Students’ Attitude to Online Emergency Remote Teaching (ERT) at Nikola Vaptsarov Naval Academy and Faculty of Maritime Studies Split during COVID-19 Crisis

COVID-19 pandemic has set new challenges to education systems in the Republic of Bulgaria and in the Republic of Croatia, particularly to higher education systems. In summer semester 2020/2021, emergency remote teaching (ERT) was imposed at Nikola Vaptsarov Naval Academy (NVNA) and at University of Split, Faculty of Maritime Studies (UoS FMS) under the circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic. As researches related to the students’ satisfaction with learning in digital environment at the beginning of the COVID-19 crisis are very rare in Bulgaria and in Croatia, the aim of the paper is to analyse students’ attitude to the quality of three-month ERT in specialized compulsory navigation courses at NVNA and at UoS FMS. Anonymous survey on students’ attitude was conducted on 154 students majoring in Navigation at NVNA and 98 students majoring in Nautical Studies at UoS FMS. The study revealed that students were generally satisfied with the quality of ERT at NVNA and at UoS FMS. The students’ primary concerns regarding ERT (online/hybrid) in navigation courses included the quality of ERT, difficulties with technology, motivation, as well as time management. This useful information can help both lecturers and faculty managements to adapt their teaching strategies and provide adequate support to the students. MET institutions should support students to build skills and behaviours based on students’ concerns, but also to train and support lecturers to develop and deliver high-quality hybrid courses. Although the study has limited value, it could be used as a reference point for further studies and should encourage MET institutions, as well as maritime administrations, to give strong support to the implementation of hybrid courses in MET. This study could also inspire maritime administrations to conduct pilot projects on hybrid courses introduction in MET, in line with global trends in education and stakeholders’ growing demand for distance learning, without compromising quality of MET

Seven-Year Experience From the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke-Supported Network for Excellence in Neuroscience Clinical Trials.

Importance: One major advantage of developing large, federally funded networks for clinical research in neurology is the ability to have a trial-ready network that can efficiently conduct scientifically rigorous projects to improve the health of people with neurologic disorders. Observations: National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke Network for Excellence in Neuroscience Clinical Trials (NeuroNEXT) was established in 2011 and renewed in 2018 with the goal of being an efficient network to test between 5 and 7 promising new agents in phase II clinical trials. A clinical coordinating center, data coordinating center, and 25 sites were competitively chosen. Common infrastructure was developed to accelerate timelines for clinical trials, including central institutional review board (a first for the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke), master clinical trial agreements, the use of common data elements, and experienced research sites and coordination centers. During the first 7 years, the network exceeded the goal of conducting 5 to 7 studies, with 9 funded. High interest was evident by receipt of 148 initial applications for potential studies in various neurologic disorders. Across the first 8 studies (the ninth study was funded at end of initial funding period), the central institutional review board approved the initial protocol in a mean (SD) of 59 (21) days, and additional sites were added a mean (SD) of 22 (18) days after submission. The median time from central institutional review board approval to first site activation was 47.5 days (mean, 102.1; range, 1-282) and from first site activation to first participant consent was 27 days (mean, 37.5; range, 0-96). The median time for database readiness was 3.5 months (mean, 4.0; range, 0-8) from funding receipt. In the 4 completed studies, enrollment met or exceeded expectations with 96% overall data accuracy across all sites. Nine peer-reviewed manuscripts were published, and 22 oral presentations or posters and 9 invited presentations were given at regional, national, and international meetings. Conclusions and Relevance: NeuroNEXT initiated 8 studies, successfully enrolled participants at or ahead of schedule, collected high-quality data, published primary results in high-impact journals, and provided mentorship, expert statistical, and trial management support to several new investigators. Partnerships were successfully created between government, academia, industry, foundations, and patient advocacy groups. Clinical trial consortia can efficiently and successfully address a range of important neurologic research and therapeutic questions