مهدی بدلی

In early 2020, the coronavirus outbreak compelled higher education institutions worldwide to cancel campus-based teaching and conduct a variety of electronic learning which led to assessment of the quality of e-learning and its results, such as learning and self-efficacy. Thus, this study aimed to determine the effect of problem-based e-learning (PBe-L) on the learning and academic efficacy of students during the COVID-19 pandemic in ‘An Introduction of Educational Technology Course’. The research method was quasi-experimental with pre-test/ post-test design with experimental and control groups. The statistical population of this study consisted of undergraduate students in the field of educational sciences studying in the University of Tehran. 38 students were selected as the research sample using the available sampling method and were randomly divided into experimental and control groups. PBe-L was conducted for the experimental group and the control group experienced the direct learning approach. A researcher-made learning test and Morgan-Jinks Student Efficacy Scale (1999) were used. The results showed that the mean of learning and self-efficacy of the experimental group increased from 7.92 and 57.00 in the pre-test to 18.51 and 76.57 in the post-test respectively. The results of covariance showed that the mean scores of the post-test of the two groups were statistically significant (p≥0.005). The results of this study showed that the use of PBe-L during the COVID-19 pandemic can be effective in increasing the students’ learning and academic efficacy.

This research examined the relationship between video games and cognitive skills including critical thinking and creative thinking. This was an analytical and cross-sectional study. The population of the present research consisted of high school students of Ardebil in the academic year 2013-2014. A sample consisting of 105 students, (54 female and 51 male), was selected using multi-stage cluster sampling. They filled out two questionnaires, namely the California Critical Thinking Skill Test (CCTST) and Critical Thinking Test (CT). The data collected from the questionnaires were analyzed by SPSS through one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) as well as the Scheffe test. To conduct the analysis, the participants were divided into four groups based on the number of hours spent playing video games every day, namely no gaming, less than 1 hour, between 1-2 hours, and more than 2 hours of gaming; they were also divided into four groups based on the number of years they had been playing video games, namely no gaming, less than a year, 1-2 years, and more than 2 years. The results of the one-way ANOVA revealed significant differences in creativity between the four groups based on the hours spent playing and the number of years the subjects had been playing video games (P<0.05). The differences between the four groups in terms of critical thinking were also significant (P<0.05). The findings indicated that the individuals spending up to two hours playing video games on a daily basis had higher levels of creativity and critical thinking compared to non-gamers.