The relationship between just world belief and wellbeing, cheating behaviors, and academic work behaviors during COVID 19 among university students

Is the belief in a just world among students also stable under COVID-19? To answer this question, a study was conducted with university students from Germany (n = 291). The aim of the study was to analyze the predictive performance of the personal belief in a just world (PBJW) on students' life satisfaction and academic cheating and to take into account important mediators from the university context such as fellow student justice, lecturer justice, and procrastination. Derived from existing research, university students with a stronger PBJW should be more satisfied with their lives and cheat less than those with a weaker PBJW. The results support the hypothesized direct effects of PBJW on life satisfaction. Procrastination additionally mediated the effect of PBJW on life satisfaction. The level of PBJW predicted academic cheating only indirectly. The mediators procrastination and lecturer justice were crucial here. The results persisted when gender, learning, time to exam, socially desirable responding, general BJW, and self-efficacy were controlled. The findings were discussed in relation to the stressful situation caused by COVID-19. A reflection on the adaptive function of PBJW as a resource and relevant situation-specific mediators for university research and practice followed

Konstruktion und Testgüte eines Fragebogens zur ganzheitlichen Messung der Gerechtigkeitsmotivdimensionen

Mit dem Ziel, das Gerechtigkeitsmotiv in seiner dreidimensionalen dynamischen Struktur (Dalbert, 2001; 2005) messtheoretisch zu erfassen wurde der Fragebogen zum subjektiven Gerechtigkeitsempfinden (FSG) entwickelt. Er gibt mittels situativ geprägten Selbsteinschätzungen Aufschluss über individuelle Gerechtigkeitsprofile. Die Testgüte wurde nach einem mehrphasigen Entwicklungsprozess an n = 158 Studierenden überprüft. Die interne Konsistenz der Skalen liegt zwischen α = .714 - .863. Das theoretisch abgeleitete hierarchische Modell kann aus der extrahierten Einfachstruktur der exploratorischen Faktorenanalyse abgeleitet werden. Die Rangkorrelation der Skala Vertrauensüberzeugung (rS = .513; p < 0.01) mit der GWPER (Persönliche Gerechte-Welt-Skala; Dalbert, 1999b) kennzeichnet einen Teil des FSG als konvergent valide. Erste Hinweise auf eine externe Validität des FSG bietet eine Vignettenstudie mit schulischem Schwerpunkt (Münscher, 2016). Die Ergebnisse müssen in Zukunft empirisch fundiert und extern validiert werden

Significant increase in factual knowledge with web-assisted problem-based learning as part of an undergraduate cardio-respiratory curriculum

In recent years, increasing attention has been paid to web-based learning although the advantages of computer-aided instruction over traditional teaching formats still need to be confirmed. This study examined whether participation in an online module on the differential diagnosis of dyspnoea impacts on student performance in a multiple choice examination of factual knowledge in cardiology and pneumology. A virtual problem-based learning environment for medical students supervised by postgraduate teachers was created. Seventy-four out of 183 fourth-year medical students volunteered to use the online module while attending a 6-week cardio-respiratory curriculum in summer 2007. Of these, 40 were randomly selected to be included (intervention group); the remaining 34 served as an internal control group. Analysis of all written exams taken during the preceding term showed that both groups were comparable (86.4 ± 1.1 vs. 85.9 ± 1.1%; p = 0.751). Students in the intervention group scored significantly higher in the final course assessment than students allocated to the control group (84.8 ± 1.3 vs. 79.5 ± 1.4%; p = 0.006; effect size 0.67). Thus, additional problem-based learning with an online module as part of an undergraduate cardio-respiratory curriculum lead to higher students’ scores in an exam testing factual knowledge. Whether using this teaching format increases overall student motivation to engage in the learning process needs to be further investigated