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Online instructional design and how to engage students cognitively in online asynchronous courses have been an ongoing question. This case study presents an intentional design of an asynchronous online graduate course to foster cognitive presence. The research questions investigate students' cognitive presence (CP) captured by two measures: Community of Inquiry (CoI) survey (for self-report) and Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count (LIWC) software (for actual behaviors) in this online course. Additionally, it also addresses how cognitive presence is related to other presences and how the online course design elements were perceived by students. Results showed that students perceived high levels of cognitive presence and they showed high cognitive presence in their discussion board acts. There was a relationship between three presences; and findings showed that teacher and social presence were strong predictors of perceived cognitive presence. Although students in the study rated themselves high on the CoI instrument and scored high on the LIWC for cognitive presence, self-presentation bias still emerged. Strategies that helped students to stay cognitively present in this asynchronous online course included: instructor responsiveness in discussion posts and creating dialogue, creating course assignments as online hands-on project, interviewing guest speakers on specific course topics, weekly recap and orientation videos, feedback, case-based discussions, and other elements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Online teachers are an under‐researched population, but their perspectives are crucial to the successful implementation of online education. A fully online section of an established face‐to‐face (F2F) two‐semester undergraduate anatomy course with a prosection laboratory commenced in 2012 at The University of Western Ontario, Canada. Professors' lectures for F2F students were broadcast in live and archived format to online students using Blackboard Collaborate (BBC) video conferencing software. Teaching assistants (TAs) delivered online laboratories using BBC and three‐dimensional (3D) anatomical computer models. This study explored the common experiences and issues faced by the course teachers from 2012 to 2014. Transcripts from open‐ended, individual interviews with professors (n = 4) and TAs (n = 5) were coded and analyzed thematically. The teachers' concern for their inability to see the students during sessions to assess class engagement and their teaching effectiveness, and to develop social relationships, was the main finding. However, video conferencing software and email were sufficient communication methods for the students' questions and the teachers' answers. The TAs noted usability challenges and anatomical inaccuracies in the 3D models compared to cadavers. Due to limitations of BBC's screen sharing function, live manipulation for the 3D computer models was not possible; however, the TAs found pedagogical value in using screen captures of the models for drawing activities with the students. Overall, preparation time for teaching online was longer than for F2F. The study's findings provide science educators with issues to consider when preparing for online teaching and recommendations to optimize the teaching experience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Teachers are eager for professional development on teaching evolution, especially if it includes direct ties to relevant curricula and detailed lesson plans. Howard Hughes Medical Institute's BioInteractive Online Professional Learning: Evolution course was developed to provide educators with free, in-depth, multimedia resources that highlight important scientific concepts and studies in evolution and engage participants through interactive activities that link to student resources. Our goals in the development of the asynchronous, nonfacilitated course were to (1) deepen teachers' content knowledge of evolutionary concepts essential to NGSS and AP Biology courses, (2) increase teachers' confidence and comfort in teaching evolution content to general biology and AP Biology students, (3) have teachers identify major evolutionary concepts in scientific studies, authentic data, or educational media used to teach evolution, and (4) assist teachers in identifying and incorporating relevant BioInteractive resources to illustrate evolutionary content and science practices in their own course(s). Our results from a postcourse survey that included prepost retrospective confidence questions suggest that the course improved educators' knowledge in evolution and their confidence in teaching evolutionary topics. Overall, this course provides educators the opportunity to deepen their content knowledge and obtain exciting, relevant, and reliable resources to use in their classrooms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study proposes two new measures, time and location entropy, to depict students' physical spatio-temporal contexts when engaged in an online course. As anytime, anywhere access has been touted as one of the most attractive features of online learning, the question remains as to the success of students when engaging in online courses through disparate locations and points-in-time. The procedures describe an analysis of 5293 students' spatio-temporal patterns using metadata relating to place and time of access. Grouping into segments that describe their patterns of engagement, results indicate that the high location-high time entropy (i.e. multiple times, multiple locations) was the segment with lowest success when compared with other students. Statistical and modeling results also found that female students tended to learn at fixed or few locations resulting in the highest performance scores on the final exam. The primary implication is that female students tend to be successful because they study in fewer locations, and all students who study at consistent times outperform those with more varied time patterns. Existing brain research supports the findings on gender differences in learning performance and spatio-temporal characteristics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID-19 pandemic that started in 2020 forced a rapid change in university teaching, with large numbers of courses switching to distance learning with very little time for preparation. Courses involving many practical elements and field excursions required particular care if students were to fulfil planned learning outcomes. Here, we present our experiences in teaching field botany in 2020 and 2021. Using a range of methods and tools to introduce students to the subject, promote self-learning and reflection and give rapid and regular feedback, we were able to produce a course that allowed students to achieve the intended learning outcomes and that obtained similarly positive student evaluations to previous years. The course and its outcomes were further improved in 2021. We describe how we structured field botany as a distance course in order that we could give the best possible learning experience for the students. Finally, we reflect on how digital tools can aid teaching such subjects in the future, in a world where public knowledge of natural history is declining. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Communication deficits belong to the most frequent errors in patient handovers calling upon specialized training approaches to be implemented. This study aims to harness problem-based learning (PBL) methods in handover education and evaluated the learning process. A digitally enabled PBL course was developed and implemented at Klinikum Osnabrück from which eight nurses participated in the course. They agreed on the stimulating effect of the setting regarding self-directed learning and on the potential to translate the new knowledge and skills into the daily clinical practice. In conclusion, the findings are promising that a digitally enabled PBL course is a suitable learning format for handover education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: There is a worldwide deficit in teaching and training in the field of radiology for undergraduate medical students. This educational gap is prominent in many medical schools as most radiology curricula are a part of other specialty trainings, usually provided by non-radiologists. After COVID-19 pandemic, there was an increased trend in online education. However, questions have been raised about the efficacy and acceptance of online education. We developed a course on the principles of radiology and medical imaging basics to target Egyptian medical students. We then assessed the impact of these educational videos through several online surveys. Our "The Principles of Radiology Online Course" was delivered to students at various Egyptian medical schools; it was a prerecorded series composed of nine sessions, and each session followed the sequence of a pre-test, video, and post-test. There was a final survey to assess the overall feedback. Finally, we analyzed the results to give insight onto how teaching radiology through online lectures can help build better physicians. Results: Among various medical schools around Egypt, 1396 Egyptian medical students joined this cohort. Cohort population percentage was 56% female and 44% male. Ninety-eight percent of the students agreed that this program increased their understanding of radiology. Eighty-four percent of the students found the platform friendly and easy to use. Seventy-nine percent found these webinars were more convenient compared to in-person education. Statistical significance (p-value < 0.05) was achieved in all sessions after comparing students' pre and post-test scores, and in students' confidence and knowledge level before and after the course. Conclusions: Radiology is an underrepresented subject for a lot of medical students. Online radiology webinars have proven to be a promising method of teaching medical students key medical imaging concepts. An online course of radiology basics and principles can help improve a medical student's knowledge and enhance overall future patient care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Radiology serves in the diagnosis and management of many diseases. Despite its rising importance and use, radiology is not a core component of a lot of medical school curricula. This survey aims to clarify current gaps in the radiological education in Egyptian medical schools. In February–May 2021, 5318 students enrolled in Egyptian medical schools were recruited and given a 20-multiple-choice-question survey assessing their radiology knowledge, radiograph interpretation, and encountered imaging experiences. We measured the objective parameters as a percentage. We conducted descriptive analysis and used Likert scales where values were represented as numerical values. Percentages were graphed afterwards. Results: A total of 5318 medical students in Egypt answered our survey. Gender distribution was 45% males and 54% females. The results represented all 7 class years of medical school (six academic years and a final training year). In assessing students' knowledge of radiology, most students (75%) reported that they received 'too little' education, while 20% stated the amount was 'just right' and only 4% reported it was 'too much.' Sixty-two percent of students stated they were taught radiology through medical imaging lectures. Participants' future career plans were almost equally distributed. Near half of participants (43%) have not heard about the American College of Radiology Appropriateness Criteria (ACR-AR), while 39% have heard about it but are not familiar with. Conclusions: Radiology is a novel underestimated field. Therefore, medical students need more imaging exposure. To accomplish this, attention and efforts should be directed toward undergraduate radiology education to dissolve the gap between radiology and other specialties during clinical practice. A survey answered by medical students can bridge between presence of any current defect in undergraduate radiology teaching and future solutions for this topic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID-19 pandemic has had disproportionate impacts across race, social class, and geography. Insufficient attention has been paid to addressing the massive inequities worsened by COVID-19. In July 2020, Partners In Health (PIH) and the University of Global Health Equity (UGHE) delivered a four-module short course, 'An Equity Approach to Pandemic Preparedness and Response: Emerging Insights from COVID-19 Global Response Leaders.' We describe the design and use of a case-based, short-course education model to transfer knowledge and skills in equity approaches to pandemic preparedness and response. This course used case studies of Massachusetts and Navajo Nation in the US, and Rwanda to highlight examples of equity-centered pandemic response. Course participants completed a post-session assessment survey after each of the four modules. A mixed-method analysis was conducted to elucidate knowledge acquisition on key topics and assess participants' experience and satisfaction with the course. Forty-four percent of participants identified, 'Immediate need for skills and information to address COVID-19' as their primary reason for attending the course. Participants reported that they are very likely (4.75 out of 5) to use the information, tools, or skills from the course in their work. The average score for content-related questions answered correctly was 82–88% for each session. Participants (~70-90%) said their understanding was Excellent or Very Good for each session. Participants expressed a deepened understanding of the importance of prioritizing vulnerable communities and built global solidarity. The training contributed to a new level of understanding of the social determinants of health and equity issues surrounding pandemic preparedness and response. This course elucidated the intersection of racism and wealth inequality; the role of the social determinants of health in pandemic preparedness and response; and the impacts of neocolonialism on pandemic response in low- and middle-income countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The urgent shift to the online instructional environment has produced unprecedented challenges for teachers and placed new obligations on them. In this context, the study at hand investigated higher education teachers' perceptions of the effectiveness of online teaching, their readiness to teach online and their willingness to teach outside their comfort zone. To this end, an online survey was conducted with 24 EFL (English as a Foreign Language) teachers from various Algerian universities using a questionnaire created in Google Forms. The obtained results reveal that the majority of the EFL teachers perceive online teaching as less effective than face-to-face teaching due to three key factors: technological constraints, learners' unpreparedness, teachers' technophobia and health issues. Though it was mandatory for them to teach online at the beginning of the lockdown in March, the teachers' responses imply a low level of personal and contextual readiness, which, in turn, affected their willingness to teach online. This study highlights the correlation between teachers' readiness and willingness to teach online. It indicates that a high level of readiness can help the teacher adapt to the change, reduce resistance and ensure the constant extension of their comfort zone. This study ends with some practical suggestions and a number of opportunities for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Practical Courses in Engineering Education encourage higher-level thinking and creativity. Many of the practical courses' objectives are to develop end-to-end applications. Many tools exist to teach and engage practical courses online, but at the same time, it has several challenges. Making the students engaged after class hours is needed as practical courses require a lot of time to practice. To make the students genuinely participate and learn, we have involved gamification in the course and adopted a few social media platforms like GitHub, LinkedIn, YouTube, Kaggle, medium, etc., to submit the students' work as they are all public mediums. The course is offered to 124 participants of I B.Tech. Computer Science and Engineering stream students. By leveraging social media platforms and bringing in gamification in learning, the overall teaching-learning process gets highly benefited. The course-end survey results reported the students' positive attitudes and beliefs about social media use in education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Developing an effective cοnstructiνist learning enνirοnment (hereinafter also referred to as СLΕ) for students is an essential task nowadays when on-line courses have become increasingly important in modern education and they will without any doubt become even more important in the future. But before start designing and developing СLΕs it is necessary to have a clear, definitive idea of what СLΕs are, or what they should look like. This study puts forward the idea of four levels of the constructivism methodological approach as a basis for developing any effective СLΕ: These levels are: 1. philosophical level of methodology; 2. general scientific methodology; 3. specific scientific methodology; and 4. technological methodology, which consists of research methods and techniques. The authors first consider the fourth (lower) technological methodology level and give a description of methods and techniques which can be fruitful for developing СLΕs to enhance online courses. In this paper the researchers also draw out an initial draft of three fields of Digital Didactics (which is an old-new science which is being developed on the third level of the methodological approach and aimed to re-think the basis of Classical Didactics). These fields are a) teaching activities, b) learning activities and c) content and value aspects of education, all three presented through digitalisation of education in general.

Rapid development of information educational technologies requires special teacher’s training for possibility to create their own online courses. In particular, it is necessary to understand what do teachers need first of all? How may be solved the problem of formation of the key university teachers competencies?The purpose of this study is to identify the key elements of teachers' readiness to create their online courses and to study the formation of special teachers competences to develop their own online courses.Our study was conducted on the basis of an online course for professional development of university teachers "Pedagogical support of online education". The methods of the study were: online questionnaires, analysis of the creative works of teachers (developed tests and recorded videos) and oral attestation. We analyzed objectives of teacher’s training, the formation of key competencies and relevance of the online course topics. We found out two main reasons to join in our course by the university teachers: recommendations of their leadership (37%) and their own initiative, interest to study subject (29%). 252 people have fully completed all the required tasks and completed their training with a certificate of professional development. 60% of the teachers participating were on such online training the first time. In general, university teachers have been able to demonstrate the necessary theoretical knowledge (64%) and have done the first steps of their application during the preparation for the attestation on our program. They were very good at the writing of the methodical materials, but had not yet mastered recording of the videos. This research confirms the necessity of special training for university teachers for the high-quality creation online courses and allows the online courses authors to find new points of the changing their programs toward the more actual level.

The article considers the essence of development and dissemination of distance learning as an innovative technology in the Ukrainian and foreign education space in the context of the historical and pedagogical approach. The authors study the conditions of implementation of this education technology, teaching aids and features of teaching. An important point of the article is the analysis of the genesis of the educational process at different stages, positive and negative aspects of distance education, as well as the authors' own practical recommendations for using modern distance learning platforms taking into account the needs of education and information environment. A large number of works in modern general and professional pedagogy are devoted to the study of such an innovative education technology as distance learning. Using comparative and descriptive research methods, the history of this phenomenon in education is considered, the main pedagogical categories are identified, the advantages and disadvantages of the distance education application and difficulties of this technology implementation are identified. Despite the high level of the problem elaboration and introduction of distance learning in modern education, there is a need, taking into account modern realities, to analyse the significance and essence of this innovative approach in more details. The authors of the article consider modern distance learning platforms in terms of intensification of foreign language and other humanities learning. The necessity of distance education technologies implementation under conditions of modern technogenic civilisation is proved, when traditional models of organisation of the educational process fail to satisfy the education needs of a large number of population. The result of the work is a substantiated statement of the authors about the necessity to combine traditional and distance learning models to ensure the competitiveness of the modern educational process.

This paper focuses on the study and teaching strategy of Japanese conversation. The goal of the paper is to analyze the motivation of the students learning experience through CM as a media source of the study, which can lead students to enhance their level of proficiency. The study used a qualitative method of the case study Japanese conversation lecture. Conversation lectures are usually done by memorizing text or role-play using existing text. The idea of this study is similar to role-play but, through CM students can learn pronunciation, articulation, and intonation from the native (actor) directly. This study represents the first stage of a research project aimed at raising student confidence and enhancing Japanese fluencies. The major finding was that a clear majority of students reported a considerably high motivation according to the use of terms ‘tanoshikatta’ and ‘omoshiroi’ on their feedback. It says that students were interested to do the assessment.

Aim. To study the demand for the massive open online course on basic cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), and to evaluate effects of the training based on the socio-demographic profile of the audience.Material and methods. The data obtained from a survey conducted on participants of the online course «First Aid in Cardiac Arrest (Basic Resuscitation)» during a one-year period (07.2018–07.2019) were analyzed, including demographic data, initial and final levels of knowledge on CPR, and willingness to resuscitate a stranger. The 5-point Lickert scale was used for self-assessment of knowledge and willingness to attempt CPR.Results. The analysis includes data collected from 11,924 people, out of which 3,445 (29%) have completed the training. Eighty percent of participants live in the Russian Federation. The mean age of trainees, who completed the course, was 25.7 years, 45% of them were males, 42% had learnt CPR previously, 12% had medical education. As a result of the training, a significant increase (P

Introduction. The paper is devoted to a review of the main issues that digitalization poses for higher education sociologists. Readers are also offered the results of an empirical study aimed at obtaining answers to some of these questions by analyzing the direct experience of students who have completed online courses and express their views on its functional characteristics and performance.Methodology and sources. As a methodological framework for the study, the authors used a poly-paradigmatic approach, including the provisions of the economy of higher education, the principles and methods of the institutional tradition of the sociology of education, the ideas of theoretical concepts of social representations and communicative action.Results and discussion. The results of two sociological studies carried out in the form of questionnaires are presented. The target audience of the surveys were first-year undergraduates in technical areas of training who did not have direct experience of smart education at the university, and undergraduate students who took various online courses as part of their educational process.According to the survey, undergraduates have a clear interest in smart education and are independently looking for open online courses. However, they do not clearly assess some of the advantages of digital technology, for example, the ability to repeat the explanation. Undergraduate students, regardless of the course, direction and form of study, prefer the hybrid format over online courses and traditional classroom instruction. The most important aspects of online learning for students were identified: the clarity and consistency of the presentation of educational material, the usefulness of the course for the specialty, the entertaining course. At the same time, the image side of the presentation of materials by the teacher is of much less interest to them than the developers of the courses.As a result of the research, the most interesting topics for future discussions about the functional characteristics and effectiveness of smart education, as a new educational paradigm, are the following paradoxes: weak interest (or even lack thereof) of students in the possibility of a digital learning format such as individual and collective feedback, the possibility of organizing forums and conducting group discussions of the issues under study without/with the participation of a teacher; the contradictions between the targets of teachers-developers of online courses and the educational needs of students-users of online courses.Conclusion. The authors of the paper revealed a generally positive attitude of students to smart education. Most noted that it is more interesting to study online, however, classes based on the traditional form provide more solid and clear knowledge. The most effective and functional version of teaching practices seems to be hybrid courses, which allow combining the advantages of the "classical" and the new digital education paradigms.

The current study examines the teaching of 21st century skills during an online academic course. Drawing on the established community of inquiry framework, we assumed that student learning experiences would be correlated with their level of involvement, their perceptions of the course quality and ethicality, and the resulting skills improvement. One hundred and thirty-four (134) college students who enrolled in an online course answered our questionnaire. This course setting was developed in order to create an active learning atmosphere with diverse online activities that were intended to facilitate the learning of 21st century skills. A partial correlation was found between student involvement and their learning experiences. Significant correlations were found between student perceptions of their 21st century skills improvement, the course's quality, the course's ethicality, and their learning experience. We concluded that the course we created produced a meaningful learning experience which empowered students.

Background: The rapidly aging population and the growth of geriatric medicine in the field of internal medicine are not supported by sufficient gerontological training in many health care disciplines. There is rising awareness about the education and training needed to adequately prepare health care professionals to address the needs of the older adult population. Massive open online courses (MOOCs) might be the best alternative method of learning delivery in this context. However, the diversity of MOOC participants poses a challenge for MOOC providers to innovate in developing learning content that suits the needs and characters of participants., Objective: The primary outcome of this study was to explore students' perceptions and acceptance of HTML5 package (H5P) interactive content in self-paced MOOCs and its association with students' characteristics and experience in using MOOCs., Methods: This study used a cross-sectional design, combining qualitative and quantitative approaches. Participants, predominantly general practitioners from various regions of Indonesia with diverse educational backgrounds and age groups, completed pretests, engaged with H5P interactive content, and participated in forum discussions and posttests. Data were retrieved from the online questionnaire attached to a selected MOOC course. Students' perceptions and acceptance of H5P interactive content were rated on a 6-point Likert scale from 1 (strongly disagree) to 6 (strongly agree). Data were analyzed using SPSS (IBM Corp) to examine demographics, computer literacy, acceptance, and perceptions of H5P interactive content. Quantitative analysis explored correlations, while qualitative analysis identified recurring themes from open-ended survey responses to determine students' perceptions., Results: In total, 184 MOOC participants agreed to participate in the study. Students demonstrated positive perceptions and a high level of acceptance of integrating H5P interactive content within the self-paced MOOC. Analysis of mean (SD) value across all responses consistently revealed favorable scores (greater than 5), ranging from 5.18 (SD 0.861) to 5.45 (SD 0.659) and 5.28 (SD 0.728) to 5.52 (SD 0.627), respectively. This finding underscores widespread satisfaction and robust acceptance of H5P interactive content. Students found the H5P interactive content more satisfying and fun, easier to understand, more effective, and more helpful in improving learning outcomes than material in the form of common documents and learning videos. There is a significant correlation between computer literacy, students' acceptance, and students' perceptions., Conclusions: Students from various backgrounds showed a high level of acceptance and positive perceptions of leveraging H5P interactive content in the self-paced MOOC. The findings suggest potential new uses of H5P interactive content in MOOCs, such as interactive videos with pop-up questions, to substitute for synchronous learning. The study underscores the significance of tailored educational strategies in supporting the professional development of health care professionals., (©Pratiwi Rahadiani, Aria Kekalih, Diantha Soemantri, Desak Gede Budi Krisnamurti. Originally published in JMIR Medical Education (https://mededu.jmir.org), 22.08.2024.)

The value and methods of online learning have changed tremendously over the last 25 years. The goal of this paper is to review a quarter-century of experience with online learning by the author in the field of biomedical and health informatics, describing the learners served and the lessons learned. The author details the history of the decision to pursue online education in informatics, describing the approaches taken as educational technology evolved over time. A large number of learners have been served, and the online learning approach has been well-received, with many lessons learned to optimize the educational experience. Online education in biomedical and health informatics has provided a scalable and exemplary approach to learning in this field., (©William Hersh. Originally published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research (https://www.jmir.org), 06.08.2024.)

To promote the application of "Internet + Education" in undergraduate inorganic chemistry, and provide reference experience for online teaching of similar courses. Based on the teaching method which combined with WeCom and Shixing online school of Capital Normal University, the teaching practice of the university inorganic chemistry online course is discussed during the COVID・19 epidemic・ This paper elaborates the teaching strategies of pre class, in class, after class and online assessment in detail, analyzes the examination results and satisfaction survey results of students, compares the differences of online teaching methods adopted by different colleges and universities, discusses the advantages and disadvantages of online teaching, and gives solutions to the shortcomings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Coronavirus Disease 2019 pandemic has changed the way most people live and work, including the way in which students undertake study. To protect students during the pandemic, most schools in China adopted a study-at-home model. Under these circumstances, the pathophysiology teaching team at Tongji University considered how to reform teaching methods to minimize the impact of the pandemic on students’ curriculum studies. This article describes our teaching reforms in detail, notably a combination of online education resources, online discussion courses, and a WeChat study group. We compared the effects of the reformed and traditional teaching approaches, including student performance and student evaluation of the reformed teaching methods. Analysis showed that although students were generally worried about the impact of the pandemic on their curriculum studies, their overall performance was not affected by the reformed teaching methods. Of interest, compared with traditional teaching, the proportion of students with higher final test scores (≥90 points) actually increased. The revised teaching methods promoted the learning of some students externally and internally and enhanced their enthusiasm for medical study and their academic performance. These approaches could be applied as a reference for future course arrangements after the pandemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigated EFL college-level learners' expectation on and their experience in an online English-medium instruction (EMI) course focusing on how participants interacted with their classmates and the instructor in their online class (zoom session) based on assumptions and rationales of Interaction Hypothesis and classroom interaction research. Analyses of questionnaire, observation, and interview data revealed that participants' experience of interaction and their perception of interaction opportunities in the zoom session were significantly related to how they would evaluate the course-taking experience. It was also found that cognitive strategy such as participants' preparation for each class rather than L2 confidence was more relevant to their level of satisfaction with the course. Results of analyses suggested that an online class could be more effective than a face-to-face class in terms of engaging EFL adult learners in an academic course offered in participants' L2, English. Based on study results, suggestions on how to increase interaction opportunities in online EMI course are made. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Communication between healthcare providers and patients with persistent somatic symptoms (PSS) is frequently hampered by mutual misunderstanding and dissatisfaction. Methods: We developed an online, interprofessional course to teach healthcare providers the knowledge, skills, and attitude they need to diagnose and treat PSS in a patient-centered manner based on the biopsychosocial model. The course consisted of six modules of 45–60 min. Each module contained different types of assignments, based on six cases: videos, discussion boards, reading assignments, polls, and quizzes. For this study, we included (1) medical residents, following the course as part of their residency training, and (2) healthcare providers (general practitioners, medical specialists, physiotherapists, nurses, and psychologists), following the course as continuing vocational training. Throughout the course, participants were asked to fill out online surveys, enquiring about their learning gains and satisfaction with the course. Results: The biopsychosocial approach was integrated across the modules and teached health care workers about recent insights on biological, psychological and social aspects of PSS. In total, 801 participants with a wide variety in clinical experience started the course; the largest groups of professionals were general practitioners (N = 400), physiotherapists (N = 124) and mental healthcare workers (N = 53). At the start of the course, 22% of the participants rated their level of knowledge on PSS as adequate. At the end of the course, 359 participants completed the evaluation questionnaires. Of this group, 81% rated their level of knowledge on PSS as adequate and 86% felt that following the course increased their competencies in communicating with patients with PSS (N = 359). On a scale from 1 to 10, participants gave the course a mean grade of 7.8 points. Accordingly, 85% stated that they would recommend the course to a colleague. Conclusion: Our course developed in a co-design process involving multiple stakeholders can be implemented, is being used, and is positively evaluated by professionals across a variety of health care settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, we present a proposal for instrumental orchestration that organizes the use of technological environments in online mathematics education, in the synchronous mode for the concepts of eigenvalue and eigenvector of a first linear algebra course with engineering students. We used the instrumental orchestration approach as a theoretical framework to plan and organize the artefacts involved in the environment (didactic configuration) and the ways in which they are implemented (exploitation modes). The activities were designed using interactive virtual didactic scenarios, in a dynamic geometry environment, guided exploration worksheets with video and audio recordings of the work of the students, individually or in pairs. The results obtained are presented and the orchestrations of a pedagogical sequence to introduce the concepts of eigenvalue and eigenvector are briefly discussed. This work allowed us to identify new instrumental orchestrations for online mathematics education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Communication between healthcare providers and patients with persistent somatic symptoms (PSS) is frequently hampered by mutual misunderstanding and dissatisfaction.Methods: We developed an online, interprofessional course to teach healthcare providers the knowledge, skills, and attitude they need to diagnose and treat PSS in a patient-centered manner based on the biopsychosocial model. The course consisted of six modules of 45–60 min. Each module contained different types of assignments, based on six cases: videos, discussion boards, reading assignments, polls, and quizzes. For this study, we included (1) medical residents, following the course as part of their residency training, and (2) healthcare providers (general practitioners, medical specialists, physiotherapists, nurses, and psychologists), following the course as continuing vocational training. Throughout the course, participants were asked to fill out online surveys, enquiring about their learning gains and satisfaction with the course.Results: The biopsychosocial approach was integrated across the modules and teached health care workers about recent insights on biological, psychological and social aspects of PSS. In total, 801 participants with a wide variety in clinical experience started the course; the largest groups of professionals were general practitioners (N = 400), physiotherapists (N = 124) and mental healthcare workers (N = 53). At the start of the course, 22% of the participants rated their level of knowledge on PSS as adequate. At the end of the course, 359 participants completed the evaluation questionnaires. Of this group, 81% rated their level of knowledge on PSS as adequate and 86% felt that following the course increased their competencies in communicating with patients with PSS (N = 359). On a scale from 1 to 10, participants gave the course a mean grade of 7.8 points. Accordingly, 85% stated that they would recommend the course to a colleague.Conclusion: Our course developed in a co-design process involving multiple stakeholders can be implemented, is being used, and is positively evaluated by professionals across a variety of health care settings.

The sphere of education has been recently facing gradual changes in approaches and attitudes of all its participants to the process of studying. Rapid digitalization together with global life challenges such as the Covid-19 pandemic gets technology to be used together with traditional means of education in order to meet the needs of today's learners not only in a painless but also in a favourable way. The article considers the necessity to modernize the traditional process of studying and optimize it for learners, who deal with individual or forced distance study, caused by the pandemic as well. The up to date change implementation can be possibly accomplished with the help of specialized applications and web systems, particularly the online course platform Canvas, which stands in the focus of our paper. Previous studies and researches connected with similar and / or the same platform are mentioned briefly. The article also reveals technical capability and features of the Canvas system, presents the investigation of its conformity with students’ current needs through our analysis of its advantages and disadvantages and describes its pros and cons not only from the point of view of students, who are considered to be the representatives of the main category or platform users, but also considering teachers’ experience and impressions of Canvas as a primary or a subsidiary educational system with courses. The readers of this article may get acquainted with the main elements of the Canvas platform structure, learn about their characteristics and decide whether to approve or disapprove such an alternative to outdated course attendance. Furthermore, the research includes a survey conducted among 50 students, who had already used the platform in appliance with their curriculum and were asked to share their impressions starting from logging in to giving an overall review of this concentration of online courses. In the final analysis we provide the readers of the article with a general conclusion about the platform, its conformity with the requirements of the educational system and learners’ needs specifically.

The article deals with the instructional design of an integrative Business English course for master’s students of a technical university (a case study of the Saint Petersburg Mining University) for blended and/or flexible learning. The main goal is to design a course that can be used as a full-fledged online course in asynchronous learning and is at the same time adjustable to the existing offline Business English course. The research uses methods such as observation, focus groups, surveying, empirical research and analytical and descriptive methods. The authors see a solution in a special instructional design based on the integration of traditional teaching approaches in offline learning, information technology and elements of infotainment and edutainment. The article presents the results of the target audience analysis and the needs analysis, outlines the structure of the course, specifies approaches to enhance motivation in master’s students and presents an integrative system of assessment and evaluation of the learners’ knowledge and skills. The key features of the instructional design of the Business English course suggested include exposure to professional scenarios, learners’ reflection, multiple instruments encouraging learners’ cognitive activity and performance and an opportunity to apply their knowledge to actual performance rather than summative assessment.

Objective: This study aimed to understand the associations between mindfulness, perceived stress, and work engagement in a very large sample of English-speaking adults, from 130 different countries. It also aimed to assess participants' self-reported changes following a 6-week mindfulness massive open online course (MOOC).Methods: Participants in the 6-week MOOC were invited to complete pre-post online surveys. Cross-sectional associations were assessed using univariate linear models, followed by structural equation models to test mediation pathways in baseline data (N = 16,697). Self-reported changes in mindfulness, stress and engagement following training were assessed using paired t-tests (n = 2,105).Results: Each standard deviation unit increase in mindfulness was associated with a 0.52 standard deviation unit decrease in perceived stress, and with 0.06 standard deviation unit increment in work engagement. 73% of the influence of mindfulness on engagement was direct. Following the mindfulness MOOC, participants reported higher mindfulness (d = 1.16), reduced perceived stress (d = 1.00) and a small improvement in work engagement (d = 0.29).Conclusions: Mindfulness was associated with lower perceived stress and higher work engagement in both cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses. These findings support mindfulness as a potentially protective and modifiable personal resource. The MOOC format offers a low cost, highly accessible means for extending the reach and potential benefits of mindfulness training to large numbers of people.

Objective: This study aimed to understand the associations between mindfulness, perceived stress, and work engagement in a very large sample of English-speaking adults, from 130 different countries. It also aimed to assess participants' self-reported changes following a 6-week mindfulness massive open online course (MOOC). Methods: Participants in the 6-week MOOC were invited to complete pre-post online surveys. Cross-sectional associations were assessed using univariate linear models, followed by structural equation models to test mediation pathways in baseline data (N = 16,697). Self-reported changes in mindfulness, stress and engagement following training were assessed using paired t -tests (n = 2,105). Results: Each standard deviation unit increase in mindfulness was associated with a 0.52 standard deviation unit decrease in perceived stress, and with 0.06 standard deviation unit increment in work engagement. 73% of the influence of mindfulness on engagement was direct. Following the mindfulness MOOC, participants reported higher mindfulness (d = 1.16), reduced perceived stress (d = 1.00) and a small improvement in work engagement (d = 0.29). Conclusions: Mindfulness was associated with lower perceived stress and higher work engagement in both cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses. These findings support mindfulness as a potentially protective and modifiable personal resource. The MOOC format offers a low cost, highly accessible means for extending the reach and potential benefits of mindfulness training to large numbers of people. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: In Germany, foreign physicians are a fixed component of the medical profession. According to the German Medical Licensure Act, physicians having completed their qualification in another country are required to pass a knowledge examination which falls within the competence of examination offices or the regional governments. Project outline: The preparatory course consists of 10 modules. On Fridays, individual cases are discussed in small groups and specific examination techniques are trained. On Saturdays, illnesses are simulated by simulated patients. After each encounter, faculty experts, psychologists and peer group members provide the participants with 360° feedback. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the course which had been established 2 years beforehand has now been switched to an online class within one week. Friday units were visualized in power-point presentations and tutorial videos were discussed. On Saturdays, the cases were simulated by simulated patients and transmitted via a telemedicine platform. Results: The course could be conducted without interruptions (75 hours of in-class tuition and 75 hours of online tuition). In the oral evaluation the participants criticized telemedicine as a medium for imparting of practical skills. 7/22 (32%) of the participants underwent the knowledge examination and 6/7 (86%) of them passed it (versus 18/19 of the participants of in-class tuition (95%)). Discussion: There was a clear preference for in-class tuition. It was noted that the telemedical setting entailed some restrictions. However, the switch to online classes did not affect the pass rate. Conclusion: The switch from in-class to online units was feasible. The gained insights were taken into account when conceiving the online semester at our faculty and especially the tuition with the support of simulated patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Differences in how students and teachers understand online teaching presence play a key role in teaching design. To explore how students and teachers perceive teaching presence, this study surveyed 1,041 students and 18 teachers who participated in an online course at a Chinese university. The analysis found students' perceived teaching presence was significantly lower than the teachers', particularly in terms of facilitating discourse (p <.001). Regarding the perceived importance of the five dimensions of teaching presence (Wang et al., 2019), students perceived facilitating discourse to be more important than direct instruction, while the opposite was found to be true for teachers. The divergence creates a challenge for teachers in engaging students in learning. The results indicate that teachers could pay more attention to the following dimensions to improve students' learning experience: making macro-level comments on courses, designing instructional methods, providing formative feedback for homework and discussions, and making full use of technological tools in teaching. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND: The course Prevention of Harmful Substance Use and Addiction Treatment is an integral and mandatory part of postgraduate medical education in the Czech Republic. Its aim is to acquire the necessary knowledge, skills and competences (learning outcomes) for good medical practice, screening and brief intervention. The course includes an international curriculum for treatment and prevention in addictology and a comparison with competency models. Part of the course is also testing attitudes with a focus on discrimination related to substance use. AIM: The aim of this study is to assess the quality of the newly prepared e-learning course for addictology education of physicians and attitudes of physicians to a selected group of addictive substances and their users. The measured attitudes will be compared between the course participants and the control group and will also be compared with the general public. SAMPLE: The research sample will consist of medical graduates who have completed the course ~1000 respondents (group A) and the control group ~150 respondents (group B) with the same educational parameters, but did not complete the course. METHODS: A complete evaluation will be performed in order to verify the effectiveness of the course using pre-test, post-test and after six months of follow-up test. The main purpose will be the evaluation of educational outcomes, the secondary purpose will be the evaluation of attitudes with a focus on discrimination against drug users and their structural stigma. The research will take place between 2021 and 2024. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The educational system has moved towards digitization and online learning in the past two decades. The institutions are focusing on delivering online courses to facilitate the students. Uttarakhand Open University offered online courses to reach the unreached learners. High dropout rate from MOOCs is a global concern. Learners' satisfaction survey is one of the important instruments to investigate the reasons of discontinuance from an online course. Detailed analysis of learners' satisfaction survey will help the educators understand learners' expectations from the course and they can work on these factors which leads to increasing the learners' satisfaction with MOOCs and thereby address high-dropout rates from MOOCs. This paper investigates the students' satisfaction of online courses on academic counselling, assignments, and examination marking process and various support services provided by the university. A structed questionnaire of 5-point Likert scale was administrated using Google form. The data (269 valid responses) have been analysed quantitatively by implying statistical measures. The findings show that academic counselling provided by the university to students are conceptual, clear, and knowledgeable. The students are comfortable on assignment, examination, and their result declarations. Along with this the online services, different initiatives and other support services provided by university are discussed in detail and suggested for further enhancements. Furthermore, it is also concluded that the study center structure is adequate, and personnel at study center are very helpful with students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Grounded in the Community of Inquiry framework in the online teaching context, the purpose of this mixed-methods study was to determine the role of social (peer) presence in predicting hospitality students' engagement and satisfaction in an online culinary or beverage lab. Findings included the indirect effect of social presence on satisfaction with the online lab through emotional cognitive engagement. Qualitative results revealed that while students did not have as many opportunities to engage with each other as they hoped for, the opportunities they did have were "meaningful". Results also study revealed that instructors, rather than peers, became the proxy for social presence as the semester progressed. Theoretical implications demonstrate the importance of emotional and cognitive engagement as the underlying mechanisms linking social presence to online lab satisfaction. Practical implications offer guidance for hospitality instructors to build and enhance opportunities for student engagement and peer-to-peer interaction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of current study was to investigate the level of students' self-efficacy, specifically the use of Information Communication Technologies and performing academic tasks for online courses. A quantitative descriptive survey was conducted to explore the problem. The participants were selected from two departments (Arts and Computer Science) of a university. All the students from the Department of Arts were included in study sample and non-proportional random sampling technique was used for selecting participants from the department of CS. In this way, self-tailored five-point Likert Scale was distributed to 603 sampled participants. The study concluded that e-learners' had moderate level of self-efficacy to perform academic tasks and their level of self-efficacy to use ICT was at higher level. There was highly significant positive relationship between academic self-efficacy and self-efficacy to use ICT. The study found that the self-efficacy for IT use is a good predictor of academic self-efficacy. A course on ICT use may be offered to all the e-learners as a pre-requisite for any online course. It may enhance the academic self-efficacy of e-learners. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the digital age, instructional designers must possess both a sound instructional design knowledge that will enable them to develop, design and deliver effective courses. In the current study a course on Linguistics is designed and evaluated using ADDIE model. Effective delivery include the ability to apply a strong instructional design framework However, courses in the higher education do not follow a stringent framework. In this paper, the author draws on the research findings of ADDIE model of instructional design to examine this gap. The author argues that the alignment between instructional design and classroom practices will lead to effective course delivery. The authors propose some guidelines for instructional design in a Linguistics course. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The instructor in an online course needs online teaching experience and should adapt the course contents to the digital environment. The purpose of the present study is to gain a deeper understanding of students' perceptions of the pedagogical aspects of online teaching, pointing up characteristics of online courses that extant literature in this field has found reflected in different online and blended courses. Online courses necessitate meticulous planning by the instructor and adaptation through the student's learning. The research reported here related to the attitudes of 216 students, who participated in 52 courses delivered by 36 different instructors. Some of the courses included both face-toface meetings and online lessons, while other courses were solely presented online. The research findings may be informative for instructors planning online courses and for students contemplating participation in online courses, in order to prepare in an optimal manner for the teaching, learning and evaluation processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article reflects a model of the cloud educational environment, the structure of which is represented by online courses and a hybrid intelligent system that allows you to create and adjust real-time individual trajectories of studying these courses. It was established that, despite its complexity, dynamism, and sometimes uncertainty, it should provide timely and continuous access for each student to starting online courses, their multimedia content and function stably under any load. It is shown that the collaborative work of students also involves the sharing of various educational objects of an online course (for example, webinars, video lectures, and virtual models), each of which requires a certain quality of service (QoS), productivity, the possibility of process planning, resource management. The possibility of using the queuing theory apparatus to create a model of the intelligent cloud educational environment is described. The results of an experimental study of the constructed simulation model are presented. It is concluded that the desired model is adequate and is able to cope with a large flow of students' requests. The proposed model is universal and can be used to develop a cloud-based online learning platform, the software and technology infrastructure of which must meet the needs of a rapidly growing mass of students of online courses.

This material is the last text of Prof. A.S. Robotova received by the Editor. The text is theses to a possible article on her favorite humanitarian topic. The paper addresses the issues of the specific of online humanitarian text. The resources of online course may be found in the common for teacher and students time-space context, their emotional and cognitive affinity. The author believes that special attentions should be paid to composition and semantic expressiveness of the content. It may be reached by intellectual tension, clash of texts, facts and data, which switches on the mechanism of internal dialogue and activates student’s interest.

Digitalization of modern education leads to a change in the style of the educational activities of students and professional work of higher school teachers. The professional standard of education workers oblige educators not only to develop educational content discipline, but also apply ICT to manage student’s training activity. The aim of the research was to study the capacity of the standard user statistics tool in LMS MOODLE for course optimization on three parameters – content presentation, temporary course structure and quality of educational measurement tools. These options, according to the authors, are the main factors for users’ motivation to consistent use of online courses during the semester. The study of statistical characteristics of student activity in e-course “Informatics” based on LMS MOODLE has been carried out during three years. The experiment covered the first-year students enrolled in the “Electricity and Electrical Equipment”. The results of the content optimization and presentation of the discipline have shown a positive change in the dynamics of the student’s activity during the semester. The findings of this study have a number of practical implications. Optimization of the learning process with the use of online course requires designing of a course with week module structure and singled out micro-targets. The learning material should be presented in various formats taking into account students’ preference for infographics. This contributes to raising the academic performance on the whole. Statistical analysis of test tasks differentiating capacity will substantially improve the quality of tools for educational measurement. It is shown that the use of a MOODLE statistics tool to estimate the user activity makes it possible the documented testing the effectiveness of innovations in pedagogical design of e-course.