Introduction: Students' learning styles and strategies during the COVID-19 pandemic have been impacted by virtual education, necessitating further investigation to provide more suitable educational content based on them. Therefore, the present study was conducted with the aim of investigating the learning styles and learning strategies used by public health students during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Methods: This is a cross-sectional analytical study conducted in the form of a census on 81 public health students at Arak University of Medical Sciences who had completed at least one academic semester and were willing to participate in the study during the academic year 2021-2022. The data collection tools included the students' educational status questionnaire, the standard learning style questionnaire (VARK), and a 22-question standard learning strategies questionnaire by Pintrich and de Groot. Data were analyzed using Chi-2 and Mann-Whitney tests.
Results: The average age of the students was 22.59 ± 4.2 years, and the majority were female (84%). The average academic term of the students was 6 ± 2 semesters. According to the results, 76% of the students had a single style, with the dominant style being the listening style in 40% of boys and 33% of girls. The average score of students' self-regulated learning strategies was 86.27 ± 13.2, with 42% of students using self-regulated learning strategies at the intermediate level and 58% at the high level. A significant relationship was observed between the use of self-regulation learning guides and students' high school grade point average and probationary history (p < 0.05).
Conclusion: The findings of this study can inform the design of educational content for students, enable adaptation of professors' teaching styles to students' learning preferences, and enhance teaching effectiveness in the post-coronavirus era.
Introduction: Today, societies expect universities to respond to their needs, and this is achievable through the exchange and transfer of knowledge between the university, as a producer of knowledge, and the organization and society, as recipients of knowledge. Knowledge transfer involves a systematic approach to acquiring, collecting, and sharing conceptual knowledge, transforming it into accessible knowledge that enables individuals and organizations to access and utilize information previously possessed by an individual or a small group. Knowledge transfer is defined as the process of identifying, distributing, and utilizing existing knowledge to solve problems more effectively than before. In another definition, knowledge transfer refers to the centralized transmission of knowledge between individuals, groups, and organizations, enabling the recipient to comprehend cognitively and apply the knowledge gained. In the higher education system, strategic orientation for knowledge transfer plays a vital role in the educational performance of the university. Therefore, the current research aims to identify the dimensions and components of strategic orientation for knowledge transfer in a comprehensive applied scientific university.
Extended abstract
Method: This study was applied in terms of purpose and qualitative in terms of execution method. The research community comprised experts in strategic orientation for knowledge transfer in Tehran in 1401. Following the principle of theoretical saturation, 15 experts were selected as a sample using the purposeful sampling method. The principle of theoretical saturation does not entail a specific rule for determining the sample size prior to conducting the research. Instead, sampling and interviewing continue until new samples cease to contribute new information to the findings of previous research. Additionally, in the purposeful sampling method, samples are selected based on specific criteria to participate in the research. The most crucial criteria for selection in the current research include having at least a master's degree, having authored an article or supervised a thesis and dissertation in the field of strategic orientation for knowledge transfer, willingness to participate in recorded interviews, and readiness to engage in the research process. The implementation steps of the current research were as follows: after the proposal was approved and relevant texts were reviewed, questions were designed for interviewing experts with the assistance of professors (Table 1). In the next step, the samples were identified, and the importance and necessity of the research were explained to them, reassuring them about the observance of ethical principles. For this purpose, the researcher committed to observing ethical points and considerations, including principles of confidentiality, protection of personal information, and non-disclosure of the interviewees' identities. It should be mentioned that after stating the importance and necessity of the research and the researcher's commitment to complying with ethical considerations, the research conditions, including the timing, location, and recording of interviews, were explained to the interviewees, and they agreed to these terms. At the scheduled time and place, the interviews were conducted and recorded as arranged, and finally, after each expert interview was completed, they were thanked for their participation in the research and for providing information to the researcher. The tool used in the current research was interviews with experts, with questions designed with the assistance of professors and based on the theoretical foundations of strategic orientation for knowledge transfer. The interview questions with experts can be seen in Table 1. The process of conducting the interviews involved the researcher posing the first question, allowing the interviewees to explain their answers within the framework of the question. If they deviated from the question's framework, the researcher either repeated the question or asked additional guiding questions. During the interview, the researcher recorded and noted important and key points and content. All interviews were recorded and reviewed at a suitable opportunity, with any forgotten content or points added to the previously noted ones. The average duration of the interview with each expert was about 70-90 minutes. The validity of the findings obtained from the semi-structured interviews was confirmed through expert review or by the opinion of experts, and reliability was calculated using the agreement coefficient method between two coders at 0.85.
Findings: The findings revealed that, based on the theory of database in a strategic direction for knowledge transfer, causal conditions include information mechanisms effective in knowledge transfer and interactive mechanisms effective in knowledge transfer. Contextual conditions encompass characteristics of transferred knowledge and actors effective in knowledge transfer, while intervening conditions involve the difference between applied scientific university and other universities, and linking factors affecting knowledge transfer in the applied scientific university. The central phenomenon comprises strategic orientation of knowledge transfer and strategic activities of knowledge transfer. Strategies entail orientation in line with income generation, local development, creation of innovation and competitiveness, promotion of entrepreneurship, and the development and growth of businesses and service providers. The consequences encompass outcomes at the university level and outcomes at the community level.
Conclusion: In the strategic orientation for knowledge transfer in a comprehensive scientific and applied university, the consequences included those at the university level and those at the community level. To realize the consequences of the strategic orientation of knowledge transfer, indicators such as the utilization of practical training alongside theoretical instruction and the provision of conducive conditions can be employed. Visiting workplaces, striving to enhance the university's position and rank compared to other academic units and even other universities, increasing productivity, and competing with leading national and international universities, as well as boosting employee motivation and empowerment, are essential. Transferring university expertise to industrial sectors to serve national interests, enhancing student-professor and university-industry interaction to foster job creation, nurturing talents, and utilizing them in specialized roles, promoting industry and economic growth by enhancing technical and professional skills, and fostering employment through entrepreneurship development and technology advancement benefit society. Finally, a strategic orientation model for knowledge transfer was devised based on database theory. According to the findings of this study, it is imperative to plan for enhancing the strategic orientation for knowledge transfer through the identified dimensions and components.