Students’ Attitudes towards the War in Ukraine
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.34142/2709-7986.2024.29.1.06Keywords:
College Students, Distance Learning, Online Teaching, Students’ Attitudes to the War, Transcarpathia, War in UkraineAbstract
Purpose. Our research has been conducted in a region of Ukraine where no direct military operations have occurred since 24 February 2022. However, we have been living in the shadow of the horrible ongoing war; regular air raid alarms have had negative impacts on people who feel mental constraints: uncertainty, anxiety, anger, despair, disillusionment, and often hopelessness. Thus, the primary aim of our survey was to get deeper insights into the feelings and attitudes of our students towards the war in order to help them process the situation they have been living in.
Methodology. We have applied the quantitative research method in our study. We designed an online questionnaire using Google Forms with sixteen 16 Likert-scale-type questions. It was administered online to college students aged 17–24, having 17 different majors. Altogether 194 questionnaires were completed and returned during February and April 2023. Descriptive statistics were calculated with the objective of providing a clear and concise summary of the data that would allow us to gain insights into the main topic under consideration, as well as to understand patterns emerging within the data.
Results. The findings suggested that students were mostly worried about the outcomes of the war. Students were rather informed about the happenings of the war, although about a third of the respondents claimed they did not follow the daily news from the front. A large majority of research participants were optimistic about the fast and positive ending of the war in spring 2023. In contrast, only approximately a third of the students were absolutely positive about the future of their native land after the end of the war.
Conclusions. Overall, it can be stated that the students’ attitudes towards the war were rather optimistic. It is two years now that the war has been going on. The initial optimism of our students concerning the outcomes of the war must have changed during this time. Therefore, as a further research direction, a cross-sectional study is due to be performed in which we trace the shift in attitudes of our students towards the war in Ukraine and compare and contrast them with previous results.
Downloads
References
Antoniuk, V. P. (2023). Perspective Chapter: The War as a Factor of Upheavals and Transformations in Higher Education – Experience of Ukraine. In L. Waller & S. K. Waller (Eds.), Higher Education – Reflections from the Field – Volume 1. IntechOpen. https://doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.109688
Baklazhenko, Yu., & Kornieva, Z. (2023). Higher education in the crisis period: A comparative analysis of the Ukrainian experience of online or blended TEFL during the pandemic and the war. XLinguae, 16(2), 100–114. https://doi.org/10.18355/XL.2023.16.02.08
Banyoi, V., Kharkivska, O., Shkurko, H., & Yatskiv, M. (2023). Tools for Implementing Distance Learning during the War: Experience of Uzhhorod National University, Ukraine. Arab World English Journal, 1, 75–87. https://doi.org/10.24093/awej/comm1.6
Bondarenko, H. (2022). Ukrainian education in wartime: Challenges and problems. The Journal of V. N. Karazin Kharkiv National University. Series: History, 62, 142–159. https://www.doi.org/10.26565/2220-7929-2022-62-06
Boyko, M., Turko, O., Dluhopolskyi, O., & Henseruk, H. (2021). The quality of training future teachers during the COVID-19 pandemic: A case from TNPU. Education Science, 11, 660. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci11110660
Budnyk, O., Kushniruk, S., Tsybulko, L., Shevchenko, A., Fomin, K., & Konovalchuk, I. (2022). Education innovations: New wartime experience of Ukrainian universities. Journal for Educators, Teachers and Trainers, 13(5), 464–471. https://doi.org/10.47750/jett.2022.13.05.042
Cherepiekhina, O., Turubarova, A., Sysoiev, O., & Derevyanko, N. (2023). How Ukrainian university students academically procrastinate in conditions of forced-online-learning caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and wartime. Advanced Education, 10(22), 51–71. https://doi.org/10.20535/2410-8286.273846
Galynska, O., & Bilous, S. (2022). Remote learning during the war: Challenges for higher education in Ukraine. International Science Journal of Education & Linguistics, 1(5), 1–6. https://doi.org/10.46299/j.isjel.20220105.01
Holubnycha, L., Besarab, T., Pavlishcheva, Y., Romaniuk, S., Sytnykova, Y., Ahibalova, T., & Alpatova, O. (2022). The effectiveness of mobile learning technology at the tertiary level during conflicts. International Journal of Interactive Mobile Technologies, 16(23), 148–160. https://doi.org/10.3991/ijim.v16i23.33793
Huszti, I., Csatáry, Gy., & Lechner, I. (2022). Distance learning as the new reality in tertiary education: A case study. Advanced Education, 9(21), 100-120. https://doi.org/10.20535/2410-8286.261705
Huszti, I., Fábián, M., Lechner, I., & Bárány, E. (2023). Online language teaching in Transcarpathia (2020-2022): Aid for studying the discipline "Methodology of Foreign Language Teaching" for English major BA students. Berehove: Ferenc Rákóczi II Transcarpathian Hungarian College of Higher Education. https://kmf.uz.ua/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/huszti_fabian_lechner_barany_online-english-teaching-in-transcarpathia_final.pdf
Huszti, I., Lechner, I., Bárány, E., & Fábián, M. (2022). Quaranteaching at a Transcarpathian higher educational establishment: Student views. Collection of Scientific Papers of Uman State Pedagogical University, 3, 70–80. https://doi.org/10.31499/2307-4906.3.2022.265919
ICIS TESOL. (2023, February 7). Voices from the Classroom Part 2 [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qNwu3AO_6OE
Korniush, H. (2023). Teaching and supporting higher education students affected by war, conflict, or displacement: Changes to the ELT classroom. In M. E. Auer, W. Pachatz, & T. Rüütmann (Eds.), Learning in the age of digital and green transition. ICL 2022. Lecture Notes in Networks and Systems, vol. 633 (pp. 778–789). Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-26876-2_74
Kornytska, Yu. A., Kolisnyk, M. P., & Sokyrska, O. S. (2023). Asynchronous mode: Practices to succeed in a wartime. Innovate Pedagogy, 57(1), 263–267. https://doi.org/10.32782/2663-6085/2023/57.1.52
Kostikova, I., Holubnycha, L., Marmaza, O., Budianska, V., Pochuieva, O., & Marykivska, H. (2023). Real country experiences: On-line teaching in wartime after pandemic in Ukraine. International Journal of Interactive Mobile Technologies, 17(3), 123–134. https://doi.org/10.3991/ijim.v17i03.36419
Kurapov, A., Pavlenko, V., Drozdov, A., Bezliudna, V., Reznik, A., & Isralowitz, R. (2023). Toward an understanding of the Russian-Ukrainian war impact on university students and personnel. Journal of Loss and Trauma, 28(2), 167-174. https://doi.org/10.1080/15325024.2022.2084838
Lavrysh, Y., Lytovchenko, I., Lukianenko, V., & Golub, T. (2022). Teaching during the wartime: Experience from Ukraine. Educational Philosophy and Theory, 1–8. https://doi.org/10.1080/00131857.2022.2098714
Lechner, I., Huszti, I., Bárány, E., & Fábián, M. (2022). Motivierungsstrategien zum Fremdsprachenlernen im Tertiärbereich während der Pandemie. The Scientific and Methodological Journal ‘Foreign Languages’, 28(1), 29–34. https://doi.org/10.32589/1817-8510.2022.1.257876
Matviichuk, L., Ferilli, S., & Hnedko, N. (2022). Study of the Organization and Implementation of E-Learning in Wartime Inside Ukraine. Future Internet, 14(10), 295. https://doi.org/10.3390/fi14100295
Opanasenko, Y., & Novikova, V. (2022). Distance learning in higher education: The experience of the Covid-19 pandemic and war in Ukraine. Educational Challenges, 27(2), 151-168. https://doi.org/10.34142/2709-7986.2022.27.2.11
Schulten, K., Gonchar, M., & Engle, J. (2022, March 16). Teaching resources to help students make sense of the war in Ukraine. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/16/learning/lesson-plans/teaching-resources-to-help-students-make-sense-of-the-war-in-ukraine.html
Viediernikova, T. (2023). Online teaching and learning, extracurricular activities at the university in wartime in Ukraine. Tréma, 60, 1–12. https://doi.org/10.4000/trema.8525
Westerlund, R., Chugai, O., Petrenko, S., & Zuyenok, I. (2023). Teaching and learning English at higher educational institutions in Ukraine through pandemics and wartime. Advanced Education, 10(22), 12–26. https://doi.org/10.20535/2410-8286.283353
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2024 Ilona Huszti, Erzsébet Bárány, Márta Fábián
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
_logo_late_2025.svg.png){kind=logo}
