Higher education amid COVID-19 pandemic: contributions from resilience, positive orientation and grit
Journal of Applied Research in Higher Education
ISSN: 2050-7003
Article publication date: 15 November 2021
Issue publication date: 6 December 2022
Abstract
Purpose
The major purpose of the present study is to investigate the contribution of academic resilience in accounting for two motivational and attitudinal constructs ? Grit and positive orientation and also probe the predictive power of all these constructs in academic achievement of university students in the midst of the pandemic COVID-19.
Design/methodology/approach
521 university students participated in an online survey. To measure academic resilience, a scale designed and validated by Kim and Kim (2016) comprising 26 items was employed. The scale contains five sub-factors: perceived happiness, empathy, sociability, persistence and self-regulation. Grit was assessed via an 8-item scale comprising two facets: perseverance of effort (PE) and consistency of interest (CI). It was designed by Duckworth and Gross (2014). Positive orientation was determined through positivity scale developed by Caprara et al. (2010), consisting of eight items.
Findings
The results of structural equation modeling (SEM) revealed that resilience positively and significantly predicted both grit (β = 0.56, t = 6.41) and positive orientation (β = 0.54, t = 6.35). Resilience also predicted academic achievement directly (β = 0.71, t = 9.12) and indirectly via its impact on grit and positive orientation. It was also found that positive orientation and grit are positively and highly associated (β = 0.77, t = 9.28).
Originality/value
The pandemic COVID-19 brought about substantial changes in university students' education and their overall life style. Many university students around the globe experienced virtual education. Balancing personal and academic roles in these unprecedented conditions seems to be a tough challenge for every university student.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
Declaration: The author of the present study hereby declare that the present paper has not been sent to any other journal nor is under review by any other journal.
Conflict of interest: None.
Ethical standards: All procedures performed in this study were in accordance with the Ethical Standards of the 1964 Helsinki Declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.
Endeavor was made to observe the ethical issues required for a research study involving humans, including, privacy, anonymity and confidentiality considerations. Nonetheless, no formal consent was applied.
Availability of data: The data would be made available upon request.
Consent for publication: The author will willingly give consent for publication of the above study, and the author hereby transfer the publication copyright to Springer.
Citation
Ghanizadeh, A. (2022), "Higher education amid COVID-19 pandemic: contributions from resilience, positive orientation and grit", Journal of Applied Research in Higher Education, Vol. 14 No. 4, pp. 1670-1685. https://doi.org/10.1108/JARHE-05-2021-0189
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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