Academic student satisfaction and perceived performance in the e-learning environment during the COVID-19 pandemic: Evidence across ten countries

The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has dramatically shaped higher education and seen the distinct rise of e-learning as a compulsory element of the modern educational landscape. Accordingly, this study highlights the factors which have influenced how students perceive their academic performance during this emergency changeover to e-learning. The empirical analysis is performed on a sample of 10,092 higher education students from 10 countries across 4 continents during the pandemic’s first wave through an online survey. A structural equation model revealed the quality of e-learning was mainly derived from service quality, the teacher’s active role in the process of online education, and the overall system quality, while the students’ digital competencies and online interactions with their colleagues and teachers were considered to be slightly less important factors. The impact of e-learning quality on the students’ performance was strongly mediated by their satisfaction with e-learning. In general, the model gave quite consistent results across countries, gender, study fields, and levels of study. The findings provide a basis for policy recommendations to support decision-makers incorporate e-learning issues in the current and any new similar circumstances.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Overview of progress in European medium sized tokamaks towards an integrated plasma-edge/wall solution

Integrating the plasma core performance with an edge and scrape-off layer (SOL) that leads to tolerable heat and particle loads on the wall is a major challenge. The new European medium size tokamak task force (EU-MST) coordinates research on ASDEX Upgrade (AUG), MAST and TCV. This multi-machine approach within EU-MST, covering a wide parameter range, is instrumental to progress in the field, as ITER and DEMO core/pedestal and SOL parameters are not achievable simultaneously in present day devices. A two prong approach is adopted. On the one hand, scenarios with tolerable transient heat and particle loads, including active edge localised mode (ELM) control are developed. On the other hand, divertor solutions including advanced magnetic configurations are studied. Considerable progress has been made on both approaches, in particular in the fields of: ELM control with resonant magnetic perturbations (RMP), small ELM regimes, detachment onset and control, as well as filamentary scrape-off-layer transport. For example full ELM suppression has now been achieved on AUG at low collisionality with n  =  2 RMP maintaining good confinement ${{H}_{\text{H}\left(98,\text{y}2\right)}}\approx 0.95$ . Advances have been made with respect to detachment onset and control. Studies in advanced divertor configurations (Snowflake, Super-X and X-point target divertor) shed new light on SOL physics. Cross field filamentary transport has been characterised in a wide parameter regime on AUG, MAST and TCV progressing the theoretical and experimental understanding crucial for predicting first wall loads in ITER and DEMO. Conditions in the SOL also play a crucial role for ELM stability and access to small ELM regimes

Digital Technology to Enhance Project Leadership Practice: The Case of Civil Construction

Digital transformation is fundamentally influencing all aspects of business and society. It can enable individuals and organizations to transcend from one way of working to another. In construction, emphasis is shifting from project management to project leadership, as professionals need assisting tools to not only aid in managing tasks and activities, but aid in leading people. As such, the adoption of digital technologies may hold the key in taking project leadership practice into the future. To date, there have been few attempts to explore the potential of digital technology as an aid for project leadership development and practice. This research therefore aims to investigate this potential in the context of the Australian civil construction industry. We review the existing body of knowledge on both industry-specific leadership demands and relevant digital technology capabilities to identify areas of improvement and to guide interviews with construction project managers. So far, literature has focused on endorsing particular leadership behaviors and/or styles, while ignoring the difficulties faced by professionals in practicing these behaviors. We find that project managers of civil contractors within Sydney understand the significance of leadership but are often overwhelmed by its complexity

Emozioni di riuscita e didattica a distanza durante la pandemia da COVID-19: Una ricerca con 17.000 studenti universitari di 13 Paesi

Lo studio esamina come le emozioni di riuscita e i loro antecedenti in merito all'e-learning varia negli studenti universitari di 13 paesi, durante il lockdown dovuto alla pandemia da COVID-19 nel 2020

Higher education students’ achievement emotions and their antecedents in e-learning amid COVID-19 pandemic: A multi-country survey

The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has had a wide range of negative consequences for higher education students. We explored the generalizability of the control-value theory of achievement emotions for e-learning, focusing on their antecedents. We involved 17019 higher education students from 13 countries, who completed an online survey during the first wave of the pandemic. A structural equation model revealed that proximal antecedents (e-learning self-efficacy, computer self-efficacy) mediated the relation between environmental antecedents (cognitive and motivational quality of the task) and positive and negative achievement emotions, with some exceptions. The model was invariant across country, area of study, and gender. The rates of achievement emotions varied according to these same factors. Beyond their theoretical relevance, these findings could be the basis for policy recommendations to support stakeholders in coping with the challenges of e-learning and the current and future sequelae of the pandemic