Paper/Speech Details of Conference Program for the 30th NISPAcee Annual Conference Program Overview WG7: Public Administration Education Author(s) Nina Tomaževič University of Ljubljana Ljubljana Slovenia Umek Lan, Nina Tomaževič, Faculty of Public Administration, University of Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia, Lan Umek, Faculty of Public Administration, University of Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia, Damijana Keržič , Faculty of Public Administration, University of Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia, Title Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Academic Life of Public Administration Students in Slovenia and some Comparisons with Romania File Paper files are available only for conference participants, please login first. Presenter Abstract The main objective of the paper is to present the results of the comparative study carried out during the first and the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. Via an online survey, the Slovene and Romanian public administration and social sciences students were asked about different aspects of their lives during both waves, i.e. lockdowns. The main focus of the study was on their perception of teaching, assessment and workload, teacher and administrative support, as well as on their performance and expectations. The comparative empirical analysis between the first and second waves of the COVID-19 pandemic and countries was performed by using two statistical approaches: an independent-samples t-test and a two-way ANOVA. We have identified some facts that differed significantly between the first and second waves and between the two countries. With a sample of 572 Slovenian and 400 Romanian students from the first wave and 495 Slovenian and 1104 Romanian students from the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, the study reveals that during both lockdowns and the transition to online learning, Romanian students were on average more satisfied with the work and attitude of their lecturers than Slovenian colleagues. Romanian students were also more confident about acquiring knowledge during the online study. Students from Romania mainly assessed their opinions in the second wave better than in the first wave compared to their peers from Slovenia. The findings show that self-efficacy in working with computers increased on average between the first and second waves in both countries and that the students felt less workload in the second wave. The main purpose of the study was to provide recommendations in support of the decision-making processes of higher education institutions and policymakers from Slovenia, Romania and the European Commission for this and any future crises.
