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Active breaks (AB) are short periods of physical activity in the classroom. The purpose of this study was to compare the acute effects of 5-minute dance break with an aerobic and a sedentary group on the executive functions, math performance and enjoyment of elementary school children. A total of 67 children (10.41±.13 years) of three fifth grade classes were randomly assigned to the three groups: dance (21 children), aerobic (24 children) and control (22 children). At the beginning and at the end of the intervention, all participants completed the Flanker task, the Digit Span test, the tower of London and a math test (mental calculations). In addition, the dance and the aerobic group were evaluated on their enjoyment level and physical activity intensity. At the end of the intervention both the dance and the aerobic group showed significant improvement in inhibition compared to pre-test. Moreover, the dance group showed higher levels of enjoyment compared to the aerobic group. The findings of the study suggest that even 5-minute dance break may positively affect children's inhibition and enjoyment. Children's enjoyment is crucial for AB participation and affects their academic performance. Therefore, children's enjoyment should also be considered in AB planning, and dance could be a suitable alternative compared to other AB physical activities (aerobic/strength activities).

This study examined the validity of the Greek version of the Societal Attitudes Towards Autism (SATA) scale in a Greek community sample (n = 633) and explored how the demographic variables of the sample modulate knowledge and attitudes regarding people with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). The principal component analysis confirmed the three-dimension model and explained 40.5% of the variance. All Cronbach's alpha values obtained were over 0.70. SATA's subscales were significantly and positively correlated, indicating good internal reliability. Participants presented moderate knowledge about ASD and mediocre positive attitudes towards people with ASD. Gender, age, and educational level significantly affected SATA total scores. Overall, this Greek version of SATA showed acceptable psychometric properties, indicating that can be a reliable scale for use.

Reading mathematical texts is closely related to the effort of the reader to understand its content; therefore, it is reasonable to consider such reading as a problem-solving activity. In this paper, the Principle of Mathematical Induction was given to secondary education students, and their effort to comprehend the text was examined in order to identify whether significant elements of problem solving are involved. The findings give evidence that while negotiating the content of the text, the students went through Polya's four phases of problem solving. Moreover, this approach of reading the Principle of Mathematical Induction in the sense of a problem that must be solved seems a promising idea for the conceptual understanding of the notion of mathematical induction.

Translanguaging has been placed at the center of the research and teaching activity over the last decade, while teachers seem to promote the use of all the linguistic resources of their students in classrooms with linguistic and cultural diversity. Among the best practices for promoting translanguaging and the flexible use of the students' resources, reading multilingual texts is proposed as an important activity for students who are daily bombarded with a great variety of diverse stimuli. To clarify it more, students tend to come into contact with "texts" in every mode, that are not only offered in their L1 but they usually include and are written in various linguistic codes known or not to them. However, limited research has focused on such issues of reading a text with multilingual wealth, thus this was a major factor and reason behind this research initiative. This paper presents a study that aimed at investigating young learners' reading strategies when approaching a multilingual text. More specifically, 27 primary education students of Greek origin were provided with two different types of multilingual texts and they were asked to complete a specifically designed record protocol reflecting on their reading behavior. At first, the students came across a text, which was given both in another language and in Greek while at a second phase, the students were encouraged to read a text in which different languages were used. Within this context, an attempt was made to identify the strategies of students prior to reading, while-reading and upon reading with the purpose to shed light into the multidimensional framework of reading a multilingual text. Following the processing of the data derived from the multidimensional research, it was revealed that students employed a great variety of reading strategies before they begin to read the text. Nevertheless, they did not seem to use while-and post-reading strategies to a great extent, when a multilingual text is given to them inciting more interest in raising students' reading strategies through implementing educational activities.

?he CLIL (Content and Language Integrated Learning) approach has been proposed as an effective approach for students' education in the 21st century. Although it was initially proposed for students of higher education, CLIL has become especially attractive for students even in pre-school education. This paper focuses on the importance of CLIL implementation in fostering intercultural competencies among students who are engaged in CLIL programs. More specifically, this paper covers a theoretical review on CLIL and its development, while special emphasis is placed on the position of CLIL in the priorities of the European Council within the context of promoting multilingualism in Europe. CLIL aligns itself with the European Language Policy of improving language learning in its member states and with the EU Commission's objective of EU citizens' competence in European languages other than learners' mother tongue. The paper ends with references to organizations that promote the implementation of CLIL across Europe, while special emphasis is placed upon CLIL in Greek education.

The study aimed at evaluating the diadochokinetic (DDK) skills of Greek-speaking preschool children with phonological disorder (PD) by means of a structured evaluation protocol and at proposing cut-off points for children at risk of speech impairment. The participants were 36 children with PD and 60 typically developing (TD) peers. The groups were matched on age and gender. The PD group performed significantly slower than the TD group in all speech DDK tasks but not in the oral-motor tasks. The ROC analysis showed a statistically significant positive discrimination for all speech tasks. The internal consistency of the protocol was excellent (Cronbach's [alpha] = 0.844), while complex stimuli showed a better discriminatory ability. The obtained results agree with Dodd's classification for speech sound disorders (SSDs). Different types of speech stimuli must be included in the evaluation of DDK performance as a clinical predictor for preschoolers with SSDs who face difficulties in speech maturation.

In this paper, an attempt is made to develop a framework of a "MulDiLanguaging" approach with the purpose to enhance primary school students' intercultural competence. This educational framework consists of three interactive -- interdependent components: (1) Intercultural/multicultural sensitivity and awareness; (2) Intercultural cooperation and communication; and (3) Language and intercultural communication strategies. It includes communicative and creative activities aiming at developing students' intercultural communicative skills in parallel with their target language skills (EFL). In the "MulDiLanguaging" framework, the students are trained to acquire knowledge of 'self' and 'other', knowledge of everyday life in different cultural contexts, to function fully in an intercultural situation, as well as to develop language skills and abilities in the target language and intercultural communication strategies. A number of communicative and creative activities are presented with the purpose to create a group-working, cooperative context and enhance students' intercultural competence. Also, an Intercultural Portfolio is suggested as an alternative tool for assessing students' linguistic skills and strategies and their intercultural communication skills acquired in the "MulDiLanguaging" setting.

Not only in the field of education but also in many other forms of social expression and action, a period of fundamental changes can be observed due to the incorporation of new data imposed by the technological revolution. However, the process of integrating Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) in the learning process requires coordination, system change and radical transformations. These changes should be incorporated into curricula, while active teachers should have ongoing training on new technologies. In such a context, this paper comes to explore the views of secondary education teachers on the use of information and communication technologies in the learning process. In particular, a sample survey was conducted to determine the degree of utilization of new information and communication technologies in the learning process, especially in secondary school teachers in the Prefecture of Aitoloakarnania. The statistical software SPSS 23 was used to analyze the data obtained from the questionnaires. Tools and methods of descriptive and inductive statistics were used. The results highlight the low percentage of teachers who have received Level B certification and demonstrate the low level of ICT use by teachers, identifying at the same time all the factors affecting negatively their use and application.

The purpose of this article is to analyse how education and schooling took part in handling the early phase of the COVID-19 pandemic in eight European countries (Denmark, Finland, Germany, Greece, Italy, Norway, Poland and Sweden). The focus is on primary education and on decisions to close schools, or not. Our research was informed by assemblage theory in order to analyse how different components interacted in developing societal responses to mitigate the pandemic. The research was designed as a comparative case study of practical reasoning in diverse contexts. Data sources were the mass media and statements from governments and authorities. Our analyses showed that decisions to close schools, or not, were based on two alternative discourses on schooling. Closing primary schools was a preventive measure underlined by discourses of schools as places for infection. Keeping primary schools open was underlined by a discourse in which schools were conceived of as a place for social supportive measures and caring. Furthermore, the closing alternative was often combined with attempts to replace school practices by distance learning or computerized instruction. Legal constitutions and lawmaking were of significant importance in selecting discourses and the relative impact of different components, mostly political or medical, in responding to the pandemic.

The paper presents the course design and evaluation methods of an online community of inquiry that is developed in a blended learning training course for in-service teachers working in public K-6 schools in Greece. The course content is about digital storytelling, its educational value, and the use of supportive web 2.0 tools for developing digital stories. It lasts four weeks and is carried out mostly online with two face-to-face meetings, one at the beginning and one at the end of the course. The instructional design and evaluation of the course is based on the community of inquiry model of Garrison, Anderson & Archer (2000). Based on the preliminary findings, since the course is still in progress, the course design is found to be sound and in line with the relevant literature.

This paper presents a two-stage project designed to develop the partnership between teacher and parents. The project began with a workshop constructed to motivate parents to be interested in doing mathematics in a way that is different from the one they experienced as students and, as a result, to be eager to become involved in the co-production of didactic materials for classroom use. Parents were engaged in real, collaborative, high-level mathematical work as a first step in engaging them as partners in mathematical work with their children. During this first stage, parents were familiarized with inquiry mathematics tasks to provide them with the foundation necessary to become partners and co-producers during the second. The findings give evidence that the learning of reform math tasks and their co-creation supported teacher and parents' partnership and that parents were moved mathematically and personally by the experience.

Escape room games are a popular recreative activity that recently started gaining popularity as both a means for conducting research studies and a teaching and learning environment. This paper follows a group of 16- to 17-year-old students in an escape room while they encounter logical challenges in order to escape from the room in a limited amount of time. Their ability to work effectively as a team and complete activities quickly is a key element to success. In this setting, the aim was to examine in what ways this innovative environment might help students benefit in terms of social metacognition. The findings gave evidence that during collaborative problem-solving in an escape room, cognitive demands are distributed among the players. This makes metacognition visible, facilitates shared management thus improving individual cognition, facilitates reciprocal scaffolding, and enhances motivation.

When a number sentence includes more than one operation, students are taught to follow the rules for the order of operations to get the correct result. In this context, brackets are used to determine the operations that should be calculated first. However, it seems that the written format of an arithmetical expression has an impact on the way students evaluate this expression. It also seems that a connection exists between this way of evaluation and an understanding of structure. Both issues are examined in this paper. A number of arithmetical expressions in a rational form were given to primary school students from Greece and Sweden. The collected findings strengthen our hypothesis that this rational form of the arithmetical expressions was of critical importance for the students' decision on how to evaluate these expressions. They temporarily put aside their knowledge about the rules for the order of operations. Instead, the way they evaluated the expressions indicates an implicit use of what we call in this paper "mental" brackets. It is very likely that the use of these "mental" brackets is closely connected with students' structure sense.

This paper reveals the complex intersectionalities of immigrant identity construction, nationalisms (and national exceptionalisms), and how Greek culture/language schools in the United States significantly influenced and created a Greek and Greek-American Identity. Drawing on the Chicago experience and the Socrates and Koraes Greek-American Schools, this paper interrogates the collaborative relationship between the Greek state, the Greek community in the United States and Greek culture/language schools. Part I of this paper discusses the spatial/scalar character of the construction of the Greek culture/language school phenomenon, and the role of the Greek state played in fixing the definition of "Greekness" by establishing a normative historiography and national identity for the homeland. Also considered in this part is the complex relationship of immigrant identity construction, nationalisms and the construction of Greek national identity using geography and history. Part II surveys the empirical dimension of the phenomenon of Greek culture/language education in the United States. Early Greek immigrant efforts sought to preserve a Greek cultural identity through the Greek culture/language schools. Over time questions arose on what type of Greek identity would be (or could be) preserved in the United States.

Introduction: This study investigated the user requirements of individuals with visual impairments regarding the information to be included in orientation and mobility (O&M) aids in order for optimally useful audio-tactile maps of campuses to be developed. In addition, this study aimed at investigating the importance (usefulness) that individuals with visual impairments attribute to environmental information of campuses. Methods: The researchers listed 213 pieces of environmental information concerning campuses and address them in survey by conducting a respective questionnaire. Participants were asked to evaluate the information, regarding the importance or usefulness of the information in regard to safety, location of services, and orientation and wayfinding during movement. Through convenience sampling 115 adults (aged from 18 to 64 years) with visual impairments from four countries (Greece, Cyprus, Turkey, and Germany) took part in the research. Results: Pieces of environmental information, sorted in descending order starting with the most useful ones, have been listed. A repeated measures analysis of variance yielded a significant main effect for the type of information (safety, location of services, and wayfinding and orientation): F(2, 228) = 70.868, p < .001. Discussion: This study resulted in the specification of the most significant or useful information that should be included in O&M aids of campuses for individuals with visual impairments. Implications for practitioners: The results of this study will hold the interest of developers of O&M aids, O&M practitioners, rehabilitation teachers, and instructors who design and construct O&M aids. Moreover, the context for appropriately designed tactile or audio-tactile maps for campuses is provided, and campuses around the world could rely on this study for the creation of a valuable accessibility aid.

The aim of this study was to examine the association between social support from friends and depression in young adults with visual impairments. Forty young adults with visual impairments, ranging in age from 18 to 40 years, completed the 21-item Beck Depression Inventory (BDI-I) and a self-developed social support questionnaire. Significant individual predictors of depression were negative practical support and positive practical support. The respondents who received more positive practical social support from their friends reported fewer depressive symptoms. Furthermore, fewer depressive symptoms were also associated with receipt of less negative practical social support.

The Tuning-Medicine Project produced a set of "level one" and "level two" learning outcomes/competences to be met by European medical graduates. In the learner-centered era self-assessment becomes more and more important. Our aim was to develop a self-completion questionnaire ("iCAN!") evaluating graduates' learning outcomes. The Tuning "level two" learning outcomes were transformed to a 104 closed items questionnaire, tested with a convenient sample of 512 graduates from the seven Greek medical schools during the 2009-2011 graduation cohorts, 21 practitioners, and seven different undergraduate student groups. Cronbach alpha, factor analysis, and mean score comparisons were used to check internal consistency, construct validity, and sensitivity respectively. Question mean scores were used to differentiate weak and strength areas of competence. Among graduates, all overall alphas were >0.95 and all subscale alphas higher than expected, indicating an at least acceptable internal consistency. Factor analysis produced one factor per "level one outcome", except for "practical procedures" which was split in two meaningful factors. Overall mean score was 44.4%, 52.2%, 61.2%, 73.4%, 81.4% among 2nd-year, 4th-year, 6th-year students, graduates, and practitioners respectively (p<0.001); improvement through progressively matured groups suggest good sensitivity, indicating also good responsiveness. Among graduates, question mean scores ranged from very weak (blood transfusion, 39%) to very strength (measuring blood pressure, 95%), indicating good differentiation of strengths and weaknesses. A consistent, well-structured, and sensitive version of a questionnaire is hereby released for graduates' abilities and professionalism self-assessment and differentiation of strengths and weaknesses that could be used for informed SWOT policy.

Faba bean (Vicia faba L.) is one of the most important sources of plant -- based protein, for human and animal consumption. In Greece, faba beans are cultivated as annual, winter crop. The aim of this study was to evaluate the growth of faba bean seeds from Peru and the comparison of its characteristics with a variety, mainly cultivated in Greece (control). A field experiment was laid out at the experimental field of Agricultural University of Athens. Measurements included the agronomic traits, the yield characteristics, and the seed quality. According to the results, there were not significant differences between the two cultivars for the plant height, the number of seeds per pod, the yield and the crude protein content. The number of branches and the Thousand Seeds Weight were significant higher at the seeds from Peru. The fat content of the seed and the number of pod's were higher at the control. In the present research work, we demonstrated that faba bean population from Peru can be cultivated in the Mediterranean region. The measurements showed that the crop's growth was normal, and some characteristics of Peruvian beans showed better results than the cultivated varieties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we examine the ways the history of mathematics is integrated in the national textbooks of Cyprus and Greece. Our data-driven analyses suggest that the references identified can be clustered in four categories: (a) biographical references about mathematicians or historical references regarding the origins of a mathematical concept (b) references to the history of a mathematical method or formula containing a solution or proof, (c) mathematical tasks of purely cognitive elements that require a solution, explanation or proof and (d) tasks that encourage discussion or the production of a project that would connect the history of mathematics with life outside mathematics. Furthermore, we employed a framework around the levels of cognitive demands derived from the literature to analyse the identified mathematical tasks.

The aim of the study was to ascertain suicide seasonality in the Greek population and to associate this seasonal variation with age, sex, and suicide method. Studying seasonality can be of help in establishing a public health policy, related with suicide prevention. This is an epidemiologic study based on forensic evidence. We studied the deaths caused by self-injury (trauma), namely deaths by violent suicide (not self-poisoning). Statistically significant suicide seasonality was established with a peak in May. This seasonal variation is attributed mainly to males. As for the method, suicide by hanging peaks in June and by shooting in April. It was also observed that seasonality for individuals above the age of 45 peaks in early May.

Purpose: The purpose of this paper (based on the relevant literature) is to: investigate, through empirical analysis, primary school teachers' perceptions regarding their job satisfaction, and examine whether or not the personal characteristics of primary school educators (such as gender, age, family status, educational level, and the total years of service in public primary education) have any impact on their job satisfaction. Design/methodology/approach: In total, 360 questionnaires were administered to primary school teachers in the metropolitan area of Athens (region of Attiki). The sample was randomly selected. The questionnaire was based on 41 closed and was divided into two sections. The Job Satisfaction Survey developed by Spector (1985) was implemented. Findings: Greek school teachers are generally satisfied with their profession. There is no statistical correlation between personal characteristics and the overall satisfaction while indicated that teachers are more satisfied with three aspects (subscales) of job satisfaction, namely, "administration," "colleagues" and "nature of work" and less satisfied with "salary," "benefits" and "potential rewards." Age correlates with the levels of satisfaction with reference to administration, potential rewards, colleagues and the nature of work. The overall satisfaction positively correlates with all nine aspects of job satisfaction (subscales) and gender affects the aspects of "promotion" and "colleagues." Research limitations/implications: This study only analyzes a small sample from the Athens region and hence the results cannot be used to generalize about the whole of Greece. Since other Greek regions operate in different socio-economic environments, an analysis of additional data from other regions (rural and urban areas) would be necessary to compare and confirm the results. Originality/value: The findings of this study a valuable extension of other relevant research as it provides the first empirical study of the Greek school system, investigating the relationship between certain aspects of job satisfaction and the personal characteristics of school educators as well as the relationship between these aspects of job satisfaction and total satisfaction. In the context of efficient educational policy, a greater understanding of educators' job satisfaction could facilitate the development of more effective policy practice that would increase not only the level of educators' satisfaction, commitment and morale but also improve the performance of the school system.

The present 10-year longitudinal study examined how rapid automatized naming (RAN) components--articulation time and pause time--relate to reading fluency. Seventy-five Greek-speaking children were followed from Grade 1 to Grade 10 and were assessed five times (in Grades 1, 2, 4, 6, and 10) on RAN (digits and objects) and reading fluency (word reading efficiency, phonemic decoding efficiency, and text reading fluency). The results indicated first that a substantial amount of variance in reading fluency was accounted for by what articulation time and pause time shared. In addition, the unique contribution of pause time to reading fluency decreased across time and the unique contribution of articulation time increased across time. Viewed in conjunction with the developmental changes in the RAN components, our findings suggest that the RAN tasks are processed and executed in different ways across time.

Introduction: The study presented here examines which haptic cues individuals with visual impairments use more frequently and determines which of these cues are deemed by these individuals to be the most important for way-finding in urban environments. It also investigates the ways in which these haptic cues are used by individuals with visual impairments. Methods: To answer the research questions, both quantitative and qualitative data were collected. The data collection procedure consisted of three parts: a focus-group interview, questionnaires, and fully structured interviews. Results: A list of 37 haptic cues used for outdoor wayfinding emerged from the focus-group interview. The following haptic cues were calculated to be the most significant for outdoor wayfinding by individuals with visual impairments: changes in the texture of walking surface, sidewalks, bus stops, slopes, curb ramps, walls, parking posts, traffic lights, flower beds, and potholes. Participants use these haptic cues as points of reference, to determine their position in an environment, and to collect information about other objects in the environment. Haptic cues also function as warnings of possible hazards and help individuals with visual impairments to avoid colliding with objects while walking. Discussion: The participants reported that they use haptic cues that can be perceived through different means and that they use their sense of touch to gain different types of spatial information. A discrepancy was revealed for several cues between their scores in frequency and usefulness. Implications for practitioners: Findings from this study could be used to inform training in orientation and mobility, to enhance route descriptions, and to inform the design of commercial tactile maps.

In this paper a two-stage research study is described focused on problem solving relevant to place-value and on the use of the operations within the calculator environment. The findings show that in this specific environment and via appropriate tasks teachers are provided with a context to better understand what year 5 or 6 pupils know or do not know about place-value and how they are able to apply their understanding of place-value and the use of operations in this particular context. (Contains 9 tables and 3 figures.)

The aim of this study is to examine the ability of children and adolescents with visual impairments to code and represent near space. Moreover, it examines the impact of the strategies they use and individual differences in their performance. A total of 30 individuals with visual impairments up to the age of 18 were given eight different object patterns in different arrays and were asked to code and represent each of them. The results revealed better performances by those who use an allocentric approach during spatial coding and those with residual vision. In fact, allocentric strategies were more prevalent in coding near space than egocentric ones. Moreover, the ability of participants to move independently was positively correlated with their ability to use the most effective haptic strategies. These findings suggest that children and adolescents with visual impairments are capable of using allocentric reference and providing a different perspective to the currently dominant one. (Contains 3 tables and 3 figures.)

This paper presents the rationale behind the utilization of a Moodle Learning Management System for the facilitation of a blended learning approach in the Informatics department. The authors present and analyze the steps followed in order to replace the prior decentralized organizational structure of the courses, which consisted of a multitude of different and incompatible systems. The main goal was to implement a single system, which would be easy to operate, maintain, and update, and would cater to the variety of instructor and student needs. Furthermore, evaluation data of the new system is presented in detail. The analysis of the results serves to confirm the success of this department-wide migration. (Contains 2 tables and 5 figures.)

The study presented here examined which auditory cues individuals with visual impairments use more frequently and consider to be the most important for wayfinding in urban environments. It also investigated the ways in which these individuals use the most significant auditory cues. (Contains 1 table and 3 figures.)

This study examined which olfactory cues individuals with visual impairments use most often and determined which of these cues these individuals deemed to be the most important for wayfinding in urban environments. It also investigated the ways in which the individuals use these olfactory cues. (Contains 3 tables.)

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore the concept of health-related needs on a policy design and curriculum enactment basis in terms of the national school health education curriculum in Greek secondary education. Design/methodology/approach: A single case study, using an ethnographic approach, was conducted in Greece, seeking to understand the continuum from policy design to curriculum enactment in respect of health-related needs. Three sources of data were used to meet this goal: policy texts, observation, and interviews. Multilevel sampling was employed to select one secondary school as a site for "good practice". Grounded theory coding, thematic analysis and critical discourse analysis identified themes associated with the idea of health-related through the corpus of data. Findings: On a policy plan level the concept of health-related needs was coupled with and reduced to a predetermined list of health-related subjects; and the list of health-related topics had not been updated for long and was characterised by a rather biomedical orientation. On a school practice level the stage of needs assessment was not applied, the list of health-related subjects advocated in the policy plan was used on a proactive, normative and top down basis, and the students' felt needs tended to be disregarded. Originality/value: This study followed up the continuum from policy design to school practice regarding the concept and practice of health needs, highlighting the possibilities and the problems from both perspectives. (Contains 3 notes.)

The issue of the area of irregular shapes is absent from the modern mathematical textbooks in elementary education in Greece. However, there exists a collection of books written for educational purposes by famous Greek scholars dating from the eighteenth century, which propose certain techniques concerning the estimation of the area of such shapes. We claim that, when students deal for an adequate period with a succession of carefully designed tasks of the same conceptual basis--in our case that of the area of irregular shapes--then they "reinvent" problem-solving techniques for the estimation of their area, given that they have not been taught anything about these shapes. These techniques, in some cases, are almost the same as the abovementioned historical ones. In other cases, they could be considered to be an adaptation or extension of these.

There is no doubt about the value of braille in the personal and professional lives of people with visual impairments (Hatlen & Spungin, 2008; Spungin, 1996; Wells-Jensen, Wells-Jensen, & Belknap, 2005). Nevertheless, computers and assistive technology are often cited as the means to overcome limited access to information and other environmental barriers for nonprint readers (Gerber, 2003). Gerber noted that a plethora of researchers and practitioners in the field of visual impairment have acknowledged that the use of computers and assistive technology can change the lives of people with visual impairments to a great extent by improving educational and employment opportunities, enhancing social networks, and facilitating independence. This article reports a study that explored the use of different reading media by students and graduates of higher education with visual impairments in Greece. In particular, the study aimed to investigate the following: (1) the frequency of use of reading media; (2) the factors that affect the frequency of use of braille and computers (that is, screen readers or screen magnifiers); (3) the advantages and disadvantages of the various reading media; and (4) the participants' tendency to change from one reading medium to another and to examine their beliefs about the suitability of each reading medium for satisfying their needs. (Contains 4 tables.)

The research presented in this article investigated the social support provided in the workplace for persons with visual impairments. The results reveal the more frequently demonstrated forms of positive and negative social support, the range of social support, and the level of satisfaction with this support.

Pre-laboratory activities have been known to improve students' preparation before their practical work as they assist students to make available more working memory capacity for actual learning during the laboratory. The aim of this investigation was to compare two different teaching approaches which supported a pre-laboratory session by using the same simulation program. The investigation was conducted in two countries (Greece and UK). The Greek students attended the course in a computer cluster, where the teacher and the students had a face-to-face communication, while the English students participated in the on-line WebCT course, where there was an on-line asynchronous discussion. A crucial point which emerged from this investigation was that the simulation program in the two different pre-laboratory training sessions gave the same learning outcome; however, the learning characteristics and the teacher's effort were different. Thus, the teacher could adopt both the two teaching approaches depending on the university facilities, the staff's time and the students' familiarity with virtual learning environments. However, in each case of students followed a different way (collaboration or/and independent learning) to obtain the similar learning outcome. In all cases after their pre-laboratory training session they entered the laboratory performing the experiments without any further instructions. Additionally, the teacher's role was slight difference in the two teaching approaches. In the computer cluster, the teacher had a more active role guiding students to obtain the expected learning outcome through face-to-face discussion and interaction, whereas in the case of the virtual learning environment (WebCT), the teacher had a more of a facilitator role focused on posing questions to the students and collecting the resources promoting the independent learning. (Contains 7 tables and 2 figures.)

The aim of this study was to examine reading media (braille, cassettes, screen-reader, screen-magnifier, large print, low vision aids, CCTV) used by visually impaired adults. This article reports the results of a research project involving 100 people with visual impairment. The participants were interviewed and asked to fill in a questionnaire to gather data on use of different reading media and the training in use of reading media, as well as age, gender, age of onset of visual impairment, education, and place of residence. We also explored participant perceived advantages and disadvantages of the various reading media, and the perceived suitability of each reading medium for daily, educational, and professional tasks. (Contains 9 tables and 1 note.)

This study examined the perceptions held by sighted students and students with visual impairments of the intelligibility and comprehensibility of similar acoustic patterns produced by synthetic speech. It determined the types of errors the students made and compared the performance of the two groups on auditory discrimination and comprehension.

In this paper, difficulties of students in the case of computer-mediated teaching of geometry in a traditional classroom are considered within the framework of "transactional distance", a concept well known in distance education. The main interest of this paper is to record and describe in detail the different forms of "distance" during students' efforts to cope with tasks concerning the calculation of the area of irregular shapes. (Contains 5 figures.)

This study reports two different experiments, as a part of a longitudinal study, that evaluated a cognitive intervention (PREP: PASS Reading Enhancement Program) to enhance early phonological processing skills, such as odd-word-out, segmenting, and blending, to kindergarten children at-risk for reading difficulties, in order to support the development of subsequent word reading skills. As part of the first experiment, thirty children aged 5.1, matched on the basis of age, gender, parental education levels. Non-verbal and Verbal IQ, were assigned to an experimental and a control group (15 in each group) and compared before and after the four-week intervention on a set of phonological and cognitive (successive and simultaneous processing) measures. The two groups of participants were screened to be significantly different at pre-test on the outcome measures. The results of the first experiment indicated that the experimental group performed equally well with the control group on all the measures of phonological and cognitive processing skills. Subsequent analysis focusing on aptitude-treatment interaction indicated that the PREP program appeared to be optimally successful in improving phonological skills in cases where the cognitive profile of the 5-year-olds matched the emphasis on successive information integration. The follow-up experiment examined the long-term effects of PREP remediation. Results showed that both the experimental and control groups performed equally well on word reading tasks and, more importantly, on the bridging PREP tasks, requiring knowledge of the alphabet and of letter-sound correspondences, despite that neither of the groups had been previously trained on the latter. Discussion concludes that intervention including inductive training on the distal cognitive processes, namely successive and simultaneous processing, appears to be effective for enhancing early word-reading skills to kindergarten children at-risk for reading difficulties, even in the absence of direct training of these skills in kindergarten. (Contains 1 figure and 3 tables.)

Examines the relationship between phonological and cognitive tasks with beginning reading acquisition. Uses two teaching techniques for tasks given first-grade students in Cyprus (n=50) and Greece (n=50). Reports differences were revealed in word-decoding accuracy, Greek students showed a higher linguistic ability, and successive processing and phological coding differentiated the Greek from the Cyprus students. (CMK)

Compassionate care is a key component in nursing and midwifery quality care. It leads to positive patient outcomes, greater patient satisfaction, higher level of compliance, lower costs and reduction of nurse's burnout. The aim of this article is to describe how nurses' and midwives' managers understand and practice compassion in Cyprus and Greece. This is a cross-sectional, descriptive, exploratory online survey using close and open-ended questions. Descriptive statistics and thematic analysis were applied. This is part of a larger study participating 17 countries. This article discusses Cyprus (Greek-Cypriots n = 47) and Greece data (n = 58). The sample included nurses and/or midwives in management positions, nurse educators/managers in the hospital, community or in educational setting. Participants in this study reported the necessity to be a compassionate manager. Some stated that nurses and midwives do not receive compassion from their managers. Thematic areas revealed include: (a) Defining compassion, (b) Giving/receiving compassion, (c) Manager as advocate (d) Importance of cultural characteristics (e) Advantages/barriers of compassion. Managing and leading staff with compassion have a positive effect in the quality, effectiveness and efficiency in daily practice. It enhances work satisfaction. Nurses' and midwives' managers in Cyprus and Greece highlight the importance of reinforcing themselves in providing compassionate care and supporting their staff. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we present a new method for successfully simulating the dynamics of COVID-19, experimentally focusing on the third wave. This method, namely, the Method of Parallel Trajectories (MPT), is based on the recently introduced self-organized diffusion model. According to this method, accurate simulation of the dynamics of the COVID-19 infected population evolution is accomplished by considering not the total data for the infected population, but successive segments of it. By changing the initial conditions with which each segment of the simulation is produced, we achieve close and detailed monitoring of the evolution of the pandemic, providing a tool for evaluating the overall situation and the fine-tuning of the restrictive measures. Finally, the application of the proposed MPT on simulating the pandemic's third wave dynamics in Greece and Italy is presented, verifying the method's effectiveness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Allanite-bearing black coastal sands of Kavala (N. Greece) were studied using a combination of single-crystal XRD, EMPA, μ-XRF, bulk ICP-MS, LA-ICP-MS, μ-XANES and γ-ray spectrometry. The sands are rich in REE (ΣREE + Y: 4010 to 10,810 mg/kg), Th (236–1205 mg/kg) and other critical metals such as Nb, Ta and Co. The main REE- and Th-hosts are allanite and titanite. The allanite unit cell parameters were calculated whereas its formula was found to be (REE 0.470 Ca 1.499 Th 0.031) (Ti 0.031 Fe+3 1.089 Al 1.880) (Si 2.906 Al 0.094 O 12) (OH). The μ-XANES spectra showed that LREE are present in trivalent oxidation state. Analyses of the non-magnetic sand fractions showed higher LREE (12,470 mg/kg) due to accumulation of allanite. The materials showed elevated radioactivity ranging from 885 ± 13 to 3467 ± 20 Bq/kg. The obtained results provide new insights on the provenance of the sands, the abundance of REE, Th, and other immobile elements, and offer new clues for potential exploration and exploitation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This work describes the combination of two autonomous in-situ systems, one using the measurements of radon progenies and the other one using underwater ambient sound, for monitoring submarine groundwater discharge (SGD). The sensors were co-located on a platform and deployed in a SGD point source at Stoupa, Messinia, Greece. Long-term monitoring of radon progenies concentration as well as acoustic measurements are presented. The radon progeny data were correlated with the flow rate during one of the deployments. The ambient sound levels apparently responded to changes in the physical structure of the spring, but not in a predictable manner. The measuring platform can be easily applied to oceanographic survey activities, such as monitoring of gases and fluxes on submarine groundwater discharges, pockmarks, volcanoes, submarine faults, as well as to the measurement of rainfall freshwater flux at the ocean surface. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The extensive use of conventional farming has brought about numerous negative effects in the environment and the quality of agricultural products, emerging the introduction of alternative forms of agriculture, including organic and integrated farming. The recent reforms of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) implemented a policy scheme to encourage the engagement in organic and integrated farming, in an effort to ensure the quality and safety of agricultural production and enhance environmental protection. The objective of the present study is to investigate the main factors of the CAP that contribute to the implementation of these two alternative farming systems in Greece, furthermore analysing the farmers’ characteristics, opinions and attributes, towards the significance of each factor. The results indicate that the three main CAP's measures that affect the application of organic and integrated farming refer to the importance of farm certification, the product's promotion by other EU programmes and, predominantly the subsidized support of agricultural production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose of the study: To cross-culturally adapt and validate the Greek version of the Patient-Rated Tennis Elbow Evaluation (PRTEE-G) Questionnaire. Methods: Four bi-lingual translators were involved in the translation and cultural adaptation procedures. Eighty-two patients (61 women and 21 men) with Lateral Elbow Tendinopathy (LET) participated in the study. To establish test - retest reliability, the patients were asked to complete the PRTEE-G Questionnaire before and after the first physiotherapy treatment. Internal consistency of the translated instrument was measured using Cronbach ‘alpha’. An intraclass correlation coefficient was used to assess the test - retest reliability of the PRTEE-G Questionnaire. Concurrent validity was measured by correlating the PRTEE-G Questionnaire scores with the Greek version of the Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder, and Hand Questionnaire (DASH) scores using Pearson's correlation coefficient. Results: The Greek PRTEE questionnaire has acceptable internal consistency (Cronbach 'alpha’ = 0.95), excellent test - retest reliability (ICC = 0.94) and demonstrates expected concurrent validity (r > 0.72). Conclusion: The Greek version of PRTEE Questionnaire is a reliable and valid measure when administered to patients with LET. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One hundred and twenty one samples from every major plutonic body (mainly granitic) of Greece have been analyzed by γ-ray spectrometry to determine the specific activities of 238 U, 232 Th and 40 K (Bq/kg). The range of the activity concentrations of these radionuclides was 2.3–266.4, 1.8–375.5 and 55.0–1632.0 Bq/kg and their average values were 79.2, 85.3 and 881.4 Bq/kg respectively. Any possible connection between the specific activities of 238 U, 232 Th and 40 K and some characteristics of the studied samples (age, rock-type, colour, grain-size, occurrence and chemical composition) is investigated. Samples of particular colour, rock-type, occurrence and chemical composition have been identified for their distinctive levels of natural radioactivity, while age and grain-size do not affect the concentrations of 238 U, 232 Th and 40 K. The range of the Th/U ratio was 0.7–12.69. This great variation in the Th/U ratios, especially when it is found among the samples of the same pluton, is also discussed and explained by alteration and tectonic–metamorphic processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: “Open” practices have been at the forefront of research, business and political agendas for some time. Traditionally, research has focused on analysing critical factors for the deployment of Open Source (OS) Software and has highlighted the roles of “Collective Intelligence” and “participation in voluntary communities” in facilitating OS development. Nevertheless, there is little literature examining the role these Open Innovation (OI) practices may play in influencing the private-collective model of innovation and its application in economies-in-crisis to create public-good innovations. To address this gap, this paper uses the case of Greece. Data were gathered from interviews conducted with public policy makers and private sector top executives. The findings underline the importance of using OS as software to deal with cost reduction during debt crisis; but more importantly reveal a shift from OS to utilising the aforementioned OI practices to support the creation of public-good innovations through the private-collective model of innovation, and the difficulties faced in encouraging this initiative due to insufficient national innovation policy, and different philosophies, structures, and cultures followed by the organisations. The study calls for changes in the national policy supported by the private-collective model to leverage innovation. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The article presents a study on the different characteristics of the Greek islands of Lemnos and Hydra. The study showed that the economic parameters contribute on the perceptions of 400 residents of Hydra and Lemnos about tourism development. It revealed that there is a lessened perception on the negative impact of tourism on environment and society, particularly when the income is depended directly from tourism.

Introduction. The paper aims to assess service quality in private gyms of eastern Thessaloniki. Aim of Study. The study focused on demographic differences, participation frequency and intention to continue participation in fitness centers of eastern Thessaloniki. Material and Methods. The sample consisted of 250 (N = 250) (mean age 24 years) customers of four private fitness centers in the eastern part of Thessaloniki. The theoretical model used was the SERVQUAL model as modified by Alexandris et al. (2004). Results. No statistically significant differences were found between ANOVA results of five aspects of service quality and participants' occupation as well as education level. There were statistically significant differences between all service quality aspects and participation frequency. The regression analysis revealed a statistically significant contribution of the aspect of intention to participate in fitness services in the future to two factors: reliability and expected outcome (beta 267, t = 2.892). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article examines the neurological dysfunctions of flocks of sheep from 10 different dairy farms in Central and Northern Greece. By providing the farmers with questionnaires, the researchers were able to determine that the likely cause was due to acute coenurosis, a disease which is incurable but preventable by altering the feeding regiment of the sheep to reduce the risk of contaminated food.