An Instructor's Innovative Techniques in Reducing the Impact of COVID-19 on International Students

Authors

  • Amit Kohli University Canada West
  • Gelareh Farhadian University Canada West
  • Seyed-Reza Hosseinifar University Canada West

Keywords:

COVID-19, International Students, Stress, Strategies

Abstract

COVID-19 has been a vital factor in causing stress in all societies and fraternities. International students migrate to different countries with the dream of becoming successful, learning how to live independently, gaining international exposure, and building a strong personality to achieve their goals. The global pandemic has been a trauma, particularly for international students. The focus of this paper is to examine the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the mental health of students and recommend how instructors can minimize students' psychological burdens and make their studies less stressful by using innovative techniques such as social media, predictable routines, personal interaction with the students, and encouraging students to share their problems, etc. The real-life experiences of professors during COVID-19 have been debated. Instructors can make teaching sessions more innovative and engaging by using various strategies and techniques, such as real-world applications, to connect the material to real-world problems, scenarios and by using case studies to make the material more relevant and engaging for students.

Author Biographies

Amit Kohli, University Canada West

Dr. Amit Kohli, Post Doctorate Research at the University of Arizona, USA, Ph.D., India, and two Master’s degrees. He has more than 20 + years of academic and industrial experience. He has been bestowed the Best teacher award and young scientist award. He has about 50 research papers to his credit. His papers are published in various Global Journals of repute such as Taylor & Francis, Springer, Inderscience, Emerald, etc. He has participated in various international conferences held in countries such as the UK, Italy, etc. He is a publisher of two books. He has two patent designs and one utility patent to his recognition. He has been on peer review panels with many reputed publishers.

Gelareh Farhadian, University Canada West

Dr. Gelareh Farhadian is Chair of the Management, Marketing, and Entrepreneurship Department in the MBA program at UCW. She earned her DBA from Bordeaux IV University in France as well as a Master of Research in Business. With more than 21 years of experience in the IT sector (both as a consultant and developer) and management consulting (as consultant and business owner) in organizational development, human resource management, and strategy. Dr. Farhadian holds positions at several different universities teaching in business. Her interests are in start-ups, entrepreneurship, small business management, and data-driven organizations. She holds a patent for HR Audit along with Tohid Alipou, Faezeh Aarabi, and Hilla Goushangi.

Seyed-Reza Hosseinifar, University Canada West

Ø Director, Centre for Teaching Excellence at University Canada West.
Ø Mapped curriculum content (textbooks) to learning outcomes (curriculum framework).
Ø Led an assessment committee
Ø Designed national English tests
Ø Reviewed textbooks for academic rigor and cultural appropriateness
Ø Designed professional development courses for MOE teachers
Ø Trained teacher trainers
Ø Developed supplementary materials to enhance instruction
Ø Conducted qualitative and quantitative research to improve instructional and assessment policies / practices

Additional Files

Published

2023-04-15

Issue

2023: PDGIA Conference Proceedings - Key Themes in Higher Education

Section

2023 Conference Proceedings

License

Copyright (c) 2023 Amit Kohli, Gelareh Farhadian, Seyed-Reza Hosseinifar

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.