The trauma of COVID-19 in Polish metropolises – a case study of Kraków

The article presents the results of research on the socio-cultural trauma induced by the coronavirus pandemic. The research was conducted on a sample of 650 inhabitants of Kraków. The CAWI survey (Computer-Assisted Web Interview) was used in the research. The pandemic and concurrent phenomena resulted in a decrease in living standard. It is related to all the aspects of daily functioning. The rise of coronavirus and its rapid spreading made people lose their existential security. Their current world became uncertain, which resulted in fear and anxiety among individuals. Anxiety, sadness, exhaustion, boredom and loneliness are present among dominant emotions. The presence of negative emotions indicates that the pandemic strongly influenced the emotional and mental lives of the respondents. As a response to the rising trauma, the inhabitants of Kraków mainly applied active strategies of coping with it. It is worth adding that the traumatic process has just been triggered and along with subsequent negative effects, which reveal themselves in the post-pandemic reality, it will accumulate and have a destructive impact on society.

Changes in the quality of academic education in the time of the COVID-19 pandemic

Through the first period of the coronavirus pandemic, and in the need to teach remotely the education system in Poland underwent the accelerated process of implementation of distance learning solutions. The task that universities set themselves in the era of the prevailing pandemic was to maintain the quality of education at the existing level, while ensuring the safety of students and lecturers. The main aim of the study is to illustrate the changes in the academic education process that occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic. This article highlights the specific features of distance learning, pointing to its positive and negative sides. To achieve the assumed goal, a query of domestic and foreign literature in the field of the presented research issues was used, as well as an analysis of secondary sources of information, mainly reports on remote education research during the pandemic. The analyzes show that the forced transfer of education to virtual platforms brought some benefits, but also resulted in a number of unfavorable changes. The educational experience so far during the pandemic has shown that the transfer of this form of verification of learning outcomes to cyberspace posed serious problems - not so much for students, but for teachers. Remote education offers hope for matching teaching techniques to the needs of students, as well as for forcing lecturers to improve the quality of their classes, also in terms of content. Distance learning techniques are therefore becoming an integral part of the education process. The issues discussed in the article may constitute a starting point for further in-depth research.

Academic education in conditions of the COVID-19 epidemic threat – the perspective of students and lecturers

Understanding the opinions of students and lecturers of Polish universities on the quality of academic education during the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as their recommended activities for improvement of learning processes in the event of a constant epidemic threat was the main goal of the conducted research. The main tool in the adopted research model were proprietary questionnaire forms based on the Servqual methodology. The research results presented in the publication illustrate the gaps (differences) between the expectations of students and lecturers and the aspects assessed by them, which make up the quality of academic education. 145 students, representing 12 Polish universities participated in the research. They represented both a practical and general academic profile of studies, full-time and part-time studies. In the case of lecturers, the research sample was 81 academic staff representing 20 Polish universities. According to the position held, the most numerous group of lecturers were: assistant professors, senior lecturers, university professors, lecturers and assistants. The publication presents the problems most frequently indicated by students and lecturers related to the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic, including the implementation of distance learning. Methods of improving the organization of didactic classes in the context of the epidemic threat were also presented.

Distance learning of pedagogy students during the COVID-19 pandemic – empirical considerations

The article presents the results of research conducted in 2020 among students of pedagogy of the Institute of Education and Communication Research of the Silesian University of Technology in Gliwice (Poland) regarding the evaluation of the quality of remote education introduced in response to the situation caused by the global COVID-19 pandemic and compared them with the results obtained by others native and foreign researchers, which made it possible to specify several conclusions for further work on the application of this form of education in academic education. The main method used in the research was a diagnostic survey with the technique assigned to it. The survey, taking into account the current situation of the university, resulting from distance learning during the pandemic, as well as other information disclosed by the media, consisted of two parts. The first part contained four questions (including those relating to demographic conditions). The second part consisted of questions focused on the research issues set out in this study, the main purpose of which was to learn about the opinions and views of students of pedagogy on compulsory distance education, implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic. The results of the research have brought a lot of new information, important for the extended analyzes and measurements of remote education conducted in many countries during the lockdown, which will allow, during possible subsequent epidemic threats, to exclude the diagnosed and identified problems that hinder the implementation of remote education of students.

Remote teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic – students’ opinions, conclusions, practical implications. Research report

This article presents the results of own research carried out on a sample of 507 students of Polish universities who, due to the global pandemic situation, carried out their classes at their home university as part of education using remote education methods and techniques. The research was carried out at the turn of March and April 2021 to learn about the reflections of students who, as it can be assumed, have already got used to remote education. The objectives of the research were focused on learning about the methods of delivering lectures, practical, training, and laboratory classes at universities during the pandemic, as well as communication and technology tools that academic teachers used in the process of learning and communicating with students. The research was focused on identifying the level of students’ involvement and motivation in the education process during a pandemic, as well as on the diagnosis of factors that make it difficult for students to learn remotely. The aim of the research was also to find out about the competencies of students, which were developed during remote education, and additionally, the forms of learning preferred by students, enabling the achievement of the assumed didactic goals.

From high school graduate to student – remote education in the perspective of students of the 1st year of study

This article presents a theoretical analysis and a report on a segment of research conducted among first-year students. In the research, In the research, I used a free interview, which allowed me to get to know the interpretation and experience related to remote preparation for the matriculation examination and study from the perspective of the research participants. The analysis of the material was qualitative. The main issue of the article focuses on the multidimensionality and complexity of the problems experienced by students preparing for the matura exams in a remote form and how they perceive the first year of studies in such a formula. In the perspective of first-year students, many challenges are faced by teachers and lecturers, who are expected to reorganize their classes and adapt teaching methods to remote classes. Also, students rich in new experiences are not the same people, they have to learn how to function in a group and build relationships again. Research has also shown that the perspective of remote education is different and its negative impact on the school and academic community cannot be clearly defined.

Development of students’ social competence in an age of online learning

The article is the research report. The aim of the investigation was to address the question how students evaluate the development of their social competence regarding learning online which became inevitable due to the COVID19 pandemic. 350 students from three universities in Opole participated in the research. The diagnostic survey method was applied. In order to collect the research material, an original online survey questionnaire was used. The study participants responded to questions on the basis of a fivepoint scale. The analysis of the results indicates that the highest valued competence for the respondents was the ability of selfmanagement in time (M=3.71) along with the ability of expressing one’s own opinion (M=3.66), whereas the lowest valued competence was maintaining relations (M=2.84) and regularity of learning (M=2.87). It also turned out that women valued the development of their social competence significantly higher than men (M=3.44; M=2.94). Considerably higher results also appeared in extramural students compared to fulltime students (M=3.63; M=3.27). Moreover, early years students rated the innovative approach to problemsolving and systematic learning significantly higher than older students.

Teaching of Scandinavian languages in the time of pandemic – (necessary) changes in the syllabus, positive and negative aspects

The outburst of COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020 for the first time in the history of 21st century led to a sudden cease in the functioning of the modern world. An initial disbelieve, common fear and the feeling of uncertainty had to pass as decisions had to be made fast and actions taken into place without hesitation. The world of academia suddenly had to face the challenge of reorganising the well-known approaches and teaching methods. This article is an attempt to describe the necessary changes that were introduced in the syllabus and teaching approach for Scandinavian languages at the Institute of Applied Linguistic at the Faculty of Applied Linguistics of the University of Warsaw in the time of pandemic. The positive and negative aspects of the introduced changes are presented with reference to the specifics of “small languages” didactics that is among others working with highly motivated students. The authors present the results of the survey research that aimed at checking and levelling students’ motivation and involvement while working online; evaluating the Swedish courses in the time of pandemic with reference to the introduced changes.

Teaching the metrology of geometric quantities during a pandemic – analysis of learning possibilities and effects

The article presents the issues related to the learning of technical subjects within distance learning. The author started by outlining the scope of regulations in force at technical universities and introduced by the Rector for the duration of the pandemic. Their aim was to standardize the methods of education as well as the rules of organizing credits and examinations remotely. Examples of learning outcomes necessary to be achieved by students as a result of completing the metrology course are also presented. They were divided into three groups: knowledge, skills and competences, emphasizing unequivocally the effects that in the case of only the remote form of education may be difficult to achieve by the participants of the above-mentioned course. Then, the applied forms of teaching metrology were presented, emphasizing their usefulness and paying attention to the risks in the context of the content transmitted in a remote form. The last part of the article contains a summary of the results obtained by students of two different faculties in the last five years. The analyzed period of time covered the four years before the SARS-CoV-2 epidemic, and the last year where education and credits were conducted remotely.

Accounting Education in times of the COVID-19 pandemic – virtual teaching and implications for the future

The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly accelerated the transformation of education from a traditional to a virtual model. The aim of this study is to present the most important didactic challenges faced by accounting lecturers during the pandemic. On their basis, the problem of teaching methods and the substantive scope in accounting education in the future was analyzed. The basic research methods used are literature studies, as well as formulating conclusions on the basis of the deduction and synthesis methods. The first pandemic experiences in accounting education were intensive work on rethinking and redesigning the in many cases exclusively traditional blackboard education for the use of e-learning. The rebuilding and updating of teaching materials, combined with technical problems, was very time consuming. In accounting education, new methods such as flipped learning, microlearning, crowdlearning have been introduced. In addition to discussing modern methods of education, the article highlights the need to supplement or extend the substantive scope with issues related to online accounting services and cybersecurity in accounting offices. An additional challenge is to ensure an adequate level of education in the times of growing challenges related to reporting sustainable development by economic entities.