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This position paper explores the needs of rural families of children, adolescents, and adults with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) during the COVID-19 pandemic. Prior to COVID-19, literature portrays elevated stress in families of individuals with ASD and health and socioeconomic disparities for rural and underserved populations. These disparities were exacerbated due to COVID-19 and subsequent lockdowns and economic turmoil. Academic and adaptive skills training were particularly impacted due to school closures, with parents tasked with taking some responsibility for training these skills. Our goals for this article focus on special considerations for rural families regarding: (1) neurobiological and developmental impacts of stressful experiences like COVID-19; (2) delineation of the impacts on individuals with ASD and other comorbid and related conditions; and (3) education and intervention needs during these times. Finally, we offer suggestions for future care during pandemic events, including recommendations for improving service delivery under such conditions.

This paper focuses on eco-anxiety, an over-arching term used to describe anxiety caused by the climate crisis and the impacts of environmental contamination, environmental disasters, species extinctions and ecological system degradation. A brief literature review of eco-anxiety is provided from both psychoanalytic and Jungian perspectives which includes a discussion of Jung's view of our split with nature, displacement anxiety, precarity, climate change denial, and anticipatory anxiety. The author draws on his own theory of what he calls the Nature archetype to explicate the psychological changes brought about by our environmental crisis that cause increased anxiety, depression, PTSD and which, sometimes, lead to suicide. Two clinical vignettes are provided. The first shows how eco-complexes cluster around and interweave with generalized anxiety disorder, and the way in which eco-anxiety can be incorporated into a fusional complex that draws the analyst into a fusional field experienced as a state of connection and disconnection over both personal and collective material. The second vignette illustrates the way in which eco-complexes, eco-anxiety and environmental issues are interwoven with an early childhood abuse history., (© 2022 The Society of Analytical Psychology.)

This project explored the relationship between virtual animal-related engagement (ARE) and anxiety in nurse leaders. A quality improvement project used a valid and reliable visual analog scale from 0 to 100 for self-reporting of anxiety in nurse leaders. Baseline and intervention group data were collected for 2 weeks at 15 and 5 minutes before the daily leadership huddle. Differences in anxiety levels 5 minutes before the huddle for baseline with the use of the intervention were significant. Within the intervention group, anxiety levels at 15 and 5 minutes were significant. Project outcomes suggest a difference in self-reported anxiety of nurse leaders based on ARE., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflicts of interest., (Copyright © 2023 Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. All rights reserved.)

Almost half of infertility cases involve male infertility. Understanding the consequence of a diagnosis of male infertility, as a sole or partial contributor to the couples' infertility, to the mental health of men is required to ensure clinical care meets their psychological needs. The aim of this systematic analysis was to synthesize the evidence regarding whether men diagnosed with male factor infertility experience greater psychological distress than (1) men described as fertile and (2) men in couples with other infertility diagnoses. Online databases were searched using a combination of Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) headings and keywords relating to male infertility and psychological distress. The search yielded 1016 unique publications, of which 23 were included: 8 case-control, 14 prospective cohort, and 1 data linkage studies. Seven aspects of psychological distress were identified depression, anxiety, self-esteem, quality of life, fertility-related stress, general psychological stress or well-being, and psychiatric conditions. Case-control studies reported that men with male factor infertility have more symptoms of depression, anxiety and general psychological distress, worse quality of some aspects of life, and lower self-esteem than controls. When men with male factor infertility were compared to men in couples with other causes of infertility, there were few differences in the assessed aspects of psychological distress. Despite methodological limitations within the studies, this systematic analysis suggests that the experience of infertility, irrespective of its cause, negatively affects men's mental health and demonstrates the need for assisted reproduction technology (ART) providers to consider men undergoing assisted reproduction as individuals with their own unique support needs., (Copyright © 2023 Copyright: © The Author(s)(2023).)

Background: Anxiety, approach, and avoidance motivation crucially influence mental and physical health, especially when environments are stressful. The interplay between anxiety and behavioral motivation is modulated by multiple individual factors. This proof-of-concept study applies graph-theoretical network analysis to explore complex associations between self-reported trait anxiety, approach and avoidance motivation, situational anxiety, stress symptoms, perceived threat, perceived positive consequences of approach, and self-reported avoidance behavior in real-life threat situations., Methods: A total of 436 participants who were matched on age and gender (218 psychotherapy patients, 218 online-recruited nonpatients) completed an online survey assessing these factors in response to the COVID-19 pandemic., Results and Discussion: The resulting cross-sectional psychological network revealed a complex pattern with multiple positive (e.g., between trait anxiety, avoidance motivation, and avoidance behavior) and negative associations (e.g., between approach and avoidance motivation). The patient and online subsample networks did not differ significantly, however, descriptive differences may inform future research., (© 2023 The Authors. Journal of Clinical Psychology published by Wiley Periodicals LLC.)

Although mostly considered distinct, conspiracy mentality and paranoia share conceptual similarities (e.g., persecutory content, resistance to disconfirming evidence). Using self-report data from a large and multinational online sample (N = 2510; from the UK, the US, Hong Kong, Germany, and Australia), we examined whether paranoia and conspiracy mentality represent distinct latent constructs in exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses. Utilising network analysis, we then explored common and unique correlates of paranoia and conspiracy mentality while accounting for their shared variance. Across sites, paranoia and conspiracy mentality presented distinct, yet weakly correlated (r = 0.26), constructs. Both were associated with past traumatic experiences, holding negative beliefs about the self and other people, sleep problems, and a tendency to worry. However, paranoia was related to increased negative affect (i.e., anxiety) and decreased social support, whereas the opposite pattern was observed for conspiracy mentality (i.e., decreased anxiety and depression, increased social support). Paranoia and conspiracy mentality are related but not the same constructs. Their similar and distinct correlates point to common and unique risk factors and underlying mechanisms., (© 2023. The Author(s).)

Climate change is an increasingly important global concern, requiring urgent action. To achieve environmental sustainability, identifying the predictors influencing individuals' actions is necessary. Individuals with negative psychological responses to climate change, such as eco-anxiety, are more likely to engage in pro-environmental behaviour. However, eco-anxiety and other perceptions associated with climate change and sustainability can differ based on an individual's unique background. Therefore, this study aimed to identify potent predictors of individuals' environmental sustainability interest and examine the impact of eco-anxiety on environmental sustainability interest. Data from 459 South Korean adults (19-65 years) were included in this secondary analysis. Eco-anxiety, climate change risk perception and future event cognition were assessed by the Climate Change Anxiety Scale, the Climate Change Risk Perception Inventory and Future Event Questionnaires, respectively. Multiple linear regression analysis showed that eco-anxiety was the most potent predictor of environmental sustainability interest, followed by climate change risk perception, age 60-65 years, future event cognition and age under 30 years. Considering that eco-anxiety is the most potent predictor of environmental sustainability interest, mental health nurses should assess patients' eco-anxiety level and help them recognize and manage their anxiety levels appropriately. Age-specific approaches should be considered for interventions to enhance environmental sustainability interest. Further studies are needed to determine the cut-off anxiety level that influences the positive impact on environmental sustainability interest and to develop programmes to manage eco-anxiety., (© 2023 John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd.)

The present study used a combination of the Threat-of-Shock paradigm and the Attention Network Test (ANT) to investigate how induced anxiety affects alerting, orienting, and executive control and whether individual differences in threat sensitivity moderate these effects. Forty-two female subjects completed the ANT task in alternation under shock-threat and no-shock ("safe") conditions while event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded. The results showed that anxiety induced by the threat of shock had a significant impact on alerting and executive control functions at the neural level. Specifically, alerting-related N1 and stimulus-preceding negativity (SPN) differences between double cue and no cue conditions were greater in the threat versus safe state, suggesting that the induced anxiety promoted the early perception of cues and preparation for the target. Moreover, executive control-related P3 and sustained potential (SP) differences between incongruent and congruent trials were greater in the threat versus safe state, indicating that the induced anxiety might improve the attentional allocation efficiency and stimulate subjects to recruit more cognitive resources to resolve conflicts. However, orienting-related ERPs were not affected by the threat of shock, but the threat of shock promoted the processing efficiency of spatial-cue at the behavioral level. Analysis of individual differences revealed that trait anxiety moderated the attentional allocation efficiency when performing executive control related tasks in the threat versus safe state. Our findings demonstrate the adaptive significance of the threat of shock-induced anxiety in that being in an anxious state can enhance individuals' alerting, orienting, and executive functions., (© 2023. The Psychonomic Society, Inc.)

The important role of willingness to communicate (WTC) in facilitating second language (L2) learning and use has been widely endorsed. However, few studies have examined how teacher support in an L2 class may predict students' L2 WTC. Such a relationship may also be mediated by learners' L2 anxiety, a typical predictor of L2 WTC, and moderated by learners' beliefs about the malleability of their language learning ability, a construct known as growth language mindset. Framed from the Control-Value Theory (Pekrun, in Educ Psychol Rev 18(4):315-341, 2006) and the Language-Mindset Meaning System (Lou and Noels, in: Lamb, Csizér, Henry, Ryan (eds) The Palgrave handbook of motivation for language learning, Palgrave Macmillan, 2019a, System 86:102126, 2019b), this study aimed to investigate the relationships between teacher support, L2 anxiety, growth language mindset, and L2 WTC. The data were collected from 551 English-as-a-Foreign-Language (EFL) learners in Iran and analyzed using structural equation modeling (SEM). The results showed that teacher support was directly and positively associated with L2 WTC, and this relationship was significantly mediated by L2 anxiety. The relationship between teacher support and L2 WTC, however, was only significant among learners with medium and high levels of growth language mindset. In addition, growth language mindset also moderated the negative relationship between L2 anxiety and L2 WTC, with this relationship being weaker among learners with higher levels of growth language mindset. Finally, theoretical and pedagogical implications and directions for future research are presented., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.)

Patients with chronic medically complex disorders like inflammatory bowel diseases (BD) often have mental health and psychosocial comorbid conditions. There is growing recognition that factors other than disease pathophysiology impact patients' health and wellbeing. Provision of care that encompasses medical care plus psychosocial, environmental and behavioral interventions to improve health has been termed “whole person care” and may result in achieving highest health value. There now are multiple methods to survey patients and stratify their psychosocial, mental health and environmental risk. Such survey methods are applicable to all types of IBD programs including those at academic medical centers, independent health systems and those based within independent community practice. Once a practice determines that a patient has psychosocial needs, a variety of resources are available for referral or co-management as outlined in this paper. Included in this white paper are examples of psychosocial care that is integrated into IBD practices plus innovative methods that provide remote patient management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: The aim of this study was to assess whether Horticulture Therapy (HT) is effective for the improvement of the conceptual organization function, memory and psychological symptoms of chronic depressed male outpatients. Methods: 30 outpatients were chosen by the convenience sampling method. They were assigned to two groups, namely the experimental and the control group, by the random assignment method (each group comprising of 15 people). Outpatients were evaluated for before and after intervention by Rey--Osterrieth complex figure, and on the Depression Anxiety and Stress Scale, DASS-44. Results: After ten sessions of horticultural therapy, the patients' scores on conceptual organization function, memory, depression, anxiety, and stress improved significantly. Discussion: Although horticultural therapy improved outpatients' scores on conceptual organization function, memory, depression, anxiety, and stress, future study is needed, especially by engaging more patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Some students at the master-level viewed research methodology courses negatively. This study investigated six factors that changed attitudes of graduate school students toward research during the course of a semester at a mid-sized university (University X) located in a western state. To facilitate this study, a survey instrument (Student Research Assessment Survey) was developed and disseminated to 217 students who had successfully completed an introductory research methodology course from fall 2005 through spring 2007 semesters. In terms of students' preferred course format, class discussion, group work/activity, and instructional videos were significantly more enjoyable to master-level students compared to oral presentations, in-class quizzes and exams. Among various research self-efficacy items, students were most confident in using computers, creating graphs, and writing library research papers, and these three items did not differ significantly from the beginning to the end of a semester. Consequently, students' attitudes toward these three self-efficacy items did not improve significantly due to ceiling effect. Over a 16-week semester, students' research interest, usefulness, self-efficacy and their view of the training environment increased significantly, while their research anxiety and task difficulty decreased significantly. These six factors of changing of students attitudes toward research were significantly correlated with each other. In order to better serve the needs of students in the near future, five recommendations were made based on results of this study at University X. These recommendations were constructing a common syllabus among course sections, utilizing a variety of teaching and assessment techniques, becoming aware of students' attitudes toward research activities throughout a semester, using primary literature as a major part of teaching tools, as well as engaging students in research projects under the direction of a faculty mentor, and applying research knowledge and skills to real-life situations. (Contains 8 tables.)

The number of undergraduate students who report having at least one disability has been on the rise since the 1970s. With the advent of Active Learning Classrooms (ALCs), understanding how these students experience ALCs is critical to creating a fair and equitable experience for all students. This report examines one subset of this population: students with some form of diagnosed Anxiety Disorder. Although over a quarter of U.S. undergraduates report a diagnosis of some kind of Anxiety Disorder, this study focused on those who sought disability accommodations in their ALC classes. Using structured interviews, this paper identifies 11 elements of the classroom and learning experience that affect such students in these spaces. The paper concludes with recommendations instructors can take to improve the learning experience for students with anxiety and anxiety disorders.

Teachers are among the key actors of education who are responsible for preparing students to become qualified and well-educated individuals. Therefore, teachers should be trained well throughout their education. The knowledge and skills that teachers acquire throughout their study may have either a positive or a negative impact on their future professional careers. Identifying factors involved in the teaching professional early in the teacher training processes and finding applicable solutions will change the direction of that impact. Against this background, the purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between preservice teachers' levels of teaching self-efficacy and occupational anxiety and find out whether their self-efficacy and occupational anxiety differ according to the year of study. To this end, a descriptive survey research design was used. The sample consisted of 156 preservice teachers studying at the faculty of education of a university. The "Occupational Anxiety Scale for Prospective Teachers" and the "Teachers' Sense of Efficacy Scale" were employed as data collection instruments. The analysis results showed that preservice teachers' self-efficacy differed according to the year of study, while their occupational anxiety did not differ. The results also showed a moderate positive correlation between preservice teachers' levels of teaching self-efficacy and occupational anxiety. Thus, based on the correlation between teaching self-efficacy and occupational anxiety, it is recommended to make efforts to increase preservice teachers' self-efficacy and decrease their occupational anxiety during their study. [Paper presented at the International Scientific Research Congress (10th, 2021).]

Teaching anxiety is a significant affective state that may profoundly affect both the learning and teaching processes. However, there is no conclusive evidence regarding the sources and effects of teaching anxiety in an educational context. The study adopted a research design utilizing a systematic review methodology. This systematic review aims to present an overview of the current literature on teaching anxiety and explore the variables related to teaching anxiety in terms of its causes and effects. In the study, 108 papers were reviewed analyzed by listing the journals, searching the research papers, screening, analyzing, and reviewing. The study concluded that teaching anxiety was directly related to affective states, while the relationship between teaching anxiety levels and demographic variables was not clear. Another conclusion was that teaching experience, content knowledge, and instruction effectively decrease the levels of teaching anxiety. The results also showed that teachers' and students' characteristics, teaching strategies, time and classroom management, planning, school climate, and the use of technology had considerable effects on teaching anxiety.

Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is an important public health problem. It refers to a developmental disability and can cause significant social, communication and behavioral challenges. According to the previous studies there is no precisely treatment for individuals with ASD. However, they can be improved and can be taught important skills such as expressing their feelings, overcoming their fears, developing their physical abilities and working and bonding with their peers by especially sport education. Sport education or training was implemented with 10 participants with ASD aged 5,5-29 years. One parent from each family who accompanied ten individuals with ASD during sporting events participated in this study. A standardized open-ended interview method was applied to the parents. Social Skill Interview Questions and Academic Skill Interview Questions were applied to the interviewees. The interviews were recorded, transcribed and analyzed. The purpose of the current study was to explore the effect of sports training on social and academic skills in individuals with ASD. Sport helped individual with ASD make progress in social skills such as communication, participation in the game, social relations, behavioral problems and waiting in line, body awareness and balance control, interests, following rules and instructions. On the other hand, it did not yield to the ability to transition from activity to activity and it did not contribute to a few individuals with ASD, while it contributed positively to many individuals with ASD, although some had rather slow success. In the academic skills of sports, perception studies supported skills such as preparation for first literacy, sound words and sentences, listening, relations between objects, and rhythmic counting. While it was recognized that sports contributed considerable improvement to some of the individuals in skills such as writing their own names, grammar, natural numbers, operations, and measures, unfortunately it did not help some of them in progress. It was observed that the majority of those who did not progress were younger. Sport training or education did not support to the ability to perform operations using division and calculator. Evidence suggests that sport education has ultimately a positive effect on the social and academic skills of individuals with ASD. [Paper presented at the International Eurasian Sports Education and Society Congress (5th).]

In this study, the effects of parental attitudes, self-esteem, need for social approval and irrational beliefs were examined on the speech anxiety of university in Turkey. Correlational survey model was employed in the study, and the participants were 615 Turkish university students. The relationships between the variables were analysed by establishing a structural regression model. Irrational Beliefs Scale, Need for Social Approval Scale, Speech Anxiety Scale for Teacher Candidates, Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale and Parental Attitudes Scale were employed to collect data in this study. The analyses showed that the model had a good fit to the research data [x[superscript 2]=463.806, sd=201, x[superscript 2]/sd=2.307, CFI=0.961, TLI=0.951, IFI=0.961, RFI=0.916, NFI=0.933, AGFI=0.912, GFI=0.936, RMSEA (%95 GA)= 0.046, SRMR=0.058]. Irrational beliefs, self-esteem, and need for social approval were found to have a full mediator role in the relationship between parental attitudes and speech anxiety. In order to reduce speech anxiety, individuals' self-esteem should be improved, while reducing their need for social approval and eliminating their irrational beliefs. However, family-oriented projects should be carried out considering the effect of parental attitudes associated with these variables. [Paper presented at the International Primary Teacher Education Symposium (16th, May 8-11, 2017).]

Presentation skills are considered as the most vital proficiencies required in higher education. This research paper examined the difficulties of oral presentation EFL learners encountered, strategies used to make oral presentation well and the perceived role of lecturer in improving EFL learners' oral presentation skills. With regard to achieving these objectives, questionnaires distributed to 150 EFL learners, and face-to-face interviews were conducted. The quantitative data were analyzed through SPSS by conducting frequencies and percentages, independent sample t-test and ANOVA tests. The results of the study revealed that learners had a problem with oral fluency, accuracy and pronunciation during oral presentation, feel frightened when a lot of people are watching them, afraid of being assessed by their classmates in front of the class, having low self-confidence. Furthermore, considering a crucial role of lecturer in improving oral presentation skills, this study also discovered that lecturer has to show learners videos of good speakers for enhancing their presentation skills and lecturer has to give learners freedom to choose their own topics that lower their anxiety. It is hoped that the ideas discussed will provide the learners and lecturers with basic guidelines of how to improve the learners' oral presentation and assist learners to work their way out of anxiety.

Binge-watching refers to the consecutive viewing of episodes of a fictional series, usually of the drama genre, in a single session. The approaches to its background, practice, and effects are diverse and controversial. Using a qualitativeexploratory approach analysed with Grounded Theory, this paper studies the experience of binge-watching users from data collected from a sample of 20 individuals combined with techniques such as group meetings, in-depth interviews and projective techniques. Results lead to the identification of two underlying patterns of behaviour associated with the consumption of dramatic content: planned binge-watching and unplanned binge-watching. Planned binge-watching is the intentional consumption of more than two consecutive episodes of a fictional series whose psychological effects are mainly gratification based on evasion. Planned series consumption has a socializing effect, especially among young people. Unplanned binge-watching is the unintentional and spontaneous chained viewing of more than two episodes of a fiction series. The viewing unit is each individual episode, linked to the next by the curiosity aroused by the plot. The psychological effects are gratification derived from evasion, followed by a feeling of guilt derived from the loss of control. The study concludes with the formulation of seven hypotheses for empirical verification, academic and professional implications, and future lines of research.

Several authors have underlined the negative consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic on mental health in several populations, including medical students, such as increases in anxiety, depression and burnout symptoms. Furthermore, previous studies showed that anxiety and depressive symptoms are positively associated with affective empathy and negatively associated with cognitive empathy. Given the adverse pandemic effects highlighted by several authors, the present study sought to determine whether medical students' empathy has been potentially impacted, with higher affective empathy and lower cognitive empathy score in the pandemic cohort compared to pre-pandemic cohorts. Medical students (n = 395) were recruited during the COVID-19 pandemic and completed the "Interpersonal Reactivity Index" (IRI) and the "Basic Empathy Scale" (BES). This cohort was then compared with two pre-pandemic cohorts (one used the BES [n = 1168], and the other used the IRI [n = 342]). Similar results were found on both scales: the pandemic cohort displayed significantly higher scores in affective empathy and personal distress (affective empathy domain) and, surprisingly, significant higher scores in cognitive empathy, fantasy, and perspective-taking (cognitive empathy domains). As stressed by previous studies, we posited that the higher scores in affective empathy, personal distress, and fantasy might indicate emotional difficulties. The paper concludes with the identification of empathy components that should be promoted in the curriculum of medical students.

In this paper, we examine college graduates' perceptions of entering student loan repayment and how they navigated this process. Findings highlight the importance of helping students make informed borrowing decisions, particularly as they begin repaying their student loan debt. Policy makers wishing to hold institutions accountable for keeping college affordable while enhancing financial aid policy will gain further insight.

Background: Prehospital emergency staff usually encounter patients in situations that can affect the mental health of the medical staff and cause symptoms of depression, anxiety, and stress. This study aimed to determine depression, anxiety, and stress in prehospital emergency personnel during the COVID-19 epidemic in Ardabil City, Iran, 2020. Materials and Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted from March 2020 to April 2020 with the participation of 138 working staff in the prehospital emergency department of Ardabil City. The samples were selected by the census method. Necessary information was collected with a two-part questionnaire: a demographic questionnaire and the DASS-21 standard questionnaire. DASS-21 is a 21-item questionnaire that consists of three subscales of 7 questions: depression, anxiety, and stress. The obtained data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, including mean and standard deviation, and inferential analysis, including analysis of variance, independent t test, and multiple regression using SPSS software v. 22 statistical software. Results: The results showed that 45.7% of the staff had moderate depression, 44.9% moderate anxiety, and 77.5% normal stress. There was a significant relationship between work experience and stress level (P=0.03). There were significant associations between age with depression (P=0.04), anxiety (P=0.00) and stress (P=0.01). There was also a significant relationship between gender and variables of stress (P=0.00) and anxiety (P=0.01). Multiple regression results showed that gender and education variables are predictors of anxiety and stress, and age and education variables are predictors of depression (P<0.05). Conclusion: More than half of the staff had moderate to severe depression and anxiety. Considering that prehospital emergency personnel has a vital role in improving and promoting people’s health in the community, eliminating the underlying factors that cause emotional reactions in them is considered a health priority. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Anxiety is now recognized as one of the most common co-occurring conditions in youth diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Despite the prevalence of this comorbid condition, accurate assessment and diagnosis of anxiety in ASD has proven difficult. This paper will address the considerable research literature on assessing anxiety in youth with ASD, including difficulties related to assessment and differential diagnosis. In addition, this paper will describe relevant tools and methods for assessing anxiety in this complex population.

The COVID-19 pandemic continues to disrupt the teaching and learning in international higher education. Those of us in the global South have particularly been hard hit, struggling to balance working/ functioning economies, a struggling healthcare system, education, commerce, trade, transport, and the community spread of what was later found to be a very infectious disease (Porter et al., 2021; Rogerson & Rogerson, 2020; Shamasunder et al., 2020). In this paper, we explored and theorised the experiences of academics who taught large classes at a research-intensive university in South Africa. We purposely recruited and interviewed eight academics for this case study. We drew on Chela Sandoval's (2013) philosophical notion of "decolonial love" to theorise what an inclusive, democratic and ubuntu-orientated teaching of large classes could look like for us in the global South, beyond the pandemic. The findings revealed that academics continue to be frustrated/challenged/made anxious with teaching large classes due to inadequate infrastructure (digital), lack of resources, and general unpreparedness with the virtual/online teaching and learning. The findings also revealed that large classes were problematic as academics struggled to provide critical engagements and discussions during the hard COVID-19 lockdown, and with some lamenting the frustrations of "teaching to themselves" due to the lack of student engagement. We conclude this paper by proposing a decolonial love approach to the online teaching and learning of large classes, underpinned by the ethics of care, compassion and understanding in curriculum imaginations.