0.001). The analysis of journal co-citations showed that the leading journals (such as Computers in Human Behavior) had a significant part in the clusters formed (p < 0.001), conditioning also the keywords, especially the term “motivation”. These findings were discussed, concluding that the experimental studies focused on the teachers’ adverse effects are yet to come.