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A sudden shift to distance education during the COVID-19 pandemic in Turkiye strained teaching and learning activities, placing K-12 teachers in a novel context with challenges and opportunities to investigate. This study explores the teaching experiences and opinions of K-12 teachers during the COVID-19 pandemic, focusing on challenges, advantages, and suggestions. Search queries were executed in leading databases (DergiPark, ULAKBIM TRDizin) to locate potential studies. Twenty-two studies meeting the predetermined inclusion and exclusion criteria were subjected to a rigorous and iterative thematic analysis using the qualitative meta-synthesis approach. The results revealed significant challenges categorized into ten themes: shortcomings in technology and infrastructure, student motivation and engagement, technology literacy, and social and emotional well-being. The results also highlighted key advantages of distance education in eight categories such as learning improvement, flexibility and convenience, and digital tools and resources. Additionally, the study identified valuable suggestions that contribute to the success of distance education, such as adapting curriculum, increasing access to technology, strengthening internet infrastructure, providing teacher training and support, developing engaging and interactive instructional materials, and improving communication and collaboration between students and teachers. The study results inform the development of evidence-based practices and policies that can support K-12 teachers in providing quality online education during times of crisis.

With the research discussed here I aimed to examine the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on primary school mathematics teaching processes and specifically the teaching process of 1st-grade geometric shapes. A holistic multiple case study design was used in this qualitative research. The participants were primary school teachers who have taught both processes and geometric shapes in 1st grade primary school and were selected using purposive sampling. Semi-structured interviews based on an interview form developed by me was used as data collection instrument. In this form, questions about the 4 skills in the programme related to geometry were included. Lesson content, materials, and content related to the method of expression related to each skill were examined comparatively during and before the COVID-19 pandemic. Semi-structured interviews during which the questions on the form were asked, were conducted with participating teachers. The content analysis technique was used to analyse the obtained data. The results of the analysis show that the transition to online education during the COVID-19 pandemic had serious consequences. Positive and negative effects were found in both primary school mathematics teaching process and the teaching process of geometric shapes in the 1st grade.

The main purpose of this study is to examine the opinions of teachers about technology leadership roles of school principals during the Covid-19 pandemic. The study, which utilized qualitative research methods, was designed as a survey study. Sample group of the study constituted of 259 teachers. Data of the study was collected with "Elementary School Principals' Technology Leadership Role Scale" and analyzed via descriptive statistics, independent sample t-test, one-way ANOVA and Mann Whitney-U test. According to the results, both elementary school teachers and subject matter teachers think that school principals successfully demonstrated the role of technology leadership roles during the Covid-19 pandemic. As a result of the analyses conducted to determine whether teachers' opinions vary according to various variables, it was concluded that there are no differences in terms of the entire scale and its dimensions based on genders and seniority of teachers. In terms of the working domain, it was seen the opinions of elementary school teachers on vision dimension are higher than those of subject matter teachers. Based on the results, some recommendations which can contribute to both implementation and theory have been developed. Accordingly, conducing researches which employ multiple data collection methods and tools to investigate technology leadership roles of school principals is considered important.

In this study, the crisis management performance of the Turkish Education System and School Administration in the case of the COVID-19 Pandemic was evaluated by considering the importance of post-crisis evaluation and research gap. For this purpose, qualitative (N=17) and quantitative (N=444) data of the experiences and opinions of school administrators working in formal compulsory schools selected by purposeful, random and available sampling techniques from different provinces representing first-level statistical regions were evaluated. Crisis management performance evaluation criteria, which were created by a literature review, were utilized in the evaluation. Semi-structured interviews and questionnaires were used to collect data. We implemented both content analysis and descriptive statistics in line with the mixed method exploratory sequential research design. We first carried out the content analysis then, we investigated the prevalence of the matter by surveying. At the last phase of the analysis, we synthesized the qualitative and quantitative results. At the end of the study, it was observed that the crisis management practices of the Turkish Education System were not based on a long-term foresight, no preliminary preparation was made, and the problems in performing the basic functions during the crisis could not be completely resolved. For this reason, it has been concluded that the performance of the Turkish Education System and school administrations in managing the crisis is low.

Technological advances and the COVID-19 pandemic have led to a significant paradigm shift in the field of education, especially in the field of distance education. In this period, although distance education offers a number of advantages to its users, it has also brought some difficulties. This sudden transition has had a profound impact on students, teachers, and institutions, leading to changes in teaching methods, assessment practices, and student engagement strategies. This study aims to investigate the problems that arise in the distance education process and to examine the effects of these problems on students in detail. A qualitative approach is considered ideal since it enables deeper understanding of experiences of university students during distance education. Convenience sampling was chosen because it provided easy access for the researchers and allowed the inclusion of participants who met the required criteria. The participants consisted of 37 people, 28 girls and 9 boys, who had experienced the distance education and were studying in the Psychological Counselling and Guidance programme in the second year of a state university located in the Aegean region of Türkiye. The data were collected through semi-structured interviews and analysed using content analysis and thematic analysis methods. According to the findings of the study, the problems encountered by the students in the distance education process were listed under the following main themes: technological problems, problems related to the monitoring and evaluation of the course, motivation problems, emotional and physical problems, communication problems, problems related to domestic and environmental factors, feeling of professional inadequacy. In addition, students' suggestions for solutions to these problems and their opinions about whether they prefer face-to-face or online education were also discussed. As a result, the study offers suggestions for educational institutions and educators to overcome the difficulties encountered in distance education and to make the experience a positive one.

Despite new challenges in selecting and using curriculum resources during the COVID-19 pandemic, teachers continued to use existing resources published by the ministry or global publishers. Understanding how teachers use curriculum resources is necessary for designing more effective curricula and drawing lessons for professional development. This study investigates how high school English teachers used curriculum resources during COVID-19. Following maximum variation sampling, we used a holistic multiple-case design with six volunteer experienced English teachers from four different types of schools in Izmir. As recommended for case studies, classroom observations, document reviews, and semi-structured interviews were conducted. The data were analyzed by using theoretical thematic analysis. The findings reveal that teachers mostly favored the offloading in the use of curriculum resources in synchronous online and face-to-face teaching, and the second most frequently used approach is adaptation during the pandemic period. Omitting and improvising were the least preferred approaches. When the synchronous online and face-to-face lessons are compared, the approaches to using curricular resources appear to be broadly similar. In other words, the approaches to using curriculum resources did not change much during synchronous online and face-to-face lessons. The curricular resources are tried to be used by offloading so that the students do not experience learning losses, and adaptations are made by using web 2.0 tools and various digital resources. [This article includes an extended summary in Turkish.]

Objectives: The present study describes the utilization frequency and competencies of educational technologies among academics at a university in Turkey during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: Participants were 391 faculty members and lecturers working in the faculties and vocational schools of a Turkish university during the 2020-2021 academic year. A survey included questions regarding the use of educational technologies and perceived competency in the use of those technologies. Results: Academics are more familiar with distance education than hybrid or blended learning. Academics reported that blended learning, hybrid learning, and distance education provide more effective education on integrating technology but report that they mostly prefer face-to-face teaching after the COVID-19 pandemic. The top three self-reported competencies are MS Office, the university academic information system, and meeting and course management tools. More information is needed about educational technology approaches and various applications such as augmented reality, simulations, assessments, and video tools. Conclusion: Faculty use of digital tools is limited, they experience significant deficiencies in using various digital tools and systems, and they are less competent in applying these tools. Academics still consider traditional face-to-face teaching as the primary choice if they are free to make decisions in the context of education and training. Thus, there is a need for professional development focused on pedagogical educational technology approaches, models, and methodologies. Implications: Various factors such as the course type, subject matter, education level, technical infrastructure, and technological and methodological support should be evaluated within the context of digitizing universities.

This study aimed to determine the experiences of gifted children with autism spectrum disorder, their parents, and teachers with the COVID-19 pandemic and holistically reveal the reflections of the restrictions in this process and the transition to distance education on the lives and especially the education of gifted children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The study was designed with a phenomenological research design, one of the qualitative research methods. The study participants were gifted children with ASD, aged between 6-14 and continuing their education through inclusion, their parents and teachers. The research data were collected through semi-structured interviews and analyzed in detail by interpretive phenomenological analysis. As a result of the data analysis, two themes, "The impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on life" and "Distance education and its impacts in the COVID-19 process", and 12 categories were reached. Recommendations were presented in line with the study findings and the literature.

With the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, governments around the world were forced to take emergency measures in every aspect of life including education. Instead of the prevalent face-to-face mode of teaching, institutions turned to online teaching one by one. This brought many issues along with it. Because of distance education, it became quite challenging for teachers to maintain the multimodal nature of communication. This research aims to examine in-service teachers' perceptions and actual practices regarding multimodal instruction in online lessons during the COVID-19 pandemic from a descriptive point of view. The research followed an explanatory sequential mixed-methods design. Firstly, to examine the beliefs and preferences of teachers, a 24-item questionnaire (henceforth Multimodal Teaching Questionnaire) that was adapted from a previously developed questionnaire by Bulut et al. (2015) was used. Secondly, 72 hours of distance lessons from 36 teachers were observed via Zoom online conferencing tool. The results showed a discrepancy between the teachers' statements and their actual practices regarding multimodality. While most of them reported extensive use of multimodality in their instruction, observations showed that in the majority of their lessons, only one or two modes were used.

The focus of this research was to investigate how school administrators in Turkey managed the crises caused by the COVID-19 outbreak, which was a deadly threat for humanity worldwide. The research questions guiding this study are: (1) Did schools have a crisis plan? (2) If yes, how was the plan implemented in a crisis situation?; (3) What kind of changes were made in the plans?; (4) What should administrators do in such crisis situations?; and (5) What was done in the COVID-19 outbreak? The research was conducted as a qualitative case study which involved 105 school administrators. Due to the pandemic conditions that hindered direct face-to-face interviews and interactions, data collection was carried out online via a Google drive form with open-ended questions. The findings demonstrated that there were two main headings as the basis for the research problems. The first was the existence of crisis planning by school administrators; the other was the status of implementation of these plans. Finally, how school administrators handled crisis management was pointed out.

The COVID-19 pandemic has profoundly affected the education process. A sudden shift to online learning changed the mechanism of the education system. As key stakeholders, parents have to undertake the responsibility of this process at home. This study aims to reveal the roles of parents in online learning during the pandemic. It was conducted with a phenomenological research design. The study group consists of 28 parents having children aged 7 to 13 years old. Data collected employing interviews and open-ended questionnaires were analyzed by the thematic analysis method. According to the findings, parents organize their daily lives at home according to online learning of their children. They explain the online learning process in the context of family circumstances, the challenges they experienced, the educational environment, household chores, job responsibilities, and relationships. It is challenging for parents to undertake the roles of reinforcer, supervisor, motivator, and controller in online learning at home. To overcome the challenges they take family or caregiver support, make partnerships, and use external sources like tutoring, web applications, etc. All these findings suggest that with the emergent shift to remote teaching, parents get much more involved in the education process by undertaking the responsibilities of the teachers.

Among all the sectors, the hospitality and tourism sector has been detrimentally affected by the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. This research aimed to determine how changes have been experienced specifically in the Turkish tourism higher education and tourism sector. Twenty-seven academics from the hospitality and tourism education departments were interviewed. Most agreed that restrictions have limited student access to hands-on practical courses and internships, which are crucial to developing necessary competencies. Moreover, the results showed the curriculum does not always meet the needs of the hospitality industry for a trained and skilled workforce. The challenge is to decide what else should be taught and what methods and teaching approaches should be used. As a result, industry-academia cooperation is necessary to reassess the curriculum programs to meet sector needs considering the pandemic impacts.

This qualitative study captured the reflections of 53 English language teachers from 40 different contexts including Bangladesh, Colombia, France, India, Scotland, Taiwan, Türkiye and the United Kingdom on teaching English during the times of COVID-19 and its post-effects on their practices. Data were collected through an online form consisting of three stems and the participants were asked to create similes about teaching English before, during and after the pandemic. By conducting thematic analysis, images created for each phase were categorized under occupational well-being, digital transformation, transactional distance, gap of communication and social isolation. Teachers pointed out work overload, lack of administrational support, instructions' not making sense, decreasing level of participation, dropouts, loss of student--teacher interaction and isolation as the drawbacks of the process along with the possibility of digital transformation ahead of their profession.

This study aimed to investigate distance education practices in higher education during the pandemic, focusing on lived experiences, and proposing a policy decision framework for future distance education in similar conditions. Additionally, the study aimed to establish a design framework for an Emergency Action Plan for similar crisis periods. In the study, a case study was used to provide a detailed examination of the current situation's characteristics. The study group consisted of 63 administrators from 34 universities who actively participated in decision-making during the pandemic. Data were collected through 11 online focus group interviews, and the Miles-Huberman Model was used for analysis. The study proposed a policy decision framework for distance education in the post-pandemic period, consisting of 11 headings such as blended learning, open course materials, and Distance Education Center structuring. Additionally, the study presented an emergency action plan framework consisting of six components, including keeping the technological infrastructure working and supporting face-to-face courses with distance education. This study provides valuable insights for universities in preparing for potential crises and improving their distance education practices.

Copyright of Turkiye Klinikleri Journal of Nursing Sciences is the property of Turkiye Klinikleri and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Introduction: Acute ischemic stroke (AIS) is a devastating complication of COVID-19 with high morbidity and mortality. In this study, we reported the frequency, characteristics, and outcome of AIS in patients with COVID-19. Methods: This multicenter and cross-sectional study was conducted between April 2020 and February 2021. Among the hospitalized patients with COVID-19, the detailed characteristics of those with and without AIS were recorded and compared. Results: Six hundred ninety-three patients were included in the study. Acute ischemic stroke was detected in 16 (2.31%) patients, the median age was 77 (range, 48-91) years, and 10 (62.5%) were female. The median NIHSS score at admission was 9 (range, 3-17). Total anterior circulation infarction (TACI) was the most common (37.5%) type and cardioembolism was the most common etiology (37.5%). Nine patients (56.25%) developed AIS within 24 hours of having COVID-19. COVID-19 severity was severe or critical in seven patients (43.75%). Eight patients died, and eight were discharged. Patients with AIS had a higher rate of hypertension, coronary artery disease, heart failure, a history of myocardial infarction, a history of cerebrovascular disease, severe and critical COVID-19, a higher mean age, and a longer ICU stay compared with those without AIS (p<0.001 for each). Conclusions: AIS can occur in patients with COVID-19 and is associated with mortality. Acute ischemic stroke is encountered at any stage of COVID-19, especially within the first 72 hours of the diagnosis, in older patients with comorbidities and severe COVID-19. There is an increased risk of AIS in patients with COVID-19 with a history of stroke. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years especially during COVID-19, the increased usage of antiviral drugs has led to increased interest in monitoring their presence in wastewater worldwide. In this study, it was examined the occurrence, fate and environmental risks of favipiravir which is used for COVID-19 treatment in two wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) with different treatment processes in Istanbul, Turkey. Favipiravir was measured in WWTPs influent samples, effluent samples and sludge samples with maximum concentrations of 97 μg/L, 64.11 μg/L and 182.47 μg/g, respectively. Favipiravir had removal efficiency below 55 % for both WWTPs. Mass balance analysis showed that favipiravir removal in WWTPs mainly attributed to biodegradation/biotransformation. Statistical analysis revealed a significant correlation between favipiravir concentration and COVID-19 incidence in Istanbul. The microbial distribution analysis indicated that comparison of collected COVID-19 pandemic sludge and post-pandemic period sludge samples, a noteworthy reduction in the Chloroflexi and Actinobacteriota phyla at the phylum level was observed. Environmental risk assessment using risk quotients ranged from 168 to 704, indicating that the presence of this antiviral drug posed significant ecological risks to aquatic organisms. The study concluded that WWTPs were releasing antiviral drugs into the environment, thereby posing risks to both the aquatic ecosystem and public health. The results of this study demonstrate the persistence of favipiravir in WWTPs and offer crucial supporting data for further research into the advancement of wastewater treatment technology. Also, this study shows wastewater based monitoring is supplementary and early warning system for determining the occurrence of antiviral drugs., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Introduction: Favipiravir (FVP) is an antiviral, targeting RNA-dependent RNA polymerase. We aimed to evaluate the efficacy of FVP as a treatment for COVID-19., Methods: We conducted a retrospective study in two centers (San Martino University Hospital in Genova, Italy, and Marmara University Pendik Training and Research Hospital, Turkey). Adult patients (inpatients) diagnosed with COVID-19 between March and June 2020 were included. All patients in the Italian center received the standard of care (SoC) treatment, while in the Turkish center patients received FVP in addition to SoC., Results: Six hundred-nineteen patients were analyzed (225 from Turkey, all treated with FVP, and 394 from Italy, none treated with FVP). Propensity score-matching was done in 142 patients (71 from the SoC group vs. 71 from the SoC + FVP group). A Higher requirement of NIV/CPAP (n = 38; 53.5%) was registered in the SoC group compared to the SoC + FVP group (n = 9; 12.7%). A higher frequency of intubation was registered in the SoC + FVP group (n = 25; 35.2% vs n = 13, 18.3%). There was a trend towards better survival in SoC + FVP treated patients with HR = 0.64 (95% CI 0.30-1.34). At 28 days the OS was, respectively, 70.3% (95% CI: 53.2-82.1) vs 80.3% (95% CI: 69.0-87.8)., Conclusions: The addition of FVP to SoC did not show a significant difference in survival and invasive and noninvasive (CPAP/NIMV) mechanical ventilation compared to standard of care in moderate and severe COVID-19-infected patients., Competing Interests: No Conflict of Interest is declared, (Copyright (c) 2024 Elif Tukenmez Tigen, Malgorzata Mikulska, Buket Erturk Sengel, Alessio Signori, Silvia Dettori, Stefania Tutino, Abdullah Emre Guner, Zekaver Odabasi, Volkan Korten, Matteo Bassetti.)

Introduction: This study explores the impact of vascular diameters on mortality risk in Coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) patients. COVID-19, caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), presents diverse clinical manifestations and is associated with thrombosis., Materials and Methods: In this study, we retrospectively examined the data of patients who were hospitalized and treated in our hospital between September 1, 2020, and November 30, 2020, and whose COVID-19 diagnosis was confirmed by reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). The diameters of the ascending aorta, main pulmonary artery, and right and left pulmonary arteries were measured from the chest computed tomography (CT) scans taken at the time of admission. The aim of the study was to investigate the impact of vascular diameters on the course of the disease., Result: Of 1.705 patients, 840 were eligible for the study. We concluded that 36 of the patients (4.3%) died, and among the non-survivors patients, 12 (33.3%) were females, and 24 (66.7%) were males. Hospitalization duration was 7.1 ± 3.1 vs. 6.1 ± 2 days (p= 0.004) in surviving and non-surviving patients respectively. On the other hand, we found the mean diameters of the right pulmonary artery in the chest CT of patients to be 2.17 ± 0.35 vs. 2.44 ± 0.29 cm in survivors and non-survivors, respectively (p< 0.001). In addition, we found the mean diameters of the left pulmonary artery 2.12 ± 0.32 vs. 2.34 ± 0.28 cm in survivors and non-survivors, respectively (p< 0.001). Mean diameters of the ascending aorta were 3.53 ± 0.46 vs. 3.72 ± 0.34 cm in survivors and non-survivors, respectively (p= 0.017)., Conclusions: The study underscores the potential prognostic value of vascular diameters, especially in the ascending aorta and main pulmonary artery, as indicators of mortality risk in COVID-19 patients. The association between vascular dilation and severity of COVID-19, coupled with elevated D-dimer levels, suggests a link between thrombosis and vascular involvement.

It is known that individuals use the internet more to escape from the psychological problems they encounter in daily life during the pandemic. Besides, it is also known that individuals with personality traits such as neuroticism and extraversion might be prone to internet addiction due to poor communication skills. It is important to determine the relationship between the internet usage characteristics and the mental state of nursing students so that students can provide better quality health services in their education and professional processes. The present study aimed to determine the relationship between internet addiction and personality traits, stress, and obsessive-compulsive symptoms among nursing students during the pandemic. This study includes 528 nursing students. The Young's Internet Addiction Test (YIAT), the Vancouver Obsessive-Compulsive Inventory (VOCI), the Eysenck Personality Inventory (EPI), and the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) were used for data collection between August and October 2021. It was found that there was a statistically significant and positive correlation between the students' YIAT mean scores and the EPI neuroticism sub-dimension, VOCI all sub-dimensions, and PSS mean scores (p < 0.05). In addition, the mean scores of the PSS and EPI were predictors of the YIAT total score (R = 0.550, R[superscript 2] = 0.233, p < 0.05). Considering these results, it is necessary to prevent the negative effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the psychosocial health of individuals. Psychological counseling can be offered to provide protective factors during the pandemic period.

The purpose of this research is to examine the effect of sports participation and physical activity on negative emotions and the quality of life of COVID-19. Data were collected through the personal information form, the International Physical Activity Questionnaire-Short Form, the COV19-Impact on Quality of Life scale, and Positive-Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS). Data were collected through stratified sampling from Recep Tayyip Erdogan University and Kirsehir Ahi Evran University. The sample of the study consisted of 888 students. The obtained data were analyzed using SPSS 26.0. Necessary assumptions were ensured before the analysis. Afterwards, descriptive statistics and MANOVA were used in the research. It has seen that the number of students who do not do sports under license, who passively participate in sports 2-3 times a week, and whose physical activity level is moderate are more in number. The findings show that students who do sports under license, passively participate in sports, and are physically active experienced lower levels of negative emotions and COVID-19 affected their quality of life at lower levels. As a result, it can be said that participation in sports and physical activity have an impact on negative emotions and the quality of life of COVID-19 in the sample of university students.

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Drastic changes in education like depending on remote and online education during and after Corona Virus Disease 2019 (Covid-19) have been undergone globally. As a result, instructors and learners were convinced to pursue their objectives despite the complications of pandemic disease. To this end, this study focuses on the effect of extra-curricular collocation-based assignments on reading comprehension skill and the utilization of technology in the context of education. Thus, in this quasi-experimental study two homogeneous groups including sixty intermediate students from a state university in Turkey were selected. Reading comprehension instruction was given to both groups who participated in online education run by a Moodle Application.While the experimental group received additional collocation-focused education and assignments, the control group had traditional reading comprehension education without noticing the importance and conducive effect of collocations. To compare the means of the two groups pre and post-tests, and two independent T-tests were used. Ameaningful difference in the means of the groups on the post-test of reading comprehension performance was obvious in the results section. Last but not the least, assignment, as an academic extra-curricular activity, had a considerable impact on Turkish intermediate EFL learners' foreign language reading comprehension ability after the pandemic lockdown period.

In March 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak forced universities in Turkey to move their educational activities onto online platforms. Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) thereupon have gained urgent attention from higher education institutions thanks to their capacity to make educational opportunities accessible to the masses. Similarly, an area of increasing importance recently has been the concept of self-directed learning (SDL) for online learners. The purpose of this study is to find out student teachers' readiness for MOOCs and their learner autonomy development in a MOOC learning environment based on the theoretical models of SDL. Thus, to expand the capacity for teacher professional autonomy, the present research has focused more on autonomy in distance learning. The study is likely to offer valuable insights into the views of teacher educators on being in a better position to assess the concept of learner autonomy in MOOCs for post-COVID educational practices.

Background: The COVID-19 vaccine has been effective in reducing infection rates and disease severity; however, vaccination coverage has been lower than expected because of vaccine hesitancy, even among healthcare workers., Aim: To investigate the attitude of healthcare professionals in Türkiye to the COVID-19 vaccine., Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted between December 2020 and February 2021 among physicians, nurses, midwives, emergency medical technicians, dieticians, and physiotherapists in Türkiye, using the snowball sampling method for data collection. Data were analysed using SPSS version 23 and correlation analysis was conducted to evaluate linear relationship, and multivariate analysis to examine the cause-effect relationship between the variables (α = 0.05)., Results: A total of 1057 healthcare professionals participated; average age 38.98 ± 9.044 (min = 19; max = 71), 71.7% (n = 758) women, 69.9% (n = 739) physicians. Of the respondents, 48.3% wanted to be vaccinated whether the vaccine was free or not, 12.1% (n = 128) did not want to be vaccinated and 36.8% were not decided. The most common reasons for wanting to be vaccinated were to end the pandemic (25%, n = 264), seeing vaccination as a good way to prevent COVID-19 disease (30.1%, n = 318), protecting oneself and high-risk individuals from infection (22.2%, n = 235), and hoping that vaccine would reduce the duration and severity of disease (22.9%, n = 242). The most common reasons for not wanting to be vaccinated were fear of side-effects (26.1%, n = 276) and lack of confidence in the reliability of a new vaccine (27.2%, n = 288). The desire to be vaccinated had relationship with influenza vaccination, pneumococcus vaccination, history of COVID-19 infection or contact with a COVID-19 patient, and adherence to infection prevention measures (P < 0.05)., Conclusion: Almost half of the healthcare workers in this study were not decided about being vaccinated. To increase acceptance in Türkiye, it is essential to conduct COVID-19 vaccine awareness and education among healthcare professionals because they are perceived as role models in the society, particularly in the health sector., (Copyright: © Authors 2024; Licensee: World Health Organization. EMHJ is an open access journal. All papers published in EMHJ are available under the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial ShareAlike 3.0 IGO licence (CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO; https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/igo).)

Copyright of Journal of Health Academics / Sağlık Akademisyenleri Dergisi is the property of Journal of Health Academics and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Objective: Coronavirus Diseases-19 (COVID-19) pandemic that has caused the death of thousands of people affected negatively not only people's physical wellbeing but also their mental health. The aim of this study was to evaluate the sexual function, depression, anxiety and stress, and fear of COVID-19 of individuals according to gender and sexual orientation during the COVID-19 pandemic., Method: The questionnaire form included sociodemographic data form, the Arizona Sexual Experiences Scale (ASEX), the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale-Short Form (DASS-21), and the Fear of COVID-19 Scale (FCV-19S). The form was distributed on social media platforms., Results: 1593 sexually active participants were included in the study. 47.5% of the participants were females and 52.5% were males. 86.9% of them were heterosexuals and 13.1% were lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) individuals. ASEX, DASS-21 Depression, Anxiety, and Stress, and FCV-19S scores were significantly higher in females than males (p<0.001). When anxiety, depression, stress, and fear of COVID-19 were controlled, level of sexual dysfunction continued to be higher in women. We found that while the ASEX and FCV-19S scores were similar between the heterosexuals and LGBs (respectively p=0.66 and p=0.31), the DASS-21 Depression, Anxiety, and Stress scores were higher in LGBs (p<0.001)., Conclusion: Our results reveal the effect of the pandemic period on female sexual functions and the importance of addressing this topic in clinical practice and research.

This study aims to examine the distance learning practices carried out at the primary education level during the COVID-19 pandemic from students' and their parents' perspectives. The study was conducted with 76 primary school students at different grade levels, including their parents (76), in the state schools of Giresun city in the spring semester of the 2019-2020 academic year. The study was based on the case study method, one of the qualitative research designs. An information collection form with open-ended questions was used as a data collection tool. The data obtained from the information collection form were analyzed by the content analysis method. The findings have revealed that the distance learning system has a flexible structure and is accessible from any place, but there are difficulties accessing the system due to connection problems. These systems facilitate the teaching process, affecting learning positively. The findings also showed that distance learning systems are not favored by students who long for friends and teachers during the learning process performed on these systems. Unlike face-to-face training, disciplinary and supervision problems in distance learning are also noteworthy. The authors finally suggest that the distance learning and management process should be performed in a restrained manner to ensure the process to be run effectively and efficiently.

Learning was obliged to be transformed to distance learning due to the long-lasting COVID-19 lockdown period. This situation has brought to investigate the critical factors influencing students' intention and actual use of distance learning tools. In this context, this study aims to evaluate the effects of distance learning, deriving independent variables adopted from ETAM. Data was gathered from 92 undergraduate students enrolled in five and other courses in Turkiye. Data were investigated via SmartPLS 3.0 through Structural Equation Modelling (SEM). Results indicate that Computer Anxiety had a negative impact on Self-efficacy. Self-efficacy had a positive influence on Experience. Experience and Enjoyment had positive effects on Perceived Ease of Use. Enjoyment had a positive influence on Perceived Usefulness. The proposed model explained 87.7% of the variance of the actual use of distance learning tools. Computer anxiety and self-efficacy, which were proposed to measure experience, made this study unique and valuable. This contributes to acknowledging higher education institutions and lecturers to understand the benefits and barriers of distance learning tools for students used during the unpredicted pandemics in the future.

The psychological state of people during the COVID-19 pandemic has attracted significant interest from researchers and the general public alike. The aim of this study is to examine the stress, burnout, hopelessness, and depression levels of university students toward the end of the pandemic. A survey model, as a quantitative research method, was applied in this study. The analysis revealed that 70% of the participating university students had moderate to high stress levels, and levels of stress among female students were found to be higher than those among male students. When the students' hopelessness levels were examined, it was seen that 81% of them felt hopelessness at medium or high levels. Hopelessness and burnout were seen to be associated with grade point average. A total of 61% of these students had moderate or high levels of depression symptoms, constituting an at-risk status. The results indicate that factors such as gender, year of study, and grade point average had varying effects on stress, burnout, hopelessness, and depression levels. Additionally, strong relationships were found among the four considered psychological variables, suggesting that they may influence one another and highlighting the need for further research in this area.

Under the shadow of the COVID-19 pandemic, it is of vital importance to explore its impact on the psychological wellbeing of the students in higher education. Accordingly, this research investigated hopelessness among students at a state university in Turkey throughout the pandemic. The research was conducted in two separate studies, one cross-sectional and the other longitudinal. Study I examined students' hopelessness level in relation to gender, job or income loss, social media use, academic unit, and grade. Study II compared students' hopelessness level during the distance and hybrid education periods. The data were collected online through Personal Information Form and Beck Hopelessness Scale in both studies. The findings of Study I indicated significantly higher hopelessness scores in females, students who experienced job or income loss, and seniors at faculties. It was also found that the level of hopelessness increased as the duration of social media use rose. In addition, Study II revealed that students' hopelessness scores significantly decreased during the hybrid education in contrast to the distance education. Based on these findings, we suggest that during distance education in times of crisis, psychological counseling and career guidance interventions should be planned and coordinated according to the characteristics of risk groups, and e-learning models offering the highest social interaction should be preferred.

Turkey experiences distance education at the master's and doctorate degrees for the first time. This study aims to reveal the essence of the distance education experiences of mathematics teachers who continue their postgraduate education with distance education due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This study was carried out using the phenomenological research design with six mathematics teachers who continue their postgraduate education at a state university in the Central Anatolia Region in the 2019-2020 academic year. Of the participants selected by the criterion sampling, three were master's degree students and three were doctoral degree students. Research data were collected using semi-structured interview forms designed in line with expert opinions. The interviews were conducted online via video call on the WhatsApp application due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The experiences of the participants were identified with the phenomenon of "solo pantomime". Participants had positive experiences such as easy access, possibility of review, improvement in technological pedagogical content knowledge, and negative experiences such as communication and connection problems, the irregularity in the schedule, inadequacy of the lesson hours, and focusing problems regarding synchronized distance education. Distance graduate education is also considered quite suitable for mathematics education courses, but insufficient for mathematics field courses. It is also understood that some participants had plans to make radical changes in their thesis topics. Participants avoid long-term experimental studies or studies that can be conducted with a large sample, and they tend towards studies that can be carried out with document analysis or small groups and had problems with their supervisors.

One of the life areas under the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic is university education. As it becomes more prevalent with its various versions, it shapes undergraduates' psychological well-being profoundly. It is necessary to understand how COVID19-related stress impacts their mental life. The purpose of the study was to examine whether COVID-19 burnout and cognitive emotion regulation had mediating roles in the relationship between COVID-19-related stress and life satisfaction. Three hundred sixty-four Turkish undergraduates participated in the study. Mediational analyses showed that both adaptive and maladaptive cognitive emotion regulation had interplaying roles in the link between COVID-19-related stress and life satisfaction, unlike COVID19 burnout. Yet, COVID-19-related stress indirectly affected life satisfaction since COVID-19 burnout increased maladaptive cognitive emotion regulation strategies while decreasing adaptive ones concurrently. The findings are crucial for mental health professionals whose aim is to develop necessary psychological interventions for undergraduates to increase their life satisfaction levels during the COVID-19 pandemic.

This study aimed to describe the roadmap of Turkey for universities and teacher education programs at the time of the COVID-19 pandemic and to investigate the rapid online learning experiences and preferences of pre-service teachers throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. The participants of this case study were pre-service teachers who enrolled in various departments in the faculty of education in different regions of Turkey. The data were collected via an online self-reflection form. The participants reported a preference for face-to-face learning. They also reflected that online learning is more effective than video and presentation. The majority of the pre-service teachers suggested revision in the curriculum regarding blended learning. The findings of this study can be used either to improve pre-service teacher professional development or restructure the programs around the world for the future.

The COVID-19 pandemic process, in which some courses are given online, and some courses are given remotely, have undoubtedly deeply affected pre-service preschool teachers as well as other students. In this sense, the findings of studies that determine the views and perceptions of all stakeholders affected by the distance education system are still of great importance in terms of taking measures to change these perceptions. The focus of this study is on pre-service preschool teachers. The main difference that distinguishes the current study from other studies is that it aims to comprehensively understand the perspectives of pre-service preschool teachers by addressing their metaphorical perceptions and views on distance education. In this study, phenomenology design was used. The study group of the research consisted of 150 pre-service teachers studying at Afyon Kocatepe University-Türkiye, Department of Early Childhood Education in the fall semester of the 2020-2021 academic year. Content analysis technique was used to analyze the views and metaphorical perceptions of pre-service preschool teachers towards distance education in the COVID-19 pandemic process. As a result, while most of the pre-service teachers used negative metaphors to describe the compulsory distance education process due to the pandemic, fewer pre-service teachers used positive metaphors. Considering the results of the findings obtained in the study, it is recommended to increase the efficiency of education by including practices that increase intrinsic motivation in order to prevent the loss of motivation of faculty members and students in order to increase the efficiency in the distance education process.

While the World Health Organization claimed a pandemic in March 2020, different online platforms started to be used all over the world, including Turkey. The increasing workload with distance education and the health concerns affected the psychological health of teachers. Even though enhancing well-being support to increase the quality of work and physical health gains importance, the psychological perspective is ignored during the COVID-19 pandemic. The aim of this study is to understand the effects of COVID-19 on teachers' well-being. Emotional changes, personal experiences, and the situation of their work were analyzed to understand the teachers' perspectives on their wellbeing. The mixed-method research design was used to understand the nature of the existing state. Quantitative results were analyzed by using a t-test. As a result of the content analysis of the semistructured interviews, there are four main themes emerged, coping mechanisms, positive emotion, interaction with school components, and areas that need to be improved. This study demonstrated that the psychological needs of teachers should be taken into consideration during the outbreak. Well-being programs should be developed for teachers in the scope of their in-service training to support teachers and meet their psychological needs.

In 2019 COVID-19 appeared and spread quickly all over the world, affecting every structure of society, as well as the education system. One of the measures taken to prevent the further spread of the disease was mandatory online education at universities in Turkiye. This sudden change has significantly affected students' learning motivations for face-to-face education. In this context, this study aims to determine the factors of arousal, beliefs, goals, and needs that affect the students' learning motivations as personal factors during online education in Turkiye during the COVID-19 pandemic. For this aim, a semi-structured interview technique was used on a sample of 34 students. According to the findings, the internal factors on arousals were; mainly interest/curiosity/attention and the external factors on arousals were mainly; compulsory attendance requirements. Also, the internal factors on success beliefs were mainly; determination, and the external factors mainly include motivational speeches. Besides, the internal factors on goals were mainly; the need to learn for the future and the external factors on goals were mainly; homework and studies. Lastly, findings indicated that the internal needs of the students were mainly; success, and the external needs were mainly; communication.

The aim of this qualitative-case study was to determine the competencies that school administrators have during the COVID-19 process and the competencies they should have in the post-COVID-19 process according to the opinions of teachers. Using maximum diversity sampling method, the researcher selected 10 teachers working in Izmir in the 2021-2022 academic year. The obtained data by using a semi-structured interview form were analyzed through the content analysis method. Research findings show that administrators mainly carry out technical work and operations related to the smooth execution of the distance education during the COVID-19 process. It also reveals that the majority of administrators are successful in technical competencies that include knowledge and skills related to their field of expertise. Based on the research findings, it can be said that both in the COVID-19 process and in the post-COVID-19 process, administrators should improve themselves not only in technical competencies, but also in humane and conceptual competencies and they should have information, technology and emotional literacy skills. Further conclusions and implications were also discussed.

This study aims at identifying the experiences of international students from different countries studying at Turkish universities during the COVID-19 pandemic. A phenomenological qualitative study was designed accordingly. The sample consists of 20 international students selected using the maximum variation sampling technique. An interview form prepared by the researchers to determine the experiences of international students during the COVID-19 pandemic was used to collect data. The data were collected through online interviews (Zoom) conducted with the participants. Content analysis was applied to the data. MAXQDA 2020 software package was used for content analysis. The obtained results revealed that related to the pandemic, international students in Turkey had some positive and negative experiences in their social life, communication with acquaintances, psychological condition, education, and travel.

This study investigated the relationships among achievement goals, self-efficacy beliefs, and engagement in science during COVID-19. Distance education was launched due to COVID-19, and there is a need to examine these relations in the online science learning context. Participants were 448 students between 5th and 8th graders receiving distance education for eight months. Path analysis indicated mastery-approach goals and particular self-efficacy aspects positively predicted student engagement. Science communication and conceptual understanding have become prominent among self-efficacy aspects, while higher-order cognitive skills were unrelated to student engagement. Also, negative linkages were identified between performance-approach goals, emotional engagement, cognitive engagement, and performance-avoidance goals. The variance explained in the engagement components ranged from 47% to 60%. Some of the participants' engagement and motivation in science were negatively affected by distance education. Suggestions were made to foster students' engagement and motivation in distance science education.

The pandemic has been affecting every side of our lives in a negative way unfortunately. Teacher training has also been affected from the pandemic and student teachers have been taken their courses through digital environments. Unlike traditional courses they have to study the entire courses online. As it is known that teachers' beliefs have a profound impact on their classroom practices, decisions on their teaching strategies, their styles and even how they implement curriculum. For this reason, the current study aims to investigate whether COVID-19 pandemic has an effect on student teachers' beliefs positively or negatively. The research was carried out in 2020 spring term of academic year when the pandemic first started. The research was designed as a qualitative study and to collect data a case and an interview administered to participants. Totally, 74 student teachers participated in the study that participants were third and fourth graders of ELT department at a state university, Turkey. The results indicate that participants have negative perspectives towards taking all courses through digital environments and tools. However, their beliefs have not been affected negatively from COVID-19 pandemic.

The spread of the COVID-19 all over the world have negatively affected many areas, leading to a number changes throughout the world. Being one of these areas, education had to undergone some changes and shifted to distance education during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, distance education has also brought some discussions and problems. This study was carried out to investigate the thoughts of middle school students on distance education and face-to-face education. Based on quantitative research design, this study adopted a phenomenological design Data were collected from a participant group consisting of 240 secondary school students (60 5th grade, 60 6th grade, 60 7th grade and 60 8th grade) through a scale prepared by the researchers. The data were analyzed using SPSS package program with descriptive statistics such as frequency and percentage. As a result of the study It was found that middle school students' views on distance education and face-to-face education differed significantly with regard to parents' education level, gender, grade level and average monthly family income.

The Council of Higher Education (CoHE) switched to distance education with digital tools in all universities as of March 23, 2020. The relevant decision was put into effect by the universities. Since this date, distance education has been utilized in almost all programs in universities. COVID-19 Pandemic period was finished, and face-to-face education was started in 2021. This research aims to analyze the satisfaction levels of undergraduate students with distance education during the COVID-19 pandemic. In this context, the research study group designed in the scanning model consists of 1605 students enrolled at Tekirdag Namik Kemal University. The research data were obtained with the "Scale on the Satisfaction Levels of University Students with Distance Education," which was developed by Baltaci, Mercan-Annak, Akbay, Akaydin and Sökmensüer (2021) and whose validity and reliability have been proven. The SPSS Statistics 20 program analyzed the data. It was investigated whether the satisfaction levels of undergraduate students with distance education showed a statistically significant difference concerning certain variables during the COVID-19 pandemic. The study determined that undergraduate students were generally satisfied with the distance education they received during the COVID-19 pandemic. A statistically significant difference was found between the satisfaction levels of undergraduate students with distance education applications based on gender, department, self-efficacy perception of computer use skills, and having problems accessing distance education. On the other hand, no statistically significant difference was seen between the satisfaction levels of undergraduate students with distance education applications based on age, grade level, regular Internet access, and distance education status before the epidemic.

The World Health Organization declared the COVID-19 pandemic on March 11, 2020. Subsequent lockdowns and fatalities have significantly impacted individuals' lives, social relationships, and economic conditions. While pandemics affecting populations can lead to health issues, they also give rise to psychological disturbances such as anxiety, worry, panic, loneliness, depression, fear, and traumatic symptoms. Research has demonstrated that these symptoms are commonly observed across various segments of society. Self-regulation refers to individuals' efforts to modify their thoughts, emotions, desires, and actions in line with their desired goals. It emphasizes that individuals are active agents and decision-makers rather than passive observers in the face of events. Studies have found that self-regulation is associated with success, well-being, social competence, academic performance, peer bullying, depression, anxiety, obesity, and various psychopathological conditions. COVID-19 research has also identified relationships between emotional regulation and depression, anxiety, and trauma symptoms. COVID-19 has also been associated with educational problems such as decline in student achievement, learning losses, problems with continuing education and drop-outs. In this study, the relationships between COVID-19 fear and depression, anxiety, and stress are examined, focusing on the mediating role of self-regulation in university students. Structural equation modeling and mediation analyses were conducted using collected data. The results indicate that COVID-19 fear significantly predicts depression, anxiety, and stress during the pandemic. Self-regulation partially mediates this relationship, diminishing the impact of COVID-19 fear and reducing levels of depression, anxiety, and stress.

It is a commonly experienced fact that teaching English as a foreign language in rural areas is challenging for language teachers around the world. This study explored the actual challenges that teachers of English faced at rural state schools before and during COVID-19. To find out the regarding problems, an open-ended questionnaire was administered to 46 participants working at public schools as teachers of English in different regions of Türkiye. Additionally, to have a deeper understanding of the challenges that teachers of English faced during COVID-19 period, the reports from the focused group discussions were analyzed using content analysis. The discussions were held by 29 teachers of English working in the same rural district. The results revealed that teachers had some common difficulties deriving from school facilities, poor infrastructure, inadequate technology, instructional materials, students' language levels, attitudes towards language learning and teacher competencies. The study also shed light on the positive impacts of the online education on teaching English as a foreign language in rural areas during COVID-19 pandemic in relation with the technological challenges and its effect on decreasing the urban-rural divide.

Due to the global COVID 19 PANDEMIC, face-to-face education was suspended, and distance education was adopted in all education levels. Various measures were implemented to ensure continuous education in the preschool level, where distance education was adopted for the first time in history. The present study aimed to determine the views and experiences of preschool teachers on distance education. The study was conducted with the phenomenology approach, a qualitative research method, and semi-structured online interviews were conducted with 9 preschool teachers, who were employed at schools that served various socioeconomic levels in different cities, using the developed interview form. The content analysis conducted in the study that preschool teachers had similar negative experiences such as problems associated with Internet connection and infrastructure during the distance education process, technology adaptation problems of low-income parents, low online class participation, and difficulties associated with fulfilling the individual needs of the children. Furthermore, teachers also had positive experiences such as higher parental participation, better recognition of the teacher's role in education, integration of technology in education, e-content development, and professional development in distance education. Various measures should be adopted to ensure equality of opportunity in distance education based on the present study findings.

The COVID-19 pandemic is likely to have short- and long-term psycho-social consequences on individuals besides serious physical and mental effects, especially for young people. These days, when psychological problems are more noticeable, especially in young athletes, it is possible to trigger various anxiety disorders such as depression, anxiety, and stress caused by the pandemic. Considering that psychological characteristics such as depression, anxiety, and stress in young people may increase the risk of psycho-social disorders, this study aims to examine the effect of the fear of COVID-19 on the depression, anxiety, and stress levels of undergraduate athlete students and to seek an answer to the question of whether psychological resilience has a mediating role. The research was carried out with 372 athlete students studying at the undergraduate level and continuing their sports lives actively. Structural equation modeling was used to determine the direct and indirect predictive effects between variables in data analysis. The results of the study show that psychological resilience has a significant predictor effect on depression, anxiety, and stress.

Background: Children with cancer have a higher morbidity and mortality due to COVID-19. Vaccination of children with cancer is important. In this study, we aimed to investigate the effectiveness and side effects of the COVID-19 vaccines in children and adolescents with cancer., Methods: Fifty-eight patients from four centers were included in the study. Antibodies to the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein levels were measured. Vaccine-related complaints were recorded., Results: There were 33 male and 25 female patients. The mean age was 16.9±2.3 years. In 58.6% of cases, the diagnosis was hematological malignancies. Twenty patients were currently under treatment, while 38 had completed the treatment. Forty-eight patients received chemotherapy ± radiotherapy, 13 received immunotherapy, and 3 underwent stem cell transplantation. CoronoVac© and BNT162b2© vaccines were administered in 24% and 76%, respectively. The mean antibody level was lower in patients who received CoronaVac© than that of BNT162b2©, although the difference was not significant. The levels were within the protective limits in both groups. No significant difference was found in antibody levels according to diagnostic subgroups, treatment status, type of treatment, line of treatment, disease status and time between vaccines and measurement of antibody level. The most common side effects were pain at the injection site (37.9%) and malaise/weakness (17.2%), which were similar for both vaccines., Conclusions: Our study showed that both mRNA and inactivated vaccines elicit an immune response in children with cancer. However, the seroconversion rate is significantly higher in mRNA vaccines. Side effects were similar to those seen in healthy children., Competing Interests: The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest.