Building a Scale to Measure the Psychological Effects of the COVID -19 Coronaviruson Omani University Students

The world was surprised by the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic started in China and rapidly spread in the world. This pandemic impacted different aspects of life such as the economy, health, and social life. The study aimed to build a tool to measure the psychological effects of the corona COVID-19 pandemic on Omani university students. The sample of the scale consisted of (566) students from different Omani universities. The researcher used an electronic method to distribute the questionnaire, which was Google Drive. Fifty-nine factors were used in its initial form to measure the psychological effects of the pandemic on Omani university students. The results showed that the tool is an appropriate indication of validity and reality. They revealed the results of factor validity and face validity on a scale consisting of (45) items divided into five areas: thinking about the future, pressures resulting from the requirements of the study, restrictions of movement and communication, and concern about the disease. The study recommended that student councilors and people in charge of Omani universities can use this measure to overcome the psychological effects of the pandemic on students and conduct other studies to verify the applicability to other samples.

Self-fulfilling Versus Self-destructive Adolescents: Exploration of Relations among Resilience, Well-Being, and Life Satisfaction

This study examined the differences between adolescents with a self-fulfilling profile and those with a self-destructive profile in resilience, well-being, and satisfaction with life. The Resiliency Attitudes and Skills Profile (De Caroli & Sagone, 2014a) was used to measure sense of humor, competence, adaptability, control, and engagement; the Life Satisfaction Scale (Di Fabio & Gori, 2016), the Psychological Well-Being Scale (Ryff & Keyes, 1995) was used to explore general psychological well-being; the Positive (PA) and Negative (NA) Affect Scale (Di Fabio & Bucci, 2015) was applied to measure the two opposite affective profiles, self-fulfilling (high PA and low NA) and self-destructive profile (low PA and high NA). Results showed that adolescents with a self-fulfilling profile reported higher resilience, life satisfaction, psychological well-being than those with a self-destructive profile. Future research could deep protective factors of self-fulfilling profile and risk factors of self-destructive profile in adolescence.

A Personal Account: Attaining Muscle Memory and Higher Mental Functioning

Many articles have been written about elite performers that attain muscle memory and experience flow and zoneness. This article details how the author personally attained higher level performance and explains the feelings experienced during the process. A one-person study was designed to experience muscle memory and explore the mental aspects of putting. Twenty thousand attempts (strokes) were used. The design included four parts; a) Establish Baseline, b) Master Mechanics, c) Experience Muscle Memory, and d) Explore Mental Aspects. The conversion rate for the first 1,000 attempts during baseline was 58.3 percent and for the last 1,000 attempts was 90.4 percent. The concept of deliberate practice was used throughout the study showing performance increases. When experiencing muscle memory it was found to be boring and far from fun. When the mental aspects were explored the concepts of flow and pre-live generated enthusiasm and joy.

Activity-Based Teaching and Learning Approach and Students’ Academic Performance: Evidence from Among Stakeholders from Barekese District Ashanti Region of Ghana

In this study, the authors explored the level of awareness and views on the activity-based approach to teaching and learning (ABTLA) in enhancing skills, competency, and academic performance among students and other stakeholders from Senior High Schools (SHS) and Colleges of Education (COE) in Barekese District of Ashanti Region of Ghana. A survey involving 510 various stakeholders was conducted within the Barekese District of Ashanti Region of Ghana, using sets of a self-administered structured questionnaire. The study revealed that the Ghanaian stakeholders of the second cycle and COEs are highly aware of ABTLA and its potency for enhancing skills, competency, and academic performance among students. Policy implications and further future research directions were provided.

Assessing Teachers’ Self-Efficacy Beliefs Using Bandura’s Scale

The study aimed to assess the level of teacher’s self-efficacy belief as input to faculty development plan based on Bandura’s instrument. Mean and ranking were utilized to determine the Teachers’ Self- efficacy level. The results show that faculty members have higher efficacy in terms of discipline, instruction, create a positive school climate. Meanwhile, low efficacy in terms of influence in school resources, enlist parental and community involvement, and influencing decision making in the University. Generally, it indicates that faculty members need to enhance their self-efficacy belief in some aspects. It is suggested to include a plan as part of the faculty development program to enhance the teachers’ self-efficacy level particularly on decision making, community involvement, getting school resources, and parental involvement.

The Kids are Alright: Middle-Level Students’ Perceptions of School During COVID-19

This research sought to determine middle school students’ perceptions of the academic year they experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic in a district in South Carolina. The students were surveyed three times throughout the year (beginning, midyear, and end of year), and their responses were disaggregated by the instructional model choice (face-to-face, in-person instruction, and online, virtual instruction via webcam technology). Families of students in this district were offered a choice of these two instructional models throughout the year, and the reasons for their family’s choice were surveyed. Students who were face-to-face for the entire year were more likely to perceive their school year as a positive experience than their online peers, but both groups identified that despite the circumstances, they mostly felt positive about the year, except in the case of being able to make friends, in which face-to-face students’ responses were significantly more positive. Also, students reported spending time during the previous school year’s shutdown (March 2020 to the end of the school year in June) completing many different academics and social tasks in which they were able to develop skills and direct their free time. The results of this research suggest that consistent with previous research suggesting that offering a few options results in people feeling satisfied, this research suggests that in the future when faced with difficult choices at the district level on how to handle student experiences in unprecedented circumstances, offering choice to the students and families may benefit the outcomes of those students and the district overall.

Quantitative Analysis of Eye Movements during Singing of Early Childhood Children

Early childhood children tend to make musical expressions watching other children or the teacher’s piano accompaniment. However, it has not been inspected yet how eye movement is affected by music. To provide the optimized procedure to capture eye movement’s characteristics reflecting music, the statistical technique was used to evaluate effective parameters. In this study, eye trackers (Tobii Glasses 2) were used to acquire data of eye movements during musical expression of early childhood children and to conduct quantitative analysis. 3-year-old, 4-year-old, and 5-year-old children in two early childhood facilities (n=58) participated in eye-tracking while singing multiple songs of major and minor. This paper focuses on saccade (rapid eye movement) and gaze behaviors of early childhood children and mainly conducts, a three-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) on the acquired data (age * facility*tonality). As a result, it was found that the number of occurrences of saccade and the total moving distances of saccade showed a statistical significance between means regarding differences in the tonality of major/minor key of songs, and childcare forms.

ncentive Effects Analysis on Primary and Secondary Teacher Incentive Policies in China

In recent years, many policies issued by central and local governments for primary and secondary school teachers in China are closely related to the incentive problems in their work. Based on the policy texts and empirical studies about teachers’ incentives, this paper discusses the incentive effects of teacher incentive policies. The outlines of this study are as follows: 1.Teacher incentive policies; 2. The incentive methods of teacher incentive policies; 3. Incentive effects of teacher incentive policies; 4. Teachers’ workloads and the effects of teacher incentive policies; and 5. Suggestions on teacher incentive policies.

Exploring the Factor Structure of the Constructs of Technological, Pedagogical, and Content Knowledge (TPACK): An Exploratory Factor Analysis Based on the Perceptions of TESOL Pre-Service Teachers at a British Private University in Malaysia

Using the TPACK framework, this research study investigated how pre-service teachers perceive their development of the knowledge, skills, and self-efficacy necessary for technology integration; and explored the opportunities that pre-service teachers have to learn about technology integration. It employed a convergent parallel mixed methods case study design. It has a single-embedded case design. The unit of analysis for inquiry is the undergraduate teacher preparation program at a private British university in Malaysia. This study incorporates quantitative data collection in the form of a survey alongside qualitative data collection conducted through semi-structured interviews. The participants for the survey comprised of three purposefully selected convenience samples of pre-service teachers (Years One, Two, and Three) studying the undergraduate teacher preparation program. Following the administration of the survey, a maximum variation sample of pre-service teachers who participated in the survey was invited for semi-structured interviews. The results indicated that the EFA found support for TK and CK being distinctive knowledge constructs within the pre-service teachers’ knowledge perceptions. While PK, PCK, TPK, TCK, and TPACK were postulated to be distinct knowledge constructs in the TPACK framework, these were not reflected in the perceptions of the pre-service teacher participants of this study. Implications and recommendations are suggested.

Enhancing Self-Monitoring with Differential Negative Reinforcement of Alternative Behavior for Increasing Students’ Writing Production

Many students find writing aversive and behave in ways to escape the task. Self-monitoring and differential negative reinforcement of alternative behavior (DNRA) are two approaches that have been shown to improve the quantity of writing performance but have never been combined to determine whether they are more effective in combination than in isolation. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the differential effectiveness of self-monitoring versus self-monitoring plus DNRA for increasing the number of words and sentences written using a multiple probe design across three participants during two 10-minute sessions. For each baseline session, participants were given a story starter prompt to write as much as they could, received a short break, and then the second 10-minute session would begin. Self-monitoring indicated an increase in a number of words written and an unstable but slightly higher trend in a number of sentences written for one participant. The other two participants showed decreasing trends in both the number of words and sentences written during self-monitoring. Results of self-monitoring plus DNRA indicated an increase in a number of words and sentences written for one participant, while the other two participants showed little to no improvement. Areas for future research, limitations, and implications for practice are discussed.