scholarly journals Do-it-yourself physiology labs: Can hands-on laboratory classes be effectively replicated online?

2021 ◽  
Vol 45 (1) ◽  
pp. 95-102
Author(s):  
Kay Colthorpe ◽  
Louise Ainscough
Keyword(s):  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Learning Experience ◽  
Teaching Staff ◽  
Online Classes ◽  
Loss Of Face ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Online Laboratory ◽  
Do It Yourself ◽  
Essential Knowledge ◽  
The Impact

Laboratory classes are a cornerstone of physiology education, enabling students to develop essential knowledge and skills. Recent moves toward utilizing blended options to support face-to-face classes with online materials are beneficial, but using solely online classes may not produce similar learning gains. During 2020, the global pandemic meant a loss of face-to-face teaching, such that laboratory classes were rapidly transitioned to online delivery. This study explores the impact of this shift on undergraduate students, evaluating their use of the online laboratory classes and the impact this had on their examination performance and their perceptions of learning. Student use of the online laboratory classes varied, with those spending more time performing better on examinations. Students valued the online classes, finding them helpful for their learning, but also felt that the lack of face-to-face laboratory classes and interactions with peers and teaching staff was detrimental to their learning experience. Overall, academic performance of online learners was comparable to previous years but may indicate some underlying deficits.

Inequality and Access to Online Education During a Global Crisis

2021 ◽  
pp. 340-361
Author(s):  
Herbert Ntuli ◽  
Edwin Muchapondwa ◽  
Victor Ntuli ◽  
Lina Mangwende
Keyword(s):  
Online Education ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Learning Experience ◽  
Education Policies ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Free Data ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Method Approach

The impact of inequality and technology on access to online education has received tremendous attention within the past two decades from researchers across the globe. What remains under-researched is the knowledge of how shocks such as the COVID-19 pandemic affect access to online education. The main objective of the study was to examine inequality in accessing online education in the context of a crisis in a developing region. A mixed-method approach was used to collect and analyze online survey data based on 393 undergraduate students from six countries in Southern Africa. Both observable and hidden inequality sources such as income and participation in household chores compromise the quality of online education. A shift from face-to-face teaching to online education is likely to result in learning difficulties and deterioration in the quality of education. Policies such as the provision of free data improve the learning experience by reducing inequality. Therefore, decision-makers should take into consideration inequality in designing policies and strategies during a crisis.

scholarly journals Female Saudi University Students’ Perceptions of Online Education Amid COVID-19 Pandemic

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nasrin Altuwairesh
Keyword(s):  
Online Learning ◽  
Online Education ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Learning Experience ◽  
Educational Process ◽  
Mitigation Measures ◽  
Online Classes ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Education Experience

The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has wreaked havoc and caused world-wide disruptions to daily activities, including education. Numerous mitigation measures were taken to slow down the rapid spread of this pandemic. The situation, subsequently, entailed utilizing technology to ensure the continuation of the educational process. The abrupt shift to online education presented significant challenges to teachers and learners alike. Uncovering students’ perceptions of their online education experience will help address and deal with these challenges. This study attempted to explore the perceptions of Saudi female undergraduate students of their online education experience amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The total of 241 female students at the College of Languages and Translation at King Saud University in Riyadh answered a multi-item online survey. The results revealed that many of the respondents were happy with their online learning experience, enjoyed learning online and looked forward to their online classes. However, when asked to compare online learning to brick-and-mortar classes, more than half of the participants stated that they prefer traditional, face-to-face learning. The results of this study also revealed that the significant problems students faced in online education related to staying motivated, technical issues and the absence of face-to-face interaction. Despite the many challenges they face when learning online, the most cited advantage for online education mentioned by the participants is that it is more convenient. The results also indicated that this education mode seemed to suit shy students more, as they stated that they participate and ask questions more in online classes.

scholarly journals Female Saudi University Students’ Perceptions of Online Education Amid COVID-19 Pandemic

2021 ◽  
pp. 381-397
Author(s):  
Nasrin Altuwairesh
Keyword(s):  
Online Learning ◽  
Online Education ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Learning Experience ◽  
Educational Process ◽  
Mitigation Measures ◽  
Online Classes ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Education Experience

The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has wreaked havoc and caused world-wide disruptions to daily activities, including education. Numerous mitigation measures were taken to slow down the rapid spread of this pandemic. The situation, subsequently, entailed utilizing technology to ensure the continuation of the educational process. The abrupt shift to online education presented significant challenges to teachers and learners alike. Uncovering students’ perceptions of their online education experience will help address and deal with these challenges. This study attempted to explore the perceptions of Saudi female undergraduate students of their online education experience amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The total of 241 female students at the College of Languages and Translation at King Saud University in Riyadh answered a multi-item online survey. The results revealed that many of the respondents were happy with their online learning experience, enjoyed learning online and looked forward to their online classes. However, when asked to compare online learning to brick-and-mortar classes, more than half of the participants stated that they prefer traditional, face-to-face learning. The results of this study also revealed that the significant problems students faced in online education related to staying motivated, technical issues and the absence of face-to-face interaction. Despite the many challenges they face when learning online, the most cited advantage for online education mentioned by the participants is that it is more convenient. The results also indicated that this education mode seemed to suit shy students more, as they stated that they participate and ask questions more in online classes.

The Use of Twitter as an Interactive Learning Tool Within a Postgraduate Public Health Course: A Pilot Study

2020 ◽  
pp. 237337992097842
Author(s):  
Rimante Ronto ◽  
Alexandra Bhatti ◽  
Josephine Chau
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Learning Experience ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Teaching Staff ◽  
Learning Tool ◽  
Interactive Approach ◽  
Master Of Public Health ◽  
Use Of Social Media ◽  
The Impact

Twitter has gained attention in recent years as a tool to use in higher education to enhance students’ learning, engagement, and reflective writing. This study explored public health students’ perceptions on the usefulness of Twitter as a learning tool, engagement with their peers, staff, and the broader public health community. Participants were Master of Public Health students from a public university based in Sydney, Australia. A mixed methods approach was used combining content analysis of tweets, an online survey and two focus groups. Students were asked to engage with Twitter by reflecting on each week’s teaching content and by liking and replying to their peers’ tweets. Participation and engagement in this task were high initially and declined toward the end of semester. Most student tweets aligned with topics taught during the semester. Survey and focus group data indicated most students had positive views on using Twitter and reported finding engagement with Twitter beneficial in obtaining current information on health promotion news and trends, increasing their professional networks and allowing them to connect with their peers and teaching staff. Results indicate Twitter is a promising interactive approach to enhance public health students’ engagement and overall learning experience, as well as being useful for professional networking. Larger scale empirical studies are needed to investigate the impact of the use of social media platforms such as Twitter to various learning outcomes longitudinally and beyond this course.

scholarly journals Avaliação de um Ambiente Virtual de Aprendizagem de Imunologia

EAD em FOCO ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Adriano Theodoro ◽  
Gerlinde Agate Platais Brasil Teixeira ◽  
Claudia Marcia Borges Barreto
Keyword(s):  
Learning Environment ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Learning Experience ◽  
Virtual Learning ◽  
Virtual Learning Environment ◽  
Ease Of Use ◽  
Classroom Teaching ◽  
First Year ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Teaching Concept

Descrevemos o processo de criação colaborativa de um ambiente virtual de aprendizagem (AVA) de acordo com os princípios das metodologias ativas de ensino e a sua avaliação. O ambiente virtual foi usado no apoio ao ensino presencial. Participaram dessa experiência híbrida de aprendizagem estudantes da disciplina Imunobiologia, oferecida no primeiro ano de um curso tradicional de graduação em Medicina. Ao término da disciplina, foi aplicado um questionário para avaliar a facilidade de uso e a percepção dos estudantes sobre a qualidade do aprendizado adquirido. A maioria dos estudantes que avaliaram a intervenção pedagógica afirmou que o ambiente foi fácil de usar, atendeu às expectativas de apoio ao ensino presencial e as atividades didáticas foram importantes para o aprendizado de habilidades como reflexão, pesquisa e discussão. Portanto, o ambiente virtual desenvolvido foi bem-sucedido e bem-aceito pelos estudantes.Palavras-chave: Educação a distância, Moodle; Ensino de Imunologia, Mapa conceitual.? Evaluation of a Virtual Learning Environment of ImmunologyAbstractWe herein describe the process of collaborative creation and evaluation of a Virtual Learning Environment of Immunology according to the principles of active learning. The Web-based platform was used in support of face to face classroom teaching. First year Medicine undergraduate students attending Immunobiology? course participated in this blended learning experience. At the end of the course, a questionnaire was applied to evaluate the ease of use and the students' perception of the quality of the acquired learning. Most students assessed the educational intervention said that the environment was easy to use, supports the classroom teaching and the educational activities were important for learning skills such as reflection, research and discussion. Therefore, the developed virtual environment was successful and well accepted by the students. Keywords: Distance learning, Moodle, Immunology teaching, Concept map.

“Solvitur Ambulando” (It Is Solved by Walking): Learning Business Leadership on the Camino De Santiago

2020 ◽  
Vol 44 (4) ◽  
pp. 406-434
Author(s):  
Shannon Deer ◽  
Nancy Simpson
Keyword(s):  
Leadership Development ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Research University ◽  
Course Design ◽  
Learning Experience ◽  
High Impact ◽  
Camino De Santiago ◽  
Course Experience ◽  
Development Literature ◽  
The Impact

Undergraduate students enrolled in a large research university walked 500 miles on the Camino de Santiago (Camino) as a culminating experience of a course designed to foster high-impact learning, specifically learning about themselves as leaders and global citizens. The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore undergraduate students’ perspectives about the impact of the experience on their leadership development. The course design incorporated leadership theory and high-impact learning practices to provide students with an innovative and in-depth learning experience unique from a classroom setting. A thematic analysis of student post-Camino metareflections gave insight as to how students perceived their development as leaders and what elements of the experience students perceived to be most impactful. Interpretation of the findings was informed by leadership development literature identifying the metacompetencies and competencies of a leader. Other business schools could incorporate the findings regarding leadership development and the effectiveness of the specific course experience to implement their own programs. We provide recommendations and outline resources other universities would need for structuring similar innovative, high-impact learning experiences designed to enhance students’ leadership competencies.

scholarly journals Implementation of Facebook study groups as supplements for learning management systems in adult ODL environments

2012 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-11
Author(s):  
Ishan Sudeera Abeywardena ◽  
Tham Choy Yoong
Keyword(s):  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Learning Experience ◽  
Participation Rate ◽  
Pilot Project ◽  
Study Groups ◽  
Online Tool ◽  
Postgraduate Students ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Learning Management ◽  
Support Students

As an open and distance learning (ODL) institution, Wawasan Open University (WOU) employs a blended approach for delivering courses to its undergraduate and postgraduate students, who are entirely adult learners. In this approach, the use of a learning management system (LMS) is absolutely crucial for student support as well as the enhancement of the whole learning experience to compensate for the lack of face-to-face interaction between the students and the academics. WawasanLearn, the open source, Moodle-based LMS system used by WOU, is a comprehensive online tool that enables students and academics to effectively interact in a virtual environment. However, analysis of data from several semesters shows that the rate of student interaction on WawasanLearn is low with respect to the sharing of knowledge. In order to qualitatively and quantitatively identify the factors contributing to the student participation rate in WawasanLearn, a survey was conducted among the undergraduate students studying in various disciplines including science and technology, business administration, liberal studies, education, languages and communication. Feedback regarding the manner of support students expect from WawasanLearn was gathered from close to 550 students throughout Malaysia. Another purpose of the survey was to identify whether and why students are drawn to participate more frequently in social networking platforms such as Facebook (facebook.com). As a result of the findings of the survey, a pilot project was implemented to study the use of Facebook groups as study groups for supplementing WawasanLearn. These study groups were run in parallel to WawasanLearn for seven course modules over two consecutive semesters. This paper discusses the findings of this pilot project with respect to the implementation of Facebook groups as supplements to the LMS in an adult ODL environment.

scholarly journals EFFECT OF LOCKDOWN ON EDUCATION OF RURAL UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS DURINGCOVID-19 PANDEMIC IN UMARBAN (DHAR), M.P., INDIA

2021 ◽  
pp. 14-18
Author(s):  
Jyoti Agrawal
Keyword(s):  
Online Education ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Online Classes ◽  
Virtual Classrooms ◽  
Before And After ◽  
E Learning ◽  
Study Participants ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Support Students

A survey was conducted to assess the impact of lockdown due to COVID-19 on online education of undergraduate learners of government colleges Umarban, district Dhar (454449) Madhya Pradesh, India. An online as well as offline survey was conducted from 10 October 2020 to 15 March 2021 to collect the information. To analyze the possibility and attention of students for online education, various online quizzes were conducted in which a structural questionnaire link using ‘Google form’ was sent to students through WhatsApp. A total of 265 students were taken for the survey. The simple percentage distribution was used to assess the learning status of the study participants. During the lockdown period, around 15.47% of learners were involved in e-learning. Most of the learners were used android mobile for attending e-learning. The present study revealed that around 60% of students were seen to involve in farming during lockdown instead of online classes. In addition to this, 45% of students never joined an online class during the entire session. Further analysis demonstrated that 13% of students do not have their own mobile phone, nearly 18% could not join due to poor internet connectivity, 21% of students faced unfavorable study environment at home and 3% of students have other reasons. This study also showed a comparative analysis of the presence of students before and after the COVID 19 pandemic. As the ratio of presence of students in physical and virtual classrooms was 2.32. The overall results from this study revealed that especially in rural areas COVID – 19 pandemic had affected more adversely on classroom attendance, where people already do not want to give importance to education. Higher education institutions may benefit from these findings while formulating strategies to support students during this pandemic. Moreover, to promote education in COVID 19 era strong strategies are urgently needed.

scholarly journals Switching from Face-to-Face to Online Instruction Midsemester

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Debora Herold ◽  
Tina Chen
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Online Learning ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Online Instruction ◽  
Online Classes ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Global Pandemic ◽  
Limited Perspective ◽  
Technology Changes ◽  
Before And After

The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted higher education during Spring 2020 by forcing all face-to-face classes to unexpectedly transition to online learning. To better understand how switching to remote learning affected students and the factors that impacted their ability to successfully complete classes, 168 undergraduate students in three different psychology classes (six sections total) were asked in the last week of the semester about their experiences from before and after the switch. Students reported some decreased access to technology, changes in work responsibilities, some amount of physical illness, and the need to care for others who were physically ill. Notably, students consistently reported increased stress and decreased ability to focus. Students varied in how much they prioritized classes after the switch, which predicted their performance in the class, measured by exam grade, overall grade, and completion of attendance before and after the switch. Importantly, survey respondents significantly differed from non-respondents in their class performance, which suggests that results from voluntary surveys may capture a limited perspective and possibly underestimate the detrimental effects of the shift to online instruction. Implications for planning for future online classes in a global pandemic are discussed.

scholarly journals Fear of COVID-19 Effects on University Student’s Health Behaviours: The FRESH Study

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 52
Author(s):  
Madison Grande ◽  
Patricia Doyle-Baker
Keyword(s):  
University Students ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Health Behaviours ◽  
Smoking Behaviour ◽  
Online Classes ◽  
Eating Behaviours ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Daily Routines ◽  
Health Related ◽  
Moderate Range

Background: The imposed stay-at-home restrictions with the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic disrupted daily routines and impacted some population groups more than others. One such group included university students who were forced to adapt to online classes reducing face to face interactions. The uncertainty associated with this change may have created a sense of anxiety and fear towards the virus. Objective: The objective of this study was to measure the level of fear associated with COVID-19 in Canadian undergrad university students and the influence fear may have on their health-related behaviours during an ongoing pandemic. Methods: Students enrolled in four large universities in the province of Alberta were invited to complete an online Fear of COVID-19 Scale (FCV-19S) from January 4th to February 15th, 2021. Results: Undergraduate students (n=680; 73.4% female) with a mean age of 23 (SD 5) years had an average FCV-19 score of 17.1 (SD 6.1) out of 35. Many students (60%) categorized their fear in the moderate range and females were more likely to have a higher FCV-19 score (p<.05) than males. Increases in alcohol and substance use, sleeping and eating behaviours were significantly associated (p<.05) with higher FCV-19 scores (p=.047; p=.000; p=.000). Most student’s smoking behaviour (80.5%) remained the same, however physical activity decreased. Conclusion: In summary, students showed a moderate level of fear associated with COVID-19 during the pandemic, and those with greater levels of fear reported more negative heath behaviour choices. These results highlight that continued restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic continue to negatively impact student’s health behaviours.

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