Students’ Emotional Well-Being, and Perceived Faculty Incivility and Just Behavior Before and During COVID-19

Abstract

This research set out to measure the impact of the lockdown condition and social distancing imposed on higher education by the Israeli government during the COVID-19 period and the shift to online learning, on students’ emotional well-being, the way they perceived their teachers’ just behavior, and faculty incivility, compared to pre-pandemic conditions. An additional aim was to explore the set of connections among these factors. The total sample included 396 undergraduate students from three academic colleges. Data were gathered via three questionnaires: Positive/negative affect, Faculty Incivility, and Teacher Justice. Data were analyzed using Partial Least Squares-Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM). The main finding showed that students’ negative emotions were informed by the lockdown condition. This perceived negative affect had an impact on how the participants experienced social interactions with their faculty. Those who exhibited higher levels of negative affect perceived themselves as targets of faculty incivility. The same trajectory was detected with the way students experienced their teachers’ just behavior. Students who held negative emotions, partly because of the COVID-19 restrictions, also viewed their teachers’ behavior toward them as unjust. This study stresses the role of one’s emotional condition in instigating negative interpretations of social interactions. Directions for subsequent research and practical implications for promoting students’ well-being and civil and just communications in the learning environment are discussed.

Impact of Social Distancing on Research Activities: An online cross-sectional survey

“…The impact of social distancing on mental stress in researchers and students was not surprising, as many other surveys had reported similar conditions in different populations (Alessi et al, 2021;Alt et al, 2022;Cao et al, 2020;Dong et al, 2022). The personal experience and observation of the authors indicated that social distancing indeed had led to the distancing of researchers and reduced social interactions between researchers.…”

“…Administrative matters were also often delayed when fewer administrative staff worked in the office. The unavailability of staff has been reported to be associated with perceived incivility of faculty by students (Alt et al, 2022).…”

Incivility in online learning environment: Perception of dental students and faculty

“…This pandemic resulted in a certain shift in the educational environment with the majority of teachers and students having no or very little experience of OLE and facing difficulty in developing the teaching and learning process 17,18 . One of the reasons for disruptive behavior can be the challenges faced by both faculty and students to accustom to the new learning environment 19 . Multiple studies have reported the prevalence of incivility along with strategies to prevent this in face‐to‐face learning 2,3,5,20–22 .…”

“…17,18 One of the reasons for disruptive behavior can be the challenges faced by both faculty and students to accustom to the new learning environment. 19 Multiple studies have reported the prevalence of incivility along with strategies to prevent this in face-to-face learning. 2,3,5,[20][21][22] To our knowledge no study has been carried out to assess the prevalence, and characteristics of IOLE from dental students and faculty perceptive.…”