Journal on Efficiency and Responsibility in Education and Science

85-101

Authors: Shaima AlShamali, Mohammed Hajeeh, Ahmad AlKhayat

The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has wreaked havoc on societies around the world and continues to do so and produced cataclysmic socio-economic challenges. This virus compelled countries to enact restrictive policies in order to combat, defend, and prevent against the spread of infection. In most nations, including Kuwait, a complete lockdown was imposed, with necessary measures taken to limit social gatherings, wear protective masks, and encourage social distancing. Businesses, organizations, and institutions have been forced to discover new avenues to survive and thrive by converting to remote operation using digital technology. Similarly, the epidemic has forced educational institutions to abandon conventional face-to-face instruction in favor of online digital learning. The goal of this study is to assess the online learning process in Kuwait from the perspective of students. In this regard, a survey questionnaire was designed and distributed to students throughout Kuwait; 830 students responded, with just 500 students with complete answers. In light of the dangerous and widespread of the harmful virus, analysis found that students consent to online learning. However, most prefer face-to-face instruction in a classroom setting.

113-127

Authors: Eva Schmidthaler, Branko Anđic, Mathias Schmollmüller, Barbara Sabitzer, Zsolt Lavicza

Today's teachers play a critical role in preparing students for the integration of educational technologies, such as augmented reality (AR), into their lessons. It is thought that AR implementation improves collaboration, motivation, and learning outcomes. Considering this, this study aims to determine the teachers’ perceptions of the benefits and obstacles of employing mobile AR applications (mAR) in their biology education, along with suggestions for practice, app developers, and policymakers. Therefore, a mixed-methods study was used to examine Austrian secondary school biology teachers’ opinions. A questionnaire containing open-ended and closed-ended questions was distributed to 35 teachers. Descriptive statistics were employed to process quantitative data, whereas grounded theory was utilized to process qualitative data. According to the findings, biology teachers likely utilize mAR apps to teach about human anatomy or to identify living things (e.g., plant determination). According to the teachers, mAR can improve students’ learning outcomes, motivation, and collaboration, and further their enthusiasm for learning biology. The main obstacles that teachers encounter whilst integrating mAR into their lessons are lack of technical devices, Internet issues, inconsistency with the curriculum, and questionable scientific accuracy of information. Despite the promising results, additional future studies with larger sample sizes are needed.

140-148

Authors: Kristýna Krejčová, Pavla Rymešová, Hana Chýlová

The mindfulness-based methods are on the rise in the mental health care of students as well as employees. Therefore, the research on self-compassion is necessary to explore abilities and personality traits that are cultivated by the mindfulness approach. Our research deals with the assessment of the level of self-compassion by the students of the Faculty of Economics and Management at the Czech University of Life Sciences to precise the planned mindfulness-based intervention. Further, the gender and personality specifics as well as a connection to academic achievement are examined. For this purpose, the Self-compassion Scale, and the NEO-PI-R were used. The results proved insignificant correlations between the self-compassion subscales and self-reported grades, but also subtle differences in the structure of the self-compassion by males and females. Further, correlations between the neuroticism and the Self-compassion Scale and its subscales were revealed. Structural equation modeling was involved to gain more complex insight in the researched area.