scholarly journals Exploring University Instructors’ Challenges in Online Teaching and Design Opportunities during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Systematic Review

Author(s):  
Sungmin Na ◽  
Hyunggu Jung

As the pandemic began, university instructors shifted their classes online to ensure learning for numerous students. While teaching online, the instructors soon encountered many challenges. Existing studies have explored different kinds of challenges through surveys or interviews with instructors. However, to our knowledge, no studies have reported instructors’ challenges in online teaching during COVID-19 through a systematic literature review. Moreover, there are no studies that have suggested design guidelines for creating tools to help instructors. Thus, we identified various challenges that university instructors face while teaching classes online, along with the causes of the challenges, through conducting a systematic review using the preferred reporting items for systematic review and meta-analysis (PRISMA) guidelines. Only the studies (a) reporting the challenges of instructors in online teaching, (b) having reported challenges regarding online teaching during COVID-19, and (c) reporting challenges of instructors from universities/colleges were considered in the systematic review. We found that the biggest category of the challenges that university instructors faced was managing/conducting online classes. Lastly, we propose design opportunities to help instructors to teach an online class more effectively and in interactive ways. This review shows the possibility of overcoming the existing challenges in online teaching with instructors receiving the appropriate support and tools for online classes. Additionally, we suggest some recommendations for future research. We hope this review contributes to a deeper understanding of university instructors’ struggle in online classes and suggests potential solutions for supporting instructors in online education.

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Shea

This paper reports on initial findings from a research study of factors that enable and constrain faculty participation in online teaching and learning environments. It is noted that demand for higher education continues to grow in the United States. It is argued that the nature of the higher education student population will likely continue to transform towards a non-traditional profile. These two trends drive an increased demand for alternative routes to a college degree and have fueled dramatic growth in online learning recently. The study identifies faculty acceptance of online teaching as a critical component for future growth to meet this demand and ensure quality. Through analysis of data from 386 faculty teaching online in 36 colleges in a large state university system, the most significant factors that support and undermine motivation to teach online are identified. The top motivator is a more flexible work schedule. The top demotivator is inadequate compensation for perceived greater work than for traditionally delivered courses, especially for online course development, revision, and teaching. However, respondents in this study chose to teach online for a wide variety of reasons many of which were associated with demographic and contextual differences. These distinctions are reviewed in light of their implications for future quality of online education. Additionally, through factor analysis, underlyingconstructs for online faculty motivations are identified. Finally, recommendations are made for policy, practice, faculty development and future research.


Author(s):  
Julia Khanova

Online education is growing rapidly and outpacing research efforts in this area. Online teaching in particular has received little research attention. Grounded in existing literature and empirical research, this chapter aims to describe the key dimensions of the faculty experience of preparing and teaching online courses. The differences between online and traditional teaching are highlighted, emphasizing time/effort cost, technology and support needs, as well as the relationship between online teaching technology and pedagogy. The shift in faculty role is discussed. Special attention is given to using various Web resources for online teaching and the impact of this trend on library services. Real-life examples and direct quotes from faculty who teach online are used to illustrate each of the themes and suggest directions for future research.


2021 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shunyu Wu ◽  
Yin Cheng ◽  
Shunzhang Lin ◽  
Huanhai Liu

Objectives/Hypothesis: To perform a systematic review and meta-analysis to compare the efficacy of and complications associated with antifungal drugs and traditional antiseptic medication for the treatment of otomycosis.Data Sources: The PubMed, EMBASE, GeenMedical, Cochrane Library, CBM, CNKI, VIP and other databases were searched from January 1991 to January 2021.Methods: The systematic literature review followed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and non-randomized studies (case-control, cohort, and case series) were included to assess the topical use of antifungal drugs and traditional antiseptic medication in patients with otomycosis. The research subjects were patients who were clinically diagnosed with otomycosis and whose external auditory canal secretions were positive for fungi. Funnel plots were used to detect bias, and the Q test was used to assess heterogeneity. The random-effects model was used for meta-analysis. The t-test was used to assess significance.Results: Of the 324 non-duplicate studies screened, 16 studies met the criteria for full-text review, and 7 were included in the meta-analysis. Four studies reported recovery conditions (P = 0.01). Six common complications after medication use were compared, and there were no significant differences. The authors further conducted subgroup analysis according to complications. The differences in the rates of ear distension (P = 0.007), earache (P = 0.03) and tinnitus (P = 0.003) were statistically significant.Conclusion: The results of this meta-analysis and literature review showed that antifungal drugs and traditional antiseptic medication were effective in relieving symptoms in patients with otomycosis, and the two treatments were associated with different complications. Otolaryngologists have the option to use one medication or a combination of two drugs on the basis of the condition. Future research in this area should include RCTs with long-term follow-up to guide the development of otomycosis guidelines to overcome some of the weaknesses found in the literature.Systematic Review Registration:https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/PROSPERO/#myprospero.


2020 ◽  
Vol 35 (6) ◽  
pp. 783-814
Author(s):  
Célia Ferreira ◽  
Eunice Magalhães ◽  
Carla Antunes ◽  
Cláudia Camilo

Scientific research has explored the impact of violence during adulthood on psychopathology. Fewer efforts have been made from a positive theoretical framework, and no systematic evidence has been provided. This manuscript describes a literature review and meta-analysis on the relationship between victimization experiences and well-being in adulthood. A literature review was performed, and 27 studies met the inclusion criteria for the systematic review 16 for the meta-analysis. The meta-analysis yielded a medium and significant overall effect size (r = −0.309, p < .001), which indicated that greater victimization experiences partly explain lower well-being outcomes. A set of theoretical and methodological issues are discussed, specifically considering the conceptualization of victimization and well-being as well as the studies design, sample characteristics, measures, and data analysis. Derived from this integrative discussion, some recommendations are also provided for future research.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kurt D Shulver ◽  
Nicholas A Badcock

We report the results of a systematic review and meta-analysis investigating the relationship between perceptual anchoring and dyslexia. Our goal was to assess the direction and degree of effect between perceptual anchoring and reading ability in typical and atypical (dyslexic) readers. We performed a literature search of experiments explicitly assessing perceptual anchoring and reading ability using PsycInfo (Ovid, 1860 to 2020), MEDLINE (Ovid, 1860 to 2019), EMBASE (Ovid, 1883 to 2019), and PubMed for all available years up to June (2020). Our eligibility criteria consisted of English-language articles and, at minimum, one experimental group identified as dyslexic - either by reading assessment at the time, or by previous diagnosis. We assessed for risk of bias using an adapted version of the Newcastle-Ottawa scale. Six studies were included in this review, but only five (n = 280 participants) were included in the meta-analysis (we were unable to access the necessary data for one study).The overall effect was negative, large and statistically significant; g = -0.87, 95% CI [-1.47, 0.27]: a negative effect size indicating less perceptual anchoring in dyslexic versus non-dyslexic groups. Visual assessment of funnel plot and Egger’s test suggest minimal bias but with significant heterogeneity; Q (4) = 9.70, PI (prediction interval) [-2.32, -0.58]. The primary limitation of the current review is the small number of included studies. We discuss methodological limitations, such as limited power, and how future research may redress these concerns. The variability of effect sizes appears consistent with the inherent variability within subtypes of dyslexia. This level of dispersion seems indicative of the how we define cut-off thresholds between typical reading and dyslexia populations, but also the methodological tools we use to investigate individual performance.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Polona Caserman ◽  
Augusto Garcia-Agundez ◽  
Alvar Gámez Zerban ◽  
Stefan Göbel

AbstractCybersickness (CS) is a term used to refer to symptoms, such as nausea, headache, and dizziness that users experience during or after virtual reality immersion. Initially discovered in flight simulators, commercial virtual reality (VR) head-mounted displays (HMD) of the current generation also seem to cause CS, albeit in a different manner and severity. The goal of this work is to summarize recent literature on CS with modern HMDs, to determine the specificities and profile of immersive VR-caused CS, and to provide an outlook for future research areas. A systematic review was performed on the databases IEEE Xplore, PubMed, ACM, and Scopus from 2013 to 2019 and 49 publications were selected. A summarized text states how different VR HMDs impact CS, how the nature of movement in VR HMDs contributes to CS, and how we can use biosensors to detect CS. The results of the meta-analysis show that although current-generation VR HMDs cause significantly less CS ($$p<0.001$$ p < 0.001 ), some symptoms remain as intense. Further results show that the nature of movement and, in particular, sensory mismatch as well as perceived motion have been the leading cause of CS. We suggest an outlook on future research, including the use of galvanic skin response to evaluate CS in combination with the golden standard (Simulator Sickness Questionnaire, SSQ) as well as an update on the subjective evaluation scores of the SSQ.


Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (12) ◽  
pp. 3530
Author(s):  
Fukang Ma ◽  
Shuanlu Zhang ◽  
Zhenfeng Zhao ◽  
Yifang Wang

The hydraulic free-piston engine (HFPE) is a kind of hybrid-powered machine which combines the reciprocating piston-type internal combustion engine and the plunger pump as a whole. In recent years, the HFPE has been investigated by a number of research groups worldwide due to its potential advantages of high efficiency, energy savings, reduced emissions and multi-fuel operation. Therefore, our study aimed to assess the operating characteristics, core questions and research progress of HFPEs via a systematic review and meta-analysis. We included operational control, starting characteristics, misfire characteristics, in-cylinder working processes and operating stability. We conducted the literature search using electronic databases. The research on HFPEs has mainly concentrated on four kinds of free-piston engine, according to piston arrangement form: single piston, dual pistons, opposed pistons and four-cylinder complex configuration. HFPE research in China is mainly conducted in Zhejiang University, Tianjin University, Jilin University and the Beijing Institute of Technology. In addition, in China, research has mainly focused on the in-cylinder combustion process while a piston is free by considering in-cylinder combustion machinery and piston dynamics. Regarding future research, it is very important that we solve the instabilities brought about by chance fluctuations in the combustion process, which will involve the hydraulic system’s efficiency, the cyclical variation, the method of predicting instability and the recovery after instability.


Author(s):  
Peter Cox ◽  
Sonal Gupta ◽  
Sizheng Steven Zhao ◽  
David M. Hughes

AbstractThe aims of this systematic review and meta-analysis were to describe prevalence of cardiovascular disease in gout, compare these results with non-gout controls and consider whether there were differences according to geography. PubMed, Scopus and Web of Science were systematically searched for studies reporting prevalence of any cardiovascular disease in a gout population. Studies with non-representative sampling, where a cohort had been used in another study, small sample size (< 100) and where gout could not be distinguished from other rheumatic conditions were excluded, as were reviews, editorials and comments. Where possible meta-analysis was performed using random-effect models. Twenty-six studies comprising 949,773 gout patients were included in the review. Pooled prevalence estimates were calculated for five cardiovascular diseases: myocardial infarction (2.8%; 95% confidence interval (CI)s 1.6, 5.0), heart failure (8.7%; 95% CI 2.9, 23.8), venous thromboembolism (2.1%; 95% CI 1.2, 3.4), cerebrovascular accident (4.3%; 95% CI 1.8, 9.7) and hypertension (63.9%; 95% CI 24.5, 90.6). Sixteen studies reported comparisons with non-gout controls, illustrating an increased risk in the gout group across all cardiovascular diseases. There were no identifiable reliable patterns when analysing the results by country. Cardiovascular diseases are more prevalent in patients with gout and should prompt vigilance from clinicians to the need to assess and stratify cardiovascular risk. Future research is needed to investigate the link between gout, hyperuricaemia and increased cardiovascular risk and also to establish a more thorough picture of prevalence for less common cardiovascular diseases.


BMJ Open ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. e043722
Author(s):  
Naomi Priest ◽  
Kate Doery ◽  
Mandy Truong ◽  
Shuaijun Guo ◽  
Ryan Perry ◽  
...  

IntroductionRacism is a critical determinant of health and health inequities for children and youth. This protocol aims to update the first systematic review conducted by Priest et al (2013), including a meta-analysis of findings. Based on previous empirical data, it is anticipated that child and youth health will be negatively impacted by racism. Findings from this review will provide updated evidence of effect sizes across outcomes and identify moderators and mediators of relationships between racism and health.Methods and analysisThis systematic review and meta-analysis will include studies that examine associations between experiences of racism and racial discrimination with health outcomes of children and youth aged 0–24 years. Exposure measures include self-reported or proxy reported systemic, interpersonal and intrapersonal racism. Outcome measures include general health and well-being, physical health, mental health, biological markers, healthcare utilisation and health behaviours. A comprehensive search of studies from the earliest time available to October 2020 will be conducted. A random effects meta-analysis will examine the average effect of racism on a range of health outcomes. Study-level moderation will test the difference in effect sizes with regard to various sample and exposure characteristics. This review has been registered with the International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews.Ethics and disseminationThis review will provide evidence for future research within the field and help to support policy and practice development. Results will be widely disseminated to both academic and non-academic audiences through peer-review publications, community summaries and presentations to research, policy, practice and community audiences.PROSPERO registration numberCRD42020184055.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Shelly Soffer ◽  
Eyal Klang ◽  
Orit Shimon ◽  
Yiftach Barash ◽  
Noa Cahan ◽  
...  

AbstractComputed tomographic pulmonary angiography (CTPA) is the gold standard for pulmonary embolism (PE) diagnosis. However, this diagnosis is susceptible to misdiagnosis. In this study, we aimed to perform a systematic review of current literature applying deep learning for the diagnosis of PE on CTPA. MEDLINE/PUBMED were searched for studies that reported on the accuracy of deep learning algorithms for PE on CTPA. The risk of bias was evaluated using the QUADAS-2 tool. Pooled sensitivity and specificity were calculated. Summary receiver operating characteristic curves were plotted. Seven studies met our inclusion criteria. A total of 36,847 CTPA studies were analyzed. All studies were retrospective. Five studies provided enough data to calculate summary estimates. The pooled sensitivity and specificity for PE detection were 0.88 (95% CI 0.803–0.927) and 0.86 (95% CI 0.756–0.924), respectively. Most studies had a high risk of bias. Our study suggests that deep learning models can detect PE on CTPA with satisfactory sensitivity and an acceptable number of false positive cases. Yet, these are only preliminary retrospective works, indicating the need for future research to determine the clinical impact of automated PE detection on patient care. Deep learning models are gradually being implemented in hospital systems, and it is important to understand the strengths and limitations of these algorithms.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document