Attitudes and concerns of undergraduate university health sciences students in Croatia regarding complete switch to e-learning during COVID-19 pandemic: a survey

Background Croatia has closed all educational institutions after 32 cases of SARS-CoV-2 infection were confirmed and switched to exclusive e-learning. Health sciences university students may have been particularly affected with this change due to a lack of practical education. It is not known how health sciences students and schools have adjusted to exclusive e-learning. This study aimed to explore attitudes and concerns of health sciences students in Croatia regarding the complete switch to e-learning during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods Eligible participants were students from 9 institutions offering university-level health sciences education in Croatia enrolled in the academic year 2019/2010, and participating in e-learning. Data were collected with a questionnaire distributed via email during April/May 2020. Results A total of 2520 students (aged 25.7 ± 7.7 years) responded to the questionnaire (70.3% response rate). General satisfaction with exclusive e-learning was rated with average grade of 3.7 out of 5. Compared with previous education, exclusive e-learning was rated with average grade of 3.2 out of 5. Compared to classroom learning, equal or higher motivation to attend exclusive e-learning was reported by 64.4% of participants. With a longer duration of exclusive e-learning, equal or higher motivation was reported by 65.5% of participants. Less than half of the students indicated they felt deprived or concerned due to the lack of practical lessons. Most participants indicated that in the future, they would prefer to combine classic classroom and e-learning (N = 1403; 55.7%). Conclusions Most health sciences students were satisfied with the exclusive e-learning, as well as their personal and institutional adjustment to it. Students’ feedback can help institutions to improve the exclusive e-learning experience for students in the time of the pandemic.

The Influence of Tourism on Income Inequality

This article examines the influence of tourism on income inequality on a global sample. Our analysis uses various econometric techniques for panel data including 97 countries over the period 2002–2014 categorized into three subsamples: 30 low- and lower-middle-income economies (LMEs), 25 upper-middle-income economies (UMEs), and 42 high-income economies (HIEs). Our empirical findings are interesting. First, both domestic and international tourism reduce income inequality whereas a better institutional quality increases the income inequality. Our findings also clearly indicate that international tourism contributes to the reduction of income inequalities while the national tourism requires an institutional adjustment in the LMEs and the UMEs to do so. This observation highlights the important roles of tax and transfer policies in fighting against income inequality.

On Being Gifted at University: Academic, Social, Emotional, and Institutional Adjustment in Kazakhstan

Globally, universities have an interest in recruiting the most talented students; however, limited attention has been given to how these students experience their transition and adjustment to university life. This mixed-methods study analyzes the academic, social, emotional, and institutional dimensions of gifted students’ adjustment to university in the context of post-Soviet Kazakhstan, a country characterized by a strong emphasis on the education of gifted students. The findings of the study confirm that the process of gifted students’ adjustment to university is a complex phenomenon, and all the aspects of students’ first-year experiences should be carefully taken into consideration when studying the transition to postsecondary education. The results of the study are useful for understanding the issues that gifted students face in the transition to higher education and have important implications for research on gifted students’ postsecondary experiences internationally.

Contested multilateralism as credible signaling: how strategic inconsistency can induce cooperation among states

This paper analyzes how patterns of international cooperation are affected if a group of states, led by a major power, pursues a strategy of “contested multilateralism” (CM). We conceptualize CM as a reaction to deadlock in institutional adjustment bargaining where CM lowers the gains actors can reap from cooperation in the short run. We demonstrate that, in the long run, CM nevertheless can have positive effects on international cooperation and specify when this is the case. Because of the costs associated with it, CM conveys a credible signal of the resolve of a dissatisfied group of states to contest the institutional status quo. Due to this capacity, CM alters the institutional and strategic environment within which institutional adjustment bargaining takes place. As a result, CM opens up the possibility for inter-institutional accommodation that increases realized cooperation gains. We probe the plausibility of our theoretical reasoning with empirical case studies on competitive regime creation in multilateral development finance and on regime-shifting in the governance of international trade in genetically modified organisms.

Socialist Constitutional History

This chapter examines constitutional history in the five socialist countries. Their constitutional history can be analytically divided into three periods: pre-socialist, Soviet-era, and transitional. During the pre-socialist period, the five countries had their own constitutional history, which was predominantly informed by traditional values (e.g. Confucianism in China, Vietnam, and Korea, and Buddhism in Laos) and liberal modern values, although some socialist ideas were also partially adopted in some cases, such as the 1946 Constitution of Vietnam. In the Soviet era, except for the belated constitution-making in Laos, the four other countries made, replaced, or amended the socialist constitutions which were predominantly informed by five elements of socialist constitutional identity. Immediately after the collapse of the Soviet bloc, the five countries adapted their socialist constitutional system in the early 1990s in a transition with three separate elements: independent states, economic reforms, and institutional adjustment. The examination of socialist constitutional history has implications for comparative constitutional history.

The Personal Model

This chapter focuses on seven constitutional amendments in North Korea under Kim Jong-il and Kim Jong-un’s rule. The Suryong (supreme leaders) system informs and legitimizes the process and substance of constitutional change in North Korea, the experience characterized here as the personal model of socialist constitutional change. The change of Suryong normally induces constitutional change. The Constitution was, also, amended to incorporate Suryong’s new ideas and guidance. Procedurally, the constitutional amendments are formally approved by the legislature with a two-third majority vote, but amendment approval is effectively controlled by a Suryong. Substantively, constitutional change in North Korea improves the Suryong-Dominant Party-State System to facilitate the government’s role in improving the material wellbeing of living conditions. The need to improve the material wellbeing generates new ideas about socio-economic development, the institutional adjustment to facilitate effective management of the economy and the society at large, and empowering the citizens to some extent.

Attitudes and concerns of health sciences students in Croatia regarding complete switch to e-learning during COVID-19 pandemic: a survey

Background: Croatia has closed all educational institutions after 32 cases of SARS-CoV-2 infection were confirmed and switched to exclusive e-learning. Health sciences university students may have been particularly disrupted with this change due to lack of practical education. It is not known how health sciences students and schools have adjusted to exclusive e-learning. The aim of this study was to explore attitudes and concerns of health sciences students in Croatia regarding complete switch to e-learning during COVID-19 pandemic.Methods: Eligible participants were students from 9 institutions offering university-level health sciences education in Croatia enrolled in academic year 2019/2010, and participating in e-learning. Data were collected with questionnaire distributed via email during April/May 2020.Results: A total of 2520 students (aged 25.7±7.7 years) responded to the questionnaire (70.3% response rate). General satisfaction with exclusive e-learning was rated with average grade 3.7 out of 5. Compared with previous education, exclusive e-learning was rated with average grade 3.2 out of 5. Compared to classroom learning, equal or higher motivation to attend exclusive learning was reported by 64.4% of participants. With longer duration of exclusive e-learning, equal or higher motivation was reported by 65.5% of participants. Less than half of the students indicated they felt deprived or concerned due to the lack of practical lessons. Most participants indicated that in the future, they would prefer to combine classic classroom and e-learning (N=1403; 55.7%).Conclusions: Most health sciences students were satisfied with the exclusive e-learning, as well as their personal and institutional adjustment to it. Students’ feedback can help institutions to improve exclusive e-learning experience for students in time of pandemic.

Not Quite What You Expected: The Curious Case of Brexit Scrutiny in the Czech Parliament

The aim of the article is to explore how the Czech bicameral parliament has reacted to the process of the United Kingdom's (UK's) withdrawal from the European Union (EU). Drawing upon insights from the theoretical expectations of parliamentary power, the inquiry researches the ways that Czech legislatures have developed in terms of engaging with and influencing the Brexit process. In this regard, the Czech case is exceptionally interesting and worth exploring, since the EU agenda has become a highly politicised issue within the Czech context. The significance of this inquiry has been further highlighted by the high level of party-based Euroscepticism typical of Czech politics as well as the frequent changes that the Czech party system has been undergoing in recent years. Throughout the in-depth analysis of parliamentary scrutiny activities—conceptualised as comprising four aspects: (i) the institutional adjustment; (ii) articulation of priorities; (iii) interactions with the government and (iv) parliamentary party politics—the article considers how these activities compare between both chambers of the Czech Parliament.