ICT platforms for Indonesian EFL students viewed from gender during the COVID-19 pandemic

The aims of this study are to find out (1) ICT (Information and Communications Technology) platform used by male and female students from Islamic universities in Indonesia, (2) their perception of using ICT, and (3) their barriers to using ICT in English language learning during the COVID-19 pandemic. The data was collected from an online questionnaire (Google Form) from students majoring in English from seven Islamic universities in Indonesia. There were 30 male students and 30 female students from every university who participated in this research, making a total of 210 student respondents. The data were analyzed quantitatively by using the SPSS computer program. First of all, female students used more various types of ICT platforms compared to male students. Second, the female students viewed ICT use more positively than male students in language learning. And lastly, even though the females deemed ICT more optimistically compared to male students, nevertheless the females encountered more barriers in using the ICT platforms compared to the male students in this study. Again, even though male students were more skillful in ICT literacy than female students, female students constructively regarded ICT use in language learning as more beneficial to them in terms of skill, knowledge, and motivational improvement.

Proses Penalaran Kuantitatif Menggunakan Kerangka Referensi Siswa Ditinjau Dari Gender

The results of previous studies showed that the ratio of the differences in the level of quantitative reasoning abilities between male students and female students was quite significant. While the frame of reference refers to a series of mental actions through which individuals can regulate the processes and products of quantitative reasoning. Therefore, there are two main objectives of this study, namely to show whether or not there are differences in quantitative reasoning products using a frame of reference between male and female students, then to describe the process of quantitative reasoning using a frame of reference between male and female students. Using Sequential Mixed Methods, this study examined 58 students of class VIII junior high school. The research was conducted in two phases, namely the quantitative phase which included statistical data analysis using the Mann Withney Test to determine whether there were differences in the product of quantitative reasoning using the frame of reference for male and female students. Then the qualitative phase includes a description of the quantitative reasoning process using a frame of reference for male and female students. The results of the study stated that there were differences in the product of quantitative reasoning between male and female students. This is indicated by the results of statistical tests in the quantitative phase, while the qualitative phase found that male students were able to analyze the formulas that were determined according to the results of their own interpretation of the information provided implicitly or explicitly in the questions compared to female students. Keywords: Quantitative Reasoning, Frame of Reference, Gender Abstrak Hasil penelitian sebelumnya menunjukan rasio perbedaan tingkat kemampuan penalaran kuantitatif antara siswa laki-laki dan siswa perempuan yang cukup signifikan. Sedang kerangka referensi merujuk pada serangkaian tindakan mental yang melaluinya individu dapat mengatur proses dan produk dari penalaran kuantitatif. Oleh karenanya, ada dua tujuan utama dari penelitian ini, yaitu menunjukkan ada atau tidak-nya perbedaan produk penalaran kuantitatif menggunakan kerangka referensi antara siswa laki-laki dan perempuan, selanjutnya mendeskripsikan proses penalaran kuantitatif menggunakan kerangka referensi antara siswa laki-laki dan perempuan. Menggunakan Sequential Mixed Methods penelitian ini mengkaji 58 orang siswa kelas VIII SMP. Penelitian dilakukan dengan dua fase, yaitu fase kuantitatif meliputi analisis data statistik menggunakan uji Mann Withney Test untuk mengetahui adakah perbedaan produk penalaran kuantitatif menggunakan kerangka referensi siswa laki-laki dan perempuan. selanjutnya fase kualitatif meliputi, deskripsi proses penalaran kuantitatif menggunakan kerangka referensi siswa laki-laki dan perempuan. Hasil penelitian menyatakan ada perbedaan produk penalaran kuantitatif antara siswa laki-laki dan perempuan. Hal ini ditunjukkan oleh hasil uji statistik pada fase kuantitatif, sedangkan fase kualitatif menemukan bahwa siswa laki-laki lebih dapat menganalisis rumus/formula yang ditentukan menurut hasil interpretasinya sendiri terhadap informasi yang diberikan secara implisit maupun eksplisit dalam soal disbanding siswa perempuan. Kata Kunci: Penalaran Kuantitatif, Kerangka Referensi, Gender.

Technology Usage and Academic Performance in the Pisa 2018 Report

In the last two decades, the great technological advances sweeping society have made inroads into the educational sphere. The use of information and communication technology and social networks has opened up new possibilities for student learning, which require appropriate treatment by family and teachers. This quantitative study takes a new approach to investigating the relationship between Spanish teenage students’ academic success and their use of technology and social networks. It analyses data published in the 2018 PISA report to assess whether the use of these resources is appropriate, and to determine their impact on students’ learning and performance in reading, mathematics and science. The study takes a new approach in terms of the variables selected and the analysis of the data through two statistical measures. The results suggest that excessive use of technology and social networks, both during the week and at weekends, impairs performance. This finding is more acute in the case of male students, as the data indicates that they start at an earlier age and are more likely to use social media for the detrimental activity of online gaming.

Identification of stressors and validation of a questionnaire survey to quantify the stress among Veterinary Students of India

Background As an intensive professional training program veterinary education presents high academic and non-academic stressors to students. Identifying the stressors responsible and measuring the stress among veterinary students can prove useful to design any coping strategies to safeguard the mental health of students. Methods With the aim to identify the stressors responsible, measure the level of stress, relation of stress with variables such as gender and family income 44 item based cross sectional questionnaire survey was designed and distributed among veterinary students of India. Results The questionnaire yielded high internal consistency. More than 95% students were found to be under stress. Maximum students reported high stress due to academic related stressors. Female students reported high overall stress, academic stress, and intrapersonal and interpersonal related stress than male students. Students with lower family incomes experienced more overall stress as well as family responsibilities related stress. Conclusions Gender, family income, academic stressors, intrapersonal, interpersonal and conflict related stressors, and social activities related stressors positively predicted the overall stress among the students and thus these factors can be given special emphasis while designing any stress combating or reducing measures for veterinary students of India.

The Impression of ICT in Medical Education throughout COVID-19 Pandemic: A Survey among Medical Graduates of Bangladesh

In COVID-19 pandemic, the importance of ICT in Medical education is amplified. The purpose of the study was to assess and estimate the role and impact of ICT in relation to learning on medical education and changing behavior of the students in the period of pandemic. A questionnaire survey approach was applied amid of the Bangladeshi medical undergraduates during the period of August, 2020 to November, 2020. A Google linked structured questionnaire was used and distributed to the study population via email, messenger and WhatsApp. The questionnaire was completed by 201 medical students, with 65% were female and 35% were male students. Almost all respondents (98%) owned an android smartphone and used it to access the internet. Two-thirds (69%) of respondents have medical and health related apps in their device, with Medscape being the most widely utilized app. Respondents (49%) encountered bandwidth trouble during online class. For collaborative learning with classmates, 76% respondents favored messenger and whatsApp group. ICT knowledge should be included in the curriculum, according to 57% respondents. Over one-third participants, 37.3%, were neither satisfied nor dissatisfied. 30.8% respondents were satisfied while 19.4% were dissatisfied. The long-term benefits and problems of reforming the medical education system and utilizing ICT technologies should be considered. In this pandemic circumstance, digitalization of learning can give essential foundations for future medical education, aided by ICT tools. Our study may be used as a foundation for future research into developing digital teaching models in medical education. Bangladesh Journal of Medical Education Vol.13(1) January 2022: 58-68

Identification of stressors and quantification of stress among veterinary students in India using a cross-sectional questionnaire survey

As an intensive professional training program veterinary education presents high academic and non-academic stressors to students. Identifying the stressors responsible and measuring the stress among veterinary students can prove useful to design any coping strategies to safeguard the mental health of students. The study aimed to identify the responsible stressors, measure the level of stress caused by each kind of stressor, the relation of stress with variables such as gender and family income. For this, 44 items based cross-sectional questionnaire survey was designed and distributed among veterinary students of India. On statistical analysis, the questionnaire yielded high internal consistency. More than 95% of students were found to be under stress. Maximum students reported the highest stress due to academic-related stressors. Female students reported high overall stress, academic stress, and intrapersonal and interpersonal-related stress than male students. Students with lower family incomes experienced more overall stress as well as family responsibilities-related stress. Gender, family income, academic stressors, intrapersonal, interpersonal, and conflict-related stressors, and social activities-related stressors positively predicted the overall stress among the students and thus these factors should be given special emphasis while designing any stress combating or reducing measures for veterinary students of India.

Adolescent school injuries and classroom sex compositions in German secondary schools

Background School injuries are an important adolescent health problem. Previous research suggests that relevant risk behaviors for school injuries, risk-taking and aggression, are highly susceptible to peer effects. Specifically, evidence suggests that the ratio of men and women in peer groups (sex ratio) affects individuals’ propensity for aggression and risk-taking. However, potential associations of classroom sex ratios with adolescent school injury risks have not been studied so far. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the association of classroom sex compositions with adolescent school injuries. Methods We investigate the association of classroom sex ratios with school injuries in a longitudinal survey dataset containing 13,131 observations from 9,204 adolescent students (ages 13-16) from secondary schools in Germany. The data also allow us to identify injuries due to aggressive behavior and analyze these injuries in detail. We use multilevel logistic regression models to analyze risks of both overall and aggression-related school injuries. Results Adolescent students’ risk for school injuries is significantly and positively associated with male-skewed classroom sex ratios (OR = 1.012, p=0.012). Specifically, the risk of sustaining a school injury increases by 33.5 percent when moving from the 10th to the 90th classroom sex ratio percentile. Moreover, we find an even stronger positive association between male-dominated classrooms and aggression-related injury risks (OR = 1.022, p=0.010). Compared to classroom sex ratios at the 10th percentile, the risk of an aggression-related injury is 78 percent higher in classrooms with a sex ratio at the 90th percentile. Finally, we find that both boys’ and girls’ injury risks equally increase with a higher proportion of male students in their classroom. Conclusions Our findings indicate that sex composition of classrooms is an important contextual factor for adolescent school injuries, in particular school injuries resulting from aggression. These findings illustrate the need to integrate a contextual perspective on school injuries among adolescent students both into research and into intervention planning.

Determinan perilaku merokok pada siswa MTSS Alue Bilie Kecamatan Darul Makmur Kabupaten Nagan Raya

Background: Smoking behavior is the main cause of adolescent health problems in the world such as upper respiratory infections, bronchitis, and pneumonia. Adolescent smoking behavior is influenced by knowledge, attitudes, extracurricular activities, cigarette advertisements, the influence of parents and peers.Objective: This study aims to determine the determinants of smoking behavior in MTSS Alue Bilie students, Darul Makmur District, Nagan Raya Regency.Method: The research method uses comprehensive analytic with a cross sectional approach. The population is all class students at MTSS Alue Bilie from grades VII and VIII totaling 40 male students. Sampling using the total population technique. Data analysis used univariate, bivariate, and multivariate analysis.Results: Based on the results of the study, it was found that there was a relationship between knowledge and smoking behavior (ρ=0.001), there was a relationship between attitudes towards smoking behavior (ρ= 0.004, there was a relationship between cigarette advertising and smoking behavior (ρ= 0.003), there was a peer relationship with smoking behavior. (ρ= 0.004), and there is a parental relationship to smoking behavior (ρ= 0.042). The determinant factor that has the greatest relationship to smoking behavior is knowledge with an OR= 13.9.Conclusion: Positive attitudes had a 2.24 times relationship to the participation of pregnant women in hepatitis B screening than negative attitudes.

Senior high school students’ understanding of mathematical inequality

Mathematics inequality is an essential concept that students should fully understand since it is required in mathematical modeling and linear programming. However, students tend to perceive the solution of the inequalities problem without considering what the solution of inequality means. This study aims to describe students’ mistakes variations in solving mathematical inequality. It is necessary since solving inequality is a necessity for students to solve everyday problems modeled in mathematics. Thirty-eight female and male students of 12th-grade who have studied inequalities are involved in this study. They are given three inequality problems which are designed to find out students’ mistakes related to the change of inequality sign, determine the solution, and involve absolute value. All student work documents were analyzed for errors and misconceptions that emerged and then categorized based on the type of error, namely errors in applying inequality rules, errors in algebraic operations, or errors in determining the solution set, then described. The result shows that there were some errors and misconceptions that students made caused by still bringing the concept of equality when solving the inequalities problem. It made them did not aware of the inequality sign. Students are still less thorough in operating algebra and do not understand the number line concept in solving inequalities. The other factor was giving “fast strategy” to the students without considering the students’ understanding.

The Association of Smartphone Usage Duration with Physical Fitness among Chinese University Students

Background: The use of smartphones has become increasingly prevalent in recent years, especially among the youth. However, smartphone overuse has been reported to be related to several negative mental and physical health outcomes. Although the association between smartphone use and physical fitness has been investigated in several studies, these studies only focused on specific elements of physical fitness, such as grip strength. In addition, evidence on young adults is limited. Thus, this study aimed to examine the association between the duration of smartphone use and physical fitness among Chinese university students. Methods: A total of 11,242 university students volunteered to participate in the study. The duration of smartphone use was assessed using a self-reported questionnaire. Physical fitness tests consisted of a 50-m sprint and vital capacity tests for both sexes, a 1000-m run and pull-up test for male students, and an 800-m run and sit-up test for female students. Results: The duration of smartphone use among the participants was 5.4 h/day for male students and 6.1 h/day for female students on average. After adjusting for confounding factors, in male students, a long duration of smartphone use was significantly associated with a slow 50 m sprint and 1000 m run time, lower pull-up times, and poor vital capacity (p = 0.004, 0.002, 0.002 and 0.040, respectively). In female students, a long duration of smartphone use was associated with a slow 800 m run time (p < 0.001). Conclusion: This study found that longer duration of smartphone use was associated with lower physical fitness among Chinese university students. The duration of smartphone use may be an influencing factor for physical fitness.