Campus Closures Research Articles

Investigating Doctor of Physical Therapy Student Stress During Pandemic Related Curricular Changes

Introduction: Stress level in physical therapy students has been a focus of research due to multiple documented effects related to physical health, mental health, and ability to learn. Self-reflection has also been a focus of education research, relating it to personal learning, critical thinking, and demonstrable development of professional behaviors and skills. The aim of this study is to investigate student stress in response to programmatic changes wrought by the pandemic and whether stress impacted student self-reflection. Review of literature: Self-reflection is positively associated with growth of professional behavior and academic performance. Student level of self-reflection has been shown to be negatively impacted by stress. Subjects: A convenience sample of 35 students entering the program fall 2019 made up the participants. Methods: Outcome measures were collected six times over two academic years. The Self-Reflection Insight Scale (SRIS) consists of 20 statements rated on a 5-point Likert scale with 3 subscales: need for reflection (N), engaging in reflection (E), and insight (I), scoring from 10 to 100. The Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-10) is a 10-item questionnaire rated on a 4-point Likert scale, scoring from 0 to 40. Results: SRIS scores increased significantly from time 1 to 2, prior to the campus closure; no significant change for times 3 through 6. PSS scores indicated a higher percentage of students reporting a high level of stress at time 3 in the months after campus closure, decreasing significantly from time 3 to 4 during virtual/hybrid learning and increasing from time 5 to 6 as students prepared for clinical internship. No correlation was seen between SRIS and PSS, however a negative correlation was observed between SRIS subscale I and PSS at time 4 and 5. Discussion: Student perceived stress decreased during the study despite a universally stressful time. Student stress increased as students prepared for their first clinical internship experience, consistent with prior research. Initial gains in student self-reflection did not significantly change during the 1.5 years of the pandemic indicating that despite multiple academic and social challenges, students were able to maintain, but not grow, their level of professional self-reflection. Research is needed to further describe the relationship between stress and insight. Conclusion: The Program’s response to pandemic mandates may have positively influenced student stress.

From face-to-face to screen-to-screen instruction: Pakistani students’ experiences, challenges, and learning effectiveness

The closure of schools and campuses due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the recent years has been shocking and resulted in a new learning habit from face-to-face interaction to online activities. Challenges, problems, potentials, and other attributes related to the administration of online teaching and learning are highly necessary to be explored. This study is conducted to portray college students’ learning experiences at the time of COVID-19 pandemic as well as post-pandemic recovery in Pakistan. A narrative inquiry by means of written reflection and semi-structured interviews is employed to scrutinize the online learning experiences of 19 university learners’ studying at a medical university in Pakistan. This study’s results depict that the use social media has dominated the whole learning activities in higher education context experienced by the students. Although the students confessed that they were ill-prepared, and there were issues with electricity supply, unstable internet connection, and access to digital equipment, they were still motivated to engage in online learning activities. When they were asked to provide opinion about the teaching modes, most of them argued that face-to-face interaction in a formal classroom was more preferred. The findings offer an empirical implication that teachers and related stakeholders are required to enhance the efficacy of online learning activities in Pakistan. Moreover, the findings contribute as an input enhancement to improve the quality of digital learning from the students’ point of views, both at the time of COVID-19 pandemic and post-pandemic recovery.

Examining the Impact of Remote e-Working on Job Performance and Occupational Wellbeing among Academics in Malaysia: Job Demands-Resources Theory Perspectives

Social distancing requirements during the COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the adoption of remote e-working (Banerjee, 2020). In practice, remote workers’ mental health and wellbeing has received incremental attention (Price, 2018; Russell, 2019)- particularly among academics (Han et al., 2020; Mohamed et al., 2020). The prevalence of remote e-working practices among academics prior to the pandemic (Aczel et al., 2021), prolonged exposure to remote e-working due to campus closures (Ross, 2021); as well as abruptly remodelled expectations of higher education (El-Azar, 2022) resulted in high demands among academics (Cao et al., 2020). According to De Gruyter (2020), academics have experienced stress, insecurity and pressure as collaborative networks, shift to online teaching and supervision, as well as work-life balance were disrupted. Theoretically, few studies have adopted the job demands-resources theory as a framework to understand and promote occupational wellbeing and performance in remote e- working environments (Bilotta et al., 2021). This indicates that existing models predicting outcomes of telecommuting could have been flawed. Empirical studies have equally produced conflicting outcomes of remote e-working (Grant et al., 2019; Santuzzi & Barber, 2018) . Keywords: Conservation of Resources; Job Demands-Resources; Job Performance; Occupational Wellbeing; Remote e-working

The Consequences of a COVID-19 Campus: Student and Staff Views of Financial Aid Practice During the Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic closed many college and university campuses as education moved online in 2020. Using interviews and document analysis methods, this article describes how the experiences of campus closure impacted financial aid staff and the students interacting with them. Specifically, it applies the theory of sense of belonging to both staff and students to investigate the question: how did campus closures impact financial aid practice and student and staff sense of belonging? The paper includes recommendations for both legislators and administrators to improve financial aid, even after the pandemic.

Motivational development in times of campus closure: Longitudinal trends in undergraduate students' need satisfaction and intrinsic learning motivation.

Higher education systems around the world have enforced campus closures to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. Such measures may threaten students' basic psychological needs for relatedness, competence and autonomy, and the development of intrinsic learning motivation. Little is known about whether the implementation of campus closures yielded negative developmental patterns for these motivational variables. We aim to close this research gap. We investigated developmental patterns in longitudinal data spanning the first four semesters of undergraduate students in two cohorts at one German university starting in 2013 and 2019 (cohort 1: normal study conditions; cohort 2: affected by campus closure). We used propensity score modelling to ensure comparability between both cohorts resulting in a sample of 435 students each (total n=870 students). We estimated conditional latent growth curve models (LGCM) to investigate developmental trends in need satisfaction and intrinsic learning motivation across the students' first four semesters and how these trends differed between the two cohorts. The results indicated a more maladaptive development of motivational variables for students of cohort 2 compared to students of cohort 1. More specifically, we found negative developmental trends following the implementation of campus closures for competence, relatedness and intrinsic learning motivation. Our findings highlight the importance of considering side effects for students' psychological functioning when discussing the implementation or renewal of campus closures. It seems important to find ways to carefully reopen higher education institutions while also minimizing further risks for students and faculty.

Synchronous or Asynchronous Course: Business Students’ Perspectives on an Optimized Modality of Online Teaching and Learning

Colleges and universities in the United States swiftly shifted campus-based classes to virtual spaces as a response to extended campus closures necessitated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Synchronous online courses were mandated as a replacement for traditional face-to-face classes in many higher education institutions. We understand that the benefits and drawbacks of synchronous courses need to be reviewed in this environment that has been heavily impacted by the pandemic. Thus, two survey studies were conducted in the fall 2020 and spring 2021 semesters. The findings in Study 1 reveal that students felt more isolated in their studying in the early phase of the pandemic, which increased their preference for the synchronous modality. The results of Study 2 suggest that the perceived isolation effect no longer held. The results from both studies confirm that students prefer an equal split between synchronous and asynchronous components for conceptual courses but prefer additional synchronous components for quantitative courses. A series of regression analyses was conducted to account for such preferences. The results urge educators and administrators to develop a hybrid approach that leverages the benefits of synchronous and asynchronous courses and optimizes online learning and teaching experiences.

You’ve Opened Your Doors: What’s Next?

During the heart of the COVID-19 pandemic, when nearly all lending of books and physical materials in the collections of college and research libraries was impossible due to campus closures, many HathiTrust member libraries participated in the Emergency Temporary Access Service (ETAS). This program permitted patrons of eligible libraries to access—in a limited fashion—a digitized HathiTrust book that corresponded to a physical book held in the collection of the member library. Although the ETAS was closed down after libraries reopened their doors, many libraries are exploring similar “controlled digital lending” services that leverage limitations and exceptions to copyright to support digital access options for patrons.

Turning stage fright into stage might: Pre-service drama teachers developing ideas about pedagogy, authenticity and relationships

The gap between theory and practice during initial teacher training has been an enduring topic of research due to its impact on teacher-readiness. Given the COVID-19 pandemic campus closures threatening to widen the gap, this research was a timely intervention aimed at connecting pre-service teachers to their professional network. Specifically, the project brought together pre-service drama teachers and in-service drama teachers (identified as positive mentors and practitioners) in two 90 minute online forums, to explore pedagogical perspectives and understandings. Semi-structured focus-group and individual interviews were held with 21 pre-service drama teachers. Data revealed that the lived experience shared by drama teachers assisted pre-service teachers translate theory into practice supporting the learning of their pedagogical craft, both instructionally and behaviourally. Furthermore, this collaboration appeared to enhance motivation, build connection to the drama education community and inspire pre-service students during a personally and professionally challenging time in their initial teacher training.

Teaching through crisis: the remote education experiences of PK–12 teachers during COVID-19 campus closures

ABSTRACT This qualitative research study explores the experiences of teachers in the spring semester of 2020 as they remotely instructed their students owing to COVID-19 campus closures. Fourteen teachers from a variety of school contexts were interviewed twice individually and once in a focus group setting to relay their thoughts regarding this unprecedented event. Emergent coding of interview transcripts revealed teachers’ concerns for their students and their learning, the barriers presented owing to the disconnect between them and their students, and how their competencies changed as their time with remote instruction increased. Recommendations for practice and further research are discussed.

Loneliness and Depression in College Students During the COVID-19 Pandemic: the Role of Boredom and Repetitive Negative Thinking.

The COVID-19 pandemic triggered increased rates of depression, especially among college students. Due to social distancing guidelines, loneliness has been suspected as a prominent factor in depression during the pandemic. Research is needed to identify possible mechanisms through which loneliness conveys risk for pandemic-era depression. Two potential mechanisms are boredom and repetitive negative thinking (RNT). This study examined cross-sectional associations between depression, loneliness, boredom, and RNT in a sample of college students (N = 199) in April 2020 immediately following campus closure. Results showed a serial indirect effect of loneliness on depression through boredom then RNT. Moreover, specific indirect effects of loneliness on depression were found through boredom and RNT, individually. Though limited by the cross-sectional design, these data align with cognitive-behavioral theory and identify boredom and RNT as possible mechanisms of the association between loneliness and depression in college students during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Gendered Aspects of Undergraduate Student Experience in the Time of COVID-19: A Case Study of Nazarbayev University

This study examines student experience in the context of their transition to remote instruction during the first months of the COVID-19 pandemic with a particular focus on the gendered aspects of the student experience. The researchers conducted a survey in July 2020 at one of the leading universities in Kazakhstan, Nazarbayev University. We sought to capture the immediate effects of the crisis on student experience and to see the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on learning, teaching, and assessment. The survey was developed by the Student Experience in the Research University (SERU) Consortium (Berkeley, USA) which granted permission to all interested universities to use a survey instrument to explore the experience of their students. Nazarbayev University was the only university in Central Asia that surveyed their students using this survey instrument. The survey assesses five areas of the student experience for both undergraduates and graduate students impacted by the pandemic and campus closures: (1) the transition to remote instruction, (2) the financial impact of COVID-19 on students, (3) student health and wellbeing, (4) belonging and engagement, and (5) future plans.

Off-campus but hands-on: Mail out practicals with synchronous online activities during COVID-19

This paper discusses alternatives to on-campus teaching laboratories, to allow for hands-on learning for remote students. Wholly online practical equivalents have become increasingly popular post-COVID (online simulations or processing experimental data only) which can offer lower overheads and easy scale-up, but often miss hands-on learning outcomes. This paper reviews opportunities for mail-out practicals, where the equipment is delivered to students’ homes, combined with live synchronous learning activities via video streaming or online software. The combination of mail-out experimental kits plus synchronous interactive learning activities creates a host of new opportunities for teaching to remote students. Complimentary online teaching activities could include direct interaction with teaching staff or other students, but it can also be real-time simulations of their experiment. The paper presents a specific case study for a 2nd year undergraduate chemical engineering heat exchanger practical, that facilitated hands-on practical learning with synchronous online activities during COVID-19 campus closure. The paper uses a mixed methods approach in a 2 year study to assess student learning outcomes.

Online medical education in Egypt during the COVID-19 pandemic: a nationwide assessment of medical students\u2019 usage and perceptions

BackgroundThe coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic required a transformation of medical education in Egypt. Public health measures necessitated a rapid shift from traditional face to face lectures to largely online platforms following campus closures. The aim of this study is to characterize medical student use and perception of online medical education in Egypt as well as exploring the efficacy of different e-learning modalities. Additionally, many barriers and opportunities as perceived by students are reviewed to inform future educational improvements.MethodsA 29-item online survey was created on google forms and distributed by social media to medical students across 26 Egyptian medical schools. The survey was administered from August 20th, 2021, to September 5th, 2021. The survey consisted of a mixture of questions style. The medical students were asked about their experiences with online medical education during the COVID-19 pandemic as well as medical students’ anxiety, perceived academic performance, and obstacles related to online education.ResultsOf the 4935 responses collected, 43.4% (n = 2140) of respondents were women; 56.6% (n = 2795) were men. Medical students from private medical schools were 13.0% (n = 644), whereas 87.0% (n = 4291) were from public medical schools. 54.6% of students reported that online education is not as effective as face-to-face education. There was a significant rise in hours spent by medical students on online medical education compared to before COVID-19 pandemic. More than half of students (63%) agreed that online recorded video tutorials (e.g., YouTube) were the most effective form of online medical education.ConclusionThe shift to online education has significantly impacted medical students in Egypt. Medical students reported various limitations and challenges of online medical education, which must be addressed considering the potential benefits of online platforms over traditional face to face learning. The results of this nationwide study provide a framework for potential areas to implement change to improve the accessibility and structure of online medical education in Egypt.

Policy Changes in Global Higher Education: What Lessons Do We Learn from the COVID-19 Pandemic?

Universities around the world are facing unprecedented challenges as a result of the corona virus. There has been global devastation of the entire education sector with long-term closure of schools. The health crisis and the accompanying education crisis continue, and the end of the crisis is not certain. The immediate response everywhere to the outbreak of the virus was closure of university campuses, disrupting almost all academic activities everywhere. After the immediate reaction, as a short-term response, universities began offering some core programmes in education and research by adopting digital technology. While some feel that online methods have improved overall access, many argue that they exacerbate existing inequalities in access to higher education and research among several groups of population. As the global health emergency is still continuing, it is widely noted that we need to develop, after initial immediate responses, short-term, medium- and long-term plans for developing robust higher education and research systems that contribute to knowledge development, reducing inequalities, and which can face future uncertain emergencies. The paper reviews some of the important developments that have taken place, and different perspectives that are emerging on the responses needed for the transformation of higher education in the post-COVID era.

Impact of COVID-19 on college student diet quality and physical activity.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic can cause in increase in stress experienced by college students and consequently, potentially adversely affect their health behaviours. Aims: The aim of this study was to investigate how COVID-19 impacted college-attending young adults diet quality and physical activity. Methods: Students attending an Appalachian university in spring 2020 participated in this cross-sectional study. Participants were surveyed on their eating habits, diet quality, and physical activity before and since COVID-19. Frequencies of responses were analyzed and Bowker's test was used to determine differences in responses before and since COVID-19. Alpha was set at 0.05. Results: Almost one third (32.6%) of students reported eating somewhat more since COVID-19 and 67.9% of these students stated it was due to boredom. Students showed a significant increase in frequency of eating and in consumption of almost every food group. The number of students engaging in low physical activity increased from 27.8% to 51.9% and the number of students engaging in high physical activity decreased from 59.5% to 34.0% (p < .0001) and many switched to the use of at-home workouts. Conclusion: Results indicate the effects of campus closure on college student's lifestyles and the risk of developing health problems due to the COVID-19 pandemic, potentially inhibiting their academic progress and well-being.

Remaking academic library services in Zimbabwe in the wake of COVID-19 pandemic

The outbreak of the global COVID -19 pandemic has affected all aspects of life, access to higher education has not been out of danger as evidenced by the enforcement of official closures, enforcement lockdown and social distancing rules by governments throughout the world. However, while the COVID-19 pandemic has presented the world with numerous socioeconomic challenges, it has also helped to spur creativity and information as evidenced by the responses of academic libraries that have seen a heighted use of digital platforms to support education, teaching and research. The study sought to establish how librarians in Zimbabwe responded to the outbreak of COVID-19 and the implications of the pandemic on library service delivery. A qualitative research was adopted for the study. Using snowballing, interviews were used to gather data beginning with the library association's branch leadership. The researchers ensured that the questions were aligned to the research objectives. The interview schedule included open and closed questions to enable participants to provide further details relating to the phenomenon under study. The participants were guaranteed their rights to consent, privacy and anonymity in the introduction of the interview schedule. An The study reveals that there has been an increase in the use online platforms for accessing information especially library's webpages, electronic books and journals. The use of library online resources from distance locations also rose following closure of campuses. Library patrons' perceptions towards electronic resources significantly improved as they realized that they were equally useful as the print. Findings from the study provide useful recommendation on how librarians can remodel their services to match new demands presented by the COVD-19 pandemic. The study provides a starting point upon which further research on the effect of COVID-19 or other similar pandemics have on library service delivery.

Student-Run Online Journal Club Initiative During a Time of Crisis: Survey Study.

BackgroundSince the closure of university campuses due to COVID-19 in spring 2020 necessitated a quick transition to online courses, medical students were isolated from hospitals and universities, negatively impacting their education. During this time, medical students had no opportunity to participate in academic discussions and were also socially isolated. Furthermore, medical doctors and professors of medical schools were given additional responsibilities during the pandemic because they were the frontliners in the fight against COVID-19. As a result, they did not have enough time to contribute effectively to medical student education.ObjectiveThis paper describes the establishment of the Cerrahpasa Neuroscience Society Journal Clubs, a group of entirely student-run online journal clubs at Cerrahpasa Faculty of Medicine, Istanbul University-Cerrahpasa.MethodsThe website, mass emailing, and social media accounts were used to announce the online journal clubs. Only medical students were eligible to apply. Journal clubs included psychiatry, neuroradiology, neurosurgery, neurology, and neuroscience. Following the last journal club meeting, a questionnaire created by the society’s board was distributed to the participants. SPSS Statistics (version 26) was used for statistical analysis.ResultsSince March 15, 2021, synchronous online journal club meetings have been held every 2 weeks on a weekday using Google Meet, Microsoft Teams, or Zoom. Meetings of each journal club lasted approximately 1 hour on average. Interstudent interaction across multiple institutions was achieved since a total of 45 students from 11 different universities attended the meetings on a regular basis. Students on the society’s board served as academic mentors for the clubs. The clubs received excellent feedback from participants, with an overall contentment score of 4.32 out of 5.ConclusionsBy establishing these clubs, we have created a venue for academic discussions, which helps to reduce the negative impact of the pandemic on education. In addition, we believe it greatly aided students in staying in touch with their peers, thereby reducing the sense of isolation. We realize that traditional journal clubs are run by faculty; however, we believe that this experience demonstrated that medical students could run a journal club on their own since the feedback from participants was excellent. Additionally, as a medical student, being a journal club academic mentor is a challenging responsibility; however, having this responsibility significantly improved our academic mentors’ leadership abilities.

Is Emergency Remote (Online) Teaching in the First Two Years of Medical School During the COVID-19 Pandemic Serving the Purpose?

PurposeCOVID-19 pandemic and closure of campuses have required a significant and rapid shift in teaching and training methods across health professions education, including remote teaching replacing face-to-face teaching. This study aims to investigate if emergency remote teaching implemented in the first two years of the medical school at Avalon University School of Medicine served the purpose during the COVID-19 pandemic. The effectiveness of emergency remote teaching and on-campus teaching were compared using course evaluations (students’ feedback) and students’ performance in assessments.MethodsThis is a concurrent mixed research method. The quantitative data collected are course evaluations and students’ performance in assessments between the two semesters September 2019 (on-campus teaching) and May 2020 (emergency remote teaching). There are three semesters in the first year and two semesters in the second year of the medical program. Each semester has around 10–20 students at any given time. Quantitative data were analyzed for p-values and statistical significance using a t-test. The qualitative data were analyzed using thematic analysis.ResultsResults have shown no statistically significant difference (p<0.05) between two semesters (between on-campus teaching and emergency remote teaching) for course evaluations. Even if there is any difference, the mean values were better in May 2020 semester with emergency remote teaching. There was no statistically significant difference (p<0.05) even on students’ performance in assessments between two semesters (between on-campus teaching and emergency remote teaching) except for two courses. The thematic analysis of interviews revealed the advantages and disadvantages of online teaching.ConclusionEmergency remote teaching served the purpose in the first two years of medical school during the COVID-19 pandemic. The advantages of online teaching are flexibility and comfort, and students can save time. The disadvantages are technical challenges, students lacking motivation, lack of personal interaction, and limitations on lab and hands-on experiences.

Students’ Experience of Online University Education During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Relationships to Psychological Health

The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in the complete closure of many university campuses and a rapid shift to complete online delivery of university teaching. Understanding the student experience of online learning under these conditions is important to inform improvements and adaptations to continued online delivery of university services. The aim of this study was to examine students’ experience of online learning, studying, and assessment during the pandemic and investigate the association between these perceptions and measures of psychological health. A cohort of 391 undergraduate students completed measures of stress, anxiety and psychological wellbeing at the beginning and end of a semester during which a shift to complete remote delivery of university teaching occurred due to COVID-19 restrictions. Students also rated how stressful or difficult they found five aspects of online learning, study and assessment which was used to calculate a composite score. T-tests were used to compare stress, anxiety and psychological wellbeing scores from the beginning and end of the semester. Regression models were used to examine the relationship between online learning composite score and psychological health measures. Unexpectedly, stress and psychological wellbeing improved over the semester during which the university campus closed, and all teaching and assessments were online. Students with higher stress scores and lower psychological wellbeing scores at the beginning of the semester were more likely to experience difficulty and stress with online teaching.

Global representations of international students in a time of crisis: A qualitative analysis of Twitter data during COVID-19

ABSTRACT International students have been historically valued by universities for their contributions to their host countries. Yet, representations of international students in the general public have become increasingly mixed, an issue likely exacerbated by COVID-19, which has shown increased hostility towards international students. Given the increased reports of discrimination during this period, there is ongoing need to understand how international students have been represented in this specific time of crisis. Our study analysed public representations of international students through Twitter data and qualitative analysis of 6,501 posts made during the immediate COVID-19 crisis (January-April 2020). Our findings confirm competing public representations of international students that changed over time: initially through stereotyping and depictions as assumed disease carriers, shifting to empathy and support after university campus closures. We also outline themes of racism and discrimination, which are of importance for the global higher education sector as we move into a post-COVID world.