scholarly journals Technology-Induced Stress, Sociodemographic Factors, and Association with Academic Achievement and Productivity in Ghanaian Higher Education during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Information ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (12) ◽  
pp. 497
Author(s):  
Harry Barton Essel ◽  
Dimitrios Vlachopoulos ◽  
Akosua Tachie-Menson ◽  
Esi Eduafua Johnson ◽  
Alice Korkor Ebeheakey
Keyword(s):  
Academic Achievement ◽  
Adverse Effects ◽  
University Students ◽  
Digital Literacy ◽  
Convergent Validity ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Academic Productivity ◽  
Measurement Models ◽  
Technology Dependence ◽  
Induced Stress

The COVID-19 pandemic affected many nations around the globe, including Ghana, in the first quarter of 2020. To avoid the spread of the virus, the Ghanaian government ordered universities to close, although most of them had only just begun the academic year. The adoption of Emergency Remote Teaching (ERT) had adverse effects, such as technostress, notwithstanding its advantages for both students and academic faculty. This study examined two significant antecedents: digital literacy and technology dependence. In addition, the study scrutinized the effects of technostress on two relevant student qualities: academic achievement and academic productivity. A descriptive correlational study method was used to discern the prevalence of technology-induced stress among university students in Ghana. The technostress scale was used with a sample of 525 students selected based on defined eligibility criteria. A confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was employed to calculate the measurement models and structural models. The divergent validity and convergent validity were estimated with the average variance extracted (AVE) and coefficients of correlation between the constructs. The online survey of 525 university students inferred that technology dependence and digital literacy contributes significantly to technostress. Additionally, technostress has adverse effects on academic achievement and academic productivity. Practical implications, limitations, and future directions for the study were also discussed.

Higher education amid COVID-19 pandemic: contributions from resilience, positive orientation and grit

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Afsaneh Ghanizadeh
Keyword(s):  
Academic Achievement ◽  
University Students ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Self Regulation ◽  
Academic Resilience ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Positive Orientation ◽  
Major Purpose ◽  
Content Type

PurposeThe major purpose of the present study is to investigate the contribution of academic resilience in accounting for two motivational and attitudinal constructs ? Grit and positive orientation and also probe the predictive power of all these constructs in academic achievement of university students in the midst of the pandemic COVID-19.Design/methodology/approach521 university students participated in an online survey. To measure academic resilience, a scale designed and validated by Kim and Kim (2016) comprising 26 items was employed. The scale contains five sub-factors: perceived happiness, empathy, sociability, persistence and self-regulation. Grit was assessed via an 8-item scale comprising two facets: perseverance of effort (PE) and consistency of interest (CI). It was designed by Duckworth and Gross (2014). Positive orientation was determined through positivity scale developed by Caprara et al. (2010), consisting of eight items.FindingsThe results of structural equation modeling (SEM) revealed that resilience positively and significantly predicted both grit (β = 0.56, t = 6.41) and positive orientation (β = 0.54, t = 6.35). Resilience also predicted academic achievement directly (β = 0.71, t = 9.12) and indirectly via its impact on grit and positive orientation. It was also found that positive orientation and grit are positively and highly associated (β = 0.77, t = 9.28).Originality/valueThe pandemic COVID-19 brought about substantial changes in university students' education and their overall life style. Many university students around the globe experienced virtual education. Balancing personal and academic roles in these unprecedented conditions seems to be a tough challenge for every university student.

Influence of privacy and communication factors on online behavior

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 73-84
Author(s):  
Ines Brusch ◽  
Michael Brusch
Keyword(s):  
Factor Analysis ◽  
Convergent Validity ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Discriminant Validity ◽  
Quality Criteria ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Research Model ◽  
Online Behavior ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Measurement Models

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to answer the question how important are privacy and communication and self-expression needs in social networks on the internet, especially in the case of uploading photos. Therefore, the existing privacy calculus model of Dinev and Hart (2006) will be enlarged with new constructs and checked for validation. Design/methodology/approach For the application and verification of the proposed research model, an online survey was carried out. Within the data analysis phase, several methods, for example, exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis, have been integrated, and the most important measures (e.g. Cronbach’s alpha and fit indices) have been calculated. This allows the existence of the requirements for important quality criteria for measurement models, for example, reliability, convergent validity, discriminant validity and model fit, to be checked. Findings The results confirm the fit of the proposed research model. The needs of all quality criteria are fulfilled. This indicates that the proposed research model helps to investigate the influence of privacy and communication factors on online behavior. In addition, the results show that the willingness to provide images on the internet is highly influenced by communication and self-presentation needs and the internet trust also has an influence on the willingness to provide images on the internet. Originality/value This paper is the first, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, which considers privacy concerns and communication needs when analyzing the behavior of users of social network services, exemplarily for the case of uploading photos. This will give the growing research field of online services a new tool to properly take these important factors into account.

scholarly journals Validation and utility of the Meaning in Life Measure for Turkish university students

2021 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 40-48
Author(s):  
Murat Yıldırım ◽  
Gökmen Arslan ◽  
Zane Asher Green ◽  
Farzana Ashraf ◽  
Daichi Sugawara ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
University Students ◽  
Predictive Validity ◽  
Meaning In Life ◽  
Convergent Validity ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Factor Model ◽  
Internal Consistency Reliability ◽  
Anxiety And Depression ◽  
Life Measure ◽  
And Gender

The Meaning in Life Measure (MILM) is a new measure for assessing meaning in life by addressing problems associated with existing measures of meaning in life (absence of items related to reflectivity, felt sense, and mattering). For the first time, this study aimed to test the psychometric properties of the MILM for university students in Turkey. We used a sample of 376 university students (Mage=24.03±4.65 years) who participated in an online survey including the MILM, the Adult Dispositional Hope Scale, and the Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale – 21. To study the factor structure of the MILM, we firstly employed a dual approach including exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis, which provided support for the goodness of a two-factor model (experience and reflectivity). We secondly tested the convergent and predictive validity of the measure by respectively applying correlation and regression analyses. Our findings supported the convergent validity of the MILM, showing correlations with hope, anxiety, and depression. The predictive validity was also confirmed; the experience subscale of MILM uniquely predicted hope, anxiety, and depression after controlling for covariates (age and gender). Thirdly, our findings showed that the MILM and its subscales had high internal consistency reliability. The Turkish version of the MILM is provided to be a reliable and valid instrument for assessing meaning in life for university students in Turkey.

scholarly journals Educational usage of Facebook and academic achievement in distance university students: Mediated by basic needs satisfaction

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sittipan Yotyodying ◽  
Swantje Dettmers ◽  
Kerstin Erdal ◽  
Kathrin Jonkmann
Keyword(s):  
Academic Achievement ◽  
University Students ◽  
Resource Sharing ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Basic Needs ◽  
Self Determination Theory ◽  
Need Satisfaction ◽  
Needs Satisfaction ◽  
Different Types

AbstractFacebook has been widely used among students, not only for socializing, but also for educational purposes. However, it is much less clear whether educational usage of Facebook would be beneficial for student academic achievement, especially in distance education. This paper examined whether different types of educational usage of Facebook would be differentially connected with academic achievement of distance university students. Unlike previous studies, we distinguished between the quantity and the quality of educational usage of Facebook: The former is concerned with time spent, while the latter includes three types of educational utilities offered by Facebook (communication, collaboration, and resource sharing). Taking a self-determination theory perspective, we also examined whether the connection between different types of educational usage of Facebook and academic achievement would be mediated by basic needs satisfaction in distance study. A total of 274 distance university students participated in an online survey. A path analysis demonstrated that different types of educational usage of Facebook and academic achievement were not directly associated. However, a mediation analysis showed that competence need satisfaction (and no other needs) fully mediated some linkages: time spent to achievement, communication to achievement, and resource sharing to achievement. Findings and implications of this paper are discussed.

Subclinical Sadism and the Dark Triad

2019 ◽  
Vol 40 (3) ◽  
pp. 127-133 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura K. Johnson ◽  
Rachel A. Plouffe ◽  
Donald H. Saklofske
Keyword(s):  
Factor Analysis ◽  
University Students ◽  
Personality Traits ◽  
Exploratory Factor Analysis ◽  
Convergent Validity ◽  
Dark Triad ◽  
Antisocial Personality ◽  
Factor Solution ◽  
Online Study ◽  
Antisocial Personality Traits

Abstract. The Dark Triad is a constellation of three antisocial personality traits: Machiavellianism, narcissism, and psychopathy. Recently, researchers have introduced a “Dark Tetrad” that includes subclinical sadism, although others suggest considerable overlap between psychopathy and sadism. To clarify the position of sadism within the Dark Triad, an online study was conducted with 615 university students. Exploratory factor analysis revealed that a six-factor solution fit the data best, representing Machiavellianism, psychopathy, physical sadism, verbal sadism, narcissism, and vicarious sadism. Furthermore, convergent validity was supported through sadism’s correlations with the HEXACO personality traits. The results support sadism’s inclusion within the Dark Tetrad as a unique construct but with some conceptual overlap with psychopathy.

FACT-2 – The Frankfurt Adaptive Concentration Test

2009 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 73-82 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frank Goldhammer ◽  
Helfried Moosbrugger ◽  
Sabine A. Krawietz
Keyword(s):  
Convergent Validity ◽  
Four Dimensions ◽  
Measurement Models ◽  
Cognitive Failures ◽  
Concentration Test ◽  
Cognitive Failures Questionnaire

The Frankfurt Adaptive Concentration Test (FACT-2) requires discrimination between geometric target and nontarget items as quickly and accurately as possible. Three forms of the FACT-2 were constructed, namely FACT-I, FACT-S, and FACT-SR. The aim of the present study was to investigate the convergent validity of the FACT-SR with self-reported cognitive failures. The FACT-SR and the Cognitive Failures Questionnaire (CFQ) were completed by 191 participants. The measurement models confirmed the concentration performance, concentration accuracy, and concentration homogeneity dimensions of FACT-SR. The four dimensions of the CFQ (i.e., memory, distractibility, blunders, and names) were not confirmed. The results showed moderate convergent validity of concentration performance, concentration accuracy, and concentration homogeneity with two CFQ dimensions, namely memory and distractibility/blunders.

Simple Relationship Quality Measures

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sylvia Niehuis
Keyword(s):  
Convergent Validity ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Romantic Partners ◽  
Age Dating ◽  
Simple Relationship ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Single Item ◽  
College Age ◽  
Close Relationship ◽  
Dating Couples

Issues in applied survey research, including minimizing respondent burden to encourage survey completion and the increasing administration of questionnaires over smartphones, have intensified efforts to create short measures. We conducted two studies to examine the psychometric properties of single-item measures of four close-relationship variables: satisfaction, love, conflict, and commitment. Study 1 was longitudinal, surveying an initial sample of 121 college-age dating couples at three monthly phases. Romantic partners completed single- and multi-item measures of the four constructs, along with other variables, to examine test-retest reliability and convergent (single-item measures with their corresponding multi-item scales), concurrent, and predictive validity. Our single-item measures of satisfaction, love, and commitment exhibited impressive psychometric qualities, but our single-item conflict measure performed somewhat less strongly. Study 2, a cross-sectional online survey (n = 280; mainly through Facebook), showed strong convergent validity of the single-item measures, including a .60 correlation between single- and multi-item conflict measures.

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