scholarly journals Online Higher Education: The Importance of Students’ Epistemological Beliefs, Well-Being, and Fun

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (6) ◽  
pp. 9-30
Author(s):  
. Sujarwanto ◽  
Kieron Sheehy ◽  
Khofidotur Rofiah
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Epistemological Beliefs ◽  
Principal Component ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Online Study ◽  
Global Pandemic ◽  
Educational Engagement ◽  
Open Question ◽  
The Impact ◽  
First Time

The global pandemic has accelerated the ‘move online’ of higher education in Indonesia. This study aimed to examine the relationship between Indonesian students’ experiences of studying online, their epistemological beliefs and their beliefs about fun in learning. A mixed method approach was used to examine this relationship in a sample of 774 students. A Principal component analysis (PCA) of questionnaire responses identified associations between social constructivist beliefs about learning and the centrality of fun in learning. The PCA was considered together with a thematic analysis of an open question ‘Has the COVID-19 situation changed your feelings about online study?’ This revealed the significance of the epistemic mismatch between many students’ beliefs and the transmissive online pedagogy that they described. This mismatch is implicated as a factor in understanding the students largely negative experiences of online study and the impact on their well-being, albeit within the context of a pandemic. This is the first time that this link has been proposed. The research indicates that examining students’ epistemological beliefs can offer insights that are helpful in understanding students’ educational engagement and well-being when studying online.

scholarly journals Maternal mental health and well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic in Beijing, China

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhuang Wei ◽  
Ming-Yue Gao ◽  
Mary Fewtrell ◽  
Jonathan Wells ◽  
Jin-Yue Yu
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Higher Education ◽  
Maternal Mental Health ◽  
Descriptive Analysis ◽  
Fair Division ◽  
Personal Space ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Maternal Characteristics ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Beijing China

Abstract Background The aim of this study is to evaluate the impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic on breastfeeding women and to identify predictors of maternal mental health and coping. Methods Mothers aged ≥ 18 years with a breast-fed infant ≤ 18 months of age during the COVID-19 pandemic in Beijing, China, completed a questionnaire. Descriptive analysis of lockdown consequences was performed and predictors of these outcomes were examined using stepwise linear regression. Results Of 2233 participants, 29.9%, 20.0% and 34.7% felt down, lonely, and worried, respectively, during the lockdown; however, 85.3% felt able to cope. Poorer maternal mental health was predicted by maternal (younger age, higher education) and infant (older age, lower gestation) characteristics, and social circumstances (husband unemployed or working from home, receiving advice from family, having enough space for the baby, living close to a park or green space). Conversely, better maternal mental health was predicted by higher income, employment requiring higher qualifications, more personal space at home, shopping or walking > once/week and lack of impact of COVID-19 on job or income. Mothers with higher education, more bedrooms, fair division of household chores and attending an online mother and baby group > once/week reported better coping. Conclusion The findings highlight maternal characteristics and circumstances that predict poorer mental health and reduced coping which could be used to target interventions in any future public health emergencies requiring social restrictions.

scholarly journals The Neoliberal University in Ireland: Institutional Bullying by Another Name?

Societies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 52
Author(s):  
Margaret Hodgins ◽  
Patricia Mannix McNamara
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Public Management ◽  
New Public Management ◽  
Academic Staff ◽  
Well Being ◽  
The United States ◽  
Decent Work ◽  
New Public ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Health And Well Being

New managerialism and the pervasive neoliberalisation of universities is by now a well-established phenomenon. Commentaries explore the political and economic drivers and effects of neoliberal ideology, and critique the impact on higher education and academic work. The impact on the health and well-being of academic staff has had less attention, and it is to that we turn in this paper. Much academic interest in neoliberalism stems from the UK, Australia and the United States. We draw particularly on studies of public Irish universities, where neoliberalism, now well entrenched, but something of a late-comer to the new public management party, is making its presence felt. This conceptual paper explores the concept of neoliberalism in higher education, arguing that the policies and practices of new public management as exercised in universities are a form of bullying; what we term institutional bullying. The authors are researchers of workplace culture, workplace bullying and incivility. Irish universities are increasingly challenged in delivering the International Labour Organisation (ILO) principles of decent work, i.e., dignity, equity, fair income and safe working conditions. They have become exposed in terms of gender imbalance in senior positions, precariat workforce, excessive workload and diminishing levels of control. Irish universities are suffering in terms of both the health and well-being of staff and organisational vibrancy. The authors conclude by cautioning against potential neoliberal intensification as universities grapple with the economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic. This paper reviews neoliberalism in higher education and concludes with insight as to how the current pandemic could act as a necessary catalyst to stem the tide and ‘call out’ bullying at the institutional level.

scholarly journals A pilot study on the impact of a first-time central heating intervention on resident mental wellbeing

2020 ◽  
pp. 1420326X2097546
Author(s):  
Richard A Sharpe ◽  
Andrew J Williams ◽  
Ben Simpson ◽  
Gemma Finnegan ◽  
Tim Jones
Keyword(s):  
Pilot Study ◽  
Indoor Environment ◽  
Intervention Group ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Waiting List ◽  
Mental Wellbeing ◽  
Central Heating ◽  
The Impact ◽  
First Time ◽  
Mental Well Being

Fuel poverty affects around 34% of European homes, representing a considerable burden to society and healthcare systems. This pilot study assesses the impact of an intervention to install a new first time central heating system in order to reduce fuel poverty on household satisfaction with indoor temperatures/environment, ability to pay bills and mental well-being. In Cornwall, 183 households received the intervention and a further 374 went onto a waiting list control. A post-intervention postal questionnaires and follow-up phone calls were undertaken ( n = 557) to collect data on household demographics, resident satisfaction with indoor environment, finances and mental well-being (using the Short Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing scale). We compared responses between the waiting list control and intervention group to assess the effectiveness of the intervention. A total of 31% of participants responded, 83 from the waiting list control and 71 from the intervention group. The intervention group reported improvements in the indoor environment, finances and mental well-being. However, these benefits were not expressed by all participants, which may result from diverse resident behaviours, lifestyles and housing characteristics. Future policies need to consider whole house approaches alongside resident training and other behaviour change techniques that can account for complex interactions between behaviours and the built environment.

Irrational happiness beliefs and subjective well-being of undergraduate students: A longitudinal study

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 65-72
Author(s):  
Murat Yıldırım
Keyword(s):  
Negative Affect ◽  
Positive Affect ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Subjective Well Being ◽  
Future Studies ◽  
Affective Components ◽  
The Impact ◽  
First Time ◽  
Over Time

Identifying factors that influence well-being are fruitful for improving the knowledge held about the correlates and predictors of well-being in both practice and theory. This research for the first time aimed to investigate whether irrational happiness beliefs, a newly presented construct, contribute to the affective components of subjective well-being over time. The sample included 103 undergraduate students (88 females and 15 males) whose ages varied from 18 to 29 years (M = 19.39 ±1.62). Participants completed measures of irrational happiness beliefs, positive affect, and negative affect both at Time 1 and Time 2 over three months apart. The findings showed that irrational happiness beliefs were significantly negatively related to positive affect only at Time 1. However, the research failed to provide evidence regarding the value of irrational happiness beliefs in predicting positive and negative affect over time. The results suggest that the impact of irrational happiness beliefs upon well-being may occur momentarily not over time. Implications and limitations of the findings are discussed and directions for future studies are provided.

Do learning organizations learn? Higher education institutions and pandemic response strategies

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael T. Miller
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Organizational Behavior ◽  
Structural Changes ◽  
Higher Education Institutions ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Institutional Leadership ◽  
Response Strategies ◽  
Global Pandemic ◽  
The Usa

Purpose This study was designed to address the problem of how higher education institutions, as organizations designed to promote learning, responded to the COVID pandemic and the suspension of in-person instruction. The purpose of this paper was specifically to explore how institutions go about learning from the pandemic to better prepare themselves for the future that they will face. Design/methodology/approach A researcher-developed survey instrument was distributed electronically to 300 faculty leaders at randomly selected universities in the USA. With three follow-up e-mail requests, the survey had a 31% usable response rate. Findings Survey results indicated that institutional leadership did not make strong use of shared governance in responding to the COVID pandemic in creating operational response strategies. Further, institutions did not alter their policies or make structural changes to be more adept in facing the challenges of a global pandemic and its impact on the financial well-being of the institutions. Although institutions did make changes to their attitudes about students, these were not developmental changes but rather behavioral modification expectations. Originality/value This study drew upon data collected after the first three months of the global COVID pandemic, providing an important first-look at organizational behavior in response to a largely unplanned global event.

Broke and Book-Bound

2021 ◽  
pp. 18-27
Author(s):  
Jay Watts ◽  
Gisele Brown ◽  
Michael A. Couch II
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
College Students ◽  
Best Practices ◽  
Educational Attainment ◽  
College Attainment ◽  
Global Pandemic ◽  
The Impact

Education has been historically branded as a tool to transcend conditions that have aided and abetted systems of generational and societal inequities. During a global pandemic, there has been no greater challenge to this view than considering the impact of life-altering events and their implications on higher education, success, and thriving. Specifically, the COVID-19 crisis has put this health-based issue on an international stage, but more specifically, spotlighting how it has exacerbated issues such as poverty, hunger, homelessness, and educational attainment. This chapter will examine the existing literature around the issue of global pandemics on college attainment for college students who are resource and access-gapped and best practices to consider to support holistic success during a global pandemic.

The Role of the Supervisor in Creating and Maintaining an Emotionally Healthy Workplace

2022 ◽  
pp. 1715-1730
Author(s):  
Amy Tureen
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Social Media ◽  
Emotional Health ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Organizational Cultures ◽  
Educational Model ◽  
Positional Power ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Health And Well Being

Supervisors, be they employed in higher education or in other industries, operate in capacities that allow them to shape organizational cultures within their departments, divisions, colleges, or broader units. Within the higher educational model, this means that supervisors are uniquely placed to counteract negative elements within the culture of academia, which historically has tended to prioritize individual competitive output, with alternative models that may offer improvements to the emotional health and well-being of higher education employees. This chapter seeks to describe the impact of stress on the health of workers, the employment stressors that are unique to higher education, and the processes by which supervisors in higher education can use their positional power to counteract said stressors and improve academic organizational cultures. The chapter includes practical suggestions for supervisors to enhance wellness and decrease emotional harm in scenarios common to the higher education workplace as identified via social media crowdsourcing.

Positive Psychology

2021 ◽  
pp. 191-221
Author(s):  
Christine A. DeLucia
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Online Learning ◽  
Learning Environment ◽  
Emotional Experience ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Mindfulness Practice ◽  
Online Learners ◽  
Area Of Interest ◽  
Interest In Research ◽  
The Impact

The application of mindfulness practice in education has been a growing area of interest in research. Some of the benefits of mindfulness practice in education include increased focus and concentration, decreased stress and anxiety, and improved overall well-being. While mindfulness in education has been studied in preschool, elementary, secondary, and tertiary settings, little research has been done examining the benefits of mindfulness in an online learning environment. As online learning continues to be an emerging trend in higher education, it is important for educators to consider alternative ways to support the holistic needs of online learners. This chapter explores the impact of mindfulness resources on the academic and emotional experience of the online learner.

scholarly journals Psychosocial Risks and Violence Against Teachers. Is It Possible to Promote Well-Being at Work?

2019 ◽  
Vol 16 (22) ◽  
pp. 4439 ◽  
Author(s):  
Berlanda ◽  
Fraizzoli ◽  
Cordova ◽  
Pedrazza
Keyword(s):  
Job Demands ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Health Concern ◽  
Psychosocial Risks ◽  
Daily Monitoring ◽  
North East ◽  
The Impact ◽  
First Time ◽  
Psychological Demands

Teaching has been reported to be one of the most stressful occupations, with heavy psychological demands, including the need to develop positive relationships with students and their parents; relationships that, in turn, play a significant role in teachers’ well-being. It follows that the impact of any violence perpetrated by a student or parent against a teacher is particularly significant and represents a major occupational health concern. The present study examines for the first time the influence of the Job Demands-Control-Support Model on violence directed against teachers. Six hundred and eighty-six teachers working in elementary and high schools in north-east Italy completed an online, self-report questionnaire. Our findings reveal the role played by working conditions in determining teachers’ experience of violence: greater job demands are associated with most offense types, whereas the availability of diffused social support at school is associated with lower rates of harassment. Workload should be equally distributed and kept under control, and violence should gain its place in the shared daily monitoring of practices and experiences at school in order to provide a socially supportive work environment for all teachers.

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