Italian University Research Articles

Exploring students’ acceptance and continuance intention in using immersive virtual reality and metaverse integrated learning environments: The case of an Italian university course

Immersive virtual reality (IVR) and Metaverse applications are gaining attention in the educational field, showing potentials in transforming traditional learning methods by supporting active and experiential forms of learning. Our study, conducted within the context of an Italian university course, employs the Extended Expectation-Confirmation Model (EECM) as a theoretical framework to explore the key aspects of students’ acceptance and continued intention to use IVR and Metaverse integrated learning environments in educational settings. The EECM, which bridges the gap between pre-adoption expectations and post-adoption experiences, provides a comprehensive perspective for exploring technology adoption in education. Students’ attitudes were assessed before and after they completed an elective course offered by the university that delved into IVR and Metaverse applications. During the course, students explored the theoretical and practical applications of these technologies, engaging in a variety of experiences, from immersive relaxation exercises to immersive educational platforms in the emerging Metaverse. Contrary to common assumptions, pre-adoption factors like performance and effort expectancy had limited impact on expectancy confirmation. However, when students’ initial expectations matched their experiences, their perceptions of the technology’s usefulness, satisfaction, and confidence in its use were positively enhanced, influencing their continued intention to integrate these tools in education.

Generation Z, values, and media: from influencers to BeReal, between visibility and authenticity.

This study examines the connection between values perceived as important by Generation Z and the values conveyed by the media contents chosen and consumed by young individuals. The article's main objective is to identify the values that a sample of Italian university students, aged between 20 and 23, consider most significant. It explores their perceptions and expectations regarding contemporary society and the ethical trends therein. Furthermore, it investigates their preferred media and the values they believe these media platforms convey, trying to investigate the relationship between values and favorite media. Media and digital platforms, indeed, play an increasingly vital role in shaping and disseminating values. YouTubers, influencers, or, in a broader context, content on social media platforms (such as Instagram, TikTok, as well as entertainment platforms like Netflix) demonstrate how the new mediators of communication and the forms of media content favored by young individuals are, more evidently than ever, intertwined with the sharing of values, norms, and social expectations, much like family and school once were. One example that emerged from the research concerned the success of the "Bereal" platform, linked on the one hand to the desire to make public and share one's self-image, and on the other hand to the need to show oneself as "authentic." Through the conduct of five focus groups in December 2022 involving 60 university students from the University of Turin, this research reveals a substantial continuity in the values considered most important by young individuals (compared to previous national surveys). The article also demonstrates how the values conveyed by the media favored by young people do not always correspond to traditional ones and express needs that, at times, the new digital platforms and their protagonists manage to intercept.

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on academic performance: a comparative analysis of face-to face and online assessment.

Survey studies yield mixed results on the influence of the COVID-19 pandemic on academic performance, with limited direct evidence available. Using the academic platform from the Italian university system, a large-scale archival study involving 30,731 students and 829 examiners encompassing a total of 246,416 exams (oral tests only) to scrutinize the influence of the COVID-19 pandemic on the likelihood of passing exams was conducted. Examination data were collected both in face-to-face and online formats during the pandemic. In the pre-pandemic period, only face-to-face data were accessible. In face-to-face examination, we observed a lower probability of passing exams during the pandemic as opposed to pre-pandemic periods. Notably, during the pandemic we found an increased chance of passing exams conducted through online platforms compared to face-to-face assessments. These findings provide the first direct evidence of an adverse impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on academic performance. Furthermore, the results align with prior survey studies underscoring that using telematics platforms to evaluate students' performance increases the probability of exam success. This research significantly contributes to ongoing efforts aimed to comprehend how lockdowns and the widespread use of online platforms impact academic assessment processes.

University commuting during the COVID-19 pandemic: Changes in travel behaviour and mode preferences

One prominent change induced by the COVID-19 pandemic concerns the worldwide use of public transportation for commuting purposes. This study focused on university commuting in Italy by examining the propensity to change transport modes under different infection risk scenarios. Data were collected in 2020 through an online survey of college mobility conducted by the Italian University Network for Sustainable Development. Asking the respondents to consider both a pessimistic and an optimistic scenario, with respect to the risk odds of being infected, we followed a two-step approach to study the prospective travel habits of college users. First, we tested a logit model to estimate the propensity to abandon one's pre-COVID-19 commuting mode. Then, we investigated the factors influencing the choice of switching from public transportation to either cars or active modes by estimating a multinomial logit model. By exploiting the novelty of considering two risk scenarios, this study highlighted that, especially in the pessimistic case, the change to active modes was constrained by spatial aspects in favour of motorized vehicles. From a policy perspective, this COVID-19-based natural experiment advocates transportation authorities taking effective actions to ensure that, in case of emergencies, a modal shift would not benefit more-polluting transport means.

Factors associated with work ability among employees of an Italian university hospital

BackgroundA growing body of evidence clearly documents the benefits of integrated systems approaches to protecting and promoting the safety, health and well-being of workers. The purpose of this study is to provide a holistic view of the work ability of employees of an Italian University Hospital measuring their resources in relation to job demands. In particular, it examines socio-demographics, family and organizational antecedents of health professionals’ work ability.MethodsA survey was conducted to assess the work ability of healthcare professionals, including physicians, nurses and administrative staff, working at the University Hospital of Modena (Italy). The data collection allows us to get a sample of 443 workers, who correspond to 11% of the target population. The data were analyzed using preliminary statistics on the main characteristics of the sample in terms of work ability, socio-demographic variables, family and organizational characteristics. In addition, logit models of the likelihood of having high work ability were estimated using SPSS version 25.ResultsWork ability decreases with increasing age, comorbidity, high body mass index, having at least one child under 5 and/or a dependent adult, having a poor work-life balance, and doing more than 20 h of housework. Specific job resources can significantly promote work ability, including relationship-oriented leadership, autonomy in decision making and individuals’ skill match. The nursing profession is associated with a low work ability. Finally, a significant gender gap has been documented. Women find it more difficult to reconcile life and work, especially when they have children of preschool age and work in professions with greater responsibilities, as in the case of women doctors, who experience lower work capacity.ConclusionsOur results suggest that it is necessary to consider other factors, in addition to age, that are equally relevant in influencing work ability. Consequently, organisational interventions could be implemented to improve the work ability of all workers. In addition, we propose targeted interventions for groups at risk of reduced work capacity, in particular older workers (45 years and over), nurses, women with children of preschool age and in the position of physician.

External accomplice factors in university success: Narratives of graduates with invisible disabilities in Italy

This article explores the external factors that have influenced the university success of graduates with invisible disabilities and the recommendations they make to universities to encourage students with disabilities to stay and successfully complete their degrees. This qualitative study involved interviews with 15 graduates from eight Italian universities. The results identified family, peers, faculty, and disability offices as the main factors that influenced their continuation with university studies. Recommendations included the need to provide more information to both students with disabilities (about the services that universities offer to support them) and faculty (about the students with disabilities they have in their classrooms and the necessary accommodations). These factors can be seen as levers for inclusion that benefit the whole university community.

Technology for sustainability in the educational context: A portrait of the Italian universities

This paper aims to investigate the topic of sustainability within the educational context, specifically the link between the adoption of digital and smart technologies, including AI applications, and sustainability within higher educational institutions. Starting from the consideration that digital and smart technologies play a crucial role in supporting any organizational processes, including educational and training processes, we aim to provide a portrait of the Italian universities and their way to be much more sustainable adopting digital and smart technologies (water dispensers; waste recycling; accessible website; visual content in PowerPoint slides; studentfacing online tools, such as, clickers, discussion boards, chat bots, and WIKIs accessible, etc.). Starting from a deep review of the literature on the topic, we investigate the Italian universities mapping them considering some specific main features (i.e. the development and adoption of sustainability practices and solutions also through digital and smart technologies, the adoption of e-learning solutions, etc.). This qualitative research, through a multiple case study, provides possible interesting insights for the future, investigating one specific country, where some factors, such as cultural, contextual, geographic, and organizational factors, should significantly impact the way universities try to be much more sustainable through the adoption of digital and smart technologies, and, consequently, becoming ‘smart and sustainable’ universities.

Self-Assessment versus Objective Proficiency Evaluation in English as a Foreign Language among Italian First-Year University Students

Self-Assessment versus Objective Proficiency Evaluation in English as a Foreign Language among Italian First-Year University Students

Hurdles in University-Industry Technology Transfer: Why Research-Based Inventions are Not Transferred to the Market?

Despite their importance, previous literature on university-industry technology transfer has overlooked identifying the factors and the mechanisms inhibiting the successful commercialization of research-based inventions (RBIs). In this article, we adopt an inductive approach to explore the factors inhibiting the transfer of RBIs developed within universities to the market. We do so by conducting a case study on 15 RBIs developed within a prominent Italian technical university. Our results show that three main classes of inhibitors prevent the commercialization of RBIs: institutional, interpersonal, and cultural. Although all three factors are important in preventing knowledge and technology transfer between universities and their industrial ecosystem, we find out that relational inhibitors are the most prevalent ones, whereas institutional and cultural contribute to reinforcing the effect of relational inhibitors. We discuss how such inhibitors could be tackled by technology transfer ecosystem actors to eliminate obstacles to the transfer of knowledge and technologies from universities to industry; we also discuss the effectiveness of formal policies and instruments in lowering such inhibitors.

Gendered Language in Academic Evaluations: Evidence from the Italian University System

Gendered Language in Academic Evaluations: Evidence from the Italian University System

Speeding Up Student Entrepreneurship: The Role of University Business Idea Incubators

Student entrepreneurship is becoming more relevant for universities throughout the world. Therefore, it is important to analyze the strategies and mechanisms adopted by universities to support student entrepreneurship. In this article, we analyze the mechanisms used by universities to promote student entrepreneurship through University Business Idea Incubators as part of their Third Mission. University Business Idea Incubators can act as preincubators or preaccelerators that are designed to help a growing number of university students from different backgrounds interact and develop their entrepreneurial ideas in a safe and creative environment. In such a context, we performed a cross-case study methodology on a national program that is aimed at creating Italian University Business Idea Incubators. As a result, we have identified the five key features and 12 strategies adopted by University Business Idea Incubators to cultivate student entrepreneurship. The article also presents some examples of successful business ideas developed by students as a result of their participation in University Business Idea Incubators. The obtained results also demonstrate how University Business Idea Incubators foster intellectual capital to sustain the development of an entrepreneurial mindset and competences, with the objective of favoring both the creation of concrete new ideas and of offering new challenge-based learning approaches to university students. We also offer some ideas that could be incorporated in educational policies to support university student entrepreneurship.

Students' perceived restorativeness of university environment: the validation of the Rest@U scale.

University students are likely to encounter mental health issues throughout their educational journey. Among the various factors that can impact students' wellbeing, the physical environment can potentially restore cognitive, physiological, and emotional resources, thereby enhancing academic performance, and overall quality of life, while reducing feelings of stress and depression. The Perceived Restorativeness Scale is the most commonly used tool to assess the level of restorativeness derived from the educational physical environment. However, a tailored measure could be a more psychometrically suitable approach to capture the context-specific characteristics of university environments for academic students. This study aimed to validate an instrument that can accurately evaluate university spaces to measure the perceived restorativeness of university students. A total sample of 685 students from two Italian universities participated in the evaluation of the psychometric properties of the Restorativeness at University scale (Rest@US), consisting of 13 items divided into four dimensions: fascination, being-away, scope, and coherence. The hypothesised four-factor model (being-away, fascination, scope, and coherence) demonstrated excellent fit indices in both the calibration and validation samples and was invariant for sex. The scale demonstrates good reliability. Furthermore, criterion validity has been confirmed, highlighting that, in a theoretically consistent manner, the perceived restorativeness of university physical environments from the point of view of students and its dimensions were negatively correlated with techno-overload and study-related workload and positively correlated with perceived performance and psycho-physical wellbeing.

Psychological wellbeing of Italian students and clinical assessment tools at university counseling services during the COVID-19 pandemic: a systematic review.

The COVID-19 pandemic brought about unprecedented problems for contemporary society. Among the numerous challenges faced following the spread of the virus, the need to provide assessment tools and remote psychological assistance certainly deserves particular attention. Indeed, this profound paradigm shift in psychological assessment and care occurred during a period of fragility for people already suffering from the restrictions imposed to stem the spread of the virus. One population particularly affected by the pandemic was students, including university students. The latter faced the pandemic in a particularly critical formative period. For these reasons, our systematic review has two main objectives: (i) identify the assessment tools and psychological dimensions most used/investigated during the pandemic in Italian university students; (ii) systematize and deepen our knowledge about the impact of the pandemic on the psychological wellbeing of Italian university students. Our search used PRISMA 2020 guidelines on Web of Science, Pubmed, Scopus, and EBSCOHost. The results indicated that the psychological dimensions most investigated in university students during the pandemic were anxiety and depression. At the same time, the most used assessment instruments were the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI-Y) and the Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II). Furthermore, it is clear from the results that the pandemic has harmed the psychological wellbeing of university students. Finally, we dedicated a section to discuss the interventions implemented by university counseling services during the pandemic. This review could improve the work of university counseling services in this post-pandemic period and contribute to developing specific screening and assessment programs for future emergencies.

Italian validation of a short version of the Dutch eating behavior questionnaire: Psychometric properties and relationships with self-esteem, eating self-efficacy, and snacking habits in university students

Background: The Dutch Eating Behavior Questionnaire (DEBQ) is a widely used self-report measure of eating styles, i.e., emotional, restrained, and external. A short and reliable version is useful for screening, routine assessments, and multipurpose surveys. Objective: The short version of the DEBQ by Bailly et al. (2012) was validated in the Italian context in two studies. Concurrent criterion validity was tested by considering gender, body mass index, self-esteem, eating self-efficacy, and snacking habits. Method: Data were collected via online questionnaires administered to two convenience samples of university students ( n = 613, n = 856). Results: The three-factor structure of the short version of the DEBQ was supported and was invariant across genders. Correlations among the three eating styles, gender, body mass index, self-esteem, eating self-efficacy, and snacking habits followed the expected pattern. Conclusion: The short form of the DEBQ is psychometrically sound and can be used to investigate eating styles among Italian university students.

A Brief Overview: Symptoms of Eating Disorder, Anxiety, Depression, Suicidal Risk and Self-esteem in Italian University Students

A Brief Overview: Symptoms of Eating Disorder, Anxiety, Depression, Suicidal Risk and Self-esteem in Italian University Students

Il CIRSE e la tradizione degli studi storico-educativi in Italia. Tendenze storiografiche tra presente e futuro

This article aims at presenting the origins and the evolution of the disciplinary field of history of pedagogy in Italy. It is a process to which the Centro Italiano per la Ricerca Storico-Educativa (CIRSE), founded in 1980, contributed and which continues to this day. After an introduction describing the scientific changes occurred in the two decades preceding the foundation of CIRSE – similar in some ways to what happened in France – this paper consists of four parts describing the definition process of the study of history of pedagogy initiated in the cultural context of the 1968 revolution; the methodological and epistemological renewal established on the basis of the scientific activities carried out by CIRSE; the different legislation steps that led to the development of an independent field history of pedagogy at university level; finally, the current potential of CIRSE in the promotion of networks and scientific collaboration among Italian universities.

Percy A. Allum (1933–2022)

ABSTRACT Percy Allum began his studies with law and history and graduated from Queens’ College, Cambridge in 1956 before going on to study political science and international law at Sciences Po in Paris (1959). In 1965, he completed his D.Phil. at Oxford under the supervision of the historian Christopher Seton-Watson and began his teaching career, working at English, French and Italian universities. His study Politics and Society in Post-war Naples was published by Cambridge University Press in 1973. From 1966 to 1993 he taught at the University of Reading, and from 1993 to 2005 at the University of Naples ‘L’Orientale’, a return to the city that was his first and favourite field of research.

Gender bias in university student mobility: a cohort analysis in Italy

PurposeThis paper aims to assess gender bias in Italian university student mobility controlling for the field of study. It uses data from the Italian National Student Archive (Anagrafe Nazionale degli Studenti – ANS) for the cohort of freshmen enrolled in the 2017 academic year. The macro-regional comparison unfolds across the following areas: North and Centre, Southern Italy and main Islands (Sicily and Sardinia).Design/methodology/approachThe analysis is firstly carried out at the national level, and secondly, it focusses on macro-geographical areas. University mobility choices are thus investigated from a gender perspective, conditioning upon other theoretically relevant characteristics collected for the prospective first-year university student population enrolled in 2017. The authors analyse data in a regression setting (logit models) within the multilevel framework, which considers students at level 1 and the field of study at level 2. Gender differences in the propensity to be a mover – conditional upon the choice of the field of study – were captured by introducing random intercepts to account for clustering of students in fields of study and random slopes to allow the gender effect to differ among them.FindingsFindings show that university student mobility in Italy leads evidence of gender bias. This has been detected using a multilevel random slope approach that allowed the authors to jointly estimate a slope parameter for gender within each field of study. Moreover, using a regression setting allowed the authors to control for heterogeneity in geographical, educational and socio-demographic characteristics across students. In line with previous empirical findings, the authors' data highlight the presence of a relevant mobility flow of university students from the South toward the North-Centre of Italy and lower mobility of female students compared to male students from the South and Islands.Originality/valueTo the best of the authors' knowledge, there are no studies in Italy, which investigate if families' investment in higher education in terms of selection of no-local universities are affected by gender bias and if geographical differences in this behaviour between macro-areas are in place. Thus, investigating students' choices in tertiary education allows the authors to shed light on the presence of gender bias in families' education strategies addressed to increase the endowment of students' assets for future job opportunities.

Numeri per argomentare: strategie di dispositio nelle produzioni scritte degli studenti universitari

This paper concerns text organization and the signalling of its arrangement in parts. Drawing on text linguistics and combining a qualitative and a quantitative description, it explores the use of enumerative markers as linguistic devices of discursive structure, adopted by Italian second-year university students while fulfilling a timed writing task. More precisely, the paper presents a corpus-based analysis, focusing on textual segments opened by two types of enumerative markers: in primo luogo (in the first place) and in primis. The occurrences are extracted from UniverS-ITA, a corpus made by a total of 2016 students’ written texts (813,000 words). The paper aims at documenting and characterizing, on a qualitative level, the functioning of numerical sequencers (or ordinatori numerici del discorso), mainly drawing on textual scope, i.e. their effect on the textual segments involved. Findings suggest that the strategy most applied by students in the process of writing is an additive one, also emphasized by the frequent use of inoltre (moreover), whereas the homogenous series introduced by a marker acting as a trigger are rather scarce. Nevertheless, some attempts to give a linear ordering to the contents occur. Besides their descriptive value, these findings present relevant implications for teaching and learning academic writing at universities.

Clinical Features and Response to Treatment in Elderly Subjects Affected by Hidradenitis Suppurativa: A Cohort Study.

Hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) is a chronic-relapsing inflammatory skin disease. It usually appears in the second and third decades, but a smaller proportion of patients develop late-onset HS. Geriatric HS, defined as the persistence or the development of HS after the age of 65 years, has been poorly explored. This study aimed to investigate the clinical features, treatment management and response to therapies of HS elderly subjects (≥65 years old). We designed a multicentric observational study, gathering data from seven Italian university hospitals. Demographic and clinical data of HS patients aged over 65 years were collected at baseline, week 12 and week 24. Overall, 57 elderly subjects suffering from HS were enrolled. At baseline, disease severity was predominantly moderate-to-severe, with 45.6% of patients classified as Hurley III. The gluteal phenotype was the most frequently observed; it also appeared to affect patients' quality of life more than other phenotypes. Gluteal involvement was detected in about half (49.1%) of cases and associated with severe stages of the disease. In terms of therapeutic response, Hurley III patients showed the persistency of higher values of mean IHS4, DLQI, itch- and pain-NRS scores compared to Hurley I/II. In conclusion, disease severity in this subpopulation appears high and treatment is often challenging.