Evaluating the impact of COVID-19 pandemic lockdown on education in Nigeria: Insights from teachers and students on virtual/online learning

Assessing the psychological distress and coping strategies among academic staff of a university during COVID-19

Background

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has been associated with stress because of its disruption to normal lifestyle. While the resilience of people was challenged, some coping strategies were adopted to maintain balance in the face of the pandemic.

Aim

To assess psychological distress and coping strategies among the academic staff.

Setting

Afe Babalola University located in the Southwest, Nigeria.

Methods

A descriptive-cross-sectional design was used on the population of 512 academics where a sample size of 248 was drawn using Taro Yamane with a 10% non-response rate. The instruments used were a modified Kessler Psychological Distress Scale (K10) and an adapted COPE inventory for coping strategies. The scale reliability of K10 was 0.866 while that of coping strategy was 0.610. Data analysis was performed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 28. The results were presented in simple percentages, means and standard deviations.

Results

Most respondents had severe psychological distress (185, 98.9%) with the most rated report 'Feel worthless' 4.8 ± 0.59. The most rated coping strategy was 'I try to lose myself for a while by drinking alcohol or taking drugs'3.8 ± 0.60 with overall coping scale mean, 2.3 ± 1.02.

Conclusion

There was severe distress and substance used among academics. The study recommends teaching on effective coping styles and institution probable preparation for future pandemic.

Contribution

The study provides insight into the psychological state of the academic staff during the COVID-19 pandemic and unveils the adaptive strategies used. The results of the study are useful for the development of appropriate coping skills for the staff.

Medical school students' perspectives on virtual anatomy education in a developing country

Understanding the fundamental role anatomy education plays in medical training and taking into consideration the nascence of online education in Nigeria, this study evaluated the perceptions of medical and allied-health students toward online anatomy education both during the COVID-19 lockdown in Nigeria and for the future. For this study, Google Form questionnaires were distributed via different social and academic platforms to medical and allied-health students in Nigeria between September 28 and December 17, 2020. A total of 954 students participated in the study and 947 valid responses were recorded. The results showed that 77.6% of the students had reported computer/IT skills and 12.1% admitted that they had never attended an online class. Interestingly, 60% of the respondents disapproved of online learning approaches as effective tools for instructions in the anatomical sciences. Majority of the students (84%) agreed that their performance in anatomy would have been better if the classes were face-to-face, while 55% found the online anatomy classes uninteresting. Furthermore, 91.5% agreed that anatomy educators needed advanced skills for online education, while 94.2% agreed that anatomy online teaching needs more advanced technology to be implemented in Nigeria. This study revealed an overall negative perception about the suitability and effectiveness of online anatomy education in Nigerian medical/health training. This study recommends further investigations into the challenges that were presented during online anatomy education at the peak of the pandemic. This will help direct the development and implementation of a workable and sustainable online education model for anatomical sciences in Nigeria.

Feasibility of online learning among Indian students of dentistry during the CoVid-19 outbreak

Even though there were several online dentistry academic programs available, the pandemic accelerated the development of e-learning processes and presented unprecedented obstacles to dental education. The pandemic has given rise to a technology-powered teaching style that replaced the centuries-old chalk-talk method. However, because it was a quick change, it had flaws and limitations and has caused turmoil and confusion among many educational teams, particularly in the academic sector. As a necessary consequence, this study is performed to evaluate undergraduate dental students' lived experiences, as well as their capability, willingness and frame of mind for the adoption of online teaching and learning approaches as part of blended learning. Hence, the use of online tutorials should be an effective method of providing meaningful insights for undergraduate dental students.

Technologies for recovery and growth in post COVID-19 era in tertiary institutions in Nigeria

Technology has played an important role in several areas of human endeavour. Emerging challenges such as COVID-19 pandemic is increasing the use of technology in tertiary institutions. This study investigated the technologies for recovery and growth in post-COVID-19 era in tertiary institutions in Nigeria. The study adopted a descriptive survey design focusing on all the academic staff in the 49 federal universities in Nigeria with a total of 490 respondents who were purposively sampled. The findings revealed evidences of positive and negative effects of COVID-19 pandemic on the academia. It showed that the positive effects of COVID-19 pandemic outweighed the negative effects. The findings further showed that technology is an important tool for recovery and growth in post-COVID-19 era that will enhance communication, collaboration, teaching and research of academics. The findings indicated that among the challenging factors affecting recovery and growth in post-COVID-19 era are inadequate support from the Federal Government, unpreparedness of stakeholders, lack of palliative for lecturers, inadequate ICT facilities for distance and online learning among others. The study concluded with several recommendations to improve the use of technology in tertiary institutions for recovery and growth in time of crisis.

Global Plastic Surgery: A Review of the Field and a Call for Virtual Training in Low- and Middle-Income Countries

Lack of surgical access severely harms countless populations in many low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Many types of surgery could be fulfilled by the plastic surgeon, as populations in these areas often experience trauma, burns, cleft lip and palate, and other relevant medical issues. Plastic surgeons continue to contribute significant time and energy to global health, primarily by participating in short mission trips intended to provide many surgeries in a short time frame. These trips, while cost-effective for lack of long-term commitments, are not sustainable as they require high initial costs, often neglect to educate local physicians, and can interfere with regional systems. Education of local plastic surgeons is a key step toward creating sustainable plastic surgery interventions worldwide. Virtual platforms have grown popular and effective-particularly due to the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic-and have shown to be beneficial in the field of plastic surgery for both diagnosis and teaching. However, there remains a large potential to create more extensive and effective virtual platforms in high-income nations geared to educate plastic surgeons in LMICs to lower costs and more sustainably provide capacity to physicians in low access areas of the world.

Using the fsQCA approach to investigate factors affecting university students' satisfaction with online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic: A case from China

During the COVID-19 pandemic, higher education institutions have been forced to switch their teaching mode to online education. There has been limited in-depth exploration of the factors affecting students' satisfaction with online learning, and no consensus has been reached among these studies' results. Students' satisfaction is essential for realizing effective online education practices and meaningful to promoting the sustainable development of online courses, and it cannot be fully explained by one single factor. Research exploring the configuration of factors affecting students' satisfaction with online learning has been rare. This study adopted a novel data analysis method, the fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fsQCA) method, to explore collocations of different factors affecting higher education students' satisfaction with online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic. This research surveyed 357 university students in Mainland China during the second semester of the 2021-2022 academic year using a structured questionnaire. The study identified that when students were satisfied with assignments and had a higher level of internet self-efficacy, or they were satisfied with their instructors and assignments, they were satisfied with online classes. Additionally, internet self-efficacy is indispensable to explaining students' higher level of satisfaction with online learning. This study contributes to our understanding of university students' satisfaction with online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic by using a novel method to explore the configuration of influential factors, and it provides implications for administrators and policymakers in the education field who seek to improve students' satisfaction with online learning.

A survey of virtual instructional competence among tourism teachers in secondary schools, Calabar South local Government Area, Nigeria

This single variable research was carried out to survey virtual instructional competence among tourism teachers in secondary schools in Calabar South Local Government Area, Nigeria. Five research questions and one hypothesis were posed to assess virtual instructional competence variables. Descriptive Survey design was adopted for the study. Stratified Simple random and purposive sampling techniques were used to select sixty (60) tourism teachers in both public and private secondary schools. The instrument for data collection was a well-structured questionnaire. Mean, simple percentage and independent t-test analysis were considered most appropriate for data analysis. The result of the analysis showed that professional competence has the highest status, followed by knowledge of subject matter and interpersonal skills. Male teachers were more competent with virtual instructional competence than their female tourism counterparts. The teachers with 1-5 years teaching experience and those with above 15 years of teaching experience readily embraced virtual competence. One challenge of virtual instruction is that tourism teachers found it difficult to cope with virtual instructional delivery but prefer the traditional face to face interaction. It was recommended that tourism teachers in secondary schools in Calabar South Local Government Area should be encouraged to adapt to the trending issue of virtual instruction delivery.

When in Doubt … Career Indecision, Mental Wellbeing, and Consultation-Seeking Behaviour-A Qualitative Interview Study among Students and Counsellors

University dropout is often preceded by a phase of doubt whether to continue studying, either in general or just the given subject. Mental health problems might be interrelated with this phase of doubt. Counselling services at German universities could provide help, but do not seem to reach students in need. To explore the phase of doubt and possible (inter-)relationships with mental wellbeing among university students in Germany as well as their consultation-seeking behaviour, a qualitative interview study was conducted (2017–2018). Participants were students casting doubts on their studies (n = 14) and counsellors (n = 16) working with this target group. Examples of reasons for doubts were insufficient information, unfulfilled expectations concerning the subject, subjectively poor study conditions, performance problems, and lacking future perspectives. Mental health problems were subjectively intertwined with doubts, considered as both cause and effect. Counselling services were evaluated as hardly helpful by students and as being in need of improvement by counsellors. Suggestions as how to improve such services comprise a more specific and proactive way to approach students. By considering the phase of doubt before dropout, German universities can improve their support services to be more responsive to students and, thus, prevent dropout and mental health problems.

Learning Outcomes of Digital Learning Interventions in Higher Education: A Scoping Review

Implementing digital technologies has become a policy priority worldwide among all types of education. The COVID-19 pandemic has further accelerated educational institutions' efforts to reorganize their teaching and introduce new digital learning technologies. Although using digital technologies in higher education, including nursing, is considered a modern and innovative way of teaching and learning, uncertainty exists concerning these technologies' actual usefulness in achieving positive learning outcomes. The aim of this scoping review was to examine the current evidence related to the effects of using digital technologies on learning outcomes in higher education. The authors searched five electronic databases for relevant studies and used a scoping review method to analyze and synthesize the evidence. Eighty-six articles from six disciplines met the selection criteria. As a key finding, the outcomes of the interventions were mainly positive. Increased professional knowledge, skills, and attitudes reflect the advancement of professional competence. Academic, collaborative, and study skills, in turn, contribute to general competence development. Our findings suggest that digital technology has the potential to improve learning in various disciplines.