This study focused on the assessment of medical students’ satisfaction with the organization of practical training in pandemic conditions through the identification of discrepancies between the conditions of the actual implementation of practical training of medical students and their expectations. The study contributed to the identification of problems in the organization of educational and industrial practice in a distance format during the COVID-19 pandemic. The research design was based on the application of an internet survey using Google Forms and the processing of quantitative data using descriptive statistics. Data visualization using histograms and comparison with Gaussian curve was used to interpret the results.
Difficulties of practice supervisors in organizing practical activities of students in the distance format were revealed, as to solve the set tasks of practice supervisors had to use, in a very short period of time, developed digital educational resources with accompanying online counseling and using the capabilities of the simulation center, taking into account sanitary and epidemiological requirements for maximum immersion to real medical cases.
The results of the study can become a tool for collecting reliable feedback on the suddenly changed format of medical students’ practical training on the example of Kazan Federal University. The study reflects the results of the new format of internship organization, which allows supervisors of practical training to rethink the possibility of this format for future times.
Keyword(s) : COVID-19 pandemic
Parental Strategies and Agency of Children Engaged in Extracurricular Activities during the Pandemic
The study explores the relationship between the strategies of parental involvement in education and the ability of schoolchildren to proactive behavior (agency), which allows them to adapt more successfully to changing external conditions. The data was obtained through the Internet survey of students engaged in extracurricular activities about the transition to remote formats of education during the pandemic and lockdown. The latent profile analysis was applied to better understand the differences between respondents in terms of changes in interaction with parents. The results showed that the joint activity of children and parents may be associated with the shaping of the so-called ‘cooperative agency’, whereas the strategy (related to giving more freedom to children, along with the facilitation support) is associated with other behavioral characteristics, which might be called ‘autonomous agency.’ We also found that the lack of interaction with parents, as well as strict control by parents, do not contribute to successful adaptation to the crisis conditions, which might be due to the lack of support of a child’s proactive behavior. It is also shown that the practice of discussing with parents the prospects of participation in educational and research projects is crucial both for shaping proactive behavior and also for expanding the perceived opportunities in crisis periods.
From Challenges to Opportunities: Reorganization of Teacher Education during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Post-Socialist Countries
Although the COVID-19 pandemic is far from over, there is no doubt that education researchers
will analyze the changes in teaching and learning over the years to come. There is no certainty that
new waves and variants of COVID-19 will not force humanity to radically change educational
technologies in the future. This will bring mankind closer to the predictions of science-fiction
authors and futurists, not taken seriously before. In this regard, it is important to scientifically
document and analyze various measures for transforming education in the current situation, thus,
creating the database for future generations. Analysis reveals that geographically adjacent countries
with numerous current or historical interrelations, show the uniqueness of their response to the
pandemic because of a number of current economic, social, cultural and geographical factors.
Quite promising in this regard are the post-socialist countries of Central and Eastern Europe,
which in the second half of the 20th century had almost identical principles for developing national
education systems, but changed significantly under the influence of the reforms of the last thirty
years. Comparing the cases of five universities from Russia, Germany, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic
and the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic enable us, not only to identify common problems, but
also to describe the most effective measures for the reorganization of higher education during the
COVID-19 pandemic, dictated by the need to sustain the quality of teacher training.