The main objective of our study was to determine whether the experience of the types of pandemic threats included in the study, could activate development responses among adolescents and what the role of the level of stress experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic is in the process of post-traumatic PTG growth. We also made an attempt to investigate whether personality traits and gender were predictors of PTG growth in adolescents. Therefore, the theoretical bases for the interpretation of the obtained results are models of post-traumatic growth (PTG), mainly by Calhoun and Tedeschi. The research was conducted in March 2020. The study subjects were 405 adolescents aged 14 to 20 years, with an average age of 17 years, of whom 59% were females and 41% were males. The following methods were used in the study: IPIP-BFM-20 to estimate five personality traits, PSS- to diagnose perceived stress, and an in-house questionnaire of pandemic threats experienced by adolescents (KŻP). The results showed that the various types of ‘pandemic’ threats (threats to life, family, and lifestyle) are positive predictors of growth-related changes; additionally, such factors as personality traits (here: extroversion), stress level, and gender had a positive mediating effect on growth-related changes. It was also possible to show that out of the four dimensions of post-traumatic growth, three could be activated under pandemic conditions. These were: changes in relationships with others, greater appreciation of everyday life, and spiritual changes. Changes in self-perception—one of the dimensions of post-traumatic growth, were not activated due to experiencing three types of pandemic threats.
Background: The article concerns the psychology of trauma: the intensity of the experienced threats and reactions to the trauma in the form of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), defenses and post-traumatic growth (PTG) in Ukrainian immigrants in Poland. The issues of trauma psychology were studied in connection with the relationships with parents.Participants and procedure: The methods used mainly concerned the specifics of experiencing strong threats (trauma) and responding to them (PCL-5 questionnaire, Psycho-Social and Psychic Defenses Questionnaire, Post-Traumatic Growth Inventory), determination of closeness to parents (Scale of Closeness to Biological Parents) and secure and non-secure attachment style (Attachment Style Questionnaire). The subjects were 178 people (including 147 women and 31 men), citizens of Ukraine, who arrived in Poland after the outbreak of war on February 24, 2022, and at the time of the study were living in and around Krakow, Wroclaw, Lublin, or Warsaw. The mean age of the subjects was 38 years (SD = 12.57).Results: The results of the study indicate that non-secure attachment styles (anxious-avoidant and anxious-ambivalent), along with frustration of the need for competence and intensity of threats, are predictors of PTSD and non-constructive defenses. In contrast, a secure attachment style, along with frustration of the need for competence and intensity of threats, is a predictor of constructive defenses, while a secure attachment style is a predictor of PTG. Statistical analyses show that closeness to the mother is not significantly associated with any of the explained variables.Conclusions: The accumulation of risks associated with war trauma and the necessity to cope with them are strongly associated with the ongoing war. Attachment styles support or hinder the process of adaptation. The absence of closeness to the mother among the predictors in the models tested represents the most intriguing result, to be confirmed in further research.
The 2020 Europe Strategy was designed as a comprehensive framework to promote smart, sustainable and inclusive growth in the European Union (EU), particularly emphasising the ‘20/20/20’ targets related to climate protection and energy policy. This study provides an ex post evaluation of the extent to which the strategy’s objectives were achieved in the member states of the EU in the period 2010–2020. The analysis is based on Eurostat data and uses Hellwig’s multidimensional comparative analysis to construct a synthetic indicator of progress. The results show that EU countries have made significant advances in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and increasing the share of renewable energy in gross final energy consumption, with Sweden and Finland identified as leaders, while Malta and Hungary lagged behind. Primary energy consumption overall decreased, although only a minority of the member states reached the planned thresholds. Progress was less evident in research and development (R&D) expenditure, where the average value of the EU remained below the 3% GDP target, and strong disparities persisted between innovation leaders and weaker performers. Improvements in higher education attainment were observed, contributing to the long-term goal of a knowledge-based economy, although labour market difficulties, especially among young people, remained unresolved. The findings suggest that, although the Strategy contributed to tangible progress in several areas, uneven achievements among member states limited its overall effectiveness. The study is limited by the reliance on aggregate statistical data and a single methodological approach. Future research should extend the analysis to longer time horizons, include qualitative assessments of national policies, and address implications for the implementation of the European Green Deal and subsequent EU development strategies.
17 January 2022 in International Journal of Research in E-learning
The collaborative attitude to education in general and e-learning in particular has become increasingly popular and productive. It preserves certain learning values connected with social context of learning and new phenomena of networking and using the tools of social media in education. Collaborative learning values include mutual inspiration, crowdsourcing, problem learning, peer learning and the like. More careful and elaborated look is necessary to pinpoint all important constituents of the overall positive account of social learning. One should take into account historical background and theoretical basis for a new wave in collaborative pedagogy.At the same time, we face one of the greatest challenges in modern online learning, especially in its massive edition, including a new wave of MOOCs. It is a challenge of respecting an individual and open choice of learning path, even within more and more uniform massive online courses. One possible way of providing free choice of student’s learning path is to offer more adaptive academic curricula.The purpose of the study was to determine the students’ attitudes toward community and individual online learning to explore their preferences in this regard, and to have them evaluate which of these forms held more promise for the future. In the study, we were also interested in tendencies in the choice of online learning and traditional learning, as well as factors that may influence the direction of these trends. The results showed that there are dichotomies and conflicts between individual and collaborative online learning as far as sets of values are concerned. But the user practice shows that the reconciliation between the two is possible.
This text introduces the innovative., nationwide., non-commercial Navoica Educational Platform., the offer of which responds to the needs of modern audiences expecting access to knowledge in many fields. The platform provides online courses of the MOOC (Massive Open Online Courses) type., delivered by universities and educational institutions., also taking into account the expectations of people with special needs. Since its launch., more than 150 editions of courses in various areas have been implemented. The article presents the main features and development prospects of the Polish Navoica platform.