Nudging Public Health Behaviors to Prevent COVID-19: A Systematic Review.

Many countries have implemented strict preventive measures and mandatory policies to curb virus transmission during the COVID-19 pandemic. Some have adopted softer approaches, such as nudge-based intervention, to influence public health behavior. This systematic review, conducted following Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) 2020 guidelines, aims to determine if the nudge-based intervention can effectively influence people's preventive behavior during the early period of the COVID-19 pandemic. The review indicated an overall positive outcome, but results were mixed as nudge-based interventions substantially depended on the situational context. While the review found that the nudging technique that presents and conveys decision-related information was essential to nudging people, a secondary nudge would often applied to deliver the interventions. In addition, there was no indication of an ideal nudge technique that would be effective in most situations. Conversely, our findings indicate that the nudge would likely suffer from habituation after repeated intervention or backfire due to inappropriate use of nudges. Also, the ceiling effect would inhibit any nudge influences regardless of the technique(s) used. In sum, the results and the applicability of nudge-based interventions were mixed, highlighting the need for further research to advance the theory and practical developments.

Investigating Learner's Online Learning Behavioural Changes during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

The objective of this study is to understand the pandemic's impact on online learning behaviour based on learners' comments collected from online video tutorials hosted on YouTube. The topic modelling approach is employed to uncover the changes in topic prevalence during the pre- and post-pandemic timeframe to infer learning behaviour. Ten topics were uncovered, and each exhibited a varying degree of changes over time. Overall, the study identified two learning behavioural changes, (1) learners were more active in learning relevant skillsets through sharing their experiences; and (2) learners had altered their help-seeking behaviour to aid in their learning.