Rapid Educational Change Research Articles

Perceived teacher stress during COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract The rapid change in education in March 2020, triggered by the pandemic, prompted an equally swift response from stakeholders, managers, teachers, and, not least, pupils. Struggling with physical, technological, and methodological problems, teachers also had to contend with the social isolation of their pupils, as well as the emotional, technical, and learning challenges faced by the pupils, all of which, of course, had an impact on their own mental and physical well-being. The aim of the study is to investigate the extent to which the ability to use online tools influences the stress teachers faced during a pandemic, similar to the effect of school and government management support on stress intensity. The sample for this study comprised 72 male and female participants between the ages of 24 and 54 years. Convenient sampling was employed to collect data. The questionnaire with binary, Likert scale, and open-ended questions was administered to the sample. Correlation tests and t-tests were used to analyze the data in this study. The research revealed a statistically significant medium negative correlation between the intensity of stress and the ability to use digital tools, as well as a similar correlation between stress and the perceived support from the government. The results indicate that teachers’ ability to use online tools significantly improved during the pandemic. However, it also highlights the urgent need for changes in teacher training education to equip pre-service teachers with 21st-century skills.

Relationship between optimism, emotional intelligence, and academic resilience of nursing students: the mediating effect of self-directed learning competency.

The evolution toward future education following the 4th industrial revolution and the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic have changed nursing education dramatically. Online classes have become a new paradigm of education, and are expected to develop and be maintained in various forms even after the end of COVID-19. Therefore, attention is focused on finding ways to improve learners' achievements in a distance learning environment. This study aimed to examine the mediating effects of self-directed learning competency on the relationships between optimism, emotional intelligence and academic resilience among nursing students. A cross-sectional descriptive design was conducted using convenience sampling of 195 nursing students in South Korea. Data were analyzed with descriptive statistics, Pearson's correlation coefficients, multiple regression, and mediation analysis using SPSS/WIN 26.0 program. There were significant positive correlations among self-directed learning competency, optimism, emotional intelligence and academic resilience. The self-directed learning competency acts as a mediator in explaining relationship between optimism, emotional intelligence and academic resilience, respectively. This study provides the evidence for the role of self-directed learning competency in the relationship between optimism, emotional intelligence and academic resilience in nursing students. Rapid changes in education are inevitable due to changes in clinical settings and the impact of repeated infectious disease outbreaks including the COVID-19 pandemic. This study suggests strengthening positive psychology and self-directed learning capability of nursing students as a strategy to prepare for changes in education and clinical areas.

The Learning Design & Course Creation Workshop: Impact of a Professional Development Model for Training Designers and Creators of Online and Distance Learning

Higher education institutions are increasingly moving from traditional education approaches to incorporate online and distance learning (ODL) models, and this represents a substantial educational challenge for many educators. One way to support this challenge is by providing appropriate professional development (PD) for the design of ODL. Based on models from the Open University, UK this paper contends that PD for the design of ODL should align learning design frameworks with constructivist and student-focused pedagogies to manage the change to the professional teaching identities of participants that designing ODL represents. Robust professional identities are important for mitigating anxiety, embedding lasting change and leveraging the benefits of ODL for institutions and students. In this study, the rationale, model, and strategies of the Learning Design and Course Creation Workshop, based on current literature and participant feedback gathered immediately after instances of the PD was completed in China, are described. Evidence and examples of impact gathered from a second instrument, gathered after implementation, is also provided, and discussed in this context. The findings and conclusions will be of interest to those tasked with providing PD to support educators faced with rapid educational change, particularly as a response to the global demand for the design of ODL.

Undergraduate Mathematics Students’ Reported Use of Learning Resources Towards Accessing Mathematics

The topic of resources for learning mathematics commonly becomes of interest during times of disruption and rapid change in education. The considerable research on undergraduate mathematics students’ resource use largely focuses on learning resources in the form of material technologies and texts. Concerned that contemporary decisions about resourcing for learning in mathematics may take the form of simply adding material resources, we identify the need for research that is designed around a broader notion of learning resource, and which focuses on what resources students use, as well as how they use multiple resources individually and together towards accessing mathematics. Thus, in our qualitative study of undergraduate mathematics students’ resource use, we adopt a socio-cultural notion of resources as material, human, spatial, temporal and linguistic, and of resource use as transparent. We investigate six students’ resource use, reported in weekly learning logs and focus group interviews. We show that students used material technologies and texts, and human and linguistic resources in three spaces − the live lecture, informal study and tutorial − with study time available for mathematics central to their choice of resources and how they used them. How students put these multiple resources to work (or not) towards accessing mathematics involved complex, agentic, individual work. Students’ use of the lecturer’s writing on the chalkboard, talk and gestures to make lecture notes in the live lecture is an example of this. Our findings offer insights into how lecturers can select learning resources, and also support students to use these towards accessing mathematics.

Transition to Emergency Online Learning in SA: Reflection of Historically Black Universities

The year 2020 witnessed an unprecedented and rapid change in education due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It has forced almost all learning institutions to make an abrupt transformation to a remote learning pedagogy due to health precautions to control the spread of COVID-19 and save the academic year. Despite the evidence that remote learning makes work easier, this new content delivery method caught most universities off guard, especially those referred to as Historically Black Universities in South Africa. An in-depth literature review of the existing body of knowledge was applied to investigate HBUs and their ability to navigate the transition from face-to-face learning to remote teaching and learning. Results indicate that lecturers and students in HBUs encountered several challenges in adapting to remote teaching & learning due to constrained resources and severe lack of access to data and skills in using teaching and learning technologies. Therefore, it is recommended that academic staff undergo technology-related professional development to ensure successful integration and improved pedagogical practices. Additionally, improvements in ICT infrastructure among HBUs post-COVID-19 remain critical and should be considered in the transition to online teaching and learning.

Efficiency and problems of distance learning: Experience of Russia and Kazakhstan

The last decade has been marked by large-scale and rapid changes in education, taking place on the basis of modern infocommunication and digital technologies, new hardware and software, as well as teaching methods updated in accordance with this. The limited mobility of citizens due to the coronavirus pandemic further intensified these processes, when, even with a low readiness of educational institutions to switch to distance (electronic, remote) technologies, teachers and students had to quickly master these technologies and use them in practice. The resulting experience allows us to identify not only problematic, sometimes even negative, features of distance learning, but also to make sure of the undoubted advantages of these technologies. The article points out the need for a systematic analysis when deciding on the use of e-learning, taking into account both technical and methodological, as well as personnel readiness for the implementation of this technology.The article analyzes these problems using the example of teaching both technical and humanitarian disciplines. The experience of distance work is analyzed on the example of cooperation between the Moscow Technical University of Communications and Informatics (Russia) and the L. N. Gumilyov Eurasian National University (Kazakhstan), which in its practical activities purposefully invites foreign professors to deliver lectures, guide undergraduates, etc., including those based on distance technology. The data of an anonymous questionnaire survey of students of these universities are given, allowing to assess the effectiveness of the decisions made, as well as to clarify the existing problems.

Exploring coherence and authorship in pedagogical link-making in science

ABSTRACT Despite rapid changes in education, science classrooms will remain central forums where fragmented pieces of information are brought together to construct coherent knowledge as concepts and explanatory scientific storylines. There is limited work stressing the importance of the interplay between how content is communicated through pedagogical link-making and the use of communicative approaches. Even less research addresses the role of coherence in this process. In this study, through exploring three cases of teachers teaching the same topic, we will bring forth differences on how links between past and to be learned scientific knowledge are made. We look at how authorship – whether teacher or students make the links – is related to students cognitively and emotionally engaged with the discussion. Besides revealing differences in these aspects, communicational coherence was found manifesting in different levels in the examples. Based on the findings, we discuss the role of communicational coherence and pedagogical link-making in meaningful learning of science.

COVID‐19 Forced Rapid Changes in Education, but Which Changes Should We Keep?

COVID‐19 Forced Rapid Changes in Education, but Which Changes Should We Keep?

ACTIVE LEARNING METHODS IN STUDIES: STUDENTS’ OPINIONS AND EXPERIENCES

Rapid changes in education and pedagogy are related not only to the global crisis caused by COVID-19, but also to other changes determined by globalization and technological convergence—labour mobility, changes in different professions and changes in teacher–student relations—that are also affected by intergenerational differences. Changes in the pedagogical paradigm, which are included in the content of the Paris Communiqué (2018) and outlined in many important educational development and planning documents, emphasise students’ transition from being mere recipients of information to being participants actively engaged with new information in a learning environment. Following the identification of problems with a less frequent use of active participation methods in higher education, the University of Latvia implemented an Erasmus+ project entitled Entrance to Future Education (2017–2019). In this project, the authors summarized modern, inspiring, interactive, active engagement-oriented teaching/learning methods in higher education. During the project, several student focus groups were formed to discuss students’ experiences with active engagement methods in studies, and a handbook with various student active engagement methods and games was created. In 2020, 106 students from different Latvian universities were surveyed about their understanding and experience in relation to these teaching methods in their studies. The results showed that, according to students, attitude and ardour are essential for engaging students with enthusiasm and interest in the study process. The results of the survey show the varied experiences of students, as well as different understandings of active learning methods. Students noted that they most often experienced various group projects in studies, presentations and various tasks outside the classroom, but relatively rarely used such methods as creative video making, active use of game elements and constructive feedback from peers

Modern Education: Development Trends and Prospects

Aim. The presented study aims to analyze and critically re-evaluate current trends in the development of education.Tasks. The authors examine the concept of lifelong learning; identify the strengths and weaknesses of modern digital technologies such as gamification, virtual reality (VR), and augmented reality (AR); show the prospects for the development of education through distance learning.Methods. This study is based on a systems approach using methods of comparative and structural analysis, analytical and theoretical generalization.Results. Current trends in the development of education associated with the introduction of digital technologies are considered, and the prospects for the development of the industry are determined.Conclusions. The concepts of lifelong learning and practice-oriented education are becoming increasingly widespread in the context of the digital economy and labor market transformation. The forced transition to distance learning driven by the COVID-19 pandemic has become a catalyst for rapid changes in education. Digital educational technologies such as VR and AR expand the possibilities of the natural educational environment, while also bearing certain risks.

STUDENTS’ VIEW TOWARD ONLINE CLASS FOR TEACHING SEMIOTICS IN COVID-19 PANDEMIC TERM

This research explains students’ views toward online classes in semiotics class during the COVID-19 pandemic term. The purposes of this research are to identify students’ views toward online classes and the other purpose is to know the benefit of online classes based on the students’ view. This research was used descriptive qualitative research. In this research students of the sixth semester of the English Literature Study Program at STBA Pontianak to be participants. The participant was selected purposively according to several considerations and particular aims. The interview was used to collect the data. The findings showed that there is a positive and negative view of the participants in online learning. Positive view from the participants by doing online class they know more about technology related to media for online study. Due to the rapid change in education so online classes help the students in mastering the skill to face the era 21st century. Negative view, they said that online class is not effective as same as a face-to-face learning activity, even the lecturer has used video conference but the slow internet connection to be the problem for the students to understand what the lecturer explained. When the internet network was bad, the Google Classroom and video conference can not work correctly, and the lack of internet quota will be a big problem for the participants. Besides, the finding of the benefit of the online class, the participants expressed that online learning is efficient in term of time, they just learning at home, through the online class they feel confident in giving an opinion about the material. In giving an opinion for the material the participants use their word, it can increase their vocabulary. The participants can interact more with the lecturer and peers comfortably than conventional learning. In this research, the researcher hopes that the result will be useful for further researchers who are interested to conduct a similar study.

Effect of a Designed Training of Trainers Program on Instructorsâ?? Performance in Postgraduate Family Medicine Program at Suez Canal University

Background: The educational process entails the cooperation of two partners: The student and instructor. In medical schools, the instructor is considered a key element in the education process. Today's instructor has to be prepared for many roles and keep up with the rapid changes in education, and appropriate training in teaching and learning methods is now essential rather than a luxury. Objectives: This study evaluated the role of Training of Trainer program in boosting the performance of Family Medicine instructors in giving oral presentations and conducting one-to-one clinical training. Methods: We conducted a quasi-experimental study at the family medicine department in the faculty of medicine, Suez Canal University, Ismailia, Egypt. We enrolled 20 Family Medicine instructors and their performance within oral presentations and clinical training sessions was evaluated by both experts and students. Results: According to experts' and students' evaluation, instructors’ performance in oral presentations session was poor prior to the Training of Trainer program and experts' evaluation was significantly lower than that of the students by 2.8 ± 10.0. However, following the program, instructors' performance was significantly improved, and experts' evaluation became superior to students' evaluation 4.3 ± 4.1 (p=0.03). Moreover, instructors' performance in clinical training improved significantly in terms of assessment, instructions, feedback, and attitude. Conclusion: The implementation of the Training of Trainer program has effectively boosted the performance of family medicine instructors. In order to enhance their training/teaching competencies, the training courses provided to clinical instructors should have specialized training focused on effective teaching and adult learning.

Career Education: Concluding Remarks

The interventions presented in the current special issue have the potential to decrease social and economic gaps. At the same time, several important aspects that are central to the rapid changes in education and in the world of work were not included or given minimal attention in these interventions. In this concluding article, we reflect upon these issues in the hope that future studies and career education work will focus and elaborate upon theme.

The training imperative

The changes taking place within the Sheffield service from 1970 onwards, away from child guidance towards a broadly based application of psychology within the whole education department, not just schools, raised questions about training psychologists to take up this new role. Since the publication of the Summerfield report in 1968 (DES, 1968), there was pressure to increase initial training places by opening up new courses rather than simply expand places on existing courses. Sheffield University had an excellent Department of Psychology as well as a strong School of Education. David Loxley was a graduate from the Psychology department in Sheffield University, and was keen to support the development of such a course.The first course tutor to be appointed to the course was David Thompson, already working as a Senior EP in Sheffield. Later associate tutors working part-time in the Sheffield Service and part-time on the Sheffield University training course cemented the close relationship, and had a profound influence on the course structure and content.By the 1990s pressures for structured continuing professional development (CPD) for serving psychologists was growing, both through the requirements of the British Psychological Society (BPS) for chartered psychologists and through the rapid changes in education (national curriculum and its associated assessment procedures, introduction of the Code of Practice for SEN). The tutors on the Sheffield MSc course saw opportunities to develop a taught doctorate to meet these needs, with the first students accepted onto this new doctorate programme in 1996 The experience of developing and teaching this new programme was valuable when initial training for EPs moved to a three-year doctoral course.David Thompson remained as course tutor from 1974 until his retirement in 2007. He reflects on his long experience in the field of initial training and continuing professional development in the field of EP training in the following chapter.

Investigating the Teaching and Learning Conceptions and Scientific Epistemological Beliefs of Pre-service Teachers’: A Longitudinal Study

In recent years, because of the rapid changes in education, the ideas and views of teachers has gained increased value. Studies have revealed that the pedagogic activities utilized by teachers in the classroom, as well as, the decisions they make during the teaching-learning process are profoundly shaped by their pre-existing beliefs. The purpose of this study is to determine what changes occurred in the teaching learning conceptions (TLC) and scientific epistemological beliefs (SEB) of pre-service teachers following their entrance into studies in education and to determine whether a significant relationship exists between these variables. The data collection methodology employed for this study was a longitudinal survey in which data from the same sample elements was collected on multiple occasions over an extended period of time. Sample element data was collected on six occasions over a four-year period from 41 pre-service teachers using both TLC and SEB survey instruments. The results revealed that pre-service teachers started their first year with strong CTLCs (Constructivist Teaching and Learning Conceptions) and the mean scores increased slightly when the grade level increased. Also, throughout the program while the CTLCs mean scores were increasing, the TTLCs (Traditional Teaching and Learning Conceptions) mean scores were decreasing. Furthermore, SEBs’ mean scores obtained from each measurement were very similar and almost all mean scores were in agreement that pre-service teachers hold TSEBs (Traditional Scientific Epistemological Beliefs). Also, positive and moderate significant relationships were discovered between all measurements of the CTLCs and SEBs. This meant that while CTLCs mean scores were increasing the TSEBs were also increasing. Because of these results, it is suggested that teacher educators create unique opportunities that will enhance pre-service teachers’ awareness of their pre-existing beliefs in order to create some consistency of beliefs. Further studies should be conducted on pre-service teachers’ beliefs and conceptions as they relate to their pedagogical practices, as well as, to what types of experiences impact the development of these beliefs and conceptions.

Small medium and micro enterprise (SMME) partnerships: A tertiary initiative to create a unique co-operative education model in commerce (The Business Clinic)

Higher learning has traditionally been characterised by a clear separation from industry and service organisations. Students have typically been taught didactically, one subject discipline in lecture receiving mode. Industry and higher education are now facing a future characterised by profound technological and economic change (McGinn 1997). Economic trends favour increased deregulation and intense competition: such rapid change in industry requires an equally rapid change in education. There is a need for graduates to develop skills that will equip them effectively for a global market. Embraced within the international arena, partnerships between education and industry have gained tremendous support. The purpose of this article is to present the Business Clinic as an innovative approach to co-operative education within the disciplines of commerce at tertiary level.

First Conversations With Manitoba Superintendents: Talking Their Walk

Thirty-seven superintendents lead public school divisions in the Province of Manitoba; their role is to implement the policies set out by the Board of Trustees. In a period of rapid educational change and growth in Manitoba, superintendents are increasingly concerned with rural/urban issues; the fallout from recent school division amalgamations; and local/global educational perspectives. The leadership style demonstrated by superintendents is crucial to their ability to respond appropriately and adequately to growing issues of cultural, economic, social, and community influences. This article describes a study of Manitoba superintendents and their perspectives on their leadership style. Their narrative are analyzed through the lens of servant-leadership as defined by Robert K. Greenleaf and an inventory of 10 related characteristics: listening, empathy, healing, awareness, persuasion, foresight, conceptualization, stewardship, commitment to the growth of people, and building community. It appears that this small sample of superintendents regard awareness, foresight, conceptualization, commitment to the growth of others, and building community as priorities in their leadership modus operandi.

Online and distance learning: concepts, methodologies, tools, and applications

Web-enabled communication technologies are at the forefront of rapid change in education from the K-12 level through postgraduate education. The ascendancy of online learning environments has opened an array of opportunities and challenges, and has raised a formidable set of implications in the pedagogical, economic, political, and other realms that we have only begun to grasp, let alone fully manage. Online and Distance Learning: Concepts, Methodologies, Tools and Applications provides a comprehensive collection of case studies, empirical research, conceptual demonstrations, and best practices on Web-enabled learning technologies. This comprehensive, six-volume collection addresses all prominent aspects of online and distance learning, including information communication technologies applied to education, virtual classrooms, pedagogical systems, Web-based learning communities, library information systems, virtual universities, and numerous other topics. Collecting defining research in over 300 chapters from some 800 contributors representing more than 100 countries, Online and Distance Learning: Concepts, Methodologies, Tools and Applications enables libraries to provide a foundational reference to meet the information needs of researchers, educators, practitioners, administrators, and all other stakeholders in the online and distance learning context.

The New Role of Geography and the Consequent Requirements for a New Curriculum in Estonia

The rapid development of today’ s society presents new challenges to education, conservative as it is by nature. Learning is no longer a one-off process but a lifelong activity. The rapid development of information technology (IT) constantly forces people to retrain and to stay in touch with current changes in a multitude of fields. As far as knowledge is concerned, skills and creativity are becoming more and more valued and the importance of factual knowledge lessens as data ages rapidly and are becoming easier to find all the time. The changes in an information society also set different requirements for the education given at schools. Modern school geography should, along with basic geographical knowledge, provide the pupils with an ability to think and to investigate, to solve problems creatively, to make decisions and to bear the consequent responsibility. Geography, consisting of natural and human geography, is a subject with a great capacity for integration. A good education in geography teaches one to see the connections in natural processes and human society, as well as their mutual interactions. Geography plays a highly important role in today’ s environmental education, as it consolidates and generalises the knowledge of separate natural and social subjects and connects them to specific space and time. Young people with a degree in geography are (at least in Estonia) very much in demand on the job market in different fields of activity, due to their broad-based knowledge, ability to synthesise (thanks to cartography) and above-average IT skills. The new paradigm in education (including teaching geography) presupposes a different learning environment: appropriate curriculum, study aids and the opportunities to use them, teaching arrangements at school, teaching methods and an overall monitoring system. Many institutions related to education participate in designing a modern learning environment. Only in the smooth cooperation of all of those, can rapid changes in education (incl. teaching geography) take place (Figure 1). By now, time has shown that changes take place much slower than expected. For a number of people, geography still means just describing different countries and learning place names from a map. Even some geography teachers think so. Right now, the situation is such that the old rules no longer apply and many have no clear understanding about the content of the new geography.

‘Making a Difference’: purposes and perspectives of part-time research degree students in Education

Research degrees in Education are distinctive in that the majority of the students are practitioners, studying part-time for a degree. They are working therefore in the daily context of rapid change in Education. Integral to such change has been an explicit governmental policy to reduce the role of educational theory in the training and further development of educators. This study sets out with the question of whether teachers embarking on research degrees reflect this instrumentalism. The study is located in the writer's own Faculty, and conducted by questionnaire to part-time research students studying for MPhil and PhD degrees in Education. Students were questioned about their reasons for embarking on a research degree, the likely effects upon self and career, and the extent to which the process of research and of being a student had matched their expectations. The responses are reported overall (n = 72) and also by the length of registration, so that responses of students who have been registered for varying periods may be compared. There are thus various time elements built into the research, since students are invited to compare their expectations with their experiences, and different groups are compared on the basis of length of study. The responses suggest that there may be differences between groups based on the length of their registration, which could be attributable either to underlying differences between cohorts or to changes which occur during the period of research. Overall, however, the findings suggest that practitioner/students have interests in research itself, and in the potential of research to re-direct educational practice