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Fungi mostly reproduce through spores that are adapted for airborne dispersal; hence, fungal spores (and fungi) are found virtually everywhere. Fungi can be "friends or foes." Our friends include fungi used in the food and biotech industries, fungi that contribute to the cycling of carbon and nutrients, and those involved in the decontamination of polluted soils and/or water, to mention just a few examples. Many species, however, are foes--they are detrimental to plants, animals, and/or humans. Annually, >1.5 million people die due to invasive fungal infections. With the aim of enhancing microbiology literacy and the understanding of microbial concepts, we set up a project for the collection of airborne spores (the principal agent through which human airways are exposed to fungi). Students from five high schools in the Oeiras municipality partnered with us as citizen scientists; they carried out sampling by collecting fungal spores on adhesive stickers. The fungal spores collected by the students were subsequently processed in the schools and our research laboratory. Results obtained by the students themselves revealed a large variety of fungal species capable of growing in a rich medium at 30°C. In the research laboratory, using selective isolation conditions, 40 thermotolerant fungi were isolated, 32 of which were taxonomically identified as aspergilla, mostly from within the Aspergillus fumigatus taxa, yet exhibiting high genetic heterogeneity. The protocols and results were presented to the students, who were made aware of the local dispersal of airborne fungal spores, including some from potentially pathogenic fungi. Through carrying out scientific activities, the students developed both the interest and the self-confidence needed to implement future environmental investigations.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has been part of every citizen's life for several years. Still, the emergence of generative AI (GenAI), accessible to all, has raised discussions about the ethical issues they raise, particularly in education. GenAI tools generate content according to user requests, but are students using these tools ethically and safely? Can teachers guide students in this use and use these tools in their teaching activities? This paper argues that teacher professional development (TPD) is an essential key trigger in adopting these emerging technologies. The paper will present an integrative literature review that discusses the components of TPD that may empower teachers to guide their students towards the ethical and safe use of GenAI. According to the literature review, one key component of TPD should be AI literacy, which involves understanding AI, its capabilities and limitations, and its potential benefits and drawbacks in education. Another essential component is hands-on activities that engage teachers, their peers, and students in actively using these tools during the training process. The paper will discuss the advantages of working with GenAI tools and designing lesson plans to implement them critically in the classroom.

Professional teacher collaboration, a fundamental characteristic of lesson study, has been pointed out as a principle of teacher personal and professional growth. This article aims to describe and analyze the development of professional collaboration in a lesson study, highlighting the main stages of this process. The investigation involved six elementary school teachers of Brazilian public schools, in planning, observing, and reflecting on a lesson on the curriculum topic of length measure at grade 4. The participants worked collaboratively planning a lesson about this topic. The methodology is qualitative, with data collected by records and field notes of sessions, conversations, and interviews. The analyses pointed out three remarkable stages of the development of professional collaboration, which constituted the categories of analysis: recognition of collaboration, development of collaboration, and valuing collaboration. The results show that the professional collaboration that developed during the lesson study was facilitated by the dynamics of the different steps of this process and, especially, by the relationship between participants and teacher educators. Collaboration emerged from the activities of planning, teaching, observing, and reflecting on the lesson, and was valued given the encouragement and strengthening of the group insofar as teachers felt confident, encouraged, and welcomed in the group.

Despite being categorized as an activity of daily living since the first edition of the Occupational Therapy Practice Framework, no Accreditation Council for Occupational Therapy Education (ACOTE) standards exist to provide guidance on teaching occupational therapy students about sexual activity as an activity of daily living (ADL). When discussed, sexual activity is usually taught via didactic lecture, but is a subject that would benefit from a skills-based approach to teaching. This pilot pedagogical exercise in a two-credit assistive technology class taught occupational therapy students to address the ADL of sexual activity with clients by having students adapt a sexual toy using basic soldering techniques and adaptive switches for a mock client. By providing a hands-on adaptive project for students, students practiced applying occupational analysis to the adaptation of assistive technology, which can generalize to other assistive technologies (such as those for adaptive gaming) and occupations, while also providing students with experience discussing sexual activity as an ADL in practice. This project is an option for occupational therapy programs looking to integrate more education on sexual activity into their current curricula, while also satisfying the requirements of assistive technology ACOTE standards.

The introduction of ChatGPT into basic education is progressing rapidly, generating impacts that, in many cases, are unknown. Its impressive capability profiles it as a tool that will revolutionize teaching and learning processes, creating gaps that need to be understood and evaluated. The research aims to explore the advantages, disadvantages, and its impact on school tasks. It is an exploratory qualitative study; data were collected through semi-structured interviews with 110 participants from five schools in Tacna, Peru. The results reveal that ChatGPT provides information quickly and easily, with a variety of content and pedagogical strategies. Additionally, it serves for evaluation, knowledge consultation, and scheduling school tasks. Eight related disadvantages were identified: Easy access to information may encourage the habit of copying and pasting, fostering academic dependence that would affect the development of skills, such as inquiry, argumentation, analysis, and critical thinking. Also, students may misuse information, cheating on school tasks and affecting their quality and suitability, making them no longer useful for education, including synthesis, essays, monographs, organizers, summaries, and mathematical exercises.

This study aims to identify how mathematics teachers understand whole-class discussions and to know the influence of lesson study on the way they orchestrate these discussions. This is a qualitative study, conducted with two groups of middle school teachers. We analyze data concerning three teachers, Patrícia, Marta, and Diana, collected through initial individual interviews and observation of three research lessons. Data are analyzed by discourse analysis, establishing a relationship between the discourse about the teachers' understanding of whole-class discussions in the initial interview and their subsequent orchestration of this lesson moment. From this relation, we consider the influence of the lesson studies on the teachers' orchestration practice. The teachers' discourse in the interviews suggest the existence of a tension between their understanding of the goals of a whole-class discussion and their practice in orchestrating the discussion, causing several challenges. The lesson study contributed to lower these tensions and challenges through the definition of a fluid lesson structure and the appreciation, selection and recording of the students' activity, enriching the discussion. However, carrying out effective questioning and managing time proved to be complex challenges that deserve attention from further research.

The insertion of Machine Learning (ML) in everyday life demonstrates the importance of popularizing an understanding of ML already in school. Accompanying this trend arises the need to assess the students' learning. Yet, so far, few assessments have been proposed, most lacking an evaluation. Therefore, we evaluate the reliability and validity of an automated assessment of the students' learning of an image classification model created as a learning outcome of the "ML for All!" course. Results based on data collected from 240 students indicate that the assessment can be considered reliable (coefficient Omega = 0.834/Cronbach's alpha [alpha] = 0.83). We also identified moderate to strong convergent and discriminant validity based on the polychoric correlation matrix. Factor analyses indicate two underlying factors "Data Management and Model Training" and "Performance Interpretation", completing each other. These results can guide the improvement of assessments, as well as the decision on the application of this model in order to support ML education as part of a comprehensive assessment.

Geographic education in recent years has undergone major transformations in school curricula, moving from a memorization practice to a critical reflection based on the students' local reality. This is included in official teaching documents. On the other hand, the application of this new approach to applicability problems, largely due to the lack of elements focused on teaching resources that facilitate this process or the training of professionalized teachers before this conceptual change. This is present in the Brazilian semi-arid region, with the insertion of coexistence contextualized with the semi-arid region in the quest to work on education along the lines of applicability of the student's knowledge. That said, we have such an objective here, providing some reflections to reach such a path, an active and participatory teaching.

Design thinking dispositions are essential for students to understand why design thinking knowledge should be applied to perform specific tasks. However, few studies are focused on teaching design thinking dispositions. This study proposes a conceptual model that supports teaching design thinking dispositions to address this gap. The model was instantiated in an undergraduate course. Students' reflections about the course were collected to evaluate the model. The use of the model is also demonstrated by considering different teaching scenarios. This study contributes to better teaching and learning design thinking dispositions based on a unique model that helps educators organize their design thinking courses. The study also derives some implications for educators. While teaching design thinking knowledge and skills is essential, developing students' design thinking dispositions is equally essential.

Internationalization in higher education is essential, and although active learning methodologies are increasing and allow students to develop transversal skills, most still have a very local scope. In this context, the Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) methodology is an interesting approach to benefit the students' development. It consists of an online program that involves creating multicultural teams to develop a specific learning project. Although this methodology is expanding, its use in physiology is still scarce. This paper aims to show an example of applying COIL methodology in physiology topics to enhance higher-education students' innovation and business skills. Our example project developed a sports-assessment service concept focused on physiology and biomechanics assessments. The program involved teams from Brazil, Germany, and Spain, comprising undergraduate and master students. Over 7 weeks, these teams, mentored by professors and researchers, engaged in workshops covering COIL methodology, business model design, executive summary planning, economic analyses, and communication techniques. Key outcomes included learning new concepts, developing soft skills, building confidence in innovative solution proposals, and experiencing diverse cultures. Challenges faced were language barriers, scheduling, task complexity, and logistical issues. This experience confirms the effectiveness of incorporating programs using COIL methodology into educational curriculums. Doing so exposes physiology students to innovation, entrepreneurship, and business creation while strengthening their professional connections and opening up postgraduation opportunities.

The use of immersive methodologies is a trend in the educational environment, but their outcomes in the teaching-learning process need to be better understood. This study aimed to assess the impact of the educational environment on learning equine distal limb ultrasonography, comparing immersive classroom, traditional classroom, and virtual classroom. A total of 153 veterinary medicine students from the first to the third semester participated in this study. The students were divided into four groups: traditional (n = 22), immersive (n = 100), online (n = 31), and traditional-immersive (n = 15). The students completed a questionnaire before and immediately after the class. The online group had a lower average gain in correct answers compared to the others (p < 0.01). Regarding student perception, it was observed that the virtual group had the lowest satisfaction score (p < 0.001), and students in the immersive and online environments were more satisfied with the resources used compared to the traditional classroom (p = 0.01). Concluding, in the present study students showed a greater interest in environments associated with technology, and that in-person modalities resulted in significantly superior learning outcomes compared to online ones.

The specific learning disabilities (SLD) identification literature is replete with competing narratives concerning the advantages and disadvantages of various techniques and methods. Until a widely accepted and empirically proven SLD identification methodology is universally supported, evaluators should seek to improve the existing alternatives. This article describes the value of using norm-referenced testing of intellectual development to comprehensively identify specific learning disabilities (SLD) as advocated by the Core-Selective Evaluation Process (C-SEP). To this end, we will define intellectual development and describe practices such as integrated data analysis and task demand analysis.

The academic dropout of higher education students represents one of the most significant challenges that university institutions have to face today. This research analysed the university academic trajectory of students who dropped out of university for good. The aim of this paper is to examine in depth the factors that influence the idea of the construction of academic dropout and its relationship with the difficulties of adaptation to the university training system. A qualitative study was carried out in which the interview technique was applied to n = 34 dropout students belonging to three Spanish autonomous communities. The results made it possible to identify and examine students' difficulties in adapting to university studies in greater depth. The interviews revealed contextual and emotional details that contributed to dropout, such as personal and professional challenges and a lack of emotional support. The findings lead to the need to approach the issue from a holistic viewpoint in order to address the different reasons behind university dropouts. This broad view of the academic trajectories of university students who drop out is a benchmark for strategies to improve student retention and success in higher education.

Bebras tasks are considered to develop Computational Thinking (CT) and are currently used for this purpose in many studies. However, the relationship between Bebras tasks and CT is recent and, given the scarcity of validated instruments for assessing CT that are not associated with a specific learning environment, the expected development of CT through Bebras tasks has not been sufficiently evaluated, especially in Primary School. For this reason, we designed the ABC-Thinking program for the development of CT in which a set of Bebras tasks were selected and categorised according to the CT skills they were related to, specific lesson plans were designed to integrate these tasks in a 12-week curriculum, and teachers were trained to apply the program. Using the competent Computational Thinking test (cCTt) in a pre-post-test experimental design, we looked to determine whether Primary School students developed specific CT skills after the program, and, therefore, whether Bebras could be considered suitable for the development of this competence. The results show a significant development in specific CT skills, interesting findings in the gender differences in this development, and between high and low performers. Finally, qualitative data indicate the suitability of the ABC-Thinking program with respect to teachers' practice.

The concept of sustainability has been gaining prominence due to its social, economic, and environmental implications. The urgency surrounding this issue continues to mount as we strive to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals outlined in the 2030 Agenda. To achieve these goals, it is imperative to harness scientific knowledge and innovative educational approaches. Pedagogical approaches can be a powerful ally to behavioral change, playing a decisive role in educating sustainable communities. Concurrently, neuroscientific basis has been used as a relevant tool to foster knowledge on human behavior, namely value attribution and decision-making. In this work, we emphasize the construction of 1-day workshops with high school students, focusing on neuro-based processes underlying sustainable choices. Several innovative pedagogical methods have been employed to encourage the development of critical knowledge and promote the adoption of more sustainable behavior. This article discusses the connection between sustainable consumption and neuroscience, highlighting the vital role of education in shaping the consciousness of responsible citizens. The diversity of educational activities, the stimulation of creativity, and critical thinking cannot only improve the acquisition of concepts but also contribute to the education of citizens who are informed and capable of making responsible and conscious decisions.

Teachers must be prepared to serve all learners, regardless of their abilities or needs in this information and communication society. This implies developing the necessary competences to provide inclusive education to all students. The purpose of this study was to investigate the opinion of university teachers in the Autonomous Community of Madrid on their training in the use of technologies to support students with disabilities. To carry out this research, a descriptive approach combining both quantitative and qualitative methods was used. The final sample consisted of 106 university teachers (information collected through questionnaires) and 8 professionals from ICT Production Resource Centres and Services for People with Disabilities in the respective universities (information collected through interviews). Two data collection instruments were used: an ad-hoc questionnaire as a data collection instrument, and a semi-structured interview. The results of the study showed that university teachers have a low level of competence in the use of information and communication technologies (ICT) to support students with disabilities. The lack of teacher training negatively affects the inclusion process in university education institutions. Higher education institutions need to promote the training of teachers in the use of technologies to cater for diversity.

Training to run is not straightforward since without proper personalised supervision and planning, people will not improve their performance and will increase the risk of injuries. This study aims to identify the different factors that influence running training programmes, examining the benefits, challenges or limitations of personalised plans. Moreover, this study explores how multimodal, immersive and artificial intelligence technologies can support personalised training. We conducted an exploratory sequential mixed research consisting of interviews with 11 running coaches from different countries and a survey of 12 running coaches. Based on the interviews and survey analysis, we identified and extracted relevant factors of the training process. We identified four relevant aspects for running training: physical, technical, mental and body awareness. Using these aspects as a reference, we derived a framework using a bottom-up approach. This framework proposes multimodal, immersive and artificial intelligence technologies to facilitate personalised running training. It also allows coaches to personally guide their athletes on each aspect.

Migrant students tend to underperform in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) subjects and are less likely to pursue higher education in STEM when compared with their nonmigrant peers. Given the substantial increase in migration, this disparity has been a central concern in science education in many European countries. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of an innovative science outreach program that brings together migrant students and STEM professionals with the same linguistic and cultural backgrounds. The program consists of one-off workshops that follow an inquiry-based approach and include hands-on activities and science communication in the students' heritage language. Using surveys with adapted scales and open-ended questions, we applied a randomized block design with waitlist control groups and repeated measures. Eighty-three Portuguese-speaking migrant students aged 6-17 years participated in the workshops in Germany and the United Kingdom. Results indicate that both the students and STEM professionals evaluated the program positively and that students who participated in the workshops tended to demonstrate an increase in their attainment value for science and an increase in their self-concept of ability for the heritage language 4 weeks after the intervention when compared with students in the control condition. These effects were particularly pronounced for students with low prior motivation to study science or speak the heritage language. Our results thus show that it is possible to foster migrant students' attainment value for science and increase their self-concept of ability regarding the heritage language through a brief science outreach intervention.

Academic genres are not static, but they may change according to the values and demands of the particular discourse communities that shape them. This paper explores the research article (RA) abstract, a relevant informative and promotional genre that exhibits the prevalent rhetorical practices of a specific disciplinary community. From a diachronic perspective, our purpose is to examine how these practices have evolved over time. To this end, using a genre-based approach, we have analysed the rhetorical moves and steps of 180 RA abstracts published in the "Journal of Experimental Medicine," over a period of nine decades (1940-2022). The findings revealed that the abstracts have increasingly become more promotional in terms of the persuasive rhetorical strategies that the authors use to enhance the contribution of their research. This is seen in the fact that the texts of more recent decades present a growing number of promotional communicative functions, mainly the moves/steps that claim the importance of the research topic and state the implications or significance of research. This study can have pedagogical implications for English for research publication purposes (ERPP) practitioners and early career researchers who seek to publish in international medical journals.

Suddenly, adjusting to a new way of learning is a major challenge for university students. The objective of this article was to study university student determinants of the well-being in the context of the sudden transition towards e-learning imposed by the COVID-19 lockdown. Based on the antecedents linked to the structure of e-learning and its influence on self-management and ease of use, as well as using the mediating role of user intention, perceived enjoyment, and habits, a model was tested to find well-being trajectories. Using a sample of 543 students from originally Spanish face-to-face universities and through a PLS-SEM methodology, this research obtained relevant results in two main directions. First, research found that the self-management and ease of use of e-learning systems constitute direct antecedents of student well-being. Furthermore, the research results confirmed two reinforcement itineraries of well-being. The intention built an itinerary to reinforce ease of use, and perceived enjoyment added explanatory power to self-management. However, the research also found a second explanatory and negative itinerary of sudden e-learning student well-being. This path of darkness is related to the adverse mediating effect exerted by the habit, understood from the perspective of technological dependence, when it interacts with perceived enjoyment. The article discusses their implications for educational strategy and policy, especially indicated for those e-learning practices solely based on the enjoyment and immersion experience of their students.

Alcohol consumption has profound effects on behavior, such as impaired judgment, addiction or even death. It is estimated that alcohol contributes to around three million deaths worldwide, 13.5% of them in young people with ages between 20 and 39 years. Consequently, it is necessary to raise awareness among college and high school students of the risk related to alcohol drinking. The small nematode "Caenorhabditis elegans" is an animal widely used as a model organism to study nearly all aspects of Biochemistry. It is a powerful tool to test the potential bioactivity and molecular mechanisms of natural compounds and drugs "in vivo." Therefore, it is an interesting topic to include in an undergraduate course of Biotechnology, Biochemistry or Biology students among other scientific vocations. "C. elegans" is also used as a neurobiological model to evaluate substances' neurotoxicity and behavioral effects. The proposed experiment introduces students to the handling of this preclinical model and to the evaluation of behavioral alterations induced by chemicals in scientific research. The effects of different doses of ethanol on "C. elegans" behavior are studied using a versatile chemotaxis assay. This laboratory experiment is suitable for an undergraduate course. The practical session can be used in the global strategies of information and awareness of educational centres to mitigate the impact of alcohol abuse among students, both in formal courses or in Science fairs or exhibitions.

Open-source hardware and software platforms have played an important role in democratizing access to technology and education in computer science and engineering. Recent advancements in tools, such as KiCad, MicroPython, and Thonny, integrated development environment potentially accelerate low-budget educational applications, providing a smooth and consistent learning curve for users. The BitDogLab, utilizing these platforms, is designed and developed for Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics activities based on the Raspberry Pi Pico Board, featuring artificial intelligence (AI)-supported programming via the GPT model. BitDogLab is an open-source hardware solution with a flexible design for continuous expansion in both software and hardware areas. Its functionality, based on open-source code, can be enhanced by integrating various software resources. Additionally, BitDogLab's adaptability to sophisticated hardware like robotic systems or advanced sensors expands its educational applications. An evaluation of BitDogLab, conducted through a hands-on workshop at the Latin America Open Technology Conference--Latinoware 2023, revealed unanimous interest among 36 respondents, mainly for teaching programming (58%), and valuing its low cost, diverse components, and ease of AI-assisted programming. 75% of respondents expressed a strong desire to use BitDogLab, despite 19% preferring familiar boards like Arduino or Micro:bit. The project's open distribution encourages community contributions, promoting collaborative learning and innovation from children to preuniversity students.

Immersive virtual reality (i-VR) is a powerful tool that can be used to explore virtual models in three dimensions. It could therefore be a valuable tool to supplement anatomical teaching by providing opportunities to explore spatial anatomical relationships in a virtual environment. However, there is a lack of consensus in the literature as to its effectiveness as a teaching modality when compared to the use of cadaveric material. The aim of our study was to compare the effectiveness of i-VR in facilitating understanding of different anatomical regions when compared with cadaveric prosections for a cohort of first- and second-year undergraduate medical students. Students (n = 92) enrolled in the MBBS program at Queen Mary University of London undertook an assessment, answering questions using either Oculus i-VR headsets, the Human Anatomy VR™ application, or prosection materials. Utilizing ANOVA with Sidak's multiple comparison test, we found no significant difference between prosections and i-VR scores in the abdomen (p = 0.6745), upper limb (p = 0.8557), or lower limb groups (p = 0.9973), suggesting that i-VR may be a viable alternative to prosections in these regions. However, students scored significantly higher when using prosections when compared to i-VR for the thoracic region (p < 0.0001). This may be due to a greater need for visuospatial understanding of 3D relationships when viewing anatomical cavities, which is challenged by a virtual environment. Our study supports the use of i-VR in anatomical teaching but highlights that there is significant variation in the efficacy of this tool for the study of different anatomical regions.

This article positions the core-selective evaluation process (C-SEP), a pattern of strengths and weaknesses (PSW) model of identifying specific learning disabilities (SLD), within guidelines and best practices recommended for assessing English learners. C-SEP is a broad approach that utilizes multiple sources of data to establish underachievement, conduct a preliminary rule out of exclusionary factors, establish a preliminary pattern of strengths and weaknesses, establish a testing hypothesis, and create a targeted testing plan. When utilizing C-SEP, evaluators adhere to the four P's (policy, publisher guidance, best practices in assessment, and professional judgment) while determining a student's qualification status. C-SEP uses targeted, purposeful assessment practices that consider multiple sources of data and do not over-rely on norm-referenced that can often underestimate an English learner's (EL's) functioning.

Flipped learning (FL) has positive effects on the teaching-learning process. Nevertheless, and given that it is a relatively new methodology, it still raises some misgivings. This work aims to highlight the potential of FL by the analysis of academic results in a subject in higher engineering education and, thus, to contribute to overcome possible misgivings. Methods were based on statistical analysis, using Pearson's correlation coefficient (PCC), and comparative analysis using graphs. Data from eight academic years were analysed, three with traditional methodology and five with FL. Influence of specific factors, such as participation in FL activities, on students' performance over time has been identified. FL has a very positive impact on students' academic performance and the active participation of students' results in a significant increase in the pass rate as well as in the quality of learning. These improvements have increased over time despite challenges such as the COVID-19 pandemic.