In our study, conducted during the first two months of the COVID-19 pandemic in Greece, we trace the instant effects of the crisis conditions on the university education. We examine the case of a Department of Education at the University of Patras, in order to investigate the students' assumptions and emotions on the sudden shift to online teaching, in the frame of two academic courses during crisis. Having in mind that University of Patras was one of the first institutions in Greece that responded to the lockdown and moved promptly to the shift to distance learning, we designed a questionnaire with open-ended and closed-ended questions that was filled in by 103 students of the specific Department. The questions refer to students' emotions and their motives of participation in the educational programme, activated due to the current conditions, and whether they foster or prevent the learning process. Our aim was not to compare the two different ways of teaching (online and face to face) but to investigate the lessons learned by this experience and the implications to higher education pedagogy. The results indicate specific points of interest on teaching and learning in higher education, therefore, the necessity of evolving university pedagogy is emerging.

<p>The present study was conducted during quarantine which was caused due to the pandemic of COVID-19 virus in Greece. We try to detect the immediate psychological effects of crisis conditions on university students, focusing on the symptoms of depression. The main goal is to evaluate the clinical depression that students present due to quarantine. The study participants were 570 students of the University of Patras, who completed an electronic questionnaire that includes demographic data and the BECK (BDI) depression scale, which measures the severity of depression. The results show that a significant percentage of participating students at the University of Patras reported increased symptoms of depression. Students' mental health seems to be significantly affected when situations of social constraint arise and, consequently, require attention and help. Critical, therefore, the role of the University is emerging in providing students adequate psychological services in order to strengthen and support them.</p><p> </p><p><strong> Article visualizations:</strong></p><p><img src="/-counters-/edu_01/0653/a.php" alt="Hit counter" /></p>

COVID-19 pandemic has affected many aspects of social and economic life, including the educational sector. While each level of education faces its unique challenges, for the Higher Education the pandemic may act as the catalyst triggering a learning revolution. In the current study, which took place in April-May 2020, in the middle of lockdown in Greece, students from two regional Universities in Greece who participated pointed out that the Covid-19 pandemic disturbed their studies, even though their institutions managed to turn very quickly and successfully to distance learning. Despite the fact they are both old enough to handle the online work and technologically savvy enough to navigate new, digital tools and methods, a lot of anxiety, doubts and concerns arose. The main finding is that Greek students found it difficult to handle the lack of the everyday campus life and interaction with their fellow students and teachers, a lesson learnt for faculty to add pedagogically interactive tools, experiences, and ideas to stimulate students’ learning engagement.

Abstract:In the contemporary international field of education and particularly in Science Education, there is a tendency of limiting the teacher to the role of a passive recipient of knowledge produced in research, followed by the transfer of that knowledge to the classroom. Meanwhile, the dominant tendencies on forming constructivist frameworks, where participatory procedures for discovering and constructing knowledge by the children are encouraged, are in contrast to the prevailing tendency mentioned above. This contradiction leads the teacher to failure, which we believe could be tackled with teacher training programs that promote critical thinking and reflective processes. The following text presents an attempt of a method application for educating adults (TLAE method) for teaching traditional university courses in Sciences Education. According to the findings of the research, the development of critical thinking skills in student teachers is evident. The example of the TLAE method application offers the possibility to enhance traditional teaching approaches with new innovative and experiential practices, while such a perspective could compensate for the inefficacies of teacher training..

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This article addresses an application performed in tertiary education—a department of pedagogical and educational sciences—of a contemporary method, Transformative Learning through Aesthetic Experience. The method is based on the use of art and aims to reinforce and promote the development of critical thinking within educational settings. Furthermore, the article focuses on exploring possible changes in the learners’ assumptions that are connected to the application of the method, especially regarding the duration and amplitude of these changes. Through a qualitative elaboration of the research findings, we found that the application of the specific method is effective within the training of teachers’ framework.

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