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Inspired by the positive impact of serious games on science understanding and motivated by personal interests in scientific outreach, we developed "Bacttle," an easy-to-play microbiology board game with adaptive difficulty, targeting any player from 7 years old onward. Bacttle addresses both the lay public and teachers for use in classrooms as a way of introducing microbiology concepts. The layout of the game and its mechanism are the result of multiple rounds of trial, feedback, and re-design. The final version consists of a deck of cards, a 3D-printed board, and tokens (with a paper-based alternative), with all digital content open source. Players in Bacttle take on the character of a bacterial species. The aim for each species is to proliferate under the environmental conditions of the board and the interactions with the board and with other players, which vary as the play evolves. Players start with a given number of lives that will increase or decrease based on the traits they play for different environmental scenarios. Such bacterial traits come in the form of cards that can be deployed strategically. To assess the impact of the game on microbiological knowledge, we scored differences in the understanding of general concepts before and after playing the game. We assessed a total of 169 visitors at two different university open-day science fairs. Players were asked to fill out a brief survey before and after the game with questions targeting conceptual advances. Results show that Bacttle increases general microbiology knowledge on players as young as 5 years old and with the highest impact on those who have no "a priori" microbiology comprehension.

The condition and health of large oil-immersed power transformers' insulation have a direct impact on the safety and stability of the power grid. Therefore, it is crucial to investigate the aging characteristics of oil–paper insulation in power transformers. In this study, we developed a computational model for reclosing current calculation and multiphysics coupling models for magnetic-circuit-force, electrostatic field, and temperature field simulations. The calculated aging resulted in a mechanical stress of 8.71 MPa, an electric field strength of 2.26 × 106 V/m, and a temperature of 113.7 °C. We conducted combined electrical–thermal–mechanical aging tests on the oil–paper insulation and measured various insulating paper performance parameters at different aging stages. Our study revealed that both the mechanical and electrical properties of the insulating paper deteriorated in both aging groups. However, the changes were more pronounced in the electrical–thermal–mechanical aging group compared to the electrical–thermal aging group, indicating that mechanical stress accelerated the aging process of the insulating paper. In the early stages of aging, the rate of performance changes in the electrical–thermal aging group was similar to that in the electrical–thermal–mechanical aging group. However, as the aging time increased, the degradation of performance induced by mechanical aging became more significant. This suggests that the insulating paper's resistance to mechanical damage, specifically short-circuit resistance, noticeably decreased after prolonged aging. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Children frequently respond differently to therapies compared to adults. Differences also exist between paediatric age groups for pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics in both efficacy and safety. Paediatric pharmacovigilance requires an understanding of the unique aspects of children with regard to, for example, drug response, growth and development, clinical presentation of adverse drug reactions (ADRs), how they can be detected and population‐specific factors (e.g., more frequent use of off‐label/unlicensed drugs). In recognition of these challenges, a group of experts has been formed in the context of the conect4children (c4c) project to support paediatric drug development. This expert group collaborated to develop methodological considerations for paediatric drug safety and pharmacovigilance throughout the life‐cycle of medicinal products which are described in this article. These considerations include practical points to consider for the development of the paediatric section of the risk management plan (RMP), safety in paediatric protocol development, safety data collection and analysis. Furthermore, they describe the specific details of post‐marketing pharmacovigilance in children using, for example, spontaneous reports, electronic health care records, registries and record‐linkage, as well as the use of paediatric pharmacoepidemiology studies for risk characterisation. Next the details of the assessment of benefit–risk and challenges related to medicinal product formulation in the context of a Paediatric Investigation Plan (PIP) are presented. Finally, practical issues in paediatric signal detection and evaluation are included. This paper provides practical points to consider for paediatric pharmacovigilance throughout the life‐cycle of medicinal products for RMPs, protocol development, safety data collection and analysis and PIPs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Improved global access to novel age‐appropriate formulations for paediatric subsets, either of new chemical entities or existing drugs, is a priority to ensure that medicines meet the needs of these patients. However, despite regulatory incentives, the introduction to the market of paediatric formulations still lags behind adult products. This is mainly caused by additional complexities associated with the development of acceptable age‐appropriate paediatric medicines. This position paper recommends the use of a paediatric Quality Target Product Profile as an efficient tool to facilitate early planning and decision making across all teams involved in paediatric formulation development during the children‐centric formulation design for new chemical entities, or to repurpose/reformulate off‐patent drugs. Essential key attributes of a paediatric formulation are suggested and described. Moreover, greater collaboration between formulation experts and clinical colleagues, including healthcare professionals, is advocated to lead to safe and effective, age‐appropriate medicinal products. Acceptability testing should be a secondary endpoint in paediatric clinical trials to ensure postmarketing adherence is not compromised by a lack of acceptability. Not knowing the indications and the related age groups and potential dosing regimens early enough is still a major hurdle for efficient paediatric formulation development; however, the proposed paediatric Quality Target Product Profile could be a valuable collaborative tool for planning and decision making to expedite paediatric product development, particularly for those with limited experience in developing a paediatric product. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Road traffic accidents in Iran are a critical issue that hinders economic development and one of the main threats to the health and safety of people in the community. The statistics indicate that after cardiovascular diseases, traffic accidents are the second leading cause of death in different age groups, which reflects the necessity of prediction in this area. Materials and Methods: The present study investigated the data of the traffic-accident injured people between April 2009 and March 2012 in Golestan, Mazandaran, Guilan, and Ardebil provinces, presented to forensic medicine. We used the Box-Jenkins method as one of the most advanced methods in prediction and future studies in the field of health systems, to estimate the number of injuries by province, for the years 2016 to 2019. Results: The obtained results suggested the appropriate time series patterns for predicting injured people in Golestan Province with Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average (ARIMA) (4, 2, 4), Mazandaran Province with ARIMA (3, 1, 5), Guilan Province with ARIMA (3, 1, 4), and Ardabil Province with ARIMA (5, 1, 2). Furthermore, the mean percentages of absolute error for different provinces were as follows: Golestan Province, 0.114; Mazandaran Province, 0.064; Guilan Province, 0.078; and Ardabil Province, 0.1250. These data demonstrate the high precision of the Box-Jenkins method in predicting the number of traffic-accident injured people, especially in Mazandaran and Guilan provinces. Estimated values for 2016 to 2019 indicate that the road traffic injuries are increasing in Golestan Province and decreasing in Mazandaran, Guilan, and Ardebil provinces. Conclusion: The high precision of the Box--Jenkins method makes it an appropriate way for experts and authorities to predict traffic accident injuries in Golestan, Guilan, Mazandaran, and Ardebil provinces. The reduced number of casualties in Mazandaran, Guilan, and Ardebil indicate a progressive improvement in the transportation system conduct in these provinces. Moreover, Golestan Province is moving towards an increase in traffic accidents, requiring replanning to reduce accidents there. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While enrollment in Catholic schools is rising in the global south, it is declining in many Western countries. Providing a quality and holistic education experience remains essential in both developed and developing countries, especially for disadvantaged groups. But in addition, in developed countries, trade-offs may have to be confronted to stem the decline in enrollment that affects the financial sustainability of schools. Building on a presentation made at the closing plenary of OIEC's World Congress in New York, this paper focuses on the United States where enrollment in Catholic schools has been dropping for more than 50 years. In the absence of state support for Catholic schools and in a context of rising operating costs and therefore tuition, the decline in enrollment is due in part to a lack of affordability of schools given high out-of-pocket costs paid by parents. But other factors related to perceptions about Catholic schools also play a role. To stem the decline in enrollment, market research can help, including to assess how favorably Catholic and other types of schools are perceived in the population. The paper relies on data collected for the National Catholic Education Association to compare favorability ratings by type of schools and assess factors associated with these perceptions.

This paper analyzed Scratch projects developed by undergraduate students. The sample consisted of 22 child development students (18 women and four men) in the 2018-2019 academic year. The study adopted an action research design within the scope of a course titled "Teaching Science and Mathematics in Preschool Education." The research was conducted within 14 weeks. In the first four weeks, we provided participants with training on why and how to use Scratch in science and mathematics teaching. In the following ten weeks, participants designed Scratch projects every week based on age groups, topics, and learning outcomes of their choice. Participants evaluated their projects themselves and also received feedback from peers and academics. Each participant designed ten Scratch projects (five for math and five for science). The data consisted of 220 Scratch projects and design logs. The study included a thematic content analysis. In the first weeks, participants knew little about the content of Scratch and used one or two characters and mostly control and look blocks. In the following weeks, they learned more about Scratch and used different blocks.

The purpose of this biographical paper is to reflect generational changes in the landscape of educational sciences during the last 20 years. Rapid change within the educational science generations on the one hand, and in the gap between the research-generations has been observed in the last years at the international level. Despite this fact, the intergenerational collaborative research has had impact on carrier advancement of younger research generations. Therefore, this paper aims to find out the evidence on what we can learn in intergenerational research collaboration. The theoretical background of the current paper is based on the human collaboration concept in the form of transfer and transforming the best practice patterns and developing self-experience with new knowledge, skills, and attitudes (špona, 2018: 18). The ethnomethodology of ex-post-facto 'inner-dialogue' was chosen to find answers to the research question, targeted on reflecting on collaboration as social life impact on selected different researcher generation cases with the career advancement from school teacher to scientific institute director as a method of analysis of the human collaborative practice of perceiving people, places and events as "categories" of "collaboration," and to use these to explain collaborative actions. The evidence of scientific, social and practical impact of intergenerational collaboration, and the sustainability of collaborative research will be explained, based on experience with the excellent team of West-Timisoara University. Biographical intergenerational collaboration stories of three research generations have impacted research career advancement and will contribute to the international discussion on what we can learn from intergenerational collaboration in research.

This paper describes the design and development of ERAS, an experiential role-playing aging simulation. This webbased tool was designed for psychology students to engage in a role-playing experience that serves to increase individuals' empathy toward the elderly, as they learn about aging. In ERAS, the learners take on the role of aging individuals. The aging individuals vary in their ethnicity and ages. Successful completion of the scenarios requires the learners to perform a series of role-playing and perspective-taking activities related to the daily life of the aging individual. In this paper, we described the contextual framework, design, development, and review processes. The paper also provides a reflection on the successes and challenges experienced by the design team. Overall, the paper discusses the critical design elements and decisions made by the team.

Introduction: Developing children's skills in producing oral narratives can reflect their linguistic and cognitive abilities. However, to evaluate these abilities appropriately, it is necessary to find and apply an efficient narrative assessment tool. This study primarily aimed to assess the reliability and validity of a picture story, as a narrative eliciting tool, based on Persianspeaking children's narratives. This assessment is going to be done at the microstructure and macrostructure levels. Furthermore, to evaluate the power of the assessment tool, we explored the effect of age and gender variables on using different narrative elements at the microstructure and macrostructure levels. Materials and Methods: We used a picture story, "Frog, where are you?" to elicit oral narratives in 48 subjects, including 7-, 9-, and 11-year-old boys and girls. The reliability and validity of the tool were respectively assessed by test-retest and factor analysis. Results: The findings indicated a significantly high correlation between the evaluated features based on test-retest. Besides, factor analysis revealed four categories: sentence structures, references, conjunctions, measures of story length. They were valid indicators for assessing Persian-speaking children's narratives. The results also showed a statistically significant difference among different age groups, but an insignificant effect of gender on using discursive features in the tales. Conclusion: The picture story "Frog, where are you?" can be used as a reliable and valid narrative eliciting tool for Persian data at the microstructure and macrostructure levels. Also, the age factor, but not the gender one, affects the stories recited by Persian children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper aims to explore the career aspirations of individuals belonging to the Gen Z cohort, i.e. born between 1995 and 2012. Design/methodology/approach: This paper is a systematic review of the literature. The authors accessed four databases to collect literature for review. The databases included were Academic Search Ultimate, Business Source Ultimate, ERIC and Google Scholar. Keywords used to conduct the search process were as follows: career development, career aspiration, generation Z, Gen Z and iGen. The authors imported all articles to RefWorks, read article abstracts and decided on whether to include or exclude the article in the review. Findings: Based on this systematic review, the authors found that intrinsic and extrinsic factors determine Gen Z's career aspirations. Further, based on past studies' predictions, the authors concluded that Gen Z has well-defined career expectations and career development plans. Research limitations/implications: Gen Z is the newest generation to enter the workforce. With limited research on this cohort, this study synthesized the existing knowledge of Gen Z students' career aspirations and their future employers' expectations. All research around Gen Z is currently focused on students, and hence, it is challenging to predict their workplace behavior. In this work, the authors provided organizations and practitioners guidelines to be prepared with Gen Z's expectations as they enter the workplace. Originality/value: This systematic literature review synthesizes empirical research from around the world on career aspirations related to Gen Z.

Language education evolves and is shaped by the needs of the generations as well as the contemporary realities of the world. Today, humanity faces with rapid developments and innovations in technology and science. These realities shape the society and each community in the world. In this regard, the term Generation Z (Gen Z) has emerged. Gen Z has its own dynamics and realities which, in turn, entails new issues in learning and teaching. It is not possible to implement classical and obsolete techniques and ways while teaching English to Gen Z. Current paper is an attempt to investigate the theoretical and practical issues of teaching English to Gen Z.

Research has found that the new-age learner, Gen Z, is different from his/her predecessors and hence educators need new age pedagogical interventions to cater to this group of learners. With a change in the way the new age learner learns, the education system needs to revamp to incorporate tools that suit the need of the learner. The paper reviews the use of Gamification as a tool for motivation and engagement for Gen Z in higher education with the help of peer-reviewed research literature from research databases predominantly from Scopus and Web of Science. The purpose of this paper is to provide suggestions on how to create an engaging and meaningful learning environment in Higher Education for Gen Z by providing relevant insights on Gamification with the help of secondary research. As this is an emerging field of study, this paper will help policymakers, educators and academicians to design and implement relevant interventions to use Gamification as an effective tool for Gen Z learners in the field of higher education.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the career adaptability of Turkish teachers working in special education schools in terms of psychological well-being and job satisfaction. The study group consist of 214 Turkish teachers working in the special education training in Istanbul. Personal Information Form, Career Adaptability Scale, Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire and Psychological Well-Being Scale were collected in the study. In the analysis of the findings obtained in the study, multiple regression analysis, t-test and ANOVA techniques were used. When the research findings are examined, female Turkish teachers working in special education schools have higher career adaptability than male Turkish teachers. Besides, Turkish teachers in the age range of 36-40 have more career adaptability than other age groups. According to the results of the research, job satisfaction and psychological well-being are important variables explaining career adaptability of Turkish teachers working in special education schools. [This study was presented as an oral presentation at II. International Academic Research Congress.]

This paper addresses a gap in research regarding the efficacy of software programs to help children with reading difficulties. Forty-two children aged 5-13 years identified as poor readers participated in a study over twelve weeks using ReadingDoctor, a software program targeting phonemic awareness, orthographic-phonemic mappings, decoding ability and sight word recognition. Measures were taken using the Sutherland Phonological Awareness Test - Revised (SPAT-R), the Test of Word Reading Efficiency (TOWRE), and the graphemes and decoding subtests of the Phonological Awareness Test 2 (PAT-2). A quasi-experimental one group study with three multiple baseline measures was used. The dependent variables/measures were assessed seven times over a period of 32 weeks, allowing the research to be completed in the school-allocated timeframe. Significant improvements were found on all three measures of phonological/phonemic awareness and word-reading efficiency. These improvements were maintained when assessed three months later, during which time the software program was not used.

In the 21st century, the School Resource Centre (SRC) is essential as an innovative educational practice that supports teaching-learning in the digital age. Previous studies have highlighted the beneficial roles of an SRC in terms of collections, SRC programs, and the provision of a conducive learning environment to school communities. However, due to the meaningful impact of technology, SRCs need to transform their traditional roles to more modern roles in the digital age in order to bring knowledge that is alive, interesting and relevant to meet users' needs and demands, especially the millennials. The millennial generation is comprised of digital immigrants who are very competent in using technology devices but still lack information literacy skills and are marked by uncertainty because they face information overload due to the high dependency on the Internet and inability to solve real-life problems. In this study, the millennial generation was narrowed to secondary students aged between 13-17 years old. This paper aims to determine the type of activities held in SRCs that give impact on students' civilization and support them in developing life-long learning habits which will enable them to be knowledgeable and responsible citizens in a civilized society. A survey was distributed to secondary students, and findings show that there is a positive indication with a 4.21 mean value (with Likert scale ranging between 1 to 5) on civilization for the use of SRCs. Education itself is evolving through changes in the curricula and use of enhanced technology which have changed the way students access information and interact with others in the civilized society. It is hoped that other than becoming information literate and knowledgeable persons, students can also show evidence of moral and intellectual advancement by being humane, ethical and reasonable as well as have the capabilities of leading an improved life and social wellbeing.

Is it possible to track the revitalization of the Maori language statistically? Different large-scale statistical collections (censuses and surveys) in New Zealand effectively have different definitions of speaker because they ask different questions. This paper compares trends in numbers of Maori speakers as estimated from responses to questions about conversational ability, first language, and level of speaking proficiency, with particular reference to the 2013 Census and Te Kupenga (Maori social survey) 2013. One might expect estimates based on these responses to align closely, but they do not. This paper explores the relationships between the different estimates for different birth cohorts. Data on first language from at least four surveys provide strong evidence of a resurgence in intergenerational language transmission, which is not clearly apparent from the other indicators. Patterns of response to conversational ability and speaking proficiency questions are found to vary according to first language and birth cohort. It is argued that the apparent inconsistencies between the indicators reflect the real complexity of revitalization processes, as well as varying interpretations of the language questions, and that the New Zealand census language question on conversational ability is of questionable value as an indicator for tracking Maori language revitalization.

Objective: We conducted a trial embedded within the German National Cohort comparing the responses to study invitations sent in recycled envelopes of grey color vs. envelopes of white color. We analyzed paradata for reactions to the invitation letters by potential subjects, the duration between mailing date of the invitation and active responses, and study participation. Results: Grey envelopes only slightly increased the chance of active responses (OR 1.16, 95% CI 0.83, 1.62) to the invitation letter. Potential study subjects with German nationality (OR 3.75, 95% CI 2.07, 7.66) and age groups above 50 years (50–59: OR 1.78, 95% CI 1.19, 2.69; 60–69: OR 2.25, 95% CI 1.48, 3.43) were more likely to actively respond to the invitation letter. The duration between mailing date of the invitation and active response was not associated with envelope color, sex, nationality, or age. Our trial replicates previous observations that the color of the envelope of a study invitation does not influence the likelihood of an active response or study participation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rising costs of recruiting and hiring workers and the seismic shift of age demographics in the United States workforce has created much stir around the concept of generational cohorts. Although much has been done by researchers and practitioners alike to attempt a better understanding of each generational group's leadership preferences, confusing and contradictory results has attracted much criticism. This critique has inspired efforts to look at the concept of leadership and followership preference through an alternative lifespan developmental lens. Because leadership influences are inherently social influences, a person's overall lifespan development level may potentially provide a deeper perspicacity of the phenomenon than examining it from the more conventional generational cohort perspective. However, specific research into this area is lacking. This paper adds to the literature by uncovering what we are missing in research and practice when we look at age-related leadership phenomena solely from a generational cohort perspective. A review of the contradicting literature on generational cohorts and leadership is offered. Next, specific lifespan developmental theories are examined, and propositions and implications of such research are extended.

In her thoughtful examination of the complexities of identity in the article "Political and Metaphysical: Reflections on Identity, Education, and Justice" (EJ1277341), Lauren Bialystok provides a full and incisive vocabulary for thinking through the tensions among authentic, political, and social recognition-requiring aspects of identity. It is a welcome article, adeptly bridging the concerns of those who find identity claims hopelessly contradictory and the concerns of those whose lives are circumscribed by misrecognitions. In this article, the author will address what is seen as strategic and complex forms of authenticity. This article is meant to continue the conversation, not contest Bialystok's excellent points.

Current comprehensive changes in the field of higher education in Uzbekistan have a potential impact on the overall enrollment in higher education (PP-4359, 2019). Rigid admission quotas in Uzbekistan are slowly conceding to a more market-based admissions and student recruitment to support reforms implementation. Cursory glance at the reforms fails to explain unprecedented growth of application numbers to higher education in 2019/20 (PP-4359, 2019; "STC comments on the delay of test results publication", 2019) or conjecture about future application patterns. Research presented in this paper aims to investigate the trends in higher education admissions in Uzbekistan through document analysis. It further draws on the effects of the government policy and legislation changes on the admission numbers in Uzbekistan and attempts to shed light on the future dynamics of student recruitment in higher education. The findings suggest that profound all-encompassing reforms in Uzbekistan have, firstly, precipitously increased relevant-age application numbers for 2019/20 academic year, but analysis suggests that this trend is unlikely to continue in the future.

This paper reports on the first stage of an Italian national project, Access Thorough Text (ACT henceforth), designed to respond to issues related to reading strategies, textual barriers and online access to web texts in English in educational environments, with specific reference to English as a Foreign Language (EFL). The first stage of the work has been focused on the theoretical foundation on which the project is based, in particular giving suggestions about how digital literacy for learners aged 6-18 can be encouraged and facilitated in web-based multimodal platforms (Jones, Hafner 2012). An inventory of integrative systems has been created to account for a range of devices that help break down barriers in texts (Baldry, Gaggia, Porta, 2011; Gaggia 2012; Porta 2012). The second section of this paper presents the design and administration of a needs analysis for the identification of specific needs for the three targeted age groups of EFL learners (group 1: 6-10, group 2: 11-14; group 3: 15-18). The survey also investigates which best practices can be adopted with regard to a) ease of access; b) awareness of sociocultural and genre-related textual barriers, and c) language problems for EFL learners. This paper will focus on Group 3, i.e. learners aged 15-18, and on how New Travel websites (NTWs) can be used in educational environments through task-based activities. Preliminary findings have shown that the text barriers identified in NTW can be ascribed to different socio-semiotic, multimodal and linguistic areas. Multimodal corpora have been created and annotated for the purpose of unpacking and tackling text barriers. The rationale of corpora selection (Baldry, O'Halloran 2010), replicability of the experiment, issues in categorization and taxonomies involved in NTWs will be discussed, with the final goal of providing guidelines for teachers, parents and other stakeholders in the field of digital literacy.