Search Results (9)

Neurodegenerative diseases significantly impact individuals’ nutritional status. Therefore, nutritional education plays a crucial role in enhancing the understanding of food and nutrition, preventing or minimizing malnutrition, promoting well-being, and empowering patients and caregivers. Educommunication is a methodology that utilizes communication as a pedagogical tool, with the potential to positively enhance the teaching–learning process. This study aims to identify and map educommunication strategies designed to educate caregivers and patients with neurodegenerative diseases about food and nutrition. Methods: This scoping review followed the JBI Institute Reviewer’s Manual. The search was conducted between June 2022 and March 2023 in databases including PubMed/MEDLINE, Embase, Scopus, and Web of Science. Results: Out of 189 studies identified, 29 met the eligibility criteria, and only 3 were suitable for inclusion in this review. Conclusion: Studies using educommunication for food and nutrition education are scarce. Despite the limited number of studies included in this review, various educommunication strategies utilizing communication and information technologies were used. Educommunication strategies can facilitate knowledge acquisition in food and nutrition and change behaviors, resulting in health benefits for the participants. More studies on this subject are needed. Full article

Digital transformation opens up multiple opportunities for educators to achieve the continuity of learning through life, aligning with UNESCO’s fourth goal of sustainable development, and to prepare them for the digital age. Effective integration of technology goes beyond using it for its own sake; it involves using it to deepen students’ learning experiences. Digital transformation raises key questions about teachers’ digital competence. Building on the DigCompEdu framework, the current study aims to uncover the level of digital competence of science teachers and their perceptions towards it as well as to identify the factors influencing this competence. The study adopted a mixed-methods approach utilizing a sequential explanatory design. This design involved a questionnaire which was administered to a sample of 611 science teachers, while a semi-structured interview was applied to 13 teachers. The results indicate that the teachers’ level of digital competence was medium (58.4%). The study also revealed that the teachers had high-level positive perceptions towards the use of digital technologies (78%). Furthermore, the results indicate that perceived usefulness and subjective norms directly influence digital competence. This study also identifies the benefits of digital technologies and the challenges that teachers encounter in implementing them in the educational environment. The benefits focus on enhancing students’ motivation and assessing their learning experiences, communicating with the educational community, and the continuousness of e-learning. The challenges, however, include the acceptance of technology by the educational community; cognitive and skill-related challenges faced by teachers; administrative and teaching burdens; limited access to digital technologies and tools; and challenges related to student behaviors. As a result, a set of recommendations and implications are proposed for educational policymakers, curriculum and professional development program designers, researchers, and educational practitioners. Full article

STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics) education is gaining increasing attention worldwide, with many initiatives being implemented to promote its adoption and effectiveness; thus, its successful integration into educational systems has become increasingly critical. Educators will play a central role in this integration; that is why it is critical to assess their needs, map the necessary roles and competences, and provide the means to guide their professional development in a systematic way. To address these requirements, our study introduces the STEAM Competence Framework for Educators (STEAMComp Edu), as a culmination of literature reviews, expert consultations, and empirical validation by 302 educational professionals, policymakers, and scholars. The framework includes 41 vital competences, organized across 14 competence areas, from five broad educators’ perspectives. STEAMComp Edu captures STEAM educators’ roles, from teaching methods to community engagement, and stands as a pivotal tool in enhancing STEAM education quality and effectiveness. This paper also highlights STEAMComp Edu’s significance in the professional development of educators and focuses on the framework’s value in developing self-assessment tools and in designing STEAM educator occupational profiles that are aligned with the ESCO (European Skills, Competences, Qualifications, and Occupations) standards, thereby contributing to a more structured and recognized approach in the field of STEAM education. Full article

The purpose of this paper is to assess the impact of a garden-based teaching unit about “Food and Nutrition” on students’ knowledge and habits of sustainable healthy diets, and to compare it with that of a more traditional unit from a textbook. This communication is framed in a research project (EDUCYL2020-01 “Sembrando interés, cosechando competencia”, financed by the Consejería de Educación de la Junta de Castilla y León through the Dirección General de Innovación y Formación del Profesorado (ORDEN EDU/262/2020, de 9 de marzo, por la que se convoca la selección de proyectos de investigación educativa a desarrollar por equipos de profesores y equipos de inspectores que presten servicios educativos de la Comunidad de Castilla y León durante los cursos 2020/2021)) whose aim is to improve science education by approaching scientific topics of the official curriculum from a context-based strategy. The authors first designed a teaching-learning sequence, using an organic learning garden as a context, including real-life activities to promote reflection and debate among students. Such a sequence was implemented in a group of 40 students at the third course of Spanish compulsory secondary education, whose results were compared with those of a group of 15 students who followed the textbook. The impact was assessed by posing four open questions to students from the two groups, both at the beginning and the end of the instruction, whose answers were analyzed quantitatively and qualitatively. Results show that implementing the sequence constituted an educational improvement with respect to traditional teaching, since students’ answers on the topic were overall more comprehensive and evidenced better preparation for making real-life decisions. Students from the experimental group became more aware of the environmental impacts of human nutrition, and of sustainable healthy diets. It was also indicated that the health and nutrition-centered approach that still predominates in education needs to be overcome, and a sustainable approach needs to be taken. This is a novel study that leads a new line of research devoted to addressing education about sustainable food, which arises from the demands of raising awareness among citizens toward changing diets within the transition toward sustainable food systems. Full article

The impact and benefit that information and communication technologies (ICT) have in the educational field require new teaching skills. This fact has been increased by the recent crisis caused by COVID-19. This study tries to investigate the level of digital teaching competence (DTC) of Higher Education teachers of Health Sciences, and its relationship with several variables. For this, it has the participation of 300 teachers from the 9 universities of Andalusia (Spain). The research is structured through a descriptive (RQ1) and inferential (RQ2) design. The answers given to the DigCompEdu Check-In questionnaire adapted to the Spanish context are analyzed. The results, which show high levels of reliability of the questionnaire (Cronbach and McDonald) and validity (CFA), indicate that the level of competence is basic-intermediate. In addition, the area in which teachers excel is digital resources. For this reason, it is proposed to structure personalized training plans and continue expanding the characteristics of this study at an international level. Full article

In light of the increased time spent by people on watching the news via social media, what might be the communication impacts if science education could help in producing science news media for the public? The present study compared the audience levels of awareness, enjoyment, interest, opinion formation, and understanding (AEIOU) toward science experimentally between two groups: the general science communication (GSC) group (i.e., participants with general daily science news digestion) and the science edu-communication (SEC) group (i.e., participants who watched science news videos produced jointly by science educators, scientists, and news media production teams). As a result, those in the SEC group showed significantly higher levels of “interest”, formed more scientific “opinions”, and had better “understanding” than the GSC participants. In terms of creating an “additional opportunity” to develop science news media sustainably for the public, the present study confirms more salient outcomes when science educators are involved in the production of science news media. Full article

For better understanding of how the public perceive the information in science communication; this study sought to develop the scale of Science Edu-Communication (SEC), an instrument to measure AEIOU: Awareness; Enjoyment; Interest; Opinion formation; and Understanding. The AEIOU framework was adopted for use as the major component of SEC to depict participants’ general perceptions of science communication from their daily life experiences. Responses from 121 participants were analysed using exploratory factor analysis; item discrimination; and qualitative coding analysis. Results support SEC-AEIOU as a valid and reliable instrument to measure the effectiveness of science communication experiences. Additionally; SEC-AEIOU can serve as a framework for research and practice to bridge science communication and science education. In particular; science communicators; educators; and institutions that engage in science communication and educational activities may benefit from such a metric. This scale seeks to assist in building a robust framework to facilitate the trend of bridging science communication and science education: Science Edu-Communication. Full article

Planetary Defense (PD) has become a critical effort of protecting our home planet by discovering potentially hazardous objects (PHOs), simulating the potential impact, and mitigating the threats. Due to the lack of structured architecture and framework, pertinent information about detecting and mitigating near earth object (NEO) threats are still dispersed throughout numerous organizations. Scattered and unorganized information can have a significant impact at the time of crisis, resulting in inefficient processes, and decisions made on incomplete data. This PD Mitigation Gateway (pd.cloud.gmu.edu) is developed and embedded within a framework to integrate the dispersed, diverse information residing at different organizations across the world. The gateway offers a home to pertinent PD-related contents and knowledge produced by the NEO mitigation team and the community through (1) a state-of-the-art smart-search discovery engine based on PD knowledge base; (2) a document archiving and understanding mechanism for managing and utilizing the results produced by the PD science community; (3) an evolving PD knowledge base accumulated from existing literature, using natural language processing and machine learning; and (4) a 4D visualization tool that allows the viewers to analyze near-Earth approaches in a three-dimensional environment using dynamic, adjustable PHO parameters to mimic point-of-impact asteroid deflections via space vehicles and particle system simulations. Along with the benefit of accessing dispersed data from a single port, this framework is built to advance discovery, collaboration, innovation, and education across the PD field-of-study, and ultimately decision support. Full article

Initiated four years ago, Journal of Mind and Medical Sciences (J Mind Med Sci.) established the mission to publish papers on mental and medical topics in distinct but closely interrelated domains. The editorial policy especially encourages interdisciplinary and integrative perspectives, being equally focused on basic research and clinical investigations and short reports. The journal adheres to the philosophy that high quality, original ideas and information should be readily accessible and freely shared within and amongst the scientific community. Accordingly, J Mind Med Sci. is an online, open access, non-for-profit journal which, because of individual/private support, has levied no charges for submission, review, and publication of articles. All published articles may be freely downloaded and used by anyone from anywhere for scientific purposes. Journal of Mind and Medical Sciences is published by ValpoScholar/ Valparaiso University using the leading institutional repository platform of Digital Commons (powered by Bepress and under the local management of Jon Bull, Library Services, Valparaiso University), which combines submission management, editorial, and peer-review tools into a unique and flexible publishing software system. These editorial and publishing norms have facilitated the journal’s evolution, now indexed and abstracted in several international respected databases. Journal visibility is wide among international academic institutions and readers, as documented by the number of downloaded articles cited in respected journals, some indexed by Thomson Reuters and having high impact factors. In addition, published authors in J Mind Med Sci. periodically receive a statistical report about views /downloads of their articles. It is a pleasure and honor to thank all those who have thus far supported the journal activity (authors, reviewers, editorial board and assistance, publishing support), and to further invite and encourage scientists to contribute to the general progress of knowledge, and in particular to the development of mental and medical disciplines, using our academic platform, available at http://scholar.valpo.edu/jmms/. Full article