Science University Students Research Articles

The BOLD Science Conference 2022: Abstract Book Featuring the Work of Undergraduate Science College Students

The BOLD Science Conference is organized by the Science College and Science College Student Association at Concordia University and was held on May 6th and 7th. This year’s theme was wildfires. The conference promotes the multidisciplinary nature of science and science communication/literacy. It highlights the exceptional research performed by the undergraduate students at the Science College, which were presented as virtual poster presentations through the Gathertown online platform. The Minor in Multidisciplinary Studies in Science (Science College) at Concordia is a program for undergraduates interested in pursuing a career in scientific research. The students are required to complete a minimum of two research projects outside of their Major, in the spirit of promoting the multidisciplinary nature of research.

Psychological distress among first-year health science students in Taiwan

BackgroundMost first-year college/university students are adolescents or young adults and therefore are at high risk of developing psychological distress symptoms. Little is known about psychological distress among first-year university students in Taiwan, especially those studying health science-related fields. ObjectiveTo understand the prevalence of psychological distress and its five dimensions (depression and anxiety, self-harm, impulsivity, and psychiatric disturbance) and explore the relationship between student-specific variables (enrollment year, age, sex, program duration, and college) and psychological distress. MethodsA secondary analysis design was adopted. We enrolled 4,212 first-year university students throughout 2016, 2017, and 2018. Health screening data were obtained using the Mental Health Scale for Undergraduate-Screening Assessment (MHSU-SA) for first-year health science students at a private technical-vocational university in northern Taiwan. ResultsMany first-year university students were at-risk for depression (4.2%), anxiety (8.2%), self-harm (5.2%), impulsivity (2.6%), psychiatric disturbance (4.4%), and overall psychological distress (4.2%). Students in a four-year program were more than twice as likely to demonstrate psychological distress symptoms compared to their two-year (night) program counterparts (odds ratio = 2.05, 95% confidence interval = 1.20–3.49, p < 0.01). ConclusionSome first-year health science university students showed psychological distress, including anxiety, self-harm, psychiatric disturbance, depression, and impulsivity. Students in four-year programs were twice as likely to show symptoms of psychological distress than those in two-year (night) programs. Therefore, mental health screenings are recommended to facilitate early detection and timely intervention for at-risk students.

Spor Bilimlerinde Öğrenim Gören Lisans Öğrencilerinin Spora Bağlılık Düzeyleri ve Akademik Başarılarının İncelenmesi

The aim of this study is to examine the levels of commitment to sports and the conditions that affect academic success of students who have undergraduate education in sports sciences and are interested in various sports branches at different levels. On the basis of the study, it was tried to evaluate the contribution of sports to academic success by examining whether the students did sports or not, the type of sports they did, the years of doing sports, their success in sports and their level of commitment to sports (SCL). Çanakkale Onsekiz Mart University, Istanbul University-Cerrahpaşa, Adnan Menderes University, Selçuk University, Sakarya University of Applied Sciences and Trakya University students participated in the study. As the study group, a total of 327 students, 125 females and 202 males, aged 18-29, studying in different departments of sports sciences faculties, participated voluntarily. In the study, the Sports Engagement Scale (SES) developed by Kayran, Bardakçı, and Caz (2020) was used as a data collection tool. Academic achievement statuses were evaluated by taking the weighted grade point averages of the students into 3 groups in a 4-point system. SPSS 18.0 package program was used in the evaluation phase of the data. The arithmetic mean (X̄), standard deviation (SD), frequency (N) and percent (%) values of descriptive statistics are given. It was examined whether the data showed normal and homogeneous distribution, and appropriate parametric tests were applied by looking at the kurtosis and skewness values. According to the findings of the study, a statistically significant difference is observed in the SBD scores of the gender variable and in the SBD scores of the licensed sporting status variable in the comparisons of the paired groups. When the data are analyzed according to the department of education variable, a statistically significant difference is observed in the SBD scores. When the data is analyzed according to the sport branch variable, there is a statistically significant difference only in SBD scores. As a result, a relationship was found between SBD and academic achievement by gender. A relationship was found between the status of doing licensed sports and SBD and academic success.

Organized physical activity of secondary school students and university sports science students

1. Brodáni J, Kováčová N. The interaction of physical activity, joy of movement and quality of life of high school students at different ages. Phys Act Rev. 2019;7:134–142. doi:10.16926/par.2019.07.16. CrossRef Google Scholar

Design and implementation of AI chatbot for COLREGs training

The education and training for the maritime industry require renewed focus in the face of technological changes and increasing digitalization. Artificial intelligence presents an avenue for further research that can positively impact efficiency and competence development. Among many applications of artificial intelligence in education, conversational agents or chatbots have gained increased interest in recent years. This paper describes the design and implementation process of “FLOKI”—a chatbot aimed at assisting maritime trainees in learning Collision Avoidance Regulations (COLREGs). For the design of the chatbot, IBM Watson Assistant®—a cognitive computing service—was utilized, which enables the use of Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) in its cloud server. A selected number (n = 18) of 2nd year B.Sc. in Nautical Science students in a Norwegian maritime university interacted with the chatbot for reflecting on their knowledge about COLREGs. In addition to demographic data, the maritime trainees were asked to answer questions related to user experience utilizing the System Usability Scale (SUS). The findings are discussed along with their implications and future research directions involving AI in maritime education and training.

Willingness for COVID-19 Vaccination among Healthcare Students and their Perception about Reasons for Society’s Hesitation Against COVID-19 Vaccination: Evidence from a University Students in Turkey

The attitude of university students studying in health-related fields towards vaccines is an important populationthat can affect the vaccination decision of the public. It is aimed to determine the attitudes of society toward the Covid-19 vaccine from the perspective of Afyonkarahisar Health Science University students. It is a cross-sectional study appliedface-to-face with Afyonkarahisar Health Science University students between November 2021 and December 2021. The mean age of students is 20.5 ± 2.2 and 70.7% of them are female. 56.1% of the students stated that they believed theCOVID-19 vaccine was effective and 49.5% believed it was safe. When the students' requests for the COVID-19 vaccinewere questioned, 71.6% stated that they wanted to be vaccinated, 19.4% stated that they were against the vaccine, and 9.0% had hesitations about the vaccine. According to the perspective of the students, the top 5 reasons for the generalhesitations of the society against the COVID-19 vaccine are; Fear/insecurity with 79%, negative effects of the internetand social media with 73%, ignorance with 73%, false/unauthorized information source with 73% and fear of sudden allergic reaction with 72% has received. According to students, the top three common reasons for the society against notgetting COVID-19 vaccine are; “Nothing will happen to us”, “pandemic is a conspiracy” and “risk/benefit ratio” areincluded. Students who are willing to get vaccinated think that "natural immunity", "alternative medicine", "conspiracy theories about vaccines, and ignorance" are important factors for the society's hesitation not to vaccinate (p&lt;0.05).Adequate pieces of knowledge of the students' risk-benefit ratios and natural and acquired immunity related to vaccinesare can serve to build trust and a positive attitude toward vaccines in the community.

A STUDY ON LEVEL OF STRESS AMONG UNDERGRADUATE APPLIED SCIENCE STUDENTS IN PRIVATE UNIVERSITY OF MORADABAD

Stress has become one of the most prominent elements existing in everyone’s life. It has also affected the students’ lives in which they have to bloom with the preparation for their future. Sometimes stress is not very harmful but motivated, while the more stress can create, the more hurdles in lives the students have to face and the more time needs to be spent to overcome with it although this time can be utilized in some productive directions. This paper aims to reveal the different levels of stress among undergraduate applied science students in private university of Moradabad. The standardized tool has been used for the purpose. Data has been collected from one of the private universities of Moradabad, a brass city situated in Uttar Pradesh. The paper also tries to reveal significant difference between the stress level of boy and girl students of applied science branch.

Exploring Undergraduate Biology Students’ Science Communication About COVID-19

Effective science communication is important for mitigating the spread of COVID-19, but little is known about how college science students, who are the future of science, have communicated about COVID-19. In this study, we surveyed 538 biology students in the Southeastern United States about how they communicated about COVID-19 with others and how prepared they felt to communicate. We found that many students were communicating frequently but did not feel prepared to communicate accurately, particularly about vaccine safety and effectiveness. Students also wrote about their communication strategies, and many students reported using potentially ineffective communication. Finally, we explored student misconceptions about COVID-19 and found differences among religious, political, and racial/ethnic groups that could impact their communication to their communities about COVID-19. These results indicate a need for science communication education about COVID-19 among undergraduate scientists in training.

Implementing Error Correction Strategies to Enhance Arts &amp; Science College Students’ Writing Skills

The purpose of the study is to implement error correction strategies to enhance arts &amp; Science college students’ writing skills. Participants of the study were final year students of UG and PG from Dhanalakshmi Srinivasan Arts and Science College for Women, Perambalur. An Online Google form and a survey questionnaire were administered in this study to collect data. Five point likert scale was incorporated in the questionnaire. Respondent’s size is two hundred and seventeen (217) female students. The problem statement of the study is that the female students of Arts and Science College struggle to frame a correct sentence with proper sentence structure. They are unable to frame a sentence with complete meaning. The hypothesis of the study is to enhance the arts and science female students' writing skills through the gallery walk technique and three error correction techniques. The objectives of the study are i) to enhance the writing skills of arts and science college female students, ii) To develop the ability of students to understand the importance of sentence making, iii) To bring awareness about the gallery walk technique, self, peer, and teacher correction, and its benefits. The research questions are i) Will the students develop their writing skills through self-correction, peer-correction, and teacher-correction strategies? ii) Will students enhance sentence structure and sentence pattern through the gallery walk technique? iii) Will students improve their language proficiency through texts and images? The collaborative theory is utilized in this study. The findings of the study are that through gallery walk and self-correction, peer-correction, and teacher-correction strategies, students have shown involvement and improvement.

Implementing Error Correction Strategies to Enhance Arts &amp; Science College Students’ Writing Skills

The purpose of the study is to implement error correction strategies to enhance arts &amp; Science college students’ writing skills. Participants of the study were final year students of UG and PG from Dhanalakshmi Srinivasan Arts and Science College for Women, Perambalur. An Online Google form and a survey questionnaire were administered in this study to collect data. Five point likert scale was incorporated in the questionnaire. Respondent’s size is two hundred and seventeen (217) female students. The problem statement of the study is that the female students of Arts and Science College struggle to frame a correct sentence with proper sentence structure. They are unable to frame a sentence with complete meaning. The hypothesis of the study is to enhance the arts and science female students' writing skills through the gallery walk technique and three error correction techniques. The objectives of the study are i) to enhance the writing skills of arts and science college female students, ii) To develop the ability of students to understand the importance of sentence making, iii) To bring awareness about the gallery walk technique, self, peer, and teacher correction, and its benefits. The research questions are i) Will the students develop their writing skills through self-correction, peer-correction, and teacher-correction strategies? ii) Will students enhance sentence structure and sentence pattern through the gallery walk technique? iii) Will students improve their language proficiency through texts and images? The collaborative theory is utilized in this study. The findings of the study are that through gallery walk and self-correction, peer-correction, and teacher-correction strategies, students have shown involvement and improvement.

A Gender-Based Analysis of Classroom Interaction Practices: The Effect Thereof on University Students’ Academic Performance

The need to optimize student interactions in universities for enhanced academic performance has been a subject of debate and discussion in different academic fora. A number of studies have shown that students, both male and female, can assert themselves academically if they are provided with opportunities for active participation and interaction with their lecturers and peers for both the horizontal and the vertical sharing of knowledge. The purpose of this study, therefore, was to investigate the gender-based interaction practices of science, mathematics and technology university students, and how these interactive patterns influence their academic performance. Using a quantitative approach located in the post-positivist paradigm, the study employed a structured questionnaire to collect the data from a sample of 1285 students from three universities. The results of the study showed that institutional practices, lecturers, parents, peers, learning content and artifacts, as well as the classroom environment, have a significant influence on the gender-based interaction practices of university students. Furthermore,, the results showed that the levels of interaction have a significant influence on the academic performance of university students, according to gender. As a main recommendation, it was proposed that universities should come up with gender-equity policies that would guide how the universities and their stakeholders could cater for the issues of gender equity.

Motivation Regarding Physical Exercise among Health Science University Students.

Physical exercise and physical activity are inherent and essential agents in the evolution of active life and are associated with promoting health and well-being. This study aimed to examine the types of regulation of motivations and intentionality needed to be physically active in the future in university students from the Health Sciences branch of knowledge. Method: 351 university students with six university degrees in Health Sciences participated, 21.4% of whom were male and 78.6% women (M = 19.32; SD = 4.01). They answered the following questionnaires: “International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ)”, “Behavioural Regulation of Exercise Questionnaire (BREQ-3)”, and “Intention to be physically active (MIFAU)”. Results: intrinsic motivation and integrated regulation were positively associated (rho = 0.759; p < 0.01), as were integrated and identified codes (rho = 0.645; p < 0.01). When relating the types of motivation regulation and the intention to be physically active, men show a significant difference compared to women. It stands out that physically active people who walk are the most unmotivated (p < 0.01). Conclusions: more self-determined regulations and intentionality to be physically active are related to different physical activity levels and the number of METs.

Implementation of E-exams during the COVID-19 pandemic: A quantitative study in higher education.

The primary aim of this study was to identify the degree of acceptance of e-exams by undergraduate students at Ajman University during the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. The study used the descriptive approach. A questionnaire consisting of 27 items was distributed to 1986 undergraduate students. The results of the study showed that undergraduate students demonstrated a moderate degree of acceptance of the implementation of e-exams during the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, with females students finding them more acceptable than male students. Discipline and academic year also showed an impact on such acceptance, with Pharmacy & Health Science College students, and those in their third academic year demonstrating the highest levels of acceptance. Implications of the study raise awareness of the importance of addressing challenges associated with e-exams such as strict computer technology settings.

Construction and Validation of the Research Misconduct Scale for Social Science University Students.

The current study aims to construct and validate a measure of research misconduct for social science university students. The research is comprised of three studies; Study I presents the scale construction in three phases. In Phase I, the initial pool of items was generated by reviewing the literature and considering the results of semi-structured interviews. Phase II involved a psychometric cleaning of items, after which 38 items were retained. In Phase III, those 38 items were proposed to 652 university students, and data were exposed to exploratory factor analysis, which extracted a one-factor structure with 15 items and 55.73% variance. Study II confirmed the factorial structure of the scale using an independent sample (N = 200) of university students. Confirmatory factor analysis of the scale demonstrates a good model fit to the data with the one-factor structure established through the exploratory factor analysis. The scale exhibits good internal consistency, with a Cronbach’s alpha of 0.95. Study III involves validation of the scale, with evidence for convergent validity collected from a sample of university students (N = 200). The results reveal that the research misconduct scale has significant positive correlations with academic stress and procrastination and a significant negative correlation with academic achievement. The obtained convergent validity testifies that the scale can be considered a psychometrically sound instrument to measure research misconduct among social science university students.

Problem based learning approach increases the academic satisfaction of health science students in Ethiopian universities: a comparative cross sectional study

BackgroundProblem based learning is being highly implemented in many medical schools worldwide due to its perceived advantages including improvement of problem-solving abilities, development of communication skills, creation and development of critical thinking skill, and making of individuals to be lifelong learners & responsible for their own learning process.ObjectiveThe study aimed to compare academic satisfaction of Problem and Lecture based learning of regular undergraduate health science students in Ethiopian Universities, 2021.MethodInstitution based comparative cross sectional study was conducted from February 1–30, 2021. Data were collected using a pretested structured and self-administered questionnaire among 850 eligible students from two Universities. Data were entered into EPI info version 6.04 and analyzed using SPSS version 23. Binary Logistic regression model was fitted to identify factors associated with academic satisfaction considering the association to be significant p- value < 0.05.ResultThe study result revealed that the magnitude of academic satisfaction among problem based and lecture based learning students were 50.9 and 49.9% respectively. Similarly, problem based learning students were more likely to be academically satisfied than lecture based learning students in their type of curriculum with (AOR = 1.50, 95% CI = 1.02, 2.21). Experience of classroom distress (AOR = 1.93, 95% CI = 1.22, 3.06), quality of teaching (AOR = 0.54, 95% CI = 0.34, 0.86), relationship with classmates (AOR = 0.33, 95% CI = 0.13, 0.80), course content (AOR = 0.56, 95% CI = 0.33, 0.93) and accessibility of technology in the campus (AOR = 0.62, 95% CI = 0.40, 0.96) were the significant factors of academic satisfaction of problem based learning students. Year of study (AOR = 0.29, 95% CI = 0.17, 0.48), quality of teaching (AOR = 0.51, 95% CI = 0.31, 0.85), course content (AOR = 0.59, 95% CI = 0.35, 0.97) and energy & effort (AOR = 0.55, 95% CI = 0.35, 0.88) were significantly associated with academic satisfaction among lecture based learning students.ConclusionThe study revealed that the academic satisfaction among problem based learning students was higher than lecture based learning students. Incorporating and implementing problem based learning as a formal instructional method in across the universities curriculum is recommended.

“That Was the Biggest Help”: The Importance of Familial Support for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math Community College Students

This study reveals the informal instrumental and socio-emotional support that non-traditional (e.g., Latinx, Black, Indigenous, and first-generation), low-income community college students pursuing STEM majors receive from family members that combat experiences of marginalization and contribute toward their self-efficacy. Family support can be particularly important for underrepresented undergraduate Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) students who are at higher risks of dropping out of their program and experience lower levels of success indicators (e.g., sense of belonging, self-concept, and STEM identity) compared to their white and Asian peers. Utilizing a phenomenological approach, we used open-ended questions during focus groups with community college transfer students to gain their experiences with challenges and feelings of belonging in college and STEM. We apply the funds of knowledge framework to investigate the value family support holds for students in navigating STEM challenges and expand the definition of family to include romantic partners and extended family.

Utilization of information and communication technology (ICT) among undergraduate health science students: a cross-sectional study

BackgroundWe already know that incorporating information and Communication technology (ICT) into every aspect of human activity result in significant change and makes tasks easier to complete. It can help in areas of healthcare systems and medical education. Therefore, this study aimed to assess utilization ICT and its associated factors among Arba Minch University College Medicine and Health Science students.MethodsA cross sectional study design was conducted in June through August 2021 among under graduate students in college of medicine and health science at Arba Minch University, Ethiopia. A self-administered questionnaire was used to collect information on the students’ socio-demographic factors as well as the utilization ICT. The data entry form was prepared with Epi-data 3.1 versions software and STATA version 14 software was used to analyze the data.ResultsA total of 355 participants enrolled in the study, with a response rate of 98.34%. The percentage of students who used ICT was 55.77% [95% CI, 0.50, 0.60]. Regarding of field of study, health informatics students (84%) used the most ICT, while midwifery students (52%) used the least. Urban resident [AOR = 1.85, 95% CI = 1.08, 3.16], ICT knowledge [AOR = 3.8, 95% CI = 2.25, 6.40], having formal training of ICT [AOR = 1.9, 95% CI = 1.06,3.48], having IT in current course study [AOR = 2.2, 95% CI = 1.23, 3.84], and had good IT skill [AOR = 2.4, 95% CI = 1.34, 4.23] revealed a significant and positive correlation with the use of ICT.ConclusionIn the current study previous residence, ICT knowledge, having formal training, having IT in current courses, and IT skill were significantly associated with student ICT utilization. Therefore, the university should continue to invest in professional development in order to improve teaching and student performance, as well as provide the college with student-centered ICT computer labs to encourage students to use technology.

A comparative analysis of pattern and attitude towards self-medication among pharmacy and non-pharmacy students in University of Ghana

Introductionself-medication involves the use of medicines without the input of health professionals. Available studies are not entirely conclusive on self-medication among health science versus non-health science university students. The current study therefore sought to investigate relevant aspects of self-medication among pharmacy and non-pharmacy students.Methodsthis quantitative cross-sectional research was conducted among undergraduate pharmacy and non-pharmacy students of the University of Ghana from October 1st 2019 to December 6th 2019. Using a questionnaire, interviews were conducted to assess the pattern and attitude towards self-medication among respondents within the last 2 months.Resultsa total of 337 (163 pharmacy and 174 non-pharmacy) students filled and completed questionnaires. The prevalence of self-medication was 55.2% for pharmacy and 51.1% for non-pharmacy students. Both pharmacy and non-pharmacy students were either accepting or ambivalent towards self-medication. Painkillers were the major class of medications that were self-medicated by both pharmacy (38.5%) and non-pharmacy students (30.7%). The most common reason for self-medication among pharmacy (62.2%) and non-pharmacy (56.2%) students was the need for rapid relief from an illness. Majority of the participants who were self-medicated (27.6% among non-pharmacy and 36.8% among pharmacy students) demonstrated ambivalent attitude towards self-medication. An increase in the study level reduced the likelihood of self-medication in both pharmacy and non-pharmacy students: OR=0.442, CI = 0.266-0.736 for pharmacy students and OR=0.671, CI = 0.456-0.987 for non-pharmacy students.Conclusionself-medication is common students of the University of Ghana. Prevalence of self-medication was higher among pharmacy students than non-pharmacy students. This study provides data for targeted education and sensitisation of self-medication among university students.

Psychological impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on medical and rehabilitation sciences university students in Saudi Arabia.

The COVID-19 pandemic has been associated with increased stressful impact among different populations that are at an increased risk of mental health problems, such as university students. To investigate the psychological effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on medical and rehabilitation sciences university students, explore the factors affecting them, and provide helpful recommendations for better mental health. An online survey was conducted with a sample of medical and rehabilitation sciences students. The anxiety visual analogue scale, the perceived stress scale (PSS), and the impact of events scale-revised (IES-R) were applied. A total of 244 students completed the survey (60.7% were female). The mean scores of total anxiety, PSS and IES-R were significantly higher in females than males. 34.5% and 29.4% of the students reported that their sleep and appetite were respectively disturbed during the pandemic. Students with adequate knowledge about the COVID-19 pandemic reported a significant decrease in anxiety level (p = 0.01), perceived stress (p = 0.00), and less negative impacts of the pandemic (p = 0.01). This study shed light on factors that play a major role in anxiety, perceived stress and stressful impact of COVID-19 pandemic among medical and health sciences students, such as gender, knowledge, educational level, presence of chronic condition, and family financial status. Developing proper mental health management guidelines and providing psychological support are recommended and should be considered.

Use of the English Health Literacy Questionnaire (HLQ) with Health Science University Students in Nepal: A Validity Testing Study.

Research evidence shows that health literacy development is a key factor influencing non-communicable diseases care and patient outcomes. Healthcare professionals with strong health literacy skills are essential for providing quality care. We aimed to report the validation testing of the Health Literacy Questionnaire (HLQ) among health professional students in Nepal. A cross-sectional study was conducted with 419 health sciences students using the HLQ in Nepal. Validation testing and reporting were conducted using five sources outlined by ‘the 2014 Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing’. The average difficulty was lowest (17.4%) for Scale 4. Social support for health, and highest (51.9%) for Scale 6. Ability to actively engage with healthcare providers. One factor Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) model showed a good fit for Scale 2, Scale 7 and Scale 9 and a reasonable fit for Scale 3 and Scale 4. The restricted nine-factor CFA model showed a satisfactory level of fit. The use of HLQ is seen to be meaningful in Nepal and warrants translation into native Nepali and other dominant local languages with careful consideration of cultural appropriateness using cognitive interviews.