Search results for: musical games

Authors: Abimbola Akintounde

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Supporting the social and emotional needs of young adolescents has become an emergent concern for schools around the world. Yet educators remain in a dilemma regarding the optimum approach for integrating social and emotional learning (SEL) into their content area instruction. The purpose of this study was to explore the perception of secondary students regarding their schoolwide SEL interventions. Twenty-four International Baccalaureate students in a final year mathematics course at an American Public Secondary School near Washington D. C. were randomly selected for participation in this study via an online electronic survey. The participants in this study used Likert-scale items to rate the effectiveness of the socio-emotional and character development programs being implemented at their schools. Respondents also ranked their preferred mode of delivery of social and emotional support programs. About 71% of the teenagers surveyed preferred SEL support rendered via interactive team-building activities and games, 42% of the high school students in the study ranked focus group discussions as their preferred format for SEL interventions, while only 13% of the respondents in the study regarded lectures and presentations as their preferred mode of SEL delivery. About one-fourth of the study participants agreed that explicit instruction was critical to enhancing students’ wellness, 79% agreed that SEL programs should foster less teacher talk, while 88% of the students indicated that student engagement was critical to their mental health. Eighty percent of the teenagers surveyed decried that the focus of their school-wide social and emotional programs was poorly prioritized. About two-thirds of the students agreed that social justice and equity issues should be embedded in their schools’ advisory programs. More than half of the respondents agitated for strategies for managing stress and their school workload. About 54% of the respondents also clamored for SEL programs that reinforce emotion regulation and coping strategies for anxiety. Based on the findings of this study, recommendations were proffered for best practices in the design and implementation of effective learner-friendly social and emotional development interventions.

Keywords: SEL, math anxiety, student support, emotion regulation, social awareness, self awareness, self management, relationship building

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Authors: Stanimira Ntermentzieva

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Gender studies in post-communist Eastern Europe emerged in the early 1990s after the collapse of the communist regime. It can be explained by a series of cultural and political factors. However, Bulgarian female composers’ contribution to Western art music has not been studied. This field shows us some aspects of the impact of globalization on gender issues. This paper outlines the female composers in the establishment of the modern Bulgarian state and society. It is dedicated to the Bulgarian award-winning female composers who studied in Western European and American universities in the 1990s. Many of them migrated to these regions as part of a great migration in which Bulgaria lost 2.3 to three million of its population and strived to modernize Bulgarian music. Nowadays, the Union of Bulgarian Composers has 262 members, but only 19 of them are women. The Grammy-awarded Penka Kouneva (b. 1967) is one of the few female composers in Hollywood. She composed and orchestrated film scores, music for video games and television. Anna-Maria Ravnopolska-Dean (b. 1960) is a Bulgarian/American harpist, arranger, composer, pedagogue and TV host. She wrote pieces for harp and chamber ensembles. Maria Panayotova (b. 1976) studied composition in the USA. Alexandra Fol (b. 1981) and Vania Angelova (b. 1954) work in Canada and are recipients of grants from the Canada Council for the Arts and the Bulgarian Ministry of Culture, among others. Afroditi Katmeridou, born in Bulgaria in 1956 by Greek parents, was the first woman who wrote electroacoustic music. One of the well-known contemporary composers is the British/Bulgarian Dobrinka Tabakova (b. 1980). She moved with her family to the United Kingdom when she was 11 and studied Composition at Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London. Her album String Paths was nominated for a Grammy award. Many female composers made a successful career in EU countries: Albena Petrovic-Vratchanska (Luxemburg), Yuliana Tochkova-Patrouilleau (France), Dariana Kumanova (Italy), Tveta Dimitrova (Austria), Ivajla Kirova (Germany), Alexandra Karastoyanova-Hermentin (Austria) and more.

Keywords: balgarian music, female composers, gender studies, western art music, migration

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Authors: William Marquis, Fang Dong

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There has been a growing concern in recent years over the economic and social effects of adult video gaming. It has been estimated that the number of people who played video games during the COVID-19 pandemic is close to three billion, and there is evidence that this form of entertainment is here to stay. Many people are concerned that this growing use of time could crowd out time that could be spent on alternative forms of entertainment with family, friends, sports, and other social activities that build community. For example, recent studies of children suggest that playing videogames crowds out time that could be spent on homework, watching TV, or in other social activities. Similar studies of adults have shown that video gaming is negatively associated with earnings, time spent at work, and socializing with others. The primary objective of this paper is to examine how time adults spend on video gaming could displace time they could spend working and on activities that enhance their health and well-being. We use data from the American Time Use Survey (ATUS), maintained by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, to analyze the effects of time-use decisions on three measures of well-being. We pool the ATUS Well-being Module for multiple years, 2010, 2012, 2013, and 2021, along with the ATUS Activity and Who files for these years. This pooled data set provides three broad measures of well-being, e.g., health, life satisfaction, and emotional well-being. Seven variants of each are used as a dependent variable in different multivariate regressions. We add to the existing literature in the following ways. First, we investigate whether the time adults spend in video gaming crowds out time spent working or in social activities that promote health and life satisfaction. Second, we investigate the relationship between adult gaming and their emotional well-being, also known as negative or positive affect, a factor that is related to depression, health, and labor market productivity. The results of this study suggest that the time adult gamers spend on video gaming has no effect on their supply of labor, a negligible effect on their time spent socializing and studying, and mixed effects on their emotional well-being, such as increasing feelings of pain and reducing feelings of happiness and stress.

Keywords: online gaming, health, social capital, emotional wellbeing

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Authors: Mehmet Sinan Erguven

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A number of authorities argue that radio is an outdated medium for advertising and does not have the same impact on consumers as it did in the past. This grim outlook on the future of radio has its basis in the audio-visual world that consumers now live in and the popularity of Internet-based marketing tools among advertising professionals. Nonetheless, consumers still appear to overwhelmingly prefer radio as an entertainment tool. Today, in Canada, 90% of all adults (18+) tune into the radio on a weekly basis, and they listen for 17 hours. Teens are the most challenging group for radio to capture as an audience, but still, almost 75% tune in weekly. One online radio station reaches more than 250 million registered listeners worldwide, and revenues from radio advertising in Australia are expected to grow at an annual rate of 3% for the foreseeable future. Radio is also starting to become popular again in Turkey, with a 5% increase in the listening rates compared to 2014. A major matter of concern always affecting radio advertising is creativity. As radio generally serves as a background medium for listeners, the creativity of the radio commercials is important in terms of attracting the attention of the listener and directing their focus on the advertising message. This cannot simply be done by using audio tools like sound effects and jingles. This study aims to identify the creative elements (execution formats appeals and approaches) and creativity factors of radio commercials in Turkey. As part of the study, all of the award winning radio commercials produced throughout the history of the Kristal Elma Advertising Festival were analyzed using the content analysis technique. Two judges (an advertising agency copywriter and an academic) coded the commercials. The reliability was measured according to the proportional agreement. The results showed that sound effects, jingles, testimonials, slices of life and announcements were the most common execution formats in creative Turkish radio ads. Humor and excitement were the most commonly used creative appeals while award-winning ads featured various approaches, such as surprise musical performances, audio wallpaper, product voice, and theater of the mind. Some ads, however, were found to not contain any creativity factors. In order to be accepted as creative, an ad must have at least one divergence factor, such as originality, flexibility, unusual/empathic perspective, and provocative questions. These findings, as well as others from the study, hold great value for the history of creative radio advertising in Turkey. Today, the nature of radio and its listeners is changing. As more and more people are tuning into online radio channels, brands will need to focus more on this relatively cheap advertising medium in the very near future. This new development will require that advertising agencies focus their attention on creativity in order to produce radio commercials for their customers that will differentiate them from their competitors.

Keywords: advertising, creativity, radio, Turkey

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Authors: Ann Devitt, Mairead Brady, Markus Lamest, Stephen Gomez

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This study set out to explore the use of an online collaborative serious game for student learning in a postgraduate introductory marketing module. The simulation game aimed to bridge the theory-practice divide in marketing by allowing students to apply theory in a safe, simulated marketplace. This study addresses the following research questions: Does an online marketing simulation game engage students higher order cognitive skills? Does collaborative activity required develop students’ “soft” skills, such as communication and negotiation? What specific affordances of the online simulation promote learning? This qualitative case study took place in 2014 with 40 postgraduate students on a Business Masters Programme. The two-week intensive module combined lectures with collaborative activity on a marketing simulation game, MMX from Pearsons. The game requires student teams to compete against other teams in a marketplace and design a marketing plan to maximize key performance indicators. The data for this study comprise essays written by students after the module reflecting on their learning on the module. A thematic analysis was conducted of the essays using the following a priori theme sets: 6 levels of the cognitive domain of Blooms taxonomy; 5 principles of Cooperative Learning; affordances of simulation environments including experiential learning; motivation and engagement; goal orientation. Preliminary findings would strongly suggest that the game facilitated students identifying the value of theory in practice, in particular for future employment; enhanced their understanding of group dynamics and their role within that; and impacted very strongly, both positively and negatively on motivation. In particular the game mechanics of MMX, which hinges on the correct identification of a target consumer group, was identified as a key determinant of extrinsic and intrinsic motivation for learners. The findings also suggest that the situation of the simulation game within a broader module which required post-game reflection was valuable in identifying key learning of marketing concepts in both the positive and the negative experiences of the game.

Keywords: simulation, marketing, serious game, cooperative learning, bloom's taxonomy

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Authors: Bencharif Meriem, Sersar Ibrahim, Djaafri Zineb

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Introduction and purpose of the study: Education plays a fundamental role in the lives of young people, but what about their physical well-being as they spend long hours sitting at school? School inactivity is a problem that deserves particular attention because it can have significant repercussions on the health and development of students. The aim of this study was to describe and evaluate the physical activity of students in different practices in class, at recess and in the canteen. Material and methods: A physical activity diary and an anthropometric measurement sheet (weight, height) were provided to 123 school-aged adolescents. The measurements were carried out according to international recommendations. The statistical tests were carried out with the R software. 3.2.4. The significance threshold retained was 0.05. Results and Statistical Analysis: One hundred and twenty-three students agreed to participate in the study. Their average age was 16.5±1.60 years. Overweight was present in 8.13% and obesity in 4.06%. For the practice of physical activity, during physical education and sports classes, all students played sports with an average of 1.94±1.00 hours/week, of which 74.00% sweated or were out of breath during these hours of physical activity. It was also noted that boys practiced sports more than girls (p<0.0001). Each day, on average, students spent 39.78±37.85 min walking or running during recess. On the other hand, they spent, on average 4.25±2.65 hours sitting per day in class, at recess, in the canteen, etc., without counting the time spent in front of a screen. The increasing use of screens has become a major concern for parents and educators. On average, students spent approximately 42.90±38.41 min per day using screens in class, at recess, in the canteen and at home. (computer, tablet, telephone, video games, etc.) and therefore to a prolonged sedentary lifestyle. On average, students sat for more than 1.5 hours without moving for at least 2 minutes in a row approximately 1.72±0.71 times per day. Conclusion: These students spent many hours sitting at school. This prolonged inactivity can have negative consequences on their health, including problems with posture and cardiovascular health. It is crucial that schools, educators and parents collaborate to promote more active learning environments where students can move more and thus contribute to their overall well-being. It's time to rethink how we approach education and student health to give them a healthier, more active future.

Keywords: physical acivity, sedentarity, adolescents, school

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Authors: Mladen Milicevic

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This presentation will address how the statistical analysis of digitized popular music influences the music creation and emotionally manipulates consumers.Furthermore, it will deal with semiological aspect of uniformization of musical taste in order to predict the potential revenues generated by popular music sales. In the USA, we live in an age where most of the popular music (i.e. music that generates substantial revenue) has been digitized. It is safe to say that almost everything that was produced in last 10 years is already digitized (either available on iTunes, Spotify, YouTube, or some other platform). Depending on marketing viability and its potential to generate additional revenue most of the “older” music is still being digitized. Once the music gets turned into a digital audio file,it can be computer-analyzed in all kinds of respects, and the similar goes for the lyrics because they also exist as a digital text file, to which any kin of N Capture-kind of analysis may be applied. So, by employing statistical examination of different popular music metrics such as tempo, form, pronouns, introduction length, song length, archetypes, subject matter,and repetition of title, the commercial result may be predicted. Polyphonic HMI (Human Media Interface) introduced the concept of the hit song science computer program in 2003.The company asserted that machine learning could create a music profile to predict hit songs from its audio features Thus,it has been established that a successful pop song must include: 100 bpm or more;an 8 second intro;use the pronoun 'you' within 20 seconds of the start of the song; hit the bridge middle 8 between 2 minutes and 2 minutes 30 seconds; average 7 repetitions of the title; create some expectations and fill that expectation in the title. For the country song: 100 bpm or less for a male artist; 14-second intro; uses the pronoun 'you' within the first 20 seconds of the intro; has a bridge middle 8 between 2 minutes and 2 minutes 30 seconds; has 7 repetitions of title; creates an expectation,fulfills it in 60 seconds.This approach to commercial popular music minimizes the human influence when it comes to which “artist” a record label is going to sign and market. Twenty years ago,music experts in the A&R (Artists and Repertoire) departments of the record labels were making personal aesthetic judgments based on their extensive experience in the music industry. Now, the computer music analyzing programs, are replacing them in an attempt to minimize investment risk of the panicking record labels, in an environment where nobody can predict the future of the recording industry.The impact on the consumers taste through the narrow bottleneck of the above mentioned music selection by the record labels,created some very peculiar effects not only on the taste of popular music consumers, but also the creative chops of the music artists as well. What is the meaning of this semiological shift is the main focus of this research and paper presentation.

Keywords: music, semiology, commercial, taste

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Authors: Muna Al-Siyabi

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When students bring mobile devices into the classrooms, they are frequently viewed as distractions from their daily educational practices rather than developing the twenty-first century skills. Such skills may involve sorting and extracting information, solving problems and evaluating results. Mobile devices, such as smartphones and tablets, have great potential for learning. Currently, schools and universities are embracing these devices with the aim of enhancing education. In Oman, mobile technologies have been introduced in the last ten years in two private schools to keep pace with the technological advancement. The researcher set out to examine the benefits and challenges of employing mobile learning in these two schools with the aim to inform the implementation of mobile technologies in more schools in Oman. The total of 16 teachers and 237 students responded to questionnaires, and 7 teachers and three student focus groups (of 13 students) were involved in interviews to explore how mobile technologies are used in these two schools. The questionnaires indicated that 87.5% of the sample teachers considered mobile learning helpful for learning and teaching. The teachers believed that mobile learning could promote learning, help teaching, offer vast resources, motivate students and save lesson time. Moreover, interviews with the teachers showed that mobile learning could offer several benefits like immediacy, saving lesson time, supporting differentiation, opportunities to learn anywhere, showing understanding, and offering vast resources. Most of the sample were also facing technical and classroom management challenges when employing mobile technologies in their lessons. In the interviews, most teachers complained of the difficulty to control their classes when they had mobile devices, which distracted their attention and understanding. They reported that their students were distracted by games and they needed to be trained to use mobile technologies for educational purposes. Most teachers recommended that certain parameters or restrictions should be established in any mobile learning project that restrict the usage of mobile technologies to educational purposes. In addition, teachers also emphasised that students needed to be trained on the advantages and limitations of mobile technologies. Teachers were also recommending that pedagogical training for using mobile technologies should be considered when implementing mobile learning in schools. These findings reveal that although of the challenges of managing their classes, teachers believe that mobile learning has great potential for learning. These results imply that mobile learning can be effectively implemented in school in Oman if certain factors and restrictions are considered.

Keywords: effective implementation, challenges, mobile learning, opportunities

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Authors: Joe Kallas

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It is now widely accepted that the preservation of cultural heritage must go beyond simple restoration and renovation actions. While some historic monuments have been preserved for millennia, many of them, less important or simply neglected because of lack of money, have disappeared. As a result, the adaptation of monuments and archaeological sites to new functions allow them to 'survive'. Temporary activities or 'ephemeral' re-use, are increasingly recognized as a means of vitalization of deprived areas and enhancement of historic sites that became obsolete. They have the potential to increase economic and cultural value while making the best use of existing resources. However, there are often conservation and preservation issues related to the implementation of this type of re-use, which can also threaten the integrity and authenticity of archaeological sites and monuments if they have not been properly managed. This paper aims to get a better knowledge of the ephemeral re-use of heritage, and more specifically the subject of the incorporation of the festival phenomenon within the monuments and archaeological sites in Lebanon, a topic that is not yet studied enough. This paper tried to determine the elements that compose it, in order to analyze this phenomenon and to trace its good practices, by comparing international study cases to important national cases: the International Festival of Baalbek, the International Festival of Byblos and the International Festival of Beiteddine. Various factors have been studied and analyzed in order to best respond to the main problematic of this paper: 'How can we preserve the integrity of sites and monuments after the integration of an ephemeral function? And what are the preventive conservation measures to be taken when holding festivals in archaeological sites with fragile structures?' The impacts of the technical problems were first analyzed using various data and more particularly the effects of mass tourism, the integration of temporary installations, sound vibrations, the effects of unstudied lighting, until the mystification of heritage. Unfortunately, the DGA (General Direction of Antiquities in Lebanon) does not specify any frequency limit for the sound vibrations emitted by the speakers during musical festivals. In addition, there is no requirement from its part regarding the installations of the lighting systems in the historic monuments and no monitoring is done in situ, due to the lack of awareness of the impact that could be generated by such interventions, and due to the lack of materials and tools needed for the monitoring process. The study and analysis of the various data mentioned above led us to the elaboration of the main objective of this paper, which is the establishment of a list of recommendations. This list enables to define various preventive conservation measures to be taken during the holding of the festivals within the cultural heritage sites in Lebanon. We strongly hope that this paper will be an awareness document to start taking into consideration several factors previously neglected, in order to improve the conservation practices in the archaeological sites and monuments during the incorporation of the festival phenomenon.

Keywords: archaeology, authenticity, conservation, cultural heritage, festival, historic sites, integrity, monuments, tourism

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Authors: Reem Alshiha, Tanzila Saba

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Physical rehabilitation is the process of helping people to recover and be able to go back to their former activities that have been delayed due to external factors such as car accidents, old age and victims of strokes (chronic diseases and accidents, and those related to sport activities).The cost of hiring a personal nurse or driving the patient to and from the hospital could be costly and time-consuming. Also, there are other factors to take into account such as forgetfulness, boredom and lack of motivation. In order to solve this dilemma, some experts came up with rehabilitation software to be used with Microsoft Kinect to help the patients and their families for in-home rehabilitation. In home rehabilitation software is becoming more and more popular, since it is more convenient for all parties affiliated with the patient. In contrast to the other costly market-based systems that have no portability, Microsoft’s Kinect is a portable motion sensor that reads body movements and interprets it. New software development has made rehabilitation games available to be used at home for the convenience of the patient. The game will benefit its users (rehabilitation patients) in saving time and money. There are many software's that are used with the Kinect for rehabilitation, but the software that is chosen in this research is Kinectotherapy. Kinectotherapy software is used for rehabilitation patients in Riyadh clinics to test its acceptance by patients and their physicians. In this study, we used Kinect because it was affordable, portable and easy to access in contrast to expensive market-based motion sensors. This paper explores the importance of in-home rehabilitation by using Kinect with Kinectotherapy software. The software targets both upper and lower limbs, but in this research, the main focus is on upper-limb functionality. However, the in-home rehabilitation is applicable to be used by all patients with motor disability, since the patient must have some self-reliance. The targeted subjects are patients with minor motor impairment that are somewhat independent in their mobility. The presented work is the first to consider the implementation of in-home rehabilitation with real-time feedback to the patient and physician. This research proposes the implementation of in-home rehabilitation in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The findings show that most of the patients are interested and motivated in using the in-home rehabilitation system in the future. The main value of the software application is due to these factors: improve patient engagement through stimulating rehabilitation, be a low cost rehabilitation tool and reduce the need for expensive one-to-one clinical contact. Rehabilitation is a crucial treatment that can improve the quality of life and confidence of the patient as well as their self-esteem.

Keywords: x-box, rehabilitation, physical therapy, rehabilitation software, kinect

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Authors: Rajender Lal, Seema Kaushik

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The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The championship has been awarded every four years since the inaugural tournament in 1930, except in 1942 and 1946 when it was not held because of the Second World War. Its 20th edition took place in Brazil from 12 June to 13 July 2014, which was won by Germany. The World Cup is the most widely viewed and followed sporting event in the world, exceeding even the Olympic Games; the cumulative audience of all matches of the 2006 FIFA World Cup was estimated to be 26.29 billion with an estimated 715.1 million people watching the final match, a ninth of the entire population of the planet. General-interest newspapers typically publish news articles and feature articles on national and international news as well as local news. The news includes political events and personalities, business and finance, crime, severe weather, and natural disasters; health and medicine, science, and technology; sports; and entertainment, society, food and cooking, clothing and home fashion, and the arts. It became curiosity to investigate that how much coverage is given to this most widely viewed international event as compared to other sports in India. Hence, the present study was conducted with the aim of examining the comparative coverage of FIFA World Cup 2014 and other sports in the four leading Newspapers of India including Hindustan Times, The Hindu, The Times of India, and The Tribune. Specific objectives were to measure the source of news, type of news items and the placement of news related to FIFA World Cup and other sports. Representative sample of ten editions each of the four English dailies was chosen for the purpose of the study. The analysis was based on the actual scanning of data from the representative sample of the dailies for the period of the competition. It can be concluded from the analysis that this event was given maximum coverage by the Hindustan Times while other sports were equally covered by The Hindu.

Keywords: coverage analysis, FIFA World Cup 2014, Hindustan Times, the Hindu, The Times of India, The Tribune

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Authors: Gongbing Shan, Shiming Li, Zhao Zhang, Bingjun Wan

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Badminton originated in ancient civilizations in Europe and Asia more than 2000 years ago. Presently, it is played almost everywhere with estimated 220 million people playing badminton regularly, ranging from professionals to recreational players; and it is the second most played sport in the world after soccer. In Asia, the popularity of badminton and involvement of people surpass soccer. Unfortunately, scientific researches on badminton skills are hardly proportional to badminton’s popularity. A search of literature has shown that the literature body of biomechanical investigations is relatively small. One of the dominant skills in badminton is the forehand overhead smash, which consists of 1/5 attacks during games. Empirical evidences show that one has to adjust the body position in relation to the coming shuttlecock to produce a powerful and accurate smash. Therefore, positioning is a fundamental aspect influencing smash quality. A search of literature has shown that there is a dearth/lack of study on this fundamental aspect. The goals of this study were to determine the influence of positioning and training experience on smash quality in order to discover information that could help learn/acquire the skill. Using a 10-camera, 3D motion capture system (VICON MX, 200 frames/s) and 15-segment, full-body biomechanical model, 14 skilled and 15 novice players were measured and analyzed. Results have revealed that the body positioning has direct influence on the quality of a smash, especially on shuttlecock release angle and clearance height (passing over the net) of offensive players. The results also suggest that, for training a proper positioning, one could conduct a self-selected comfort position towards a statically hanged shuttlecock and then step one foot back – a practical reference marker for learning. This perceptional marker could be applied in guiding the learning and training of beginners. As one gains experience through repetitive training, improved limbs’ coordination would increase smash quality further. The researchers hope that the findings will benefit practitioners for developing effective training programs for beginners.

Keywords: 3D motion analysis, biomechanical modeling, shuttlecock release speed, shuttlecock release angle, clearance height

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Authors: Victoria G. Mountford-Brown

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The concept of the Entrepreneurial University and emphasis on higher education institutions as both hives of innovation and as producers of future innovators accord special significance to the role of academic researchers in future economic and social prosperity. Researcher development in the UK has embedded an emphasis or ‘enterprise lens’ on developing the capabilities of researchers to support a stable economy whilst providing solutions to societal challenges. However, the notion of the ‘entrepreneurial university’ and what that represents to many academics is met with tension and (dis)engagement in the premises of the ‘knowledge economy’ or ‘academic capitalism.’ Set in a landscape of UK higher education wherein the increasing emphasis on research impact, coupled with increasing competition for scarce funding, has created a ‘climate of performativity’. This research seeks to better understand the ways in which academic identities are (re)constructed in the everyday experiences of doctoral (PGR) and early career researchers (ECRs) as they navigate what is referred to by some as the ‘academic hunger games’. These daily pressures and high expectations of success are part of the identity work PGRs/ECRs undergo. This is often fraught with tension and struggles to adapt to the research environment suggesting a reason for imposter phenomenon to be rife in academia – particularly (but not exclusively) in the early stages of development. This pilot study involves qualitative semi-structured exploratory interviews with a mixed gendered sample of participants from a variety of subject disciplines who have taken part in an intensive 3-day innovation and enterprise program for PGR and ECRs premised on developing personal and research impact. The research seeks to better understand the processes of identity formation of becoming academic and offers a commentary on the notions of ‘imposter phenomenon’ and the exchange and development of resources or capital needed to ‘play the game’ in academia in the context of the ‘entrepreneurial university’. It explores ongoing (re)constructions of what it means to be an academic and the different ways in which social identities may embody and challenge the development of entrepreneurial academic identities. As such, it aims to contribute to our understanding of the innovation ecosystem of academia and the prosperity of academic researchers.

Keywords: entreprenruial development, higher education, identities, researcher development

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Authors: Mohd Ayyub Khan, Nadeem Akhtar

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Due to recent advances in wireless communication technologies and hand-held devices, there is a huge demand for video-based applications such as video surveillance, video conferencing, remote surgery, Digital Video Broadcast (DVB), IPTV, online learning courses, YouTube, WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook, Interactive Video Games. However, the raw videos posses very high bandwidth which makes the compression a must before its transmission over the wireless channels. The High Efficiency Video Codec (HEVC) (also called H.265) is latest state-of-the-art video coding standard developed by the Joint effort of ITU-T and ISO/IEC teams. HEVC is targeted for high resolution videos such as 4K or 8K resolutions that can fulfil the recent demands for video services. The compression ratio achieved by the HEVC is twice as compared to its predecessor H.264/AVC for same quality level. The compression efficiency is generally increased by removing more correlation between the frames/pixels using complex techniques such as extensive intra and inter prediction techniques. As more correlation is removed, the chances of interdependency among coded bits increases. Thus, bit errors may have large effect on the reconstructed video. Sometimes even single bit error can lead to catastrophic failure of the reconstructed video. In this paper, we study the performance of HEVC bitstream over additive white Gaussian noise (AWGN) channel. Moreover, HEVC over Quadrature Amplitude Modulation (QAM) combined with forward error correction (FEC) schemes are also explored over the noisy channel. The video will be encoded using HEVC, and the coded bitstream is channel coded to provide some redundancies. The channel coded bitstream is then modulated using QAM and transmitted over AWGN channel. At the receiver, the symbols are demodulated and channel decoded to obtain the video bitstream. The bitstream is then used to reconstruct the video using HEVC decoder. It is observed that as the signal to noise ratio of channel is decreased the quality of the reconstructed video decreases drastically. Using proper FEC codes, the quality of the video can be restored up to certain extent. Thus, the performance analysis of HEVC presented in this paper may assist in designing the optimized code rate of FEC such that the quality of the reconstructed video is maximized over wireless channels.

Keywords: AWGN, forward error correction, HEVC, video coding, QAM

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Authors: Carmen Noheda

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This text provides a reflection on the way of thinking about the study of the history of music by examining the production of historiography in Spain at the turn of the century. Based on concepts developed by the historical theorist Jörn Rüsen, the article focuses on the following aspects: the theoretical artifacts that structure the interpretation of the limits of writing the history of music, the narrative patterns used to give meaning to the discourse of history, and the orientation context that functions as a source of criteria of significance for both interpretation and representation. This analysis intends to show that historical music theory is not only a means to abstractly explore the complex questions connected to the production of historical knowledge, but also a tool for obtaining concrete images about the intellectual practice of professional musicologists. Writing about the historiography of contemporary Spanish music is a task that requires both a knowledge of the history that is being written and investigated, as well as a familiarity with current theoretical trends and methodologies that allow for the recognition and definition of the different tendencies that have arisen in recent decades. With the objective of carrying out these premises, this project takes as its point of departure the 'immediate historiography' in relation to Spanish music at the beginning of the 21st century. The hesitation that Spanish musicology has shown in opening itself to new anthropological and sociological approaches, along with its rigidity in the face of the multiple shifts in dynamic forms of thinking about history, have produced a standstill whose consequences can be seen in the delayed reception of the historiographical revolutions that have emerged in the last century. Methodologically, this essay is underpinned by Rüsen’s notion of the disciplinary matrix, which is an important contribution to the understanding of historiography. Combined with his parallel conception of differing paradigms of historiography, it is useful for analyzing the present-day forms of thinking about the history of music. Following these theories, the article will in the first place address the characteristics and identification of present historiographical currents in Spanish musicology to thereby carry out an analysis based on the theories of Rüsen. Finally, it will establish some considerations for the future of musical historiography, whose atrophy has not only fostered the maintenance of an ingrained positivist tradition, but has also implied, in the case of Spain, an absence of methodological schools and an insufficient participation in international theoretical debates. An update of fundamental concepts has become necessary in order to understand that thinking historically about music demands that we remember that subjects are always linked by reciprocal interdependencies that structure and define what it is possible to create. In this sense, the fundamental aim of this research departs from the recognition that the history of music is embedded in the conditions that make it conceivable, communicable and comprehensible within a society.

Keywords: historiography, Jörn Rüssen, Spanish musicology, theory of history of music

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Authors: Aparajita Santra

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In the context of the government's vision of turning Delhi into a green, privatized and slum free city, giving it a world-class image at par with the global cities of the world, this paper investigates into the various processes and politics of things that went behind defining spaces in the city and attributing an aesthetic image to it. The paper will explore two cases that were forged primarily through the forces of one particular type of power relation. One would be to look at the modernist movement adopted by the Nehruvian government post-independence and the next case will look at special periods like Emergency and Commonwealth games. The study of these cases will help understand the ambivalence embedded in the different rationales of the Government and different powerful agencies adopted in order to build world-classness. Through the study, it will be easier to discern how city spaces were reconfigured in the name of 'good governance'. In this process, it also became important to analyze the double nature of law, both as a protector of people’s rights and as a threat to people. What was interesting to note through the study was that in the process of nation building and creating an image for the city, the government’s policies and programs were mostly aimed at the richer sections of the society and the poorer sections and people from lower income groups kept getting marginalized, subdued, and pushed further away (These marginalized people were pushed away even geographically!). The reconfiguration of city space and attributing an aesthetic character to it, led to an alteration not only in the way in which citizens perceived and engaged with these spaces, but also brought about changes in the way they envisioned their place in the city. Ironically, it was found that every attempt to build any kind of facility for the city’s elite in turn led to an inevitable removal of the marginalized sections of the society as a necessary step to achieve a clean, green and world-class city. The paper questions the claim made by the government for creating a just, equitable city and granting rights to all. An argument is put forth that in the politics of redistribution of space, the city that has been designed is meant for the aspirational middle-class and elite only, who are ideally primed to live in world-class cities. Thus, the aim is to study city spaces, urban form, the associated politics and power plays involved within and understand whether segmented cities are being built in the name of creating sensible, inclusive cities.

Keywords: aesthetics, ambivalence, governmentality, power, World-class

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Authors: Therese Besnard

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Internationally in early childhood education (ECE), the great majority of teachers are women. Some groups believe that a greater male teacher presence in ECE would be beneficial for children, specifically for boys as it could offer a positive male model. It is a common belief that children would benefit from being exposed to both male and female models. Some believe that women are naturally better suited to offer quality care to young children comparatively to men. Some authors bring forth that after equivalent training, differences in the educational practices are purely individual and do not depend on the teacher’s gender. Others believe that a greater male presence in ECE would increase the risk of pedophilia or child abuse. The few scientific studies in this area suggest that differences could exist between male and female ECE teacher, in particular when it comes to play which is the mainstay of the ECE educational program. Male teachers describe themselves as being more playful and having a greater tendency to initiate physical and turbulent play comparatively to female teachers, who describe themselves as favoring games that are calmer and focused on social interaction. Observed directly, male teachers appear more actively engaged in play with children and propose more motor play than female teachers. Furthermore children who have both male and female teachers for one year show less behavior difficulties when compared to children with only female teachers. Despite a variety of viewpoints we don’t know if the educational practices of male ECE teachers, (emotional support, classroom organization or instructional support) are different than the educational practices of female teachers and if these practices are linked with children’s adaptation. This study compares the educational practices of 37 ECE teachers (57 % male) and analyses the link with children' social adaptation (n=221). Educational practices were assessed through observational measurements with the Classroom Assessment Scoring System (CLASS) in a natural class environment. Child social adaptation was assessed with the Social Competence and Behavior Evaluation (SCBE). Observational data reveals no differences between men's and women's scale of the CLASS. Results using Multilevel models analyses suggest that the ability to propose good classroom organization and give good instructional support are linked with better child' social adaptation, and that is always true for men and women teachers. The results are discussed on the basis of their potential impact on future educational interventions.

Keywords: child social adaptation, early childhood education, educational practices, men teacher

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Authors: Liza Ireni-Saban

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The 6.6 magnitude quake event that occurred in 2003 (Bam, Iran) made it impossible for the Iranian government to handle disaster relief efforts domestically. In this extreme event, the Iranian government reached out to the international community, and this created a momentum that had to be carried out by trust-building efforts on all sides, often termed ‘Disaster Diplomacy’. Indeed, the circumstances were even more critical when one considers the increasing political and economic isolation of Iran within the international community. The potential for transformative political space to be opened by disaster has been recognized by dominant international political actors. Despite the fact that Bam 2003 post-disaster relief efforts did not catalyze any diplomatic activities on all sides, it is suggested that few international aid agencies have successfully used disaster recovery to enhance their popular legitimacy and reputation among the international community. In terms of disaster diplomacy, an actor’s reputational capital may affect his ability to build coalitions and alliances to achieve international political ends, to negotiate and build understanding and trust with foreign publics. This study suggests that the post-disaster setting may benefit from using the ecology of games framework to evaluate the role of bridging actors and mediators in facilitating collaborative governance networks. Recent developments in network theory and analysis provide means of structural embeddedness to explore how reputational capital can be built through brokerage roles of actors engaged in a disaster management network. This paper then aims to structure the relations among actors that participated in the post-disaster relief efforts in the 2003 Bam earthquake (Iran) in order to assess under which conditions actors may be strategically utilized to serve as mediating organizations for future disaster events experienced by isolated nations or nations in conflict. The results indicate the strategic use of reputational capital by the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs as key broker to build a successful coordinative system for reducing disaster vulnerabilities. International aid agencies rarely played brokerage roles to coordinate peripheral actors. U.S. foreign assistance (USAID), despite coordination capacities, was prevented from serving brokerage roles in the system.

Keywords: coordination, disaster diplomacy, international aid organizations, Iran

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Authors: Gozde Inal Kiziltepe, Ozgun Uyanik

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There is growing evidence that socioeconomic (SES)-related differences in mathematical knowledge primarily start in early childhood period. Preschoolers from low-income families are likely to perform substantially worse in mathematical knowledge than their counterparts from middle and higher income families. The differences are seen on a wide range of recognizing written numerals, counting, adding and subtracting, and comparing numerical magnitudes. Early differences in numerical knowledge have a permanent effect childrens’ mathematical knowledge in other grades. In this respect, analyzing the effect of number board game on the number knowledge of 48-60 month-old children from disadvantaged low-income families constitutes the main objective of the study. Participants were the 71 preschoolers from a childcare center which served low-income urban families. Children were randomly assigned to the number board condition or to the color board condition. The number board condition included 35 children and the color board game condition included 36 children. Both board games were 50 cm long and 30 cm high; had ‘The Great Race’ written across the top; and included 11 horizontally arranged, different colored squares of equal sizes with the leftmost square labeled ‘Start’. The numerical board had the numbers 1–10 in the rightmost 10 squares; the color board had different colors in those squares. A rabbit or a bear token were presented to children for selecting, and on each trial spun a spinner to determine whether the token would move one or two spaces. The number condition spinner had a ‘1’ half and a ‘2’ half; the color condition spinner had colors that matched the colors of the squares on the board. Children met one-on-one with an experimenter for four 15- to 20-min sessions within a 2-week period. In the first and fourth sessions, children were administered identical pretest and posttest measures of numerical knowledge. All children were presented three numerical tasks and one subtest presented in the following order: counting, numerical magnitude comparison, numerical identification and Count Objects – Circle Number Probe subtest of Early Numeracy Assessment. In addition, same numerical tasks and subtest were given as a follow-up test four weeks after the post-test administration. Findings obtained from the study; showed that there was a meaningful difference between scores of children who played a color board game in favor of children who played number board game.

Keywords: low income, numerical board game, numerical knowledge, preschool education

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Authors: Taekyun Hur, Yoonyoung Kim, Junkyu Lim

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Previous works on leisure activities had been categorizing activities arbitrarily and subjectively while focusing on a single dimension (e.g. active-passive, individual-group). To overcome these problems, this study proposed a Korean leisure activities’ matrix model that considered multidimensional features of leisure activities, which was comprised of 3 main factors and 6 sub factors: (a) Active (physical, mental), (b) Relational (quantity, quality), (c) Expert (entry barrier, possibility of improving). We developed items for measuring the degree of each dimension for every leisure activity. Using the developed Leisure Activities Dimensions (LAD) questionnaire, we investigated the presented dimensions of a total of 78 leisure activities which had been enjoyed by most Koreans recently (e.g. watching movie, taking a walk, watching media). The study sample consisted of 1348 people (726 men, 658 women) ranging in age from teenagers to elderlies in their seventies. This study gathered 60 data for each leisure activity, a total of 4860 data, which were used for statistical analysis. First, this study compared 3-factor model (Activity, Relation, Expertise) fit with 6-factor model (physical activity, mental activity, relational quantity, relational quality, entry barrier, possibility of improving) fit by using confirmatory factor analysis. Based on several goodness-of-fit indicators, the 6-factor model for leisure activities was a better fit for the data. This result indicates that it is adequate to take account of enough dimensions of leisure activities (6-dimensions in our study) to specifically apprehend each leisure attributes. In addition, the 78 leisure activities were cluster-analyzed with the scores calculated based on the 6-factor model, which resulted in 8 leisure activity groups. Cluster 1 (e.g. group sports, group musical activity) and Cluster 5 (e.g. individual sports) had generally higher scores on all dimensions than others, but Cluster 5 had lower relational quantity than Cluster 1. In contrast, Cluster 3 (e.g. SNS, shopping) and Cluster 6 (e.g. playing a lottery, taking a nap) had low scores on a whole, though Cluster 3 showed medium levels of relational quantity and quality. Cluster 2 (e.g. machine operating, handwork/invention) required high expertise and mental activity, but low physical activity. Cluster 4 indicated high mental activity and relational quantity despite low expertise. Cluster 7 (e.g. tour, joining festival) required not only moderate degrees of physical activity and relation, but low expertise. Lastly, Cluster 8 (e.g. meditation, information searching) had the appearance of high mental activity. Even though clusters of our study had a few similarities with preexisting taxonomy of leisure activities, there was clear distinctiveness between them. Unlike the preexisting taxonomy that had been created subjectively, we assorted 78 leisure activities based on objective figures of 6-dimensions. We also could identify that some leisure activities, which used to belong to the same leisure group, were included in different clusters (e.g. filed ball sports, net sports) because of different features. In other words, the results can provide a different perspective on leisure activities research and be helpful for figuring out what various characteristics leisure participants have.

Keywords: leisure, dimensional model, activity, relationship, expertise

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Authors: Mballa Abanda Serge, Henda Gnakate Biba, Romaric Guemno Kuate, Akono Rufine Nicole, Petfiang Sidonie, Bella Sidonie

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The main hypotheses proposed around the definition of the syllable and of music, of the common origin of music and language, should lead the reader to reflect on the cross-cutting questions raised by the debate on the notion of universals in linguistics and musicology. These are objects of controversy, and there lies its interest: the debate raises questions that are at the heart of theories on language. It is an inventive, original and innovative research thesis. The main hypotheses proposed around the definition of the syllable and of music, of the common origin of music and language, should lead the reader to reflect on the cross-cutting questions raised by the debate on the notion of universals in linguistics and musicology. These are objects of controversy, and there lies its interest: the debate raises questions that are at the heart of theories on language. It is an inventive, original and innovative research thesis. A contribution to the theoretical, musicological, ethno musicological and linguistic conceptualization of languages, giving rise to the practice of interlocution between the social and cognitive sciences, the activities of artistic creation and the question of modeling in the human sciences: mathematics, computer science, translation automation and artificial intelligence. When you apply this theory to any text of a folksong of a world-tone language, you do not only piece together the exact melody, rhythm, and harmonies of that song as if you knew it in advance but also the exact speaking of this language. The author believes that the issue of the disappearance of tonal languages and their preservation has been structurally resolved, as well as one of the greatest cultural equations related to the composition and creation of tonal, polytonal and random music. The experimentation confirming the theorization, It designed a semi-digital, semi-analog application which translates the tonal languages of Africa (about 2,100 languages) into blues, jazz, world music, polyphonic music, tonal and anatonal music and deterministic and random music). To test this application, I use a music reading and writing software that allows me to collect the data extracted from my mother tongue, which is already modeled in the musical staves saved in the ethnographic (semiotic) dictionary for automatic translation ( volume 2 of the book). Translation is done (from writing to writing, from writing to speech and from writing to music). Mode of operation: you type a text on your computer, a structured song (chorus-verse), and you command the machine a melody of blues, jazz and world music or variety etc. The software runs, giving you the option to choose harmonies, and then you select your melody.

Keywords: music, entanglement, langauge, science

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Authors: Ralph Nyadu-Addo, Francis Matambalya, Utz Dornberger

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The global music industry is a multi-billion dollar sector. The potential of Africa’s music industry is widely recognised in the socio-economic development milieu. It has impacted positively on several sectors including most especially the tourism, media and information, communication technology (ICT) among others. It is becoming increasingly clear that even in Africa (as demonstrated in Nigeria) that in addition to its intrinsic value, the sector has significant economic returns. UNCTAD observed, the creative industries offer some of the best prospects for high growth in least developed countries. The statistics from Africa may be far lower than similar sectors in developed countries but it goes to give further credence to several UNCTAD publications which say the creative industry is under researched and its potential under-estimated but holds the key to its rapid development The emerging creative economy (music in particular) has become a leading component of economic growth, employment, trade, innovation, and social cohesion in many countries. In line with these developments, the Ghana government recognizes the potential that the Creative Industries have to shape and reinforce Ghana’s economic growth. Creative sectors, particularly music, tend to rely less on sophisticated infrastructure or capital-intensive investment. Potential is particularly abundant in Africa, where musical creativity is rich, diverse, well-loved, and constantly evolving while drawing on strong traditions. The development of a popular music industry thus represents low-hanging fruit for most African economies says the World Bank. As we shift towards economic diversification using the creative industry, value is increasingly created at the intersection of arts, business and technology. Cultural and creative entrepreneurs are leading this trend. It is one of the areas where value is captured within the country as emerging trends have shown in Nigeria and Ghana among others. Yet, evidence shows that the potential of the cultural and creative sectors remains largely untapped. Furthermore, its socio-economic impact remains under-researched in many developing countries and its dynamics unknown. Despite its huge influence on music repertoire across the globe, most countries in Africa have not historically been significant markets for the international music industry. Today, that is beginning to change. Generally, reliable and adequate literature about music in the sub-region is difficult to obtain. The growing interests in academia and business cycles about a reliable data on the growing music industry in developing countries have called for an urgent need to undertake this research. Research questions: i. Who are the major stakeholders in the music value chain in Ghana? ii. How much of value is captured domestically iii. What is the economic impact of the Ghanaian music industry iv. How has the advent of ICT (internet) impacted on the music landscape? Research sources will be mainly through interviews of major stakeholders, baseline study of the industry by KPMG and content analysis of related newspapers and magazines.

Keywords: economic impact, information communications technology (ICT), music-industry, value chain

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Authors: V. I. Kozyavkin, L. F. Shestopalova, T. B. Voloshyn

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Introduction: Rehabilitation of children with Autism is the issue of the day in psychiatry and neurology. It is attributed to constantly increasing quantity of autistic children - Autistic Spectrum Disorders (ASD) Existing rehabilitation approaches in treatment of children with Autism improve their medico- social and social- psychological adjustment. Experience of treatment for different kinds of Autistic disorders in International Clinic of Rehabilitation (ICR) reveals the necessity of complex intensive approach for healing this malady and wider implementation of a Kozyavkin method for treatment of children with ASD. Methods: 19 children aged from 3 to 14 years were examined. They were diagnosed ‘Autism’ (F84.0) with comorbid neurological pathology (from pyramidal insufficiency to para- and tetraplegia). All patients underwent rehabilitation in ICR during two weeks, where INRS approach was used. INRS included methods like biomechanical correction of the spine, massage, physical therapy, joint mobilization, wax-paraffin applications. They were supplemented by art- therapy, ergotherapy, rhythmical group exercises, computer game therapy, team Olympic games and other methods for improvement of motivation and social integration of the child. Estimation of efficacy was conducted using parent’s questioning and done twice- on the onset of INRS rehabilitation course and two weeks afterward. For efficacy assessment of rehabilitation of autistic children in ICR standardized tool was used, namely Autism Treatment Evaluation Checklist (ATEC). This scale was selected because any rehabilitation approaches for the child with Autism can be assessed using it. Results: Before the onset of INRS treatment mean score according to ATEC scale was 64,75±9,23, it reveals occurrence in examined children severe communication, speech, socialization and behavioral impairments. After the end of the rehabilitation course, the mean score was 56,5±6,7, what indicates positive dynamics in comparison to the onset of rehabilitation. Generally, improvement of psychoemotional state occurred in 90% of cases. Most significant changes occurred in the scope of speech (16,5 before and 14,5 after the treatment), socialization (15.1 before and 12,5 after) and behavior (20,1 before and 17.4 after). Conclusion: As a result of INRS rehabilitation course reduction of autistic symptoms was noted. Particularly improvements in speech were observed (children began to spell out new syllables, words), there was some decrease in signs of destructiveness, quality of contact with the surrounding people improved, new skills of self-service appeared. The prospect of the study is further, according to evidence- based medicine standards, deeper examination of INRS and assessment of its usefulness in treatment for Autism and ASD.

Keywords: intensive neurophysiological rehabilitation system (INRS), international clinic od rehabilitation, ASD, rehabilitation

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Authors: A. Ham, A. Kuckert-Wostheinrich

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Demographic changes, like the ageing population in European countries and shortage of nursing staff, the increasing number of people with severe cognitive impairment, and elderly socially isolated people raise important questions about who will provide long-term care for ageing citizens. Due to the so-called refugee crisis in 2015, some health care institutions for ageing citizens in Europe invited first generation immigrants to start a nursing career and providing them language skills, nursing training, and internships. The aim of this ethnographic research was to explore the social processes affecting workforce integration and how newcomers enact good care in ageing citizens in a German nursing home. By ethnographic fieldwork, 200 hours of participant observations, 25 in-depth interviews with immigrants and established staff, 2 focus groups with 6 immigrants, and 6 established staff members, data were analysed. The health care institution provided the newcomers a nursing program on psychogeriatric theory and nursing skills in the psychogeriatric field and professional oriented language skills. Courses of health prevention and theater plays accompanied the training. The knowledge learned in education could be applied in internships on the wards. Additionally, diversity and inclusivity courses were given to established personal for cultural awareness and sensitivity. They learned to develop a collegial attitude of respect and appreciation, regardless of gender, nationality, ethnicity, religion or belief, age sexual orientation, or disability and identity. The qualitative data has shown that social processes affected workforce integration, like organizational constraints, staff shortages, and a demanding workload. However, zooming in on the interactions between newcomers and residents, we noticed how they tinkered to enact good care by embodied caring, playing games, singing and dancing. By situational acting and practical wisdom in nursing care, the newcomers could meet the needs of ageing residents. Thus, when health care institutions open up nursing programs for newcomers with refugees’ backgrounds and focus on talent instead of shortcomings, we might as well stimulate the unknown competencies, attitudes, skills, and expertise of newcomers and create excellent nurses for excellent care.

Keywords: established staff, Germany, nursing, refugees

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Authors: Garry Gorman, Nigel McKelvey, James Connolly

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This study will evaluate a growth mindset intervention with Junior Cycle Coding and Senior Cycle Computer Science students in Ireland, where gamification will be used to incentivise growth mindset behaviour. An artificial intelligence (AI) driven personalised learning system will be developed to present computer programming learning tasks in a manner that is best suited to the individuals’ own learning preferences while incentivising and rewarding growth mindset behaviour of persistence, mastery response to challenge, and challenge seeking. This research endeavours to measure mindset with before and after surveys (conducted nationally) and by recording growth mindset behaviour whilst playing a digital game. This study will harness the capabilities of AI and aims to determine how a personalised learning (PL) experience can impact the mindset of a broad range of students. The focus of this study will be to determine how personalising the learning experience influences female and disadvantaged students' sense of belonging in the computer science classroom when tasks are presented in a manner that is best suited to the individual. Whole Brain Learning will underpin this research and will be used as a framework to guide the research in identifying key areas such as thinking and learning styles, cognitive potential, motivators and fears, and emotional intelligence. This research will be conducted in multiple school types over one academic year. Digital games will be played multiple times over this period, and the data gathered will be used to inform the AI algorithm. The three data sets are described as follows: (i) Before and after survey data to determine the grit scores and mindsets of the participants, (ii) The Growth Mind-Set data from the game, which will measure multiple growth mindset behaviours, such as persistence, response to challenge and use of strategy, (iii) The AI data to guide PL. This study will highlight the effectiveness of an AI-driven personalised learning experience. The data will position AI within the Irish educational landscape, with a specific focus on the teaching of CS. These findings will benefit coding and computer science teachers by providing a clear pedagogy for the effective delivery of personalised learning strategies for computer science education. This pedagogy will help prevent students from developing a fixed mindset while helping pupils to exhibit persistence of effort, use of strategy, and a mastery response to challenges.

Keywords: computer science education, artificial intelligence, growth mindset, pedagogy

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Authors: Christina Albertina Ludwinia Parung, I Gusti Ayu Maya Vratasti

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Sexual transmission of HIV among Men who have Sex with Men (MSM) is believed to be one of the sources of the AIDS epidemic. Nowadays, government, communities, and NGOs are taking action to prevent its spread by assisting and educating groups of MSM in their countries. This assistance involves experts in many fields of study, including psychology. In the field of psychology, psychoeducation is believed to be one of the ways to assist the MSM groups. Just like in other countries, this psychoeducation assistance is also needed in Indonesia, where MSM groups are found in many cities within. Surabaya, as the second largest and densely populated city in Indonesia, is known to have a big number of MSM population. In September to December 2020, the author and a colleague conducted a mentoring effort to the MSM community at the MSM community gathering location called Gang Pattaya, in the city of Surabaya. The existence of this community is disguised by the general public, but is well known by NGOs. Community members do MSM out of their liking, although some do it in exchange for money. However, safety factors, such as using condoms for MSM, are not a priority for this community. They do MSM whether they receive a reward or not, just out of a boost of pleasure. There is no attempt to find out the health of the partner once they are attracted to each other. In general, they do not know whether they are infected with HIV. Most of them feel healthy and since they do not show any symptoms, they think it is not necessary to get tested. In the mentoring process, the researchers conduct psychoeducation, which begins with an approach to certain individuals so that they are comfortable with the researchers’ presence, then increasing awareness of safe sex behavior for HIV prevention for groups in the form of counseling using the Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA) approach. Counseling is carried out in various forms including roleplay, games, and seminars. The number of participants was 11 people, varying from 19-47 years old. Pretest related to knowledge of safe sex was carried out before conducting the intervention and post-test after the intervention. The normality test used is the Shapiro-Wilk analysis. Different tests on the data obtained were carried out using the non-parametric Wilcoxon Signed Ranks Test. None of the participants had lower post-test knowledge scores than the pre-test. Prestest and post test for safer sex behavior showed 2 participants with safer sex behavior did not change. Both belong to the senior group, while other participants have an improvement in their safer sex behavior. These findings suggest that intervention programs for MSM as an effort to reduce HIV transmission should pay attention to affective and cognitive coping strategies.

Keywords: HIV, men who have sex with men, psychoeducation, psychology health, safer sex behavior, theory of reasoned action

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Authors: Mariko Hara, Mari Aoki, Takako Ito, Masao Sugita

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Social distancing measures due to the COVID-19 crisis had a severe impact on music and art practices based in community settings. They had to re-think how to connect with their dispersed community using online tools. As the social distancing continues, there is an urgent need to investigate the possibilities of online community music and art practices. Are they sustainable actions that can have positive impacts on the community and the quality of lives of people over time? The Online Lindgren Café (hereafter ‘OLC’) is a monthly online literature event which started in June 2020. In the OLC, up to 14 members meet online to discuss the works of Astrid Lindgren and similar authors. Members come from various places in Japan and Norway, with a variety of expertise from music therapy, music education, psychotherapy, music sociology, storytelling, and theatre, and their family members join them. In these meetings, music and arts activities emerged in response to interests among the members. The resources and experiences of the members helped to develop these activities further. This paper first introduces one of the music and art activities in one specific event, a collaborative picture book-making with music, which was initiated and led by the second author. The third author chose the music, and the activity itself was recorded. This is followed by the description of a reflecting event, where the recording of the collaborative picture book-making activity was shared to facilitate further creations (drawings, haiku, and fabric weaving) as well as group reflections on the trajectories of the Online Lindgren Café. Finally, we will discuss the preliminary findings using the data collected at the reflecting event. Key findings suggest that the resource-driven approach of the OLC leveled the relationships among the intergenerational, multi-cultural, and interdisciplinary members. This enabled the members to set aside their professional and/or predominant identities, which allowed them to discover their own and others’ resources. The relaxed, unstructured, and liminal phenomenon at OLC can be regarded as a form of communitas, where members gain a sense of liberation and belonging in a different way from in-person communications. Participation from one’s home, as well as a video conferencing function that allowed the members to position themselves among the other participants in equal-sized windows, seems to have enabled members to feel safe to express themselves openly at the same time feel a sense of belonging. Furthermore, in the OLC, music and arts activities acted to inclusively connect and re-connect dispersed, intergenerational members with each other. For instance, in a music and drawing activity, music acted as a means for each member to engage in their own ‘drawing space’ while still feeling connected with the others. The positive experiences from these activities inspired the members to use similar approaches outside of the OLC. The finding suggests that, because of its resource-driven approach supported by the music and arts activities, the OLC could be developed further as a permeable and sustainable action even after any current social distancing measures are lifted.

Keywords: communitas, COVID-19, musical affordances, online community of practices, resource-driven approach

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Authors: Jasmin Cowin, Amany Alkhayat

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This paper will concentrate on a comparative analysis of both the advantages and limitations of using digital learning resources (DLRs). DLRs covered will be Virtual Reality (VR), Mobile Learning (M-learning) and Computer-Assisted Language Learning (CALL) together with their subset, Mobile Assisted Language Learning (MALL) in language education. In addition, best practices for language teaching and the application of established language teaching methodologies such as Communicative Language Teaching (CLT), the audio-lingual method, or community language learning will be explored. Education has changed dramatically since the eruption of the pandemic. Traditional face-to-face education was disrupted on a global scale. The rise of distance learning brought new digital tools to the forefront, especially web conferencing tools, digital storytelling apps, test authoring tools, and VR platforms. Language educators raced to vet, learn, and implement multiple technology resources suited for language acquisition. Yet, questions remain on how to harness new technologies, digital tools, and their ubiquitous availability while using established methods and methodologies in language learning paired with best teaching practices. In M-learning language, learners employ portable computing devices such as smartphones or tablets. CALL is a language teaching approach using computers and other technologies through presenting, reinforcing, and assessing language materials to be learned or to create environments where teachers and learners can meaningfully interact. In VR, a computer-generated simulation enables learner interaction with a 3D environment via screen, smartphone, or a head mounted display. Research supports that VR for language learning is effective in terms of exploration, communication, engagement, and motivation. Students are able to relate through role play activities, interact with 3D objects and activities such as field trips. VR lends itself to group language exercises in the classroom with target language practice in an immersive, virtual environment. Students, teachers, schools, language institutes, and institutions benefit from specialized support to help them acquire second language proficiency and content knowledge that builds on their cultural and linguistic assets. Through the purposeful application of different language methodologies and teaching approaches, language learners can not only make cultural and linguistic connections in DLRs but also practice grammar drills, play memory games or flourish in authentic settings.

Keywords: language teaching methodologies, computer-assisted language learning, mobile learning, virtual reality

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Authors: María Barbaño Acevedo Gómez, Elena Sonsoles Rodríguez López, Sofía Olivia Calvo Moreno, Ángel Basas García, Christophe RamíRez Parenteau

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Introduction: Urinary incontinence (UI) is defined as the involuntary leakage of urine. In persons who practice sport, its prevalence is 36.1% (95% CI 26.5% –46.8%) and varies as it seems to depend on the intensity of exercise, movements and impact on the ground. Such high impact sports are likely to generate higher intra-abdominal pressures and leading to pelvic floor muscle weakness. Although physical exercise reduces the risk of suffering from many diseases the mentality of an elite athlete is not to optimize their health, achieving their goals can put their health at risk. Furthermore, feeling or suffering from any discomfort during training seems to be normal within the elite sport demands. Objective: The main objective of the present study was to know the effects of UI in sports performance in athletes. Methods: This was an observational study conducted in 754 elite athletes. After collecting questions about pelvic floor, UI and sport-related data, participants completed the questionnaire International Consultation on Incontinence Questionnaire-UI Short- Form (ICIQ-SF) and ISI (index of incontinence severity). Results: 48.8% of the athletes declare having losses also in rest, preseason and / or competition (χ2 [3] = 3.64; p = 0.302), being the competition period (29.1%) the most frequent where suffer from urine leakage. Of the elite athletes surveyed, 33% had UI according ICIQ-SF (mean age 23.75 ± 7.74 years). Elite athletes with UI (5.31 ± 1.07 days) dedicate significantly more days per week to training [M = 0.28; 95% CI = 0.08-0.48; t (752) = 2.78; p = 0.005] than those without UI. Regarding frequency, 59.7% lose urine once a week, 25.6% lose urine more than 3 times a week, and 14.7% daily. Based on the amount, approximately 15% claim to lose a moderate and abundant. Athletes with the highest number of urine leaks during their training, the UI affects them more in their daily life (r = 0.259; p = 0.001), they present a greater number of losses in their day to day (r = 0.341; p <0.001 ) and greater severity of UI (r = 0.341; p <0.001). Conclusions: Athletes consider that UI affects them negatively in their daily routine, 30.9% affirm having a severity between moderate and severe in their daily routine, and 29.1% loss urine in competition period. An interesting fact is that more than half of the samples collected were elite athletes who compete at the highest level (Olympic Games, World and European Championship), the dedication to sport occupies a big piece in their life. The most frequent period where athletes suffers urine leakage is in competition and there are many emotions that athletes manage to get their best performance, if we add urine losses in that moments it is possible that their performance could be affected.

Keywords: athletes, performance, prevalence, sport, training, urinary incontinence

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Authors: Vanessa Do, Lauren Smith, Leslie Carver

Abstract:

It is widely known that individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) may exhibit sensitivity to stimuli. Even at a young age, they tend to display stimuli-related discomfort in their behavior during play. Play serves a crucial role in a child’s early years as it helps support healthy brain development, socio-emotional skills, and adaptation to their environment There is research dedicated to studying infant preferences for toys, especially in regard to: gender preferences, the advantages of promoting play, and the caregiver’s role in their child’s play routines. However, there is a disproportionate amount of literature examining how play patterns may differ in children with sensory sensitivity, such as children diagnosed with ASD. Prior literature has studied and found supporting evidence that individuals with ASD have deficits in social communication and have increased presence of repetitive behaviors and/or restricted interests, which also display in early childhood play patterns. This study aims to examine potential differences in toy preference between infants with (FH+) and without (FH-) a familial history of ASD ages 6. 9, and 12 months old. More specifically, this study will address the question, “do FH+ infants tend to play more with toys that require less social engagement compared to FH- infants?” Infants and their caregivers were recruited and asked to engage in a free-play session in their homes that lasted approximately 5 minutes. The sessions were recorded and later coded offline for engagement behaviors categorized by toy; each toy that the infants interacted with was coded as belonging to one of 6 categories: sensory (designed to stimulate one or more senses such as light-up toys or musical toys) , construction (e.g., building blocks, rubber suction cups), vehicles (e.g., toy cars), instructional (require steps to accomplish a goal such as flip phones or books), imaginative (e.g., dolls, stuffed animals), and miscellaneous (toys that do not fit into these categories). Toy engagement was defined as the infant looking and touching the toy (ILT) or looking at the toy while their caregiver was holding it (IL-CT). Results reported include/will include the proportion of time the infant was actively engaged with the toy out of the total usable video time per subject — distractions observed during the session were excluded from analysis. Data collection is still ongoing; however, the prediction is that FH+ infants will have higher engagement with sensory and construction toys as they require the least amount of social effort. Furthermore, FH+ infants will have the least engagement with the imaginative toys as prior literature has supported the claim that individuals with ASD have a decreased likelihood to engage in play that requires pretend play and other social skills. Looking at what toys are more or less engaging to FH+ infants is important as it provides significant contributions to their healthy cognitive, social, and emotional development. As play is one of the first ways for a child to understand the complexities of the larger world, the findings of this study may help guide further research into encouraging play with toys that are more engaging and sensory-sensitive for children with ASD.

Keywords: autism engagement, children’s play, early development, free-play, infants, toy

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