COVID-19 has changed the way we live, communicate and work, as well as altering our feelings. The higher education sector, alongside other sectors, has been severely affected by the pandemic and its serious repercussions. Academic and... more
COVID-19 has changed the way we live, communicate and work, as well as altering our
feelings. The higher education sector, alongside other sectors, has been severely affected by the pandemic and its serious repercussions. Academic and teaching staff have had to work from home and convert to online teaching, a change which has been met with both negative and positive feelings. The need for new competencies and upskilling, among other challenges, has been encountered. Therefore, the objectives of this study are aligned with exploring the impact of three constructs—self efficacy,
positive feelings and negative feelings—on the performance of academic and teaching staff at public and private universities in Bahrain during the COVID-19 lock down. Additionally, the impact of self-efficacy on these feelings was explored. A cross-sectional quantitative survey instrument was developed, validated and distributed using 83 valid responses. A two-way approach was followed to evaluate the model using the partial least squares (PLS-SEM) and multi-layer perception-artificial
neural network (MLP-ANN) techniques. Tests support the validity, reliability and consistency of the measurement scale, as well as the validity of the postulated model. The results revealed a statistically significant relationship between the three constructs and performance. Interestingly, attention is drawn to the impact of self-efficacy on increasing positive feelings and task performance. The impact
of self-efficacy on reducing negative feelings is also evident. Analyses of PLS-SEM augmented by MLP-ANN enhanced our understanding of the relationships and gave more support to the use of dual approach analyses in future research. This research adds to COVID-19 global research and the findings increase the knowledge within the literature. The implications of the study’s outcomes should be given attention from higher education authorities and management to raise staff morale and offer training to help sustain performance and mental well being. Lasty, limitations and future
directions are discussed.
The study was conducted to assess the effectiveness of Career-Oriented Performance Task (COPT) approach against the traditional teaching approach (TTA) in enhancing students' integrated science process skills. Specifically, it sought to... more
The study was conducted to assess the effectiveness of Career-Oriented Performance Task (COPT) approach against the traditional teaching approach (TTA) in enhancing students' integrated science process skills. Specifically, it sought to find out if students exposed to COPT have higher integrated science process skills than those students exposed to the traditional teaching approach (TTA). Career-Oriented Performance Task (COPT) approach aims to integrate career-oriented examples and inquiry-based activities in General Inorganic Chemistry. The study used the quasi-experimental pretest-posttest control group design. The sample of the study consisted of two (2) intact sections of first year college students in a private higher education institution in Manila who are enrolled in General Inorganic Chemistry during the Second Semester of School Year 2011-2012. Thirty nine (39) students are in the COPT class while thirty eight (38) students are in the TTA class. The instrument used in the study is the Integrated Science Process Skills Test (ISPST) to evaluate students' integrated science process skills. The instrument was content validated by panel of experts and was pilot tested. The study found out that the mean posttest score in the Integrated Science Process Skills Test was not significantly higher for students exposed to COPT than for students exposed to TTA. The integration of career-oriented examples in chemistry was not effective in enhancing students' integrated process skills given the limited time of intervention. Longer exposure to intervention is necessary to enhance college students' integrated science process skills.
