Academic Experiences of “Zoom-Fatigue” as a Virtual Streaming Phenomenon During the COVID-19 Pandemic

This phenomenological exploratory multiple-case study design was conducted at an open distance e-learning university and a traditional contact residential university and it was found that the participants viewed video conferencing under the COVID-19 lockdown period as an exhausting experience. A second major finding revealed that the participants were empowered with digital literacy skills to use video conferencing effectively. The current findings add to a growing body of literature on video conferencing with a focus on Zoom fatigue. Further research might explore the lived zoom experiences of administrators, students and a larger group of faculties over a longer period. The study findings must be considered when planning and implementing video conferencing for academics and students in open distance e-learning contexts. This study showed that video conferencing is one tool in the emergence of a digital zoom revolution that has radically changed the workspace. The evidence from this study suggests that zoom fatigue is a reality check for work-related health management.

Konceptuelle metaforer som selektionskriterium for Dansk litteraturs kanon - med fokus på elevers literacytilegnelse på tværs af tidsrum, sprog og kultur i arbejdet med kanonlitteratur

This article argues that an increased focus on the inherent conceptual metaphors of chronotopes in canonical literature may contribute to students’ awareness of the historical and literary development in time and space. Thus, expanding their literacy-skills acquisition in comparison to the linear chronological periodization, author-portrait and text reading that typically characterize the reading of canon literature. Furthermore, the article argues that an increased focus on bi- and multilingual students’ interpretation of conceptual metaphors may contribute to the historical and literary development.

Faculty perceptions of information literacy skills: an investigation at the Florence University Campus of Social Sciences

Purpose The Florence University Social Science Library has for some time been engaged in courses for information literacy (IL), but so far, there has been a lack of collaboration with teachers. This study aims to investigate teachers’ perception of students’ IL skills. Design/methodology/approach The qualitative investigation was based on semi-structured interviews with 24 faculty members of the Florence University Social Sciences campus. Findings Knowledge of the IL frameworks is not widespread among the teachers of the campus, but following the discussion, most of the interviewees came to acknowledge its certain validity. The teachers tend to attribute an insufficient level of information skills to the bachelor’s degree students, a good level to master’s degree and a more positive level to the postgraduates. They express appreciation of the training activity of the library, but they, nevertheless, still tend to consider librarians, as their more traditional role would suggest, only as bibliographic research experts. No one seemed to believe librarians possess those training competencies they would need to get involved in teaching curricula. The recognition of the work that has been accomplished up to now represents foundations for an increasingly necessary partnership. There is an awareness, however, that a suitable strategy which requires determination and initiative will be difficult to implement. Originality/value This study represents one of the few contributions on the perception of IL skills by faculty members in Italian universities.

Developing interactive e-module based on realistic mathematics education approach and mathematical literacy ability

Teaching and learning activities are carried out online during the pandemic situation. This condition makes the teaching and learning process in the classroom requires teaching materials that can support the learning process. However, some teachers still use teaching materials commonly used during face-to-face learning, which is irrelevant for offline learning. Therefore, teachers need alternative interactive teaching materials that can facilitate online learning. This study aims to produce teaching materials in an interactive e-module based on the Realistic Mathematics Education (RME) approach with the content of number pattern that is valid, practical, and have potentially affected the eight-grade students' mathematical literacy skills. The research method used is design research with type of development studies which include two main stages, namely the preliminary design and the formative evaluation. The data collection instruments used were content and media expert validation sheets, student response questionnaires, and pretest and posttest questions to measure mathematical literacy skills. This research produces an RME-based e-module on number pattern material that is valid, practical, and potentially affects mathematical literacy skills. The results showed that the e-module was valid in content and media quality with very good criteria. Next, the e-module has also been practical from assessing student responses with good criteria. Finally, the e-module can potentially improve students' mathematical literacy skills, which is indicated by the increase in students' mathematical literacy skills after learning to use the e-module. In addition, the e-module developed in this study contributes as alternative teaching material for teachers in the online learning system.

Preschool predictors of learning to read and spell in an additional language: a two-wave longitudinal study in a multilingual context

The study explores whether foundational skills of reading and spelling in preschool (age 5–6) predict literacy skills cross-linguistically in an additional language in Grade 1 (age 6–7). A sample of linguistically diverse preschool children completed tasks of phonological awareness, letter-sound knowledge, verbal-short term memory, rapid automatized naming, and lexical knowledge in the language of preschool instruction Luxembourgish. The children were followed-up in Grade 1 where literacy skills were assessed in the language of schooling, i.e., German, after five months of literacy instruction. German was a non-native language for all children. Longitudinal correlations confirm that individual differences in single word/pseudoword reading and spelling in German in Grade 1 can be predicted by all the foundational literacy skills that were assessed in Luxembourgish. Path analyses showed that phonological awareness in Luxembourgish emerged as the strongest unique predictor of Grade 1 literacy skills in German. The second unique preschool predictor of Grade 1 literacy skills was letter-sound knowledge. Results are consistent with the view that literacy development in an additional language builds upon similar building blocks as literacy acquisition in a first language, at least for languages that are typologically close. However, current findings suggest that respective contributions between predictors and literacy skills in children learning to read in an additional language may vary from patterns observed in studies with children acquiring literacy in their first language.

Educational interventions involving physical manipulatives for improving children’s learning and development: a scoping review

WHY DID WE DO THIS RESEARCH?Hands-on learning activities with physical objects – or physical manipulatives (PMs) – can be great at encouraging children’s active participation in learning. Cast your mind back to your own childhood: do you remember using items like counters, shapes, or fraction bars in school? If so, you were using PMs! We wanted to find out what kind of research has been done on educational programmes involving PMs.WHAT DID WE DO?We conducted a scoping review – a type of literature review used to identify and broadly describe a body of research according to certain inclusion criteria. We searched several academic databases for studies that have tested the effectiveness of PM interventions with primary-age children; 102 studies met our inclusion criteria and were synthesised in the review.WHAT DID WE FIND?Most studies involved children between 4-6 years in school settings. They spanned 26 different countries, but almost all took place in high- or middle-income contexts, typically the USA. The interventions involved different PMs and hands-on activities (e.g., block building, shape sorting, paper folding), and evidence relating their effectiveness was mixed. Whilst some studies reported benefits to children’s math, spatial, or literacy skills, others did not, and many were hindered by methodological shortcomings. This means we must be cautious when drawing conclusions about the overall effectiveness of PM interventions. Nevertheless, the findings illustrate the many ways hands-on experiences with PMs can facilitate children’s active engagement in learning. Going forward, higher quality research is needed, as well as more studies testing PM interventions in lower-income contexts.

Nursing students’ understanding of health literacy and health practices: a cross-sectional study at a university in Namibia

Background A poor understanding of health literacy and inadequate health practices among nurses can be detrimental to a population’s health. The starting point of solving this problem is through the provision of methodical health literacy and health practice education in the nursing curriculum. This study explored nursing students’ understanding of the concept of ‘health literacy’ and their health practices at a university in Namibia. Methods A descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out among 205 nursing students. A simple stratified sampling method was used and data were collected using a self-reporting Understanding of Health Literacy (UHL) questionnaire. Pearson correlation, independent t-test and One-way ANOVA were used to analyse the data. Results The overall mean Understanding of Health Literacy score was 13.04 ± 1.52. The majority (n = 157; 76.5%) of the students were found to have adequate health literacy scores, 21.5% had moderate health literacy scores, and only 2% had inadequate health literacy scores. The overall mean health practice score was 32.4 ± 5.50. Most (n = 106; 51.7%) of the students were found to have poor health practices, 44.4% had average health practices, and just 3.9% had good health practices. There was no significant relationship between the health literacy levels and health practices of the students (p = 0.63). Conclusions Nursing students have a good understanding of the concept of health literacy, but more effort can be made to translate this understanding into health literacy skills. There is a need to investigate the contributing factors to poor health practices, as well as develop strategies that can support good health practices among nursing students. These health literacy skills could then be transferred into the students' professional careers as nurses.

Development of Authentic Assessment Instruments Oriented Reading Skills Based Language Literacy through the Scaffolding Model

This research aims to develop an authentic assessment instrument product based on language literacy with a scaffolding model that is oriented towards reading skills. This research method uses research and development methods. The research results show that the preliminary research phase describes the results of curriculum analysis and student analysis. At the product development stage and validation by experts, the percentage of authenticity instrument eligibility consisting of three indicators is 82%. It can be concluded that the instrument is suitable for use in learning activities. The practicality stage given to 20 students in one of the Manyak Payed Public High Schools, Aceh Tamiang District, consisted of four alternative answers, 25% were declared practical. Thus, high school teachers are advised to use the scaffolding model as a solution to improve reading comprehension and language literacy skills.

Understanding Scientific Literacy and Pedagogy Competence: A Critical Insight into Religious Integration Thinking Skills

This study aims to examine the scientific literacy and pedagogical competence on the ability to comprehend the religious integration amongst Islamic education pre-service teachers. This research used a quantitative approach involving 156 participants from several universities. Data were obtained through conducting survey. Data analysis was performed with bivariate correlation. Based on the data analysis carried out, the finding showed that the significant correlation between scientific literacy skills and pedagogy competence to the ability of religious integration thinking skills within Islamic religious content and values. This is based on the value of sig. (2-tailed) between X1 (Science Literacy) to the integration ability obtained that the value of 0,000, which means <0.05. This data proves that there is a significant correlation between the ability of scientific literacy skills and pedagogy skills to the ability of science integration comprehension amongst the Islamic education pre-service teachers. Received: 2 September 2021 / Accepted: 30 October 2021 / Published: 3 January 2022