Search results

COVID 19 has had a profound effect on peoples’ activities and the use of public spaces. Before the COVID 19 pandemic urban parks, as healthy places, were of the most favorable places for urban citizens, but nowadays no vitality is found in urban parks due to the absence of people. The perceived risk seems to affect peoples’ decision-making for the visit to urban parks. This study aims to examine the impact of COVID 19 perceived severity and vulnerability on peoples’ visit to the urban parks and further exercise avoidance. It is expected that the result of this study would shed light on the people’s perception of healthy urban parks to exercise during COVID 19.

The participants were recruited from a neighborhood with the greenest and largest parks in Iran that were selected for the study. It was to assure that participants have access to the urban parks within their walkable distance. The mixed-method approach was applied to achieving the research goals. A total of 404 participants attended the survey. A series of semi-structured interviews were conducted to examine the strategies that reduce peoples’ worries about using urban parks during the COVID 19. Data were analyzed using SmartPLS.

The study hypothesized that peoples’ awareness of COVID 19 affects their perceived risk and disease prevention efficiency. Besides, it was hypothesized that perceived risk and efficacy effects outdoor activities worries exercise avoidance and behavioral avoidance in the urban parks. The result of the study supported the research hypothesis. The more knowledge people acquire of COVID 19 and the lack of efficacy of treatments, the higher they will avoid outdoor activities and exercise. The means of knowledge and perceived risk were higher than previously reported studies.

The result of this study is very important, as it statistically proves that peoples’ priorities and factors that affect their willingness to use public spaces are very much affected by their perception of a healthy environment. It also canonizes the role of facility managers in bringing peoples’ trust in the use of public spaces and more specifically urban parks during pandemic disease distributions.

This research aims to investigate the impact of missing visual information on tourists’ decision-making processes and visit intention. Drawing on perception completion law and signaling theory, the study hypothesized that tourists might use visual information to infer about a destination, even if the information is incomplete or ambiguous.

To assess the impact of missing visual information, the authors asked a group of 392 participants who had no prior familiarity with a specific garden museum to envision the interior environment of the museum garden and provide feedback on their emotional responses and aesthetic evaluations. To aid in their imagination, they were presented with a video showcasing the surrounding landscape and exterior of the museum.

The study found that participants could anticipate their overall experience of the location by inferring the resemblance of unseen areas to the images they had viewed, even without prior exposure or information. This study provides valuable insights into the cognitive processes underlying tourism decision-making and advances our understanding of how people form expectations of new and unfamiliar places.

The originality of this research relies on the mediating role of missing aesthetics and emotion on the relationship between available aesthetics and visit intention using a structural model. This study highlights the significant role of visual information in influencing tourist decision-making, even with incomplete or ambiguous data.

Since the appearance of COVID-19 social distancing and staying home have been recommended repeatedly by the governments for disease prevention. As the challenge continues to remain the current study seeks to examine the factors affecting social distancing through space planning and management. More specifically the current study aims to examine the appropriateness of the spatial organization and space configuration of a clubhouse with a linear plan layout in the mitigation of the spread of infections due to serious pandemic COVID-19.

For an enhanced understanding of the impact of spatial arrangements of public spaces plan on the effective implementation of social distancing this study has used the space syntax analysis method. The MPSP clubhouse building in Penang, Malaysia was selected as the case study. The level of permeability and wayfinding were determined in the building plan and were illustrated using photoshop software to depict the interrelation between the indoor spaces and building circulation. Graphs of the depth of space were used to analyze the level of permeability and wayfinding to illustrate the possibility of social distancing in the plan.

The result of the study shows the significant role of proper plan layout design on social distancing. While clear and direct wayfinding can positively be associated with more effective social distancing, the inefficient design of user access, inappropriate locations of multiple entry and exit and indefinite directions of users' inside buildings can impose slight limitations. The average level of permeability might suggest ineffective spatial arrangement, ignoring the needs of spatial segregation. The study further found that the linear plan layouts with proper zoning and effective management strategies can be considered a proper layout to facilitate social distancing and the spread of COVID-19.

The current study is unique in terms of examination of the spatial configuration of linear public spaces plan layout for possible temporary adaptability to curb disease spread during the unexpected advent of a pandemic. Based on researchers' best of knowledge it is the first time that the impact of recreational space design on social distancing has been examined. The study also originally sheds light on the fact that the commonly used guideline for the social distancing of 1–2 m between 2 persons, in reality, is practically inadequate given the nature of the sports activities.

Afghan migrants are at an increased risk of mental disorders due to various political, economic and security-associated stressors. COVID-19 has brought extra concerns for this group of migrants around the world. Few studies have examined how the perception of the host society and perceived stress are associated with the mental health of migrants during the COVD-19 pandemic. This study aims to examine the role of perceived justice, freedom and the burden of COVID-19 on experienced stress and depression among Afghan migrants in Iran.

N = 497 participants representing the Afghan migrant community between 15 and 80 years old participated in the study. The target population was recruited from Afghan migrants residing in Kerman city in Iran, the capital of one of the provinces with the highest number of Afghan migrants in Iran. The participants answered questions on depression, positive mental health and a series of stressors such as perceived justice, freedom and the burden of COVID-19. Data was collected in November and December 2021 during the third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in Iran.

The authors found a significant effect of the burden of the COVID-19 pandemic on migrants’ perceived stress and depression. On the other hand, perceptions of justice and freedom in the host country can significantly reduce stress and depression. The results show that stress mediates the effect of justice, freedom and the burden of COVID-19 on depression. In addition, positive mental health moderates the impact of stress on depression.

The current study is one of the pioneering studies that examines the determinants of Afghan migrants’ mental disorders during the COVID-19 pandemic in Iran.

Developing graduate students' academic writing has been a major concern for many scholars over the past few years. Existing literature on the challenges of thesis writing has not focused on master's students in English language teaching (ELT). Data on the challenges have been mainly gathered from the theses and focused on the structure and genre requirements. Few available studies have investigated such challenges through the lens of supervisors in an international context. Knowledge about the factors hindering the thesis writing process of non-native MA students in English from the supervisors' perspectives is scarce. This study attempts to fill these gaps by answering this question: From supervisors' perspectives, what factors hinder the thesis writing process of non-native MA students?

Thirty supervisors from state and private universities across Iran voluntarily participated in this qualitative study. Drawing upon teachers' diaries and semi-structured interviews, the authors identified major factors negatively influencing the thesis work of master's students. Data were transferred into NVivo 10 and analyzed thematically following Colaizzi's method.

The study found that factors constraining students' writing were (1) students' lack of effort, (2) students' lack of a strategy for writing, (3) students' lack of autonomy and (4) students' absence of voice.

The authors discuss the practical implications of these factors for different stakeholders. There is a growing interest in postgraduate students' thesis writing processes. Surprisingly, no research exists on supervisors' perceptions of factors that constrain the thesis writing process of non-native English master's students.

The study's main objective is to evaluate the morphological developments in the characteristics of the spatial configurations of the residential layouts in Kerman, Iran, in examining the impact on the level of visual privacy through the spectrum of permeability and wayfinding in space syntax analysis.

In this paper, plan graph analysis is used to measure the syntactic properties of seven topological residential architecture plans in Kerman, Iran, built from the 1970s to 2010s. The methodology involves the development of mathematical measurements to signify permeability and simulation of visibility graph analysis (VGA) to indicate wayfinding.

The findings reveal the residential layouts of Iranian houses tend to be less integrated over decades of design development from the 1970s to 2010s. Reduction in spatial integration corresponds to increase segregation allowing for enhanced visual privacy. The study underpins that, even with the constraints in the scale of the house and reduction in the number of nodes, as evident in the design of the modern residential layout, the efficient level of visual privacy is still achievable with regards to the standards demanded by the local culture.

The study examines the development in residential spatial configuration and building scale on visual privacy through a proposed methodology based on the level of permeability and wayfinding measured as a combined effect using the space syntax analysis and visual accessibility.

The aim of this paper is to identify the university student’s preferences for some important attributes of residence hall design. The study also attempts to highlight the differences and similarities in student’s preferences.

The survey was distributed among students who were living in residence halls of a public university in Malaysia. A total of 752 students were recruited as participants. Data were collected using a self-administrated questionnaire. Students were asked to indicate their preferences rating a 4-point scale. The survey included questions concerning students’ preferences for residing in traditional and suite-style residence halls, single room and double room as well as rooms in which each student’s area is marked clearly. Collected data were analysed using PASW Statistics 17.

The results indicated that, in total, students highly preferred residing in suite-style to traditional residence halls. Staying in a single room with shared bathroom was also preferred to double-sharing room. The results of study also indicated that living in a room in which each student ' s area is marked clearly is of great interest. The study proved significant differences in the students’ preferences based on their gender, nationality and study level.

The outcome of this study can enhance the awareness of residence hall organizers and architects with regard to some of students’ priorities.

The results give an important insight into student’s preferences towards their residence hall. The study provides statistic evidence unfavourably of traditional residence halls among the students of new generation. It also provides an insight into students ' greater needs and requirements for privacy.

This study aims to examine the possibility that housing satisfaction mediates the relationship between fulfilled preference and a sense of attachment to place.

A 15‐item questionnaire was administrated to 751 students residing in residence halls at a public university in Malaysia. The respondents were asked to choose their answer from a four‐point Likert scale that was constructed as follows: not at all; very little; mostly; and very much.

The results of the survey revealed that housing satisfaction partially mediated the relationship between fulfilled preferences and sense of attachment to place. These results highlight the importance of students' fulfilled preferences. It reveals that the more students' preferences regarding residence hall were fulfilled, the more they were satisfied with their residence hall and felt attached to it.

The findings of this study emphasise the importance of understanding students' residence hall needs and fulfilling their desire. These findings also emphasize that university students must not be viewed merely as temporary residents who stay in residence halls for just a few years.

Despite the critical issues involving Middle East countries such as war and a drop in currency exchange rates, a large number of students leave their country to pursue a higher education abroad, every year. The purpose of this paper is to understand the difficulties that these students face while conducting their research in a foreign country and in doing so hopes to enhance a greater awareness of the kind of hindrances they face to complete their studies.

The respondents of this qualitative study are PhD students from the Middle East who were studying in a public university in Southeast Asia. This university has recorded an increasing enrollment of international students, particularly from the Middle East in the last few years. Data were collected using a series of unstructured interviews that elicited information on critical incidents that characterized the kind of difficulties students had to face in their research. The data obtained was further analyzed using a qualitative software package – NVivo (QSR International, 10).

Six main themes emerged from the content analysis of the interviews, which are the role of the supervisor, student characteristics, family commitments, financial problems, psychological and research barriers which provide a holistic picture of student perspectives on the factors that affect research progress. While these students might have faced difficulties that might have been cited in existing literature, this paper argues that the respondents have indicated experiencing psychological barriers that were not described in earlier studies, such as the state of mind they were in as a result of being worried for family members due to war or violence in their home countries, drop in currency exchange rates and difficulties in acquiring money due to international sanctions imposed against their countries.

This study provides important insights on the factors that affect the progress of PhD students from the Middle East, while at the same time revealing a serious gap in supervisors’ role which can contribute to the delay in the research progress of PhD students.