NEWS
A Professor from UoB Receives the Award for The Best Research Paper at The American University Conference
In Exploration of The Sense of Belonging to Virtual Classes During Distance Learning
A Professor from UoB Receives the Award for The Best Research Paper at The American University Conference
Assistant Professor in the Department of English at the University of Bahrain (UoB), Dr. Lama Khalid Al-Mahadin, won the “Best Scientific Research Paper” award at the first virtual conference organized by the American University in Bahrain on 24-26 May.
The scientific study was entitled “The Lack of Visual Interaction in Online Classes and its Effect on the Learning Experience of Students during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Survey of a Bahraini Private University Students.”, and it examined the reasons behind students’ reluctance to turn on their video cameras during distance learning, and the impact of this on the learning experience, and the sense of belonging to the virtual classroom.
As the study showed that the main reason behind students’ reluctance to turn on their video cameras, is the feeling of shyness in front of the camera, or the so-called “self-consciousness.”. Also, it indicated that the learning process during the Covid-19 pandemic was successful even without using the camera, noting that students usually communicate with each other through social media and text messaging systems, they have a sense of belonging to the classroom, whether face-to-face or virtual, and a sense of belonging between each other without having to turn on the cameras.
Dr. Al-Mahadin stated that “The winning study is a joint research work with the Associate Professor, Head of the Multimedia Design Program at the American University, Dr. Lilian Hallaq, and the papers nominated for the Award were reviewed by internal and external judging committees without revealing the names of the researchers.” expressing her pleasure with receiving the award.
The paper dealt with the issue of managing virtual classrooms after the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, which imposed a new reality, as universities around the world had no choice but to teach from distance to ensure the continuation of university studies.
Moreover, Dr. Al Mahadin said “This sudden transition has affected communication between students and their peers, and between students and faculty members alike. The absence of personal presence has led to the absence of direct interaction that usually characterizes face-to-face education, which created more challenges.”
Also, she indicated that “What made it more difficult was the students’ reluctance to turn on their video cameras during simultaneous virtual classes, and to find out the reasons behind this, a survey was conducted for students of a private university in Bahrain to determine the reasons for students’ reluctance to turn on their video cameras, and the impact of this on the learning experience and on the sense of belonging to the virtual classroom, and the barriers that it may cause between the students themselves and between students and faculty members.”.
The winners were announced during the closing ceremony, which was held virtually on the last day of the Conference, where Dr. Lama Al-Mahadin thanked UoB for providing her with the opportunity to participate in the Conference, as well as the Organizing Committee of the American University in Bahrain.
The “Innovative Learning and Teaching Conference 2021: Lessons from COVID-19” discussed co-education and the Internet, artificial intelligence in education, educational and practical issues, electronic library, learning resources, digital content creation, virtual learning challenges, and other education-related topics.
