scholarly journals Sustaining Healthy Staying Communities in University Residential Halls amid Unprecedented Pandemic

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (11) ◽  
pp. 6176
Author(s):  
Michelle W. T. Cheng ◽  
Man-Lai Leung ◽  
Christina W. M. Yu ◽  
Kevin K. M. Yue ◽  
Elaine S. C. Liu ◽  
...  

Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, most teaching and learning or student services in the higher education setting have moved to the digital world. However, university residential halls have continued to provide services as there are students who are unable to go back to their homes/countries because of travel bans or family reasons. This study investigates the perceptions of residents who stayed at university residential halls during the pandemic. In-depth interviews were conducted with 77 staying residents from four public universities in Hong Kong. Through the sharing of their residential experience, it was found that these stayers were impacted greatly by the changes in the residential hall environment, particularly in terms of reduced interaction and emerging disciplinary concerns. Results reveal that stayers had undergone different negative mental states, namely stress, paranoia, loneliness and boredom. After identifying their conditions, some sustainable residential practices were proposed, such as maintaining minimum face-to-face contact for stayers, practicing transparent communication and arranging bulk purchases of living supplies. It is hoped that the results of this study can help to inform readers regarding the possible impacts on the stayers during a partial lockdown environment in university residential halls and how they can be better supported by universities.

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 221258682110070
Author(s):  
Ka Ho Mok ◽  
Weiyan Xiong ◽  
Hamzah Nor Bin Aedy Rahman

The COVID-19 pandemic outbreak has forced online teaching and learning to be the primary instruction format in higher education globally. One of the worrying concerns about online learning is whether this method is effective, specifically when compared to face-to-face classes. This descriptive quantitative study investigates how students in higher education institutions in Hong Kong evaluated their online learning experiences during the pandemic, including the factors influencing their digital learning experiences. By analysing the survey responses from 1,227 university students in Hong Kong, this study found that most of the respondents felt dissatisfied with their online learning experiences and effectiveness. Meanwhile, this study confirms that respondents’ household income level and information technology literacy affected their online learning effectiveness. Moreover, this study highlights the significant contributions of the community of inquiry, which places social presence on the promotion of a whole person development that could not be achieved when relying mainly on online learning. Findings encourage university leaders and instructors to search for multiple course delivery modes to nurture students to become caring leaders with the 21st century skills and knowledge set.


2021 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 42-46
Author(s):  
Dinda Gusti Ayu Berlianti ◽  
◽  
Intan Pradita

Translanguaging is a tool for bilingual or multilingual to learn more than one language.  In the field of linguistic, translanguaging is not something new. However, its implementation is still found rare in higher education. To fill this void, this study aims to investigate the implementation of translanguaging in classroom, especially in higher education. This research was intended to answer how helpful translanguaging practices in EFL Classroom is. By using qualitative method, the data were collected by recording two credits full face-to-face classroom interaction. One lecturer and her forty-five students voluntarily became the research participants.  The data were then analyzed by using thematic analysis. The findings showed that the practices were helpful in a way that the tutors could build an engaging dialogue for the students, enabling them to understand the complex learning materials. These findings then implied that in the teaching and learning process, EFL lecturers tend to be more attentive as they prefer to have their students understanding on complex subject to build English proficiency of their students’.


2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (37) ◽  
pp. 253-269
Author(s):  
Irma Wani Othman ◽  
Muhammad Safuan Yusoff ◽  
Mohd Sohaimi Esa ◽  
Mohd Azri Ibrahim ◽  
Budi Anto Mohd Tamring ◽  
...  

The presence of international staff or independent expatriate academicians in the cross border higher education world today is indeed a global issue that brings benefits to the development of higher education worldwide. The decision taken by independent expatriate academicians to come to the host country to pursue a career as an academician will certainly have useful implications on the career they are pursuing. Through in-depth interviews based on a qualitative approach adopted on thirty (30) selected voluntarily respondents in three public universities, the objective of this study was to find out the implications on self-development of careers as independent expatriate academicians serving in the host country. From the findings received as a result of the interviews conducted, the implications for self-development in terms of the career which could be seen were (I) Promotion (II) Lucrative income (III) Security in Malaysia and (IV) Harmony in the workplace. From each finding stated by the respondents involved, it had been proven that the decision was taken by independent expatriate academicians to the host country in pursuing a career as an academician had given the positive implication that indirectly brought benefits to themselves. The implications for self-development on a career as an independent expatriate academician were also able to lead to the retention of human resources of independent expatriate academicians which can reduce the turnover rate in an organisation such as academics in Malaysian Public Institutions of Higher Learning.


2021 ◽  
Vol 66 (1) ◽  
pp. 135-155
Author(s):  
Diana-Crina Marin ◽  
Mușata Bocoș

"In the context in which the teaching, learning, and assessment processes take place in the online environment, the question arises whether the currently organized learning situations are as effective as the learning situations carried out in the classroom, before the beginning of the pandemic. One of the disadvantages of online learning is related to the teacher’s low control over students’ activity. Factors such as initiative, creativity, efficient time management, intrinsic motivation, responsibility, and intellectual curiosity play an important role in students’ success in learning activities. Attendance at courses should not be formal and superficial and should be a process that involves the active and interactive participation of the students in the learning process. Providing high-quality educational opportunities to all students is a goal that is increasingly difficult to achieve in the context of the absence of face-to-face interactions. Also, applying a curriculum focused on the needs of the learner is becoming hard to achieve. Through this research, we aim to investigate issues related to how online learning takes place and to establish ways in which we can increase the efficiency of current teaching and learning processes. The study revealed that in the opinion of most of the students, the current epidemiological context has influenced in a negative way the quality of teaching and the student-teacher educational relationship. Keywords: Interactive learning, eLearning, independence in learning, higher education, efficient strategies "


2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kristen Betts ◽  
Brian Delaney ◽  
Tamara Galoyan ◽  
William Lynch

In March 2020, the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic disrupted education worldwide. In the United States, the pandemic forced colleges and universities across the nation to adopt quickly emergency remote teaching and learning. The ability to pivot instruction seamlessly and effectively across learning formats (e.g., face-to-face, hybrid, online) while supporting student engagement, learning, and completion in an authentic and high-quality manner challenged higher education leaders. This historical review of the literature examines distance and online education from the 1700s to 2021 to identify how external and internal pressures and opportunities have impacted and influenced the evolution of educational formats pre-COVID-19, and how they will continue to evolve post pandemic. This historical review also explores how instructional design and pedagogy have been and continue to be influenced by technological advancements, emerging research from the Learning Sciences and Mind (psychology), Brain (neuroscience), and Education (pedagogy) science.


Author(s):  
Sergio Francisco Sargo Ferreira Lopes ◽  
Luís Borges Gouveia ◽  
Pedro Reis

The study and investigation around educational models and teaching and learning methodologies is a theme that has long aroused the interest of the academic environment in higher education, both in the period before the advent of digital technology, as in current times in which technology is strongly embedded in the various teaching and learning processes, which involve classroom and distance-learning classes and courses, both in the context of e-learning and b-learning. Understanding how people learn and understand the themes presented in the classroom in face-to-face and e-learning is fundamental for planning and implementing processes that allow teachers to apply teaching and learning methodologies that can be efficient and effective. The main objective is to carry out a critical reflection on b-learning teaching, about the implementation of the teaching and learning methodology of the flipped classroom, one of the variants of b-learning teaching, supported by the results of a field investigation carried out with 152 students (n=152) of higher education.


2012 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 79-85 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chiam Chooi Chea ◽  
Lim Tick Meng ◽  
Phang Siew Nooi

With the advancements in communications technology brought about by the advent of the Internet and World Wide Web, attention has been drawn to Open and Distance Learning (ODL) as a mode for teaching and learning. In Malaysia, the establishment of ODL universities such as Open University Malaysia (OUM) has expanded the role of ICT in learning and knowledge generation. By leveraging on Internet technology, ODL universities are able to transmit education across the country and even globally. ODL sets about making quality e-learning and e-content more accessible to both facilitators and learners. Utilising this method, new opportunities are continuously created to make higher education more accessible to those who seek to improve and upgrade themselves. This paper examines OUM's practice of using the innovative technology of online learning and teaching to make higher education easily accessible to those that seek it. With greater advancements in technology, the future of higher education may lie more with ODL than with traditional face-to-face learning.


Author(s):  
Hui-Chun Hung ◽  
Shelley Shwu-Ching Young

The emergence of open online courses and flipped classrooms has brought new opportunities to unbundle the traditional university. This study aimed to investigate a thermal physics classroom integrated with an open online learning mode to afford various learning strategies for students in Taiwan. Moreover, we examined students' preferred learning modes by adopting a quasi-experimental design with questionnaires, pre-test and post-test scores, self-reported journals and interviews. A total of 89 students participated in the study. The instructor allowed all students enrolled in the class to choose their own preferred learning modes. All students had full access to all course materials in both open online course and traditional face-to-face learning contexts throughout the whole semester. We examined the learners' academic performance in each learning mode and surveyed their perceptions of the course. The findings of this study indicate that information technology can transform teaching and learning in a thermal physics classroom and challenge the instructor to tailor the course to meet students' diverse needs. Significantly, students adopted five learning modes, consisting of face-to-face, web facilitated, alternative blended, online learning and flipped learning. This study provides a valuable reference on how traditional on-campus higher education institutions could be unbundled to create student-centred learning approaches.   Implications for practice or policy: Educators could design a flexible delivery model, allowing students to choose five learning modes, consisting of face-to-face, web facilitated, alternative blended, online learning and flipped learning in terms of their learning style and time management. For students with sufficient background knowledge, the flipped learning mode provides the best learning performance. This study could provide administrators, educators and instructors with insights and new approaches in science, technology, engineering and mathematics education and improvements in their course policies.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (9) ◽  
pp. 556
Author(s):  
Blake C. Colclasure ◽  
AnnMarie Marlier ◽  
Mary F. Durham ◽  
Tessa Durham Brooks ◽  
Mekenzie Kerr

COVID-19 has been one of the most significant disruptors of higher education in modern history. Higher education institutions rapidly transitioned to Emergency Remote Teaching (ERT) in mid-to-late March of 2020. The extent of COVID-19’s impact on teaching and learning, and the resulting challenges facilitating ERT during this time, likely varied by faculty, institutional, and geographical characteristics. In this study, we identified challenges in teaching and learning during the initial transition to ERT at Predominantly Undergraduate Institutions (PUIs) in the Midwest, United States. We conducted in-depth interviews with 14 faculty teaching at Midwestern PUIs to explore their lived experiences. We describe the most overarching challenges related to faculty teaching through four emergent themes: pedagogical changes, work-life balance, face-to-face interactions, and physical and mental health. Five themes emerged that we used to describe the most overarching challenges related to students and their learning: learning patterns, technology access, additional responsibilities, learning community, and mental health. Based upon the identified challenges, we provide broad recommendations that can be used to foster a more successful transition to ERT in unforeseen regional or global crises in the future.


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