An investigation into the wellbeing of optometry students [Preprint - medRxiv, March 2022]

Title:

An investigation into the wellbeing of optometry students 

 

Authors:

Anne Vorster, Barbara M Hamlett, Janike le Roux, Janke Blount, Jane Knoesen,  & Lauren S Coetzee

 

Published:

medRxiv, 20 March 2022

https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2022.03.17.22272543v1

 

[Note: This article is a preprint and has not been certified by peer review.]

 

From the abstract:

Introduction 

Wellbeing is synonymous with positive mental health and impacts the efficacy of student learning. The wellbeing of optometry students is an understudied topic. The wellbeing of optometry students studying in a blended undergraduate course during the COVID-19 pandemic was also unknown. The aim of this study was to determine the status of optometry students’ wellbeing during COVID-19, by identifying their experiences of symptoms of anxiety and depression. Moreover, to determine to what extent students experience these symptoms and what specific factors influenced their wellbeing.

Primary and Secondary Education During Covid-19: Disruptions to Educational Opportunity During a Pandemic (Editor: Fernando M Reimers, Springer 2022)

Title:

Primary and Secondary Education During Covid-19: Disruptions to Educational Opportunity During a Pandemic

 

Editor:

Fernando M. Reimers,

Harvard Graduate School of Education, Harvard university Cambridge, MA, USA

 

Published:

Springer, 2022 (Open Access)

https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/handle/20.500.12657/50965/978-3-030-81500-4.pdf?sequence=1#page=109

 

ISBN 978-3-030-81499-1; ISBN 978-3-030-81500-4 (eBook)

Abstract:

This introductory chapter sets the stage for the book, explaining the goals, methods, and significance of the comparative study. The chapter situates the theoretical significance of the study with respect to research on education and inequality, and argues that the rare, rapid, and massive change in the social context of schools caused by the pandemic provides a singular opportunity to study the relative autonomy of educational institutions from larger social structures implicated in the reproduction of inequality. The chapter provides a conceptual educational model to examine the impact of COVID-19 on educational opportunity. The chapter describes the evolution of the COVID-19 pandemic and how it resulted into school closures and in the rapid deployment of strategies of remote education. It examines available evidence on the duration of school closures, the implementation of remote education strategies, and known results in student access, engagement, learning, and well-being.

 

Giving Students a Chance to Learn: Hitting Pause and Engaging Students [A book review: Rice, G. T. (2018). Hitting pause: 65 lecture breaks to refresh and reinforce learning]

Title: 

Giving Students a Chance to Learn: Hitting Pause and Engaging Students

 

This is a book review:

Rice, G. T. (2018). Hitting pause: 65 lecture breaks to refresh and reinforce learning. Sterling, VA: Stylus Publishing, LLC.

 

Reviewer:

Arnold, Michelle

 

Published:

Journal on Empowering Teaching Excellence, Volume 4, Issue 2 (2020)

https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/jete/vol4/iss2/3/

 

From the book review:

During the upheaval of higher education in the spring of 2020, it became glaringly apparent that as instructors, we needed to adapt to our new circumstances, or our student’s education would suffer. The confusion and upheaval that occurred due to Covid-19 and, in turn, the many restrictions on “traditional” teaching techniques have forced instructors across the nation to reexamine their methods and become more attentive to student learning. For many of us, fear and doubt crept in when reviewing our teaching abilities in this new environment, but from that, a new era has dawned on higher education. A transition for most of us resting on our laurels, to diving back into the literature and taking our teaching to a whole new level. Dr. Gail Rice’s book, Hitting Pause, 65 Lecture Breaks to Refresh and Reinforce Learning, is one of those books that an instructor can use to implement immediate and intentional changes in their “classroom” to renew student learning during these difficult times.