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Authors: Amanda Kavner, Richard Lamb

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Faster growth in science and technology of other nations may make staying globally competitive more difficult without shifting focus on how science is taught in US classes. An integral part of learning science involves visual and spatial thinking since complex, and real-world phenomena are often expressed in visual, symbolic, and concrete modes. The primary barrier to spatial thinking and visual literacy in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) fields is representational competence, which includes the ability to generate, transform, analyze and explain representations, as opposed to generic spatial ability. Although the relationship is known between the foundational visual literacy and the domain-specific science literacy, science literacy as a function of science learning is still not well understood. Moreover, the need for a more reliable measure is necessary to design resources which enhance the fundamental visuospatial cognitive processes behind scientific literacy. To support the improvement of students’ representational competence, first visualization skills necessary to process these science representations needed to be identified, which necessitates the development of an instrument to quantitatively measure visual literacy. With such a measure, schools, teachers, and curriculum designers can target the individual skills necessary to improve students’ visual literacy, thereby increasing science achievement. This project details the development of an artificial neural network capable of measuring science literacy using functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy (fNIR) data. This data was previously collected by Project LENS standing for Leveraging Expertise in Neurotechnologies, a Science of Learning Collaborative Network (SL-CN) of scholars of STEM Education from three US universities (NSF award 1540888), utilizing mental rotation tasks, to assess student visual literacy. Hemodynamic response data from fNIRsoft was exported as an Excel file, with 80 of both 2D Wedge and Dash models (dash) and 3D Stick and Ball models (BL). Complexity data were in an Excel workbook separated by the participant (ID), containing information for both types of tasks. After changing strings to numbers for analysis, spreadsheets with measurement data and complexity data were uploaded to RapidMiner’s TurboPrep and merged. Using RapidMiner Studio, a Gradient Boosted Trees artificial neural network (ANN) consisting of 140 trees with a maximum depth of 7 branches was developed, and 99.7% of the ANN predictions are accurate. The ANN determined the biggest predictors to a successful mental rotation are the individual problem number, the response time and fNIR optode #16, located along the right prefrontal cortex important in processing visuospatial working memory and episodic memory retrieval; both vital for science literacy. With an unbiased measurement of science literacy provided by psychophysiological measurements with an ANN for analysis, educators and curriculum designers will be able to create targeted classroom resources to help improve student visuospatial literacy, therefore improving science literacy.

Keywords: artificial intelligence, artificial neural network, machine learning, science literacy, neuroscience

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Authors: Justin Byrne, Jose Ramon Cobo

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The growing importance of cross- or intercultural competencies (used here interchangeably) for the business and management professionals is now a commonplace in both academic and professional literature. This reflects two parallel developments. On the one hand, it is a consequence of the increased attention paid to a whole range of 'soft skills', now seen as fundamental in both individuals' and corporate success. On the other hand, and more specifically, the increasing demand for interculturally competent professionals is a corollary of ongoing processes of globalization, which multiply and intensify encounters between individuals and companies from different cultural backgrounds. Business schools have, for some decades, responded to the needs of the job market and their own students by providing students with training in intercultural skills, as they are encouraged to do so by the major accreditation agencies on both sides of the Atlantic. Adapting Early and Ang's (2003) formulation of Cultural Intelligence (CQ), this paper aims to help fill the lagunae in the current literature on intercultural training in three main ways. First, it offers an in-depth analysis of the CQ of a little studied group: contemporary Millenial and 'Generation Z' Business School students. The level of analysis distinguishes between the four different dimensions of CQ, cognition, metacognition, motivation and behaviour, and thereby provides a detailed picture of the strengths and weaknesses in CQ of the group as a whole, as well as of different sub-groups and profiles of students. Secondly, by crossing these individual-level findings with respondents' socio-cultural and educational data, this paper also proposes and tests hypotheses regarding the relative impact and importance of four possible antecedents of intercultural skills identified in the literature: prior international experience; intercultural training, foreign language proficiency, and experience of cultural diversity in habitual country of residence. Third, we use this analysis to suggest data-based intercultural training priorities for today's management students. These conclusions are based on the statistical analysis of individual responses of some 300 Bachelor or Masters students in a major European Business School provided to two on-line surveys: Ang, Van Dyne, et al's (2007) standard 20-question self-reporting CQ Scale, and an original questionnaire designed by the authors to collate information on respondent's socio-demographic and educational profile relevant to our four hypotheses and explanatory variables. The data from both instruments was crossed in both descriptive statistical analysis and regression analysis. This research shows that there is no statistically significant and positive relationship between the four antecedents analyzed and overall CQ level. The exception in this respect is the statistically significant correlation between international experience, and the cognitive dimension of CQ. In contrast, the results show that the combination of international experience and foreign language skills acting together, does have a strong overall impact on CQ levels. These results suggest that selecting and/or training students with strong foreign language skills and providing them with international experience (through multinational programmes, academic exchanges or international internships) constitutes one effective way of training culturally intelligent managers of tomorrow.

Keywords: business school, cultural intelligence, millennial, training

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Authors: Matthias Haenisch, Marc Godau, Julia Barreiro, Dominik Maxelon

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In times of ubiquitous digitalization and the increasing entanglement of humans and technologies in musical practices in the 21st century, it is to be asked, how popular musicians learn in the (post)digital Age. Against the backdrop of the increasing interest in transferring informal learning practices into formal settings of music education the interdisciplinary research association »MusCoDA – Musical Communities in the (Post)Digital Age« (University of Erfurt/University of Applied Sciences Clara Hoffbauer Potsdam, funded by the German Ministry of Education and Research, pursues the goal to derive an empirical model of collective songwriting practices from the study of informal lelearningf songwriters and bands that can be translated into pedagogical concepts for music education in schools. Drawing on concepts from Community of Musical Practice and Actor Network Theory, lelearnings considered not only as social practice and as participation in online and offline communities, but also as an effect of heterogeneous networks composed of human and non-human actors. Learning is not seen as an individual, cognitive process, but as the formation and transformation of actor networks, i.e., as a practice of assembling and mediating humans and technologies. Based on video stimulated recall interviews and videography of online and offline activities, songwriting practices are followed from the initial idea to different forms of performance and distribution. The data evaluation combines coding and mapping methods of Grounded Theory Methodology and Situational Analysis. This results in network maps in which both the temporality of creative practices and the material and spatial relations of human and technological actors are reconstructed. In addition, positional analyses document the power relations between the participants that structure the learning process of the field. In the area of online informal lelearninginitial key research findings reveal a transformation of the learning subject through the specific technological affordances of TikTok and Instagram and the accompanying changes in the learning practices of the corresponding online communities. Learning is explicitly shaped by the material agency of online tools and features and the social practices entangled with these technologies. Thus, any human online community member can be invited to directly intervene in creative decisions that contribute to the further compositional and structural development of songs. At the same time, participants can provide each other with intimate insights into songwriting processes in progress and have the opportunity to perform together with strangers and idols. Online Lelearnings characterized by an increase in social proximity, distribution of creative agency and informational exchange between participants. While it seems obvious that traditional notions not only of lelearningut also of the learning subject cannot be maintained, the question arises, how exactly the observed informal learning practices and the subject that emerges from the use of social media as online learning technologies can be transferred into contexts of formal learning

Keywords: informal learning, postdigitality, songwriting, actor-network theory, community of musical practice, social media, TikTok, Instagram, apps

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Authors: Lia Mania, Ketevan Nanobashvili

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Background: The coronavirus disease COVID-19 has become the cause of a global health crisis during the current pandemic. This study aims to fill the paucity of epidemiological studies on the impact of COVID-19 on the oral health of pediatric populations. Methods: It was conducted an observational, cross-sectional study in Georgia, in Tbilisi (capital of Georgia), among 7 to 12-year-old PCR or rapid test-confirmed post-Covid populations in all districts of Tbilisi (10 districts in total). 332 beneficiaries who were infected with Covid within one year were included in the study. The population was selected in schools of Tbilisi according to the principle of cluster selection. A simple random selection took place in the selected clusters. According to this principle, an equal number of beneficiaries were selected in all districts of Tbilisi. By July 1, 2022, according to National Center for Disease Control and Public Health data (NCDC.Ge), the number of test-confirmed cases in the population aged 0-18 in Tbilisi was 115137 children (17.7% of all confirmed cases). The number of patients to be examined was determined by the sample size. Oral screening, microbiological examination of saliva, and administration of oral health questionnaires to guardians were performed. Statistical processing of data was done with SPSS-23. Risk factors were estimated by odds ratio and logistic regression with 95% confidence interval. Results: Statistically reliable differences between the averages of oral health indicators in asymptomatic and symptomatic covid-infected groups are: for caries intensity (DMF+def) t=4.468 and p=0.000, for modified gingival index (MGI) t=3.048, p=0.002, for simplified oral hygiene index (S-OHI) t=4.853; p=0.000. Symptomatic covid-infection has a reliable effect on the oral microbiome (Staphylococcus aureus, Candida albicans, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Streptococcus pneumoniae, Staphylococcus epidermalis); (n=332; 77.3% vs n=332; 58.0%; OR=2.46, 95%CI: 1.318-4.617). According to the logistic regression, it was found that the severity of the covid infection has a significant effect on the frequency of pathogenic and conditionally pathogenic bacteria in the oral cavity B=0.903 AOR=2.467 (CL 1.318-4.617). Symptomatic covid-infection affects oral health indicators, regardless of the presence of other risk factors, such as parental employment status, tooth brushing behaviors, carbohydrate meal, fruit consumption. (p<0.05). Conclusion: Risk factors (parental employment status, tooth brushing behaviors, carbohydrate consumption) were associated with poorer oral health status in a post-Covid population of 7- to 12-year-old children. However, such a risk factor as symptomatic ongoing covid-infection affected the oral microbiome in terms of the abundant growth of pathogenic and conditionally pathogenic bacteria (Staphylococcus aureus, Candida albicans, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Streptococcus pneumoniae, Staphylococcus epidermalis) and further worsened oral health indicators. Thus, a close association was established between symptomatic covid-infection and microbiome changes in the post-covid period; also - between the variables of oral health indicators and the symptomatic course of covid-infection.

Keywords: oral microbiome, COVID-19, population based research, oral health indicators

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Authors: Maisam Rafiee, Chikashi Deguchi, Akio Odake, Minoru Matsui, Takanori Sata

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Cities in Afghanistan have been rapidly urbanized; however, many parts of these cities have been developed with no detailed land use plan or infrastructure. In other words, they have been informally developed without any government leadership. The new government started the In-situ Upgrading Project in Kabul to upgrade roads, the water supply network system, and the surface water drainage system on the existing street layout in 2002, with the financial support of international agencies. This project is an appropriate emergency improvement for living life, but not an essential improvement of living conditions and infrastructure problems because the life expectancies of the improved facilities are as short as 10–15 years, and residents cannot obtain land tenure in the unplanned areas. The Land Readjustment System (LRS) conducted in Japan has good advantages that rearrange irregularly shaped land lots and develop the infrastructure effectively. This study investigates the effects of the In-situ Upgrading Project on private investment, land prices, and residents’ satisfaction with projects in Kart-e-Char, where properties are registered, and in Afshar-e-Silo Lot 1, where properties are unregistered. These projects are located 5 km and 7 km from the CBD area of Kabul, respectively. This study discusses whether LRS should be applied to the unplanned area based on the questionnaire and interview responses of experts experienced in the In-situ Upgrading Project who have knowledge of LRS. The analysis results reveal that, in Kart-e-Char, a lot of private investment has been made in the construction of medium-rise (five- to nine-story) buildings for commercial and residential purposes. Land values have also incrementally increased since the project, and residents are commonly satisfied with the road pavement, drainage systems, and water supplies, but dissatisfied with the poor delivery of electricity as well as the lack of public facilities (e.g., parks and sport facilities). In Afshar-e-Silo Lot 1, basic infrastructures like paved roads and surface water drainage systems have improved from the project. After the project, a few four- and five-story residential buildings were built with very low-level private investments, but significant increases in land prices were not evident. The residents are satisfied with the contribution ratio, drainage system, and small increase in land price, but there is still no drinking water supply system or tenure security; moreover, there are substandard paved roads and a lack of public facilities, such as parks, sport facilities, mosques, and schools. The results of the questionnaire and interviews with the four engineers highlight the problems that remain to be solved in the unplanned areas if LRS is applied—namely, land use differences, types and conditions of the infrastructure still to be installed by the project, and time spent for positive consensus building among the residents, given the project’s budget limitation.

Keywords: in-situ upgrading, Kabul city, land readjustment, land value, planned area, private investment, residents' satisfaction, unplanned area

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Authors: Thea Werkhoven, Wayne Cotton

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Adult and childhood rates of obesity in Australia are health concerns of high national priority, retaining epidemic status in the populations affected. Attempts to prevent further increases in prevalence of childhood obesity in the population aged below eighteen years have had varied success. A multidisciplinary approach has been used, employing strategies in schools, through established health care system usage and public health campaigns. Over the last decade a plateau in prevalence has been reached in the youth population afflicted by obesity and interest has peaked in school based strategies to prevent and treat overweight and obesity. Of interest to this study is the importance of the tertiary training of future health educators or health professionals destined to be involved in obesity prevention and treatment strategies. Health educators and health professionals are considered instrumental to the success of prevention and treatment strategies, required to possess sufficient and accurate knowledge in order to be effective in their positions. A common influence on the success of school based health promoting activities are the weight based attitudes possessed by health educators, known to be negative and biased towards overweight or obese children during training and practice. Whilst the tertiary training of future health professionals includes minimal nutrition education, there is no mandatory training in health education or nutrition for pre-service health educators in Australian tertiary institutions. This study aimed to assess the impact of a pedagogical intervention on pre-service health educators and health professionals enrolled in a health and wellbeing elective. The intervention aimed to increase nutrition knowledge and decrease weight bias and was embedded in the twelve week elective. Participants (n=98) were tertiary students at a major Australian University who were enrolled in health (47%) and non-health related degrees (53%). A quantitative survey using four valid and reliable instruments was conducted to measured nutrition knowledge, antifat attitudes and weight stereotyping attitudes at baseline and post-intervention. Scores on each instrument were compared between time points to check if they had significantly changed and to determine the effect of the intervention on attitudes and knowledge. Antifat attitudes at baseline were considered low and decreased further over the course of the intervention. Scores representing weight bias did decrease but the change was not significant. Fat stereotyping attitudes became stronger over the course of the intervention and this change was significant. Nutrition knowledge significantly improved from baseline to post-intervention. The design of the nutrition knowledge and attitude amelioration content of the intervention was semi-successful in achieving its outcomes. While the level of nutrition knowledge was improved over the course of the intervention, an unintentional increase was observed in weight based prejudice which is known to occur in interventions that employ stigma reduction methodologies. Further research is required into a structured methodology that increases level of nutrition knowledge and ameliorates weight bias at the tertiary level. In this way training provided would help prepare future health educators with the knowledge, skills and attitudes required to be effective and bias free in their practice.

Keywords: education, intervention, nutrition, obesity

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Authors: S. C. Lin, M. S. Wu

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Japanese Scholar Manabu Sato has been advocating the Learning Community, which changed Japanese fundamental education during the last three decades. It was also called a “Quiet Revolution.” Manabu Sato criticized that traditional education only focused on individual competition, exams, teacher-centered instruction, and memorization. The students lacked leaning motivation. Therefore, Manabu Sato proclaimed that learning should be a sustainable process of “constantly weaving the relationship and the meanings” by having dialogues with learning materials, with peers, and with oneself. For a long time, secondary school education in Taiwan has been focused on exams and emphasized reciting and memorizing. The incident of “giving up learning” happened to some students. Manabu Sato’s learning community program has been implemented very successfully in Japan. It is worth exploring if learning community can resolve the issue of “Escape from learning” phenomenon among secondary school students in Taiwan. This study was the first year of a two-year project. This project applied a program theory-driven approach to evaluating the impact of teachers’ professional development interventions on students’ learning by using a mix of methods, qualitative inquiry, and quasi-experimental design. The current study was to show the results of using the method of theory-driven approach to program planning to design and evaluate a teachers’ professional development program (TPDP). The Manabu Sato’s learning community theory was applied to structure all components of a 54-hour workshop. The participants consisted of seven secondary school science teachers from two schools. The research procedure was comprised of: 1) Defining the problem and assessing participants’ needs; 2) Selecting the Theoretical Framework; 3) Determining theory-based goals and objectives; 4) Designing the TPDP intervention; 5) Implementing the TPDP intervention; 6) Evaluating the TPDP intervention. Data was collected from a number of different sources, including TPDP checklist, activity responses of workshop, LC subject matter test, teachers’ e-portfolio, course design documents, and teachers’ belief survey. The major findings indicated that program design was suitable to participants. More than 70% of the participants were satisfied with program implementation. They revealed that TPDP was beneficial to their instruction and promoted their professional capacities. However, due to heavy teaching loadings during the project some participants were unable to attend all workshops. To resolve this problem, the author provided options to them by watching DVD or reading articles offered by the research team. This study also established a communication platform for participants to share their thoughts and learning experiences. The TPDP had marked impacts on participants’ teaching beliefs. They believe that learning should be a sustainable process of “constantly weaving the relationship and the meanings” by having dialogues with learning materials, with peers, and with oneself. Having learned from TPDP, they applied a “learner-centered” approach and instructional strategies to design their courses, such as learning by doing, collaborative learning, and reflective learning. To conclude, participants’ beliefs, knowledge, and skills were promoted by the program instructions.

Keywords: program theory-driven approach, learning community, teacher professional development program, program evaluation

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Authors: O. O. Oku, K. S. Jerry-Alagbaoso

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It is universally acknowledged that the primary function of universities is the generation and dissemination of knowledge. This mission is pursued through the research component of the university programme especially at the post-graduate level. The senior academic staff teach, supervise and provide general academic leadership to post-graduate students who are expected to carry out research leading to the presentation of dissertation as requirement for the award of doctoral degree in their various disciplines. Carrying out the research enterprises involves a lot of corroboration among individuals and communities. The need to safeguard the interest of everyone involved in the enterprise makes the development of ethical standard in research imperative. Ensuring the development and effective application of such ethical standard falls within the leadership role of the vice –chancellors, Deans of post-graduate schools/ faculties, Heads of Departments and supervisors. It is the relevance and application of such ethical standard in Nigerian university research efforts that this study discussed. The study adopted the descriptive research design. A researcher-made 4 point rating scale was used to elicit information from the post-graduate dissertation supervisors sampled from one university each from the six geo-political zones in Nigeria using the purposive sampling technique. The data collected was analysed using the mean score and standard deviation. The findings of the study include among others that there are several cases of unethical practices by Ph.D dissertation students in Nigerian universities. Prominent among these include duplicating research topics, making unauthorized copies of data paper or computer programme, failing to acknowledge contributions of relevant people and authors, rigging an experiment to prempt the result among others. Some of the causes of the unethical practices according to the respondents include inadequate funding of universities resulting in inadequate remuneration for university teachers, inadequacy of equipment and infrastructures, poor supervision of Ph.D students,’ poverty on the side of the student researchers and non-application of sanctions on violators. Improved funding of the Nigerian universities system with emphasis on both staff and student research efforts, admitting academic oriented students into the Ph.D programme and ensuring the application of appropriate sanctions in cases of unethical conduct in research featured prominently in the needed leadership imperatives. Based on the findings of the study, the researchers recommend the development of university research policies that is closely tied to each university’s strategic plan. Such plan should explain the research focus that will attract more funding and direct students interest towards it without violating the principle of academic freedom. The plan should also incorporate the establishment of a research administration office to provide the necessary link between the students and funding agencies and also organise training for supervisors on leadership activities expected of them while educating students on the processes involved in carrying out a qualitative and acceptable research study. Such exercise should include the ethical principles and guidelines that comprise all parts of research from research topic through the literature review to the design and the truthful reporting of results.

Keywords: academic leadership, ethical standards, research stakeholders, research enterprise

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Authors: Ram Chandra Sah

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Few years back, naturally a very beautiful country Nepal was facing a lot of problems related to the practice of open defecation (having no toilet) by almost 98% people of the country. Now, the scenario is changed. Government of Nepal set the target of achieving the situation of basic level sanitation (toilets) facilities by 2017 AD for which the Sanitation and Hygiene Master Plan (SHMP) was brought in 2011 AD with the major beauty as institutional set up formation, local formal authority leadership, locally formulated strategic plan; partnership, harmonized and coordinated approach to working; no subsidy or support at a blanket level, community and local institutions or organizations mobilization approaches. Now, the Open Defecation Free (ODF) movement in the country is at a full swing. The Sanitation and Hygiene Master Plan (SHMP) has clearly defined Total Sanitation which is accepted to be achieved if all the households of the related boundary have achieved the 6 indicators such as the access and regular use of toilet(s), regular use of soap and water at the critical moments, regular practice of use of food hygiene behavior, regular practice of use of water hygiene behavior including household level purification of locally available drinking water, maintenance of regular personal hygiene with household level waste management and the availability of the state of overall clean environment at the concerned level of boundary. Nepal has 3158 Village Development Committees (VDC's) in the rural areas. Amarapuri VDC was selected for the purpose of achieving Total Sanitation. Based on the SHMP; different methodologies such as updating of Village Water Sanitation and Hygiene Coordination Committee (V-WASH-CC), Total Sanitation team formation including one volunteer for each indicator, campaigning through settlement meetings, midterm evaluation which revealed the need of ward level 45 (5 for all 9 wards) additional volunteers, ward wise awareness creation with the help of the volunteers, informative notice boards and hoarding boards with related messages at important locations, management of separate waste disposal rings for decomposable and non-decomposable wastes, related messages dissemination through different types of local cultural programs, public toilets construction and management by community level; mobilization of local schools, offices and health posts; reward and recognition to contributors etc. were adopted for achieving 100 % coverage of each indicator. The VDC was in a very worse situation in 2010 with just 50, 30, 60, 60, 40, 30 percent coverage of the respective indicators and became the first VDC of the country declared with Total Sanitation. The expected result of 100 percent coverage of all the indicators was achieved in 2 years 10 months and 19 days. Experiences of Amarapuri were replicated successfully in different parts of the country and many VDC's have been declared with the achievement of Total Sanitation. Thus, Community Mobilized Total Sanitation Movement in Nepal has supported a lot for achieving a Total Sanitation situation of the country with a minimal cost and it is believed that the approach can be very useful for other developing or under developed countries of the world.

Keywords: community mobilized, open defecation free, sanitation and hygiene master plan, total sanitation

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Authors: Huijing Wen, Daibao Guo

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Writing is thought to be the most complex facet of language arts. Assessing writing is difficult and subjective, and there are few scientifically validated assessments exist. Research has proposed evaluating writing using a multidimensional approach, including both qualitative and quantitative measures of handwriting, spelling and prose. Given that narrative writing has historically been a staple of literacy instruction in primary grades and is one of the three major genres Common Core State Standards required students to acquire starting in kindergarten, it is essential for teachers to understand how to measure beginning writers writing development and sources of writing difficulties through narrative writing. Guided by the theoretical models of early written expression and using empirical data, this study examines ways teachers can enact a comprehensive approach to understanding beginning writer’s narrative writing through three writing rubrics developed for a Curriculum-based Measurement (CBM). The goal is to help classroom teachers structure a framework for assessing early writing in primary classrooms. Participants in this study included 380 first-grade students from 50 classrooms in 13 schools in three school districts in a Mid-Atlantic state. Three writing tests were used to assess first graders’ writing skills in relation to both transcription (i.e., handwriting fluency and spelling tests) and translational skills (i.e., a narrative prompt). First graders were asked to respond to a narrative prompt in 20 minutes. Grounded in theoretical models of earlier expression and empirical evidence of key contributors to early writing, all written samples to the narrative prompt were coded three ways for different dimensions of writing: length, quality, and genre elements. To measure the quality of the narrative writing, a traditional holistic rating rubric was developed by the researchers based on the CCSS and the general traits of good writing. Students' genre knowledge was measured by using a separate analytic rubric for narrative writing. Findings showed that first-graders had emerging and limited transcriptional and translational skills with a nascent knowledge of genre conventions. The findings of the study provided support for the Not-So-Simple View of Writing in that fluent written expression, measured by length and other important linguistic resources measured by the overall quality and genre knowledge rubrics, are fundamental in early writing development. Our study echoed previous research findings on children's narrative development. The study has practical classroom application as it informs writing instruction and assessment. It offered practical guidelines for classroom instruction by providing teachers with a better understanding of first graders' narrative writing skills and knowledge of genre conventions. Understanding students’ narrative writing provides teachers with more insights into specific strategies students might use during writing and their understanding of good narrative writing. Additionally, it is important for teachers to differentiate writing instruction given the individual differences shown by our multiple writing measures. Overall, the study shed light on beginning writers’ narrative writing, indicating the complexity of early writing development.

Keywords: writing assessment, early writing, beginning writers, transcriptional skills, translational skills, primary grades, simple view of writing, writing rubrics, curriculum-based measurement

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Authors: Toufic Sarieddine

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The current debate on the hegemonic impact of China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is of two opposing strands: Resilient and absolute US hegemony on the one hand and various models of multipolar hegemony such as bifurcation on the other. Bifurcation theories illustrate an unprecedented division of hegemonic functions between China and the US, whereby Beijing becomes the world’s economic hegemon, leaving Washington the world’s military hegemon and security guarantor. While consensus points to China being the main driver of unipolarity’s rupturing, the debate among bifurcationists is on the location of the first rupture. In this regard, the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region has seen increasing Chinese foreign direct investment in recent years while that to other regions has declined, ranking it second in 2018 as part of the financing for the Maritime Silk Road Initiative (MSRI). China has also become the top trade partner of 11 states in the MENA region, as well as its top source of machine imports, surpassing the US and achieving an overall trade surplus almost double that of Washington’s. These are among other features outlined in world-systems analysis (WSA) literature which correspond with the emergence of a new hegemon. WSA is further utilized to gauge other facets of China’s increasing involvement in MENA and assess whether bifurcation is unfolding therein. These features of hegemony include the adoption of China’s modi operandi, economic dominance in production, trade, and finance, military capacity, cultural hegemony in ideology, education, and language, and the promotion of a general interest around which to rally potential peripheries (MENA states in this case). China’s modi operandi has seen some adoption with regards to support against the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, oil bonds denominated in the yuan, and financial institutions such as the Shanghai Gold Exchange enjoying increasing Arab patronage. However, recent elections in Qatar, as well as liberal reforms in Saudi Arabia, demonstrate Washington’s stronger normative influence. Meanwhile, Washington’s economic dominance is challenged by China’s sizable machine exports, increasing overall imports, and widening trade surplus, but retains some clout via dominant arms and transport exports, as well as free-trade deals across the region. Militarily, Washington bests Beijing’s arms exports, has a dominant and well-established presence in the region, and successfully blocked Beijing’s attempt to penetrate through the UAE. Culturally, Beijing enjoys higher favorability in Arab public opinion, and its broadcast networks have found some resonance with Arab audiences. In education, the West remains MENA students’ preferred destination. Further, while Mandarin has become increasingly available in schools across MENA, its usage and availability still lag far behind English. Finally, Beijing’s general interest in infrastructure provision and prioritizing economic development over social justice and democracy provides an avenue for increased incorporation between Beijing and the MENA region. The overall analysis shows solid progress towards bifurcation in MENA.

Keywords: belt and road initiative, hegemony, Middle East and North Africa, world-systems analysis

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Authors: Alfredo Fortunato, Carmelofrancesco Origlia, Sara Laurita, Rossella Nicoletti

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In the post-pandemic recovery phase of tourism, the role of a Destination Management Organization (DMO) as a coordinated management system of all the elements that make up a destination (attractions, access, marketing, human resources, brand, pricing, etc.) is also becoming relevant for local territories. The objective of a DMO is to maximize the visitor's perception of value and quality while ensuring the competitiveness and sustainability of the destination, as well as the long-term preservation of its natural and cultural assets, and to catalyze benefits for the local economy and residents. In carrying out the multiple functions to which it is called, the DMO can leverage a collective intelligence that comes from the ability to pool information, explicit and tacit knowledge, and relationships of the various stakeholders: policymakers, public managers and officials, entrepreneurs in the tourism supply chain, researchers, data journalists, schools, associations and committees, citizens, etc. The DMO potentially has at its disposal large volumes of data and many of them at low cost, that need to be properly processed to produce value. Based on these assumptions, the paper presents a conceptual framework for building an information system to support the DMO in the intelligent management of a tourist destination tested in an area of southern Italy. The approach adopted is data-informed and consists of four phases: (1) formulation of the knowledge problem (analysis of policy documents and industry reports; focus groups and co-design with stakeholders; definition of information needs and key questions); (2) research and metadatation of relevant sources (reconnaissance of official sources, administrative archives and internal DMO sources); (3) gap analysis and identification of unconventional information sources (evaluation of traditional sources with respect to the level of consistency with information needs, the freshness of information and granularity of data; enrichment of the information base by identifying and studying web sources such as Wikipedia, Google Trends, Booking.com, Tripadvisor, websites of accommodation facilities and online newspapers); (4) definition of the set of indicators and construction of the information base (specific definition of indicators and procedures for data acquisition, transformation, and analysis). The framework derived consists of 6 thematic areas (accommodation supply, cultural heritage, flows, value, sustainability, and enabling factors), each of which is divided into three domains that gather a specific information need to be represented by a scheme of questions to be answered through the analysis of available indicators. The framework is characterized by a high degree of flexibility in the European context, given that it can be customized for each destination by adapting the part related to internal sources. Application to the case study led to the creation of a decision support system that allows: •integration of data from heterogeneous sources, including through the execution of automated web crawling procedures for data ingestion of social and web information; •reading and interpretation of data and metadata through guided navigation paths in the key of digital story-telling; •implementation of complex analysis capabilities through the use of data mining algorithms such as for the prediction of tourist flows.

Keywords: collective intelligence, data framework, destination management, smart tourism

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Authors: E. Mas de les Valls, M. Castells-Sanabra, R. Capdevila, N. Pla, Rosa M. Fernandez-Canti, V. de Medina, A. Mujal, C. Barahona, E. Velo, M. Vigo, M. A. Santos, T. Soto

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Absenteeism in universities, including polytechnical universities, is influenced by a variety of factors. Some factors overlap with those causing absenteeism in schools, while others are specific to the university and work-related environments. Indeed, these factors may stem from various sources, including students, educators, the institution itself, or even the alignment of degree curricula with professional requirements. In Spain, there has been an increase in absenteeism in polytechnical university studies, especially after the Covid crisis, posing a significant challenge for institutions to address. This study focuses on Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya• BarcelonaTech (UPC) and aims to quantify the current level of absenteeism and identify its main causes. The study is part of the teaching innovation project ASAP-UPC, which aims to minimize absenteeism through the redesign of teaching methodologies. By understanding the factors contributing to absenteeism, the study seeks to inform the subsequent phases of the ASAP-UPC project, which involve implementing methodologies to minimize absenteeism and evaluating their effectiveness. The study utilizes surveys conducted among students and polytechnical companies. Students' perspectives are gathered through both online surveys and in-person interviews. The surveys inquire about students' interest in attending classes, skill development throughout their UPC experience, and their perception of the skills required for a career in a polytechnical field. Additionally, polytechnical companies are surveyed regarding the skills they seek in prospective employees. The collected data is then analyzed to identify patterns and trends. This analysis involves organizing and categorizing the data, identifying common themes, and drawing conclusions based on the findings. This mixed-method approach has revealed that higher levels of absenteeism are observed in large student groups at both the Bachelor's and Master's degree levels. However, the main causes of absenteeism differ between these two levels. At the Bachelor's level, many students express dissatisfaction with in-person classes, perceiving them as overly theoretical and lacking a balance between theory, experimental practice, and problem-solving components. They also find a lack of relevance to professional needs. Consequently, they resort to using online available materials developed during the Covid crisis and attending private academies for exam preparation instead. On the other hand, at the Master's level, absenteeism primarily arises from schedule incompatibility between university and professional work. There is a discrepancy between the skills highly valued by companies and the skills emphasized during the studies, aligning partially with students' perceptions. These findings are of theoretical importance as they shed light on areas that can be improved to offer a more beneficial educational experience to students at UPC. The study also has potential applicability to other polytechnic universities, allowing them to adapt the surveys and apply the findings to their specific contexts. By addressing the identified causes of absenteeism, universities can enhance the educational experience and better prepare students for successful careers in polytechnical fields.

Keywords: absenteeism, polytechnical studies, professional skills, university challenges

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Authors: Juliane Toce, Steven Holochwost

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A substantial and growing literature has demonstrated that arts education benefits young children’s socioemotional and cognitive development. Less is known about the capacity of arts-integrated instruction to yield benefits to similar domains, particularly among demographically and socioeconomically diverse groups of young children. However, the small literature on this topic suggests that arts-integrated instruction may foster young children’s socioemotional and cognitive development by presenting opportunities to 1) engage in instructional content in diverse ways, 2) experience and regulate strong emotions, 3) experience growth-oriented feedback, and 4) engage in collaborative work with peers. Start with the Art is a new program of arts-integrated instruction currently being implemented in four schools in a school district that serves students from a diverse range of backgrounds. The program employs a co-teaching model in which teaching artists and classroom teachers engage in collaborative lesson planning and instruction over the course of the academic year and is currently the focus of an impact study featuring a randomized-control design, as well as an implementation study, both of which are funded through an Educational Innovation and Research grant from the United States Department of Education. The paper will present the early results from the Start with the Art implementation study. These results will provide an overview of the extent to which the program was implemented in accordance with design, with a particular emphasis on the degree to which the four opportunities enumerated above (e.g., opportunities to engage in instructional content in diverse ways) were presented to students. There will be a review key factors that may influence the fidelity of implementation, including classroom teachers’ reception of the program and the extent to which extant conditions in the classroom (e.g., the overall level of classroom organization) may have impacted implementation fidelity. With the explicit purpose of creating a program that values and meets the needs of the teachers and students, Start with the Art incorporates the feedback from individuals participating in the intervention. Tracing its trajectory from inception to ongoing development and examining the adaptive changes made in response to teachers' transformative experiences in the post-pandemic classroom, Start with the Art continues to solicit input from experts in integrating artistic content into core curricula within educational settings catering to students from under-represented backgrounds in the arts. Leveraging the input from this rich consortium of experts has allowed for a comprehensive evaluation of the program’s implementation. The early findings derived from the implementation study emphasize the potential of arts-integrated instruction to incorporate restorative practices. Such practices serve as a crucial support system for both students and educators, providing avenues for children to express themselves, heal emotionally, and foster social development, while empowering teachers to create more empathetic, inclusive, and supportive learning environments. This all-encompassing analysis spotlights Start with the Art’s adaptability to any learning environment through the program’s effectiveness, resilience, and its capacity to transform - through art - the classroom experience within the ever-evolving landscape of education.

Keywords: arts-integration, social emotional learning, diverse learners, co-teaching, teaching artists, post-pandemic teaching

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Authors: Michelle E. Taylor, Clare E. Morrall

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Microplastics are small particles produced for industrial purposes or formed by breakdown of anthropogenic debris. Caribbean nations import large quantities of plastic products. The Caribbean region is vulnerable to natural disasters and Climate Change is predicted to bring multiple additional challenges to island nations. Microplastics have been found in an array of marine environments and in a diversity of marine species. Occurrence of microplastic in the intestinal tracts of marine fish is a concern to human and ecosystem health as pollutants and pathogens can associate with plastics. Studies have shown that the incidence of microplastics in marine fish varies with species and location. Prevalence of microplastics (≤ 5 mm) in fish species from Grenadian waters (representing pelagic, semi-pelagic and demersal lifestyles) harvested for human consumption have been investigated via gut analysis. Harvested tissue was digested in 10% KOH and particles retained on a 0.177 mm sieve were examined. Microplastics identified have been classified according to type, colour and size. Over 97% of fish examined thus far (n=34) contained microplastics. Current and future work includes examining the invasive Lionfish (Pterois spp.) for microplastics, investigating marine invertebrate species as well as examining environmental sources of microplastics (i.e. rivers, coastal waters and sand). Owing to concerns of pollutant accumulation on microplastics and potential migration into organismal tissues, we plan to analyse fish tissue for mercury and other persistent pollutants. Despite having ~110,000 inhabitants, the island nation of Grenada imported approximately 33 million plastic bottles in 2013, of which it is estimated less than 5% were recycled. Over 30% of the imported bottles were ‘unmanaged’, and as such are potential litter/marine debris. A revised Litter Abatement Act passed into law in Grenada in 2015, but little enforcement of the law is evident to date. A local Non-governmental organization (NGO) ‘The Grenada Green Group’ (G3) is focused on reducing litter in Grenada through lobbying government to implement the revised act and running sessions in schools, community groups and on local media and social media to raise awareness of the problems associated with plastics. A local private company has indicated willingness to support an Anti-Litter Campaign in 2018 and local awareness of the need for a reduction of single use plastic use and litter seems to be high. The Government of Grenada have called for a Sustainable Waste Management Strategy and a ban on both Styrofoam and plastic grocery bags are among recommendations recently submitted. A Styrofoam ban will be in place at the St. George’s University campus from January 1st, 2018 and many local businesses have already voluntarily moved away from Styrofoam. Our findings underscore the importance of continuing investigations into microplastics in marine life; this will contribute to understanding the associated health risks. Furthermore, our findings support action to mitigate the volume of plastics entering the world’s oceans. We hope that Grenada’s future will involve a lot less plastic. This research was supported by the Caribbean Node of the Global Partnership on Marine Litter.

Keywords: Caribbean, microplastics, pollution, small island developing nation

Procedia PDF Downloads 211

Authors: Nitin Bhagat

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Drought is a global phenomenon. It has a huge impact on agriculture and allied sector activities. Agriculture plays a substantial role in the economy of developing countries, which mainly depends on rainfall. The present study illustrates the drought conditions in Masurdi village of Latur district in the Marathwada region, Maharashtra. This paper is based on both primary as well as secondary data sources. The multistage sample method was used for primary data collection. The 100 households sample survey data has been collected from the village through a semi-structured questionnaire. The crop production data is collected from the Department of Agriculture, Government of Maharashtra. The rainfall data is obtained from the Department of Revenue, Office of Divisional Commissioner, Aurangabad for the period from 1988 to 2018. This paper examines the severity of drought consequences of the 2015 drought on domestic water supply, crop production, and the effect on children's schooling, livestock assets, bank credit, and migration. The study also analyzed climate variables' impact on the Latur district's total food grain production for 19 years from 2000 to 2018. This study applied multiple regression analysis to check the relationship between climatic variables and the Latur district's total food grain production. The climate variables are annual rainfall, maximum temperature and minimum temperature. The study considered that climatic variables are independent variables and total food grain as the dependent variable. It shows there is a significant relationship between rainfall and maximum temperature. The study also calculated rainfall deviations to find out the drought and normal years. According to drought manual 2016, the rainfall deviation calculated using the following formula. RF dev = {(RFi – RFn) / RFn}*100.Approximately 27.43 % of the workforce migrated from rural to urban areas for searching jobs, and crop production decreased tremendously due to inadequate rainfall in the drought year 2015. Many farm and non-farm labor, some marginal and small cultivators, migrated from rural to urban areas (like Pune, Mumbai, and Western Maharashtra).About 48 % of the households' children faced education difficulties; in the drought period, children were not going to school. They left their school and joined to bring water with their mother and fathers, sometimes they fetched water on their head or using a bicycle, near about 2 km from the village. In their school-going days, drinking water was not available in their schools, so the government declared holidays early in the academic education year 2015-16 compared to another academic year. Some college and 10th class students left their education due to financial problems. Many households benefited from state government schemes, like drought subsidies, crop insurance, and bank loans. Out of 100 households, about 50 (50 %) have obtained financial support from the state government’s subsidy scheme, 58 ( 58 %) have got crop insurance, and 41(41 %) irrigated households have got bank loans from national banks; besides that, only two families have obtained loans from their relatives and moneylenders.

Keywords: agriculture, drought, household, rainfall

Procedia PDF Downloads 175

Authors: Purna Bahadur Lamichhane

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Education planning and management are foundational pillars for developing effective educational systems. However, in many educational contexts, especially in developing nations, technology-enabled management is still emerging. In such settings, manual-based systems, where instructions and guidelines are physically documented, remain central to educational planning and management. This paper examines the effectiveness, challenges, and potential of manual-based education planning systems in fostering structured, reliable, and adaptable management frameworks. The objective of this study is to explore how a manual-based approach can successfully guide administrators, educators, and policymakers in delivering high-quality education. By using structured, accessible instructions, this approach serves as a blueprint for educational governance, offering clear, actionable steps to achieve institutional goals. Through an analysis of case studies from various regions, the paper identifies key strategies for planning school schedules, managing resources, and monitoring academic and administrative performance without relying on automated systems. The findings underscore the significance of organized documentation, standard operating procedures, and comprehensive manuals that establish uniformity and maintain educational standards across institutions. With a manual-based approach, management can remain flexible, responsive, and user-friendly, especially in environments where internet access and digital literacy are limited. Moreover, it allows for localization, where instructions can be tailored to the unique cultural and socio-economic contexts of the community, thereby increasing relevancy and ownership among local stakeholders. This paper also highlights several challenges associated with manual-based education management. Manual systems often require significant time and human resources for maintenance and updating, potentially leading to inefficiencies and inconsistencies over time. Furthermore, manual records can be susceptible to loss, damage, and limited accessibility, which may affect decision-making and institutional memory. There is also the risk of siloed information, where crucial data resides with specific individuals rather than being accessible across the organization. However, with proper training and regular oversight, many of these limitations can be mitigated. The study further explores the potential for hybrid approaches, combining manual planning with selected digital tools for record-keeping, reporting, and analytics. This transitional strategy can enable schools and educational institutions to gradually embrace digital solutions without discarding the familiarity and reliability of manual instructions. In conclusion, this paper advocates for a balanced, context-sensitive approach to education planning and management. While digital systems hold the potential to streamline processes, manual-based systems offer resilience, inclusivity, and adaptability for institutions where technology adoption may be constrained. Ultimately, by reinforcing the importance of structured, detailed manuals and instructional guides, educational institutions can build robust management frameworks that facilitate both short-term successes and long-term growth in their educational mission. This research aims to provide a reference for policymakers, educators, and administrators seeking practical, low-cost, and adaptable solutions for sustainable educational planning and management.

Keywords: educatoin, planning, management, manual

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Authors: Alison C. Essary, Victor Trastek

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Introduction: The current state of the health care system in the U.S. is characterized by an unprecedented number of people living with multiple chronic conditions, unsustainable rise in health care costs, inadequate access to care, and wide variation in health outcomes throughout the country. An estimated two-thirds of Americans are living with two or more chronic conditions, contributing to 75% of all health care spending. In 2013, the School for the Science of Health Care Delivery (SHCD) was charged with redesigning the health care system through education and research. Faculty in business, law, and public policy, and thought leaders in health care delivery, administration, public health and health IT created undergraduate, graduate, and executive academic programs to address this pressing need. Faculty and students work across disciplines, and with community partners and employers to improve care delivery and increase value for patients. Methods: Curricula apply content in health care administration and operations within the clinical context. Graduate modules are team-taught by faculty across academic units to model team-based practice. Seminars, team-based assignments, faculty mentoring, and applied projects are integral to student success. Cohort-driven models enhance networking and collaboration. This observational study evaluated two years of admissions data, and one year of graduate data to assess program outcomes and inform the current graduate-level curricula. Descriptive statistics includes means, percentages. Results: Fall 2013, the program received 51 applications. The mean GPA of the entering class of 37 students was 3.38. Ninety-seven percent of the fall 2013 cohort successfully completed the program (n=35). Sixty-six percent are currently employed in the health care industry (n=23). Of the remaining 12 graduates, two successfully matriculated to medical school; one works in the original field of study; four await results on the MCAT or DAT, and five were lost to follow up. Attrition of one student was attributed to non-academic reasons. Fall 2014, the program expanded to include both on-ground and online cohorts. Applications were evenly distributed between on-ground (n=70) and online (n=68). Thirty-eight students enrolled in the on-ground program. The mean GPA was 3.95. Ninety-five percent of students successfully completed the program (n=36). Thirty-six students enrolled in the online program. The mean GPA was 3.85. Graduate outcomes are pending. Discussion: Challenges include demographic variability between online and on-ground students; yet, both profiles are similar in that students intend to become change agents in the health care system. In the past two years, on-ground applications increased by 31%, persistence to graduation is > 95%, mean GPA is 3.67, graduates report admission to six U.S. medical schools, the Mayo Medical School integrates SHCD content within their curricula, and there is national interest in collaborating on industry and academic partnerships. This places SHCD at the forefront of developing innovative curricula in order to improve high-value, patient-centered care.

Keywords: delivery science, education, health care delivery, high-value care, innovation in education, patient-centered

Procedia PDF Downloads 282

Authors: Lauren B. Birney

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The BOP-CCERS (Billion Oyster Project- Curriculum and Community Enterprise for Restoration Science) Near-Peer Mentoring Program provides the long-term (five-year) support network to motivate and guide students toward restoration science-based CTE pathways. Students are selected from middle schools with actively participating BOP-CCERS teachers. Teachers will nominate students from grades 6-8 to join cohorts of between 10 and 15 students each. Cohorts are comprised primarily of students from the same school in order to facilitate mentors' travel logistics as well as to sustain connections with students and their families. Each cohort is matched with an exceptional undergraduate or graduate student, either a BOP research associate or STEM mentor recruited from collaborating City University of New York (CUNY) partner programs. In rare cases, an exceptional high school junior or senior may be matched with a cohort in addition to a research associate or graduate student. In no case is a high school student or minor be placed individually with a cohort. Mentors meet with students at least once per month and provide at least one offsite field visit per month, either to a local STEM Hub or research lab. Keeping with its five-year trajectory, the near-peer mentoring program will seek to retain students in the same cohort with the same mentor for the full duration of middle school and for at least two additional years of high school. Upon reaching the final quarter of 8th grade, the mentor will develop a meeting plan for each individual mentee. The mentee and the mentor will be required to meet individually or in small groups once per month. Once per quarter, individual meetings will be substituted for full cohort professional outings. The mentor will organize the entire cohort on a field visit or educational workshop with a museum or aquarium partner. In addition to the mentor-mentee relationship, each participating student will also be asked to conduct and present his or her own BOP field research. This research is ideally carried out with the support of the students’ regular high school STEM subject teacher; however, in cases where the teacher or school does not permit independent study, the student will be asked to conduct the research on an extracurricular basis. Near-peer mentoring affects students’ social identities and helps them to connect to role models from similar groups, ultimately giving them a sense of belonging. Qualitative and quantitative analytics were performed throughout the study. Interviews and focus groups also ensued. Additionally, an external evaluator was utilized to ensure project efficacy, efficiency, and effectiveness throughout the entire project. The BOP-CCERS Near Peer Mentoring program is a peer support network in which high school students with interest or experience in BOP (Billion Oyster Project) topics and activities (such as classroom oyster tanks, STEM Hubs, or digital platform research) provide mentorship and support for middle school or high school freshmen mentees. Peer mentoring not only empowers those students being taught but also increases the content knowledge and engagement of mentors. This support provides the necessary resources, structure, and tools to assist students in finding success.

Keywords: STEM education, environmental science, citizen science, near peer mentoring

Procedia PDF Downloads 90

Authors: Siham Boulaknadel

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Every culture has its share of a rich history of storytelling in oral, visual, and textual form. The Amazigh language, as many languages, has its own which has entertained and informed across centuries and cultures, and its instructional potential continues to serve teachers. According to many researchers, listening to stories draws attention to the sounds of language and helps children develop sensitivity to the way language works. Stories including repetitive phrases, unique words, and enticing description encourage students to join in actively to repeat, chant, sing, or even retell the story. This kind of practice is important to language learners’ oral language development, which is believed to correlate completely with student’s academic success. Today, with the advent of multimedia, digital storytelling for instance can be a practical and powerful learning tool. It has the potential in transforming traditional learning into a world of unlimited imaginary environment. This paper reports on a research project on development of multimedia Storytelling Website using traditional Amazigh oral narratives called “tell me a story”. It is a didactic tool created for the learning of good moral values in an interactive multimedia environment combining on-screen text, graphics and audio in an enticing environment and enabling the positive values of stories to be projected. This Website developed in this study is based on various pedagogical approaches and learning theories deemed suitable for children age 8 to 9 year-old. The design and development of Website was based on a well-researched conceptual framework enabling users to: (1) re-play and share the stories in schools or at home, and (2) access the Website anytime and anywhere. Furthermore, the system stores the students work and activities over the system, allowing parents or teachers to monitor students’ works, and provide online feedback. The Website contains following main feature modules: Storytelling incorporates a variety of media such as audio, text and graphics in presenting the stories. It introduces the children to various kinds of traditional Amazigh oral narratives. The focus of this module is to project the positive values and images of stories using digital storytelling technique. Besides development good moral sense in children using projected positive images and moral values, it also allows children to practice their comprehending and listening skills. Reading module is developed based on multimedia material approach which offers the potential for addressing the challenges of reading instruction. This module is able to stimulate children and develop reading practice indirectly due to the tutoring strategies of scaffolding, self-explanation and hyperlinks offered in this module. Word Enhancement assists the children in understanding the story and appreciating the good moral values more efficiently. The difficult words or vocabularies are attached to present the explanation, which makes the children understand the vocabulary better. In conclusion, we believe that the interactive multimedia storytelling reveals an interesting and exciting tool for learning Amazigh. We plan to address some learning issues, in particularly the uses of activities to test and evaluate the children on their overall understanding of story and words presented in the learning modules.

Keywords: Amazigh language, e-learning, storytelling, language teaching

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Authors: Ichiro Takahashi

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One of the major assumptions of mainstream macroeconomics is the path independence of capital stock. This paper challenges this assumption by employing an agent-based approach. The simulation results showed the existence of multiple "quasi-steady state" equilibria of the capital stock, which may cast serious doubt on the validity of the assumption. The finding would give a better understanding of many phenomena that involve hysteresis, including the causes of poverty. The "market-clearing view" has been widely shared among major schools of macroeconomics. They understand that the capital stock, the labor force, and technology, determine the "full-employment" equilibrium growth path and demand/supply shocks can move the economy away from the path only temporarily: the dichotomy between the short-run business cycles and the long-run equilibrium path. The view then implicitly assumes the long-run capital stock to be independent of how the economy has evolved. In contrast, "Old Keynesians" have recognized fluctuations in output as arising largely from fluctuations in real aggregate demand. It will then be an interesting question to ask if an agent-based macroeconomic model, which is known to have path dependence, can generate multiple full-employment equilibrium trajectories of the capital stock in the super-long run. If the answer is yes, the equilibrium level of capital stock, an important supply-side factor, would no longer be independent of the business cycle phenomenon. This paper attempts to answer the above question by using the agent-based macroeconomic model developed by Takahashi and Okada (2010). The model would serve this purpose well because it has neither population growth nor technology progress. The objective of the paper is twofold: (1) to explore the causes of long-term business cycle, and (2) to examine the super-long behaviors of the capital stock of full-employment economies. (1) The simulated behaviors of the key macroeconomic variables such as output, employment, real wages showed widely diversified macro-economies. They were often remarkably stable but exhibited both short-term and long-term fluctuations. The long-term fluctuations occur through the following two adjustments: the quantity and relative cost adjustments of capital stock. The first one is obvious and assumed by many business cycle theorists. The reduced aggregate demand lowers prices, which raises real wages, thereby decreasing the relative cost of capital stock with respect to labor. (2) The long-term business cycles/fluctuations were synthesized with the hysteresis of real wages, interest rates, and investments. In particular, a sequence of the simulation runs with a super-long simulation period generated a wide range of perfectly stable paths, many of which achieved full employment: all the macroeconomic trajectories, including capital stock, output, and employment, were perfectly horizontal over 100,000 periods. Moreover, the full-employment level of capital stock was influenced by the history of unemployment, which was itself path-dependent. Thus, an experience of severe unemployment in the past kept the real wage low, which discouraged a relatively costly investment in capital stock. Meanwhile, a history of good performance sometimes brought about a low capital stock due to a high-interest rate that was consistent with a strong investment.

Keywords: agent-based macroeconomic model, business cycle, hysteresis, stability

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Authors: Ruth Leitch, Joanne Hughes

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This paper presents the findings of a three-year government-funded study (ILiAD) that aimed to understand the reasons for differential educational achievement within and between socially and economically deprived areas in Northern Ireland. Previous international studies have concluded that there is a positive correlation between deprivation and underachievement. Our preliminary secondary data analysis suggested that the factors involved in educational achievement within multiple deprived areas may be more complex than this, with some areas of high multiple deprivation having high levels of student attainment, whereas other less deprived areas demonstrated much lower levels of student attainment, as measured by outcomes on high stakes national tests. The study proposed that no single explanation or disparate set of explanations could easily account for the linkage between levels of deprivation and patterns of educational achievement. Using a social capital perspective that centralizes the connections within and between individuals and social networks in a community as a valuable resource for educational achievement, the ILiAD study involved a multi-level case study analysis of seven community sites in Northern Ireland, selected on the basis of religious composition (housing areas are largely segregated by religious affiliation), measures of multiple deprivation and differentials in educational achievement. The case study approach involved three (interconnecting) levels of qualitative data collection and analysis - what we have termed Micro (or community/grassroots level) understandings, Meso (or school level) explanations and Macro (or policy/structural) factors. The analysis combines a statistical mapping of factors with qualitative, in-depth data interpretation which, together, allow for deeper understandings of the dynamics and contributory factors within and between the case study sites. Thematic analysis of the qualitative data reveals both cross-cutting factors (e.g. demographic shifts and loss of community, place of the school in the community, parental capacity) and analytic case studies of explanatory factors associated with each of the community sites also permit a comparative element. Issues arising from the qualitative analysis are classified either as drivers or inhibitors of educational achievement within and between communities. Key issues that are emerging as inhibitors/drivers to attainment include: the legacy of the community conflict in Northern Ireland, not least in terms of inter-generational stress, related with substance abuse and mental health issues; differing discourses on notions of ‘community’ and ‘achievement’ within/between community sites; inter-agency and intra-agency levels of collaboration and joined-up working; relationship between the home/school/community triad and; school leadership and school ethos. At this stage, the balance of these factors can be conceptualized in terms of bonding social capital (or lack of it) within families, within schools, within each community, within agencies and also bridging social capital between the home/school/community, between different communities and between key statutory and voluntary organisations. The presentation will outline the study rationale, its methodology, present some cross-cutting findings and use an illustrative case study of the findings from a community site to underscore the importance of attending to community differences when trying to engage in research to understand and improve educational attainment for all.

Keywords: educational achievement, multiple deprivation, community case studies, social capital

Procedia PDF Downloads 387

Authors: Rigas Kotsakis, Nikolaos Tsigilis, Vasilis Grammatikopoulos, Evridiki Zachopoulou

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During the last decade, Greece has faced an unprecedented financial crisis, affecting various aspects and functionalities of Higher Education. Besides the restricted funding of academic institutions, the students and their families encountered economical difficulties that undoubtedly influenced the effective completion of their studies. In this context, a fairly large number of students in Alexander campus of International Hellenic University (IHU) delay, interrupt, or even abandon their studies, especially when they come from low-income families, belong to sensitive social or special needs groups, they have different cultural origins, etc. For this reason, a European project, named “Umbrella”, was initiated aiming at providing the necessary psychological support and counseling, especially to disadvantaged students, towards the completion of their studies. To this end, a network of various academic members (academic staff and students) from IHU, namely iMentor, were implicated in different roles. Specifically, experienced academic staff trained students to serve as intermediate links for the integration and educational support of students that fall into the aforementioned sensitive social groups and face problems for the completion of their studies. The main idea of the project is held upon its person-centered character, which facilitates direct student-to-student communication without the intervention of the teaching staff. The backbone of the iMentors network are senior students that face no problem in their academic life and volunteered for this project. It should be noted that there is a provision from the Umbrella structure for substantial and ethical rewards for their engagement. In this context, a well-defined, stringent methodology was implemented for the evaluation of the extent of the problem in IHU and the detection of the profile of the “candidate” disadvantaged students. The first phase included two steps, (a) data collection and (b) data cleansing/ preprocessing. The first step involved the data collection process from the Secretary Services of all Schools in IHU, from 1980 to 2019, which resulted in 96.418 records. The data set included the School name, the semester of studies, a student enrolling criteria, the nationality, the graduation year or the current, up-to-date academic state (still studying, delayed, dropped off, etc.). The second step of the employed methodology involved the data cleansing/preprocessing because of the existence of “noisy” data, missing and erroneous values, etc. Furthermore, several assumptions and grouping actions were imposed to achieve data homogeneity and an easy-to-interpret subsequent statistical analysis. Specifically, the duration of 40 years recording was limited to the last 15 years (2004-2019). In 2004 the Greek Technological Institutions were evolved into Higher Education Universities, leading into a stable and unified frame of graduate studies. In addition, the data concerning active students were excluded from the analysis since the initial processing effort was focused on the detection of factors/variables that differentiated graduate and deleted students. The final working dataset included 21.432 records with only two categories of students, those that have a degree and those who abandoned their studies. Findings of the first phase are presented across faculties and further discussed.

Keywords: higher education, students support, economic crisis, mentoring

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Authors: Lam Pham, Peter Hubber, Russell Tytler

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Students’ conceptual understandings of chemistry concepts/phenomena involve capability to coordinate across the three levels of Johnston’s triangle model. This triplet model is based on reasoning about chemical phenomena across macro, sub-micro and symbolic levels. In chemistry education, there is a need for further examining inquiry-based approaches that enhance students’ conceptual learning and problem solving skills. This research adopted a directed inquiry pedagogy based on students constructing and coordinating representations, to investigate senior school students’ capabilities to flexibly move across Johnston’ levels when learning dilution and molar concentration concepts. The participants comprise 50 grade 11 and 20 grade 10 students and 4 chemistry teachers who were selected from 4 secondary schools located in metropolitan Melbourne, Victoria. This research into classroom practices used ethnographic methodology, involved teachers working collaboratively with the research team to develop representational activities and lesson sequences in the instruction of a unit on solution chemistry. The representational activities included challenges (Representational Challenges-RCs) that used ‘representational tools’ to assist students to move across Johnson’s three levels for dilution phenomena. In this report, the ‘representational tool’ called ‘cross and portion’ model was developed and used in teaching and learning the molar concentration concept. Students’ conceptual understanding and problem solving skills when learning with this model are analysed through group case studies of year 10 and 11 chemistry students. In learning dilution concepts, students in both group case studies actively conducted a practical experiment, used their own language and visualisation skills to represent dilution phenomena at macroscopic level (RC1). At the sub-microscopic level, students generated and negotiated representations of the chemical interactions between solute and solvent underpinning the dilution process. At the symbolic level, students demonstrated their understandings about dilution concepts by drawing chemical structures and performing mathematical calculations. When learning molar concentration with a ‘cross and portion’ model (RC2), students coordinated across visual and symbolic representational forms and Johnson’s levels to construct representations. The analysis showed that in RC1, Year 10 students needed more ‘scaffolding’ in inducing to representations to explicit the form and function of sub-microscopic representations. In RC2, Year 11 students showed clarity in using visual representations (drawings) to link to mathematics to solve representational challenges about molar concentration. In contrast, year 10 students struggled to get match up the two systems, symbolic system of mole per litre (‘cross and portion’) and visual representation (drawing). These conceptual problems do not lie in the students’ mathematical calculation capability but rather in students’ capability to align visual representations with the symbolic mathematical formulations. This research also found that students in both group case studies were able to coordinate representations when probed about the use of ‘cross and portion’ model (in RC2) to demonstrate molar concentration of diluted solutions (in RC1). Students mostly succeeded in constructing ‘cross and portion’ models to represent the reduction of molar concentration of the concentration gradients. In conclusion, this research demonstrated how the strategic introduction and coordination of chemical representations across modes and across the macro, sub-micro and symbolic levels, supported student reasoning and problem solving in chemistry.

Keywords: cross and portion, dilution, Johnston's triangle, molar concentration, representations

Procedia PDF Downloads 136

Authors: Ozgul Kartal, Wade Tillett, Lyn D. English

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Despite its global significance in curricula, mathematical modeling encounters persistent disparities in recognition and emphasis within regular mathematics classrooms and teacher education across countries with diverse educational and cultural traditions, including variations in the perceived role of mathematical modeling. Over the past two decades, increased attention has been given to the integration of mathematical modeling into national curriculum standards in the U.S. and other countries. Therefore, the mathematics education research community has dedicated significant efforts to investigate various aspects associated with the teaching and learning of mathematical modeling, primarily focusing on exploring the applicability of modeling in schools and assessing students', teachers', and preservice teachers' (PTs) competencies and engagement in modeling cycles and processes. However, limited attention has been directed toward examining potential resistance hindering teachers and PTs from effectively implementing mathematical modeling. This study focuses on how PTs, without prior modeling experience, resist and/or embrace mathematical modeling and its pedagogy as they learn about models and modeling perspectives, navigate the modeling process, design and implement their modeling activities and lesson plans, and experience the pedagogy enabling modeling. Model eliciting activities (MEAs) were employed due to their high potential to support the development of mathematical modeling pedagogy. The mathematical modeling module was integrated into a mathematics methods course to explore how PTs embraced or resisted mathematical modeling and its pedagogy. The module design included reading, reflecting, engaging in modeling, assessing models, creating a modeling task (MEA), and designing a modeling lesson employing an MEA. Twelve senior undergraduate students participated, and data collection involved video recordings, written prompts, lesson plans, and reflections. An open coding analysis revealed acceptance and resistance toward teaching mathematical modeling. The study identified four overarching themes, including both acceptance and resistance: pedagogy, affordance of modeling (tasks), modeling actions, and adjusting modeling. In the category of pedagogy, PTs displayed acceptance based on potential pedagogical benefits and resistance due to various concerns. The affordance of modeling (tasks) category emerged from instances when PTs showed acceptance or resistance while discussing the nature and quality of modeling tasks, often debating whether modeling is considered mathematics. PTs demonstrated both acceptance and resistance in their modeling actions, engaging in modeling cycles as students and designing/implementing MEAs as teachers. The adjusting modeling category captured instances where PTs accepted or resisted maintaining the qualities and nature of the modeling experience or converted modeling into a typical structured mathematics experience for students. While PTs displayed a mix of acceptance and resistance in their modeling actions, limitations were observed in embracing complexity and adhering to model principles. The study provides valuable insights into the challenges and opportunities of integrating mathematical modeling into teacher education, emphasizing the importance of addressing pedagogical concerns and providing support for effective implementation. In conclusion, this research offers a comprehensive understanding of PTs' engagement with modeling, advocating for a more focused discussion on the distinct nature and significance of mathematical modeling in the broader curriculum to establish a foundation for effective teacher education programs.

Keywords: mathematical modeling, model eliciting activities, modeling pedagogy, secondary teacher education

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Authors: Eleni Akritopoulou, Katerina Topouzoglou

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The last 20 years marine debris has been identified as one of the main marine pollution sources caused by anthropogenic activities. Plastics has reached the farthest marine areas of the planet affecting all marine trophic levels including the, recently discovered, amphipoda Eurythenes plasticus inhabiting Mariana Trench to large cetaceans, marine reptiles and sea birds causing immunodeficiency disorders, deteriorating health and death overtime. For the time period 2016-20, in the framework of the national initiative ‘Keep Aegean Blue”, All for Blue team has been collecting marine debris (coastline and underwater) following a modified in situ MEDSEALITTER monitoring protocol from eight Greek islands. After collection, marine debris was weighted, sorted and categorised according to material; plastic (PL), glass (G), metal (M), wood (W), rubber (R), cloth (CL), paper (P), mixed (MX). The goal of the project included the documentation of marine debris sources, human trends, waste management and public marine environmental awareness. Waste management was focused on plastics recycling and utilisation into daily useful products. This research is focused on the island of Mykonos due to its continuous touristic activity and lack of scientific information. In overall, a field work area of 1.832.856 m2 was cleaned up yielding 5092 kg of marine debris. The preliminary results indicated PL as main source of marine debris (62,8%) followed by M (15,5%), GL (13,2%) and MX (2,8%). Main items found were fishing tools (lines, nets), disposable cutlery, cups and straws, cigarette butts, flip flops and other items like plastic boat compartments. In collaboration with a local company for plastic management and the Circular Economy and Eco Innovation Institute (Sweden), all plastic debris was recycled. Granulation process was applied transforming plastic into building materials used for refugees’ houses, litter bins bought by municipalities and schools and, other items like shower components. In terms of volunteering and attendance in public awareness seminars, there was a raise of interest by 63% from different age ranges and professions. Regardless, the research being fairly new for Mykonos island and logistics issues potentially affected systemic sampling, it appeared that plastic debris is the main littering source attributed, possibly to the intense touristic activity of the island all year around. However, marine environmental awareness activities were pointed out to be an effective tool in forming public perception against marine debris and, alter the daily habits of local society. Since the beginning of this project, three new local environmental teams were formed against marine pollution supported by the local authorities and stakeholders. The continuous need and request for the production of items made by recycled marine debris appeared to be beneficial socio-economically to the local community and actions are taken to expand the project nationally. Finally, as an ongoing project and whilst, new scientific information is collected, further funding and research is needed.

Keywords: Greece, marine debris, marine environmental awareness, Mykonos island, plastics debris, plastic granulation, recycled plastic, tourism, waste management

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Authors: Rufina C. Abul PhD, Dylan Kyle D. Apostol, Darius Rex G. Binuya, Alyanah Mae F. Cauilan, Darren A. Diaz, Angelica Jones A. Gallang, Charisse G. Kiwang, Alyanna Nicole G. Mactal, Nadine Beatrize V. Nerona, Janella Nicole R. Posadas, Charisse Purie C. Toledo

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Background: Dramatic physical development, socioemotional adjustment, and cognitive changes highlight adolescent development. Adolescent brains are susceptible to emotional reactivity, making them likely to engage in risk-taking and impulsive behaviors. The family is crucial in laying the foundations of good health. Aims: This study determined the degree of family cohesion, quality of father-child and mother-child relationships, and degree of academic pressure across cultures, age groups, and sexual orientations. Further, it sought the prevalence of adolescent health concerns, including suicide risks, risk-taking behaviors, social media engagement, and self-care deviations. Finally, the correlations between health risk behaviors and the elements of family dynamics were unraveled. Methods: The descriptive-correlational design served as the blueprint for this study. Data were collected from 1095 adolescents aged 12-21 in two high schools and two universities in Baguio City using self-report questionnaires. Data was analyzed using Microsoft Excel Toolpak and IBM SPSS Statistics to identify significant differences and relationships among variables through descriptive statistics (frequency, %, means and figures) and inferential statistics (ANOVA and logistic regression). Results and Discussion: Adolescents generally have strong family cohesion (FC), high-quality father-child relationships (F-CR), very high-quality mother-child relationships(M-CR), and experience high academic pressure (AP). Cultural affiliation does not influence the 4 elements of family dynamics; the higher the age, the stronger the family cohesion; males score significantly higher on family cohesion and mother-child relationship while significantly lower in perceived academic pressure compared to their female and LGBT counterparts. Suicide risk is prevalent among 29-63% of the population, safety issues have the lowest prevalence for having an abusive relationship (8.22%) and the highest for encountering major family changes (53.52%). Substance use was highest for vaping (22.74%), sexual engagement occurs in 14.61% of the population, while 63% are engaged in social media for >5 hours/day. The self-care deviation is highest for weight concerns (63.39%), lack of visits to health care professionals (64.65%) and lack of exercise (49.94%). All 4 elements of family dynamic (FC, F-CR, M-CR and AP) are significantly associated with safety concerns, suicide risks and social media engagement, while M-CR significantly influences cigarette smoking, alcohol drinking, rugby use and engagement in sex. Conclusion and Recommendations: Strong family cohesion and quality parent-child interactions improve emotional and behavioral outcomes. Sexual orientation has a significant impact on academic pressure and social media use, demanding targeted treatments. The link between family dynamics and health-risk behaviors emphasizes the importance of promoting positive family relationships and encouraging safer behaviors, which are critical for increasing adolescents' well-being.

Keywords: adolescent health, family cohesion, health risk behaviors, suicide risk

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Authors: Damiano Omari, Topirian Kerempe, Dibo Sama, Walter Wafula, Sharon Chepkoech, Chrispine Juma, Gilbert Kirui, Simon Mburu, Susan Keino

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The One Health concept was officially adopted by the international organizations and scholarly bodies in 1984. It aims at combining human, animal and environmental components to address global health challenges. Using collaborative efforts optimal health to people, animals, and the environment can be achieved. One health approach plays a significant approach role in prevention and control of zoonosis diseases. It has also been noted that 75% of new emerging human infectious diseases are zoonotic. In Kenya, one health has been embraced and strongly advocated for by One Health East and Central Africa (OHCEA). It was inaugurated on 17th of October 2010 at a historic meeting facilitated by USAID with participants from 7 public health schools, seven faculties of veterinary medicine in Eastern Africa and 2 American universities (Tufts and University of Minnesota) in addition to respond project staff. The study was conducted in Loitoktok Sub County, specifically in the Amboseli Ecosystem. The Amboseli ecosystem covers an area of 5,700 square kilometers and stretches between Mt. Kilimanjaro, Chyulu Hills, Tsavo West National park and the Kenya/Tanzania border. The area is arid to semi-arid and is more suitable for pastoralism with a high potential for conservation of wildlife and tourism enterprises. The ecosystem consists of the Amboseli National Park, which is surrounded by six group ranches which include Kimana, Olgulului, Selengei, Mbirikani, Kuku and Rombo in Loitoktok District. The Manyatta of study was Osiram Cultural Manyatta in Mbirikani group ranch. Apart from visiting the Manyatta, we also visited the sub-county hospital, slaughter slab, forest service, Kimana market, and the Amboseli National Park. The aim of the study was to identify the one health issues facing the community. This was done by a conducting a community needs assessment and prioritization. Different methods were used in data collection for the qualitative and numerical data. They include among others; key informant interviews and focus group discussions. We also guided the community members in drawing their Resource Map this helped identify the major resources in their land and also help them identify some of the issues they were facing. Matrix piling, root cause analysis, and force field analysis tools were used to establish the one health related priority issues facing community members. Skits were also used to present to the community interventions to the major one health issues. Some of the prioritized needs among the community were water scarcity and inadequate markets for their beadwork. The group intervened on the various needs of the Manyatta. For water scarcity, we educated the community on water harvesting methods using gutters as well as proper storage by the use of tanks and earth dams. The community was also encouraged to recycle and conserve water. To improve markets; we educated the community to upload their products online, a page was opened for them and uploading the photos was demonstrated to them. They were also encouraged to be innovative to attract more clients.

Keywords: Amboseli ecosystem, community interventions, community needs assessment and prioritization, one health issues

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Authors: Sara J. Mills, Sally Howell

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The field of special education has long struggled to bridge the research to practice gap. There is ample evidence from research of effective strategies for students with special needs, but these strategies are not routinely implemented in schools in ways that yield positive results for students. In recent years, the field of special education has turned its focus to implementation science. That is, discovering effective methods of implementing evidence-based practices in school settings. Teacher training is a critical factor in implementation. This study aimed to successfully implement Schema-Based Instruction (SBI) for math problem solving in four classrooms in a special primary school serving students with language deficits, including students with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) and Intellectual Disabilities (ID). Using an action research design that allowed for adjustments and modification to be made over the year-long study, two cohorts of teachers across the school were trained and supported in six-week learning cycles to implement SBI in their classrooms. The learning cycles included a one-day training followed by six weeks of one-on-one or team coaching and three fortnightly cohort group meetings. After the first cohort of teachers completed the learning cycle, modifications and adjustments were made to lesson materials in an attempt to improve their effectiveness with the second cohort. Fourteen teachers participated in the study, including master special educators (n=3), special education instructors (n=5), and classroom assistants (n=6). Thirty-one students participated in the study (21 boys and 10 girls), ranging in age from 5 to 12 years (M = 9 years). Twenty-one students had a diagnosis of ASD, 20 had a diagnosis of mild or moderate ID, with 13 of these students having both ASD and ID. The remaining students had diagnosed language disorders. To evaluate the effectiveness of the implementation approach, both student and teacher data was collected. Student data included pre- and post-tests of math word problem solving. Teacher data included fidelity of treatment checklists and pre-post surveys of teacher attitudes and efficacy for teaching problem solving. Finally, artifacts were collected throughout the learning cycle. Results from cohort 1 and cohort 2 revealed similar outcomes. Students improved in the number of word problems they answered correctly and in the number of problem-solving steps completed independently. Fidelity of treatment data showed that teachers implemented SBI with acceptable levels of fidelity (M = 86%). Teachers also reported increases in the amount of time spent teaching problem solving, their confidence in teaching problem solving and their perception of students’ ability to solve math word problems. The artifacts collected during instruction indicated that teachers made modifications to allow their students to access the materials and to show what they knew. These findings are in line with research that shows student learning can improve when teacher professional development is provided over an extended period of time, actively involves teachers, and utilizes a variety of learning methods in classroom contexts. Further research is needed to evaluate whether these gains in teacher instruction and student achievement can be maintained over time once the professional development is completed.

Keywords: implementation science, mathematics problem solving, research-to-practice gap, schema based instruction

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Authors: Elham Abbas Aljaaly, Nahlaa Abdulwahab Khalifa

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The active method of disease prevention is seen as the most affordable and sustainable action to deal with risks of non-communicable diseases such as obesity. This eight-week project aimed to pilot the feasibility and acceptability of a school-based programme, which is proposed to prevent and modify overweight status and possible related risk factors among student girls 'at the intermediate level' in Jeddah city. The programme was conducted through comprehensible approach targeting physical environment and school policies (nutritional/exercise/behavioural approach). The programme was designed to cultivate the personal and environmental awareness in schools for girls. This was applied by promoting healthy eating and physical activity through policies, physical education, healthier options for school canteens, and the creation of school health teams. The prevention programme was applied on 68 students (who agreed to participate) from grades 7th, 8th and 9th. A pre and post assessment questionnaire was employed on 66 students. The questionnaires were designed to obtain information on students' knowledge about health, nutrition and physical activity. Survey questions included information about nutrients, food consumption patterns, food intake and lifestyle. Physical education included training sessions for new opportunities for physical activities to be performed during school or after school hours. A running competition 'to enhance students’ performance for physical activities' was also conducted during the school visit. A visit to the school canteen was conducted to check, observe, record and assess all available food/beverage items and meals. The assessment method was a subjective method for the type of food/beverages if high in saturated fat, salt and sugar (HFSS) or non-HFSS. The school canteen administrators were encouraged to provide healthy food/beverage items and a sample healthy canteen was provided for implementation. Two healthy options were introduced to the school canteen. A follow up for students’ preferences for the introduced options and the purchasing power were assessed. Thirty-eight percent of young girls (n=26) were not participating in any form of physical activities inside or outside school. Skipping breakfast was stated by 42% (n=28) of students with no daily consumption (19%, n=13) for fruit/vegetables. Significant changes were noticed in students’ (n=66) overall responses to the pre and post questions (P value=.001). All students had participated in the conducted running competition sessions and reported satisfaction and enjoyment about the sessions. No absence was reported by the research team for attending physical education and activity sessions throughout the delivered programme. The purchasing power of the introduced healthy options of 'Salad and oatmeal' was increased to 18% in 8 weeks at the school canteen, and slightly affected the purchase for other less healthy options. The piloted programme indorsed better health and nutrition knowledge, healthy eating and lifestyle attitude, which could help young girls to obtain sustainable changes. It is expected that the outcomes of the programme will be a cornerstone for the futuristic national study that will assist policy makers and participants to build a knowledgeable health promotion scenario and make sure that school students have access to healthy foods, physical exercise and healthy lifestyle.

Keywords: adolescents, diet, exercise, behaviours, overweight/obesity, prevention-intervention programme, Saudi Arabia, schoolgirls

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