Search Results (37)

Background/Objectives: Motor creativity is a vital component of preschoolers’ growth and development. However, its underlying determinants remain largely underexplored. This study investigates the interrelationship among playful behavior, social profile, and motor creativity in preschool children, emphasizing its implications for holistic health and development. Methods: A total of 200 children and their kindergarten teachers from Greece participated in the study. The Children’s Playfulness Scale (CPS) was employed to assess the children’s playfulness, while a sociometric test was used to evaluate their social standing within peer groups. Motor creativity was measured through TCAM, a performance-based test focusing on fluency, imagination, and originality. Results: The findings revealed that the dimensions of playful behavior, particularly motor and social playfulness, significantly and positively influenced motor creativity, a core component of physical and mental health in early childhood. Conversely, certain aspects of social behavior had a negative association with imaginative capacities. Conclusions: The study underscores the critical role of movement-based playful activities in fostering children’s physical, emotional, cognitive, and social health. It highlights the need for educators to design developmentally appropriate motor play activities that cultivate creativity and social integration, promoting a balanced and health-oriented early education framework. The results contribute to educational policy and practice by reinforcing the importance of structured motor play in supporting preschoolers’ well-being and comprehensive development. Full article

Generation Z (Gen Z; born 1997–2012) is reshaping global tourism through digital fluency, ethical awareness, and a desire for authentic, sustainable travel experiences. This study surveys 413 Gen Z travelers across France, Portugal, Romania, and the USA to map their booking behaviors, information sources, transport modes, accommodations, dining practices, and leisure activities. The findings reveal a strong preference for independent online bookings and social-media-influenced destination choices (Instagram, TikTok), with air and car travel being used for long-distance journeys and walking/public transit being used for local journeys. Accommodation spans commercial hotels and private rentals, while informal, local dining and nature- or culture-centered leisure prevail. Chi-square tests were performed to identify differences between countries. To reveal distinct traveler segments and their country’s modulations towards sustainability, a hierarchical cluster analysis was performed. The results uncover four segments: “Tech-Active, Nature-Oriented Minimalists” (32.3% in France); “Moderate Digital Planners” (most frequent across all countries, particularly dominant among Romanian respondents); “Disengaged and Indecisive Travelers” (overrepresented in the USA); and “Culturally Inclined, Selective Sustainability Seekers” (>30% in France/Portugal). Although sustainability is widely valued, only some segments of the studied population consistently act on these values. The results suggest that engaging Gen Z requires targeted, value-driven digital strategies that align platform design with the cohort’s diverse sustainability commitments. Full article

Today’s exoskeletons face challenges with low fluency (a quantifiable alternative to “seamlessness”), hypothesized to be caused by a lag in active control innate in many leader–follower paradigms seen in contemporary systems, leading to inefficiencies and discomfort. Furthermore, tandem fluency, a variation of fluency specific for tandem robots systems as exoskeletons, is yet to be rigorously tested in practice. This study aims to utilize metrics of tandem fluency in order to demonstrate improved human–robot interaction (HRI) in exoskeletons through human subject testing of a prototype 1 degree of freedom (DoF) exoskeleton using a motion prediction bidirectional long short-term memory (bi-LSTM) deep learning network. Subjects were recruited to conduct various upper body exercises about the elbow joint, and the collected sEMG, goniometer, and gas exchange data was used to design, test, optimize, and assess the performance of the 1 DoF exoskeleton using tandem fluency metrics. We found that the correlation between I-ACT, a metric of tandem fluency, the subjective survey responses, and metabolic data suggest that the use of a predictive bi-LSTM network to control a 1 DoF exoskeleton about the elbow results in an overall positive trend, which may correlate to high tandem fluency. Full article

With the development of the knowledge economy, the significance of the creative industry has become increasingly prominent. Individual creativity can be stimulated by optimal lighting. This research consists of two parts: Part I examines the effects of illuminance and color temperature on creativity through three experiments, while Part II employs a two-factor repeated-measures design to investigate their interaction effects. The participants completed creativity tests during light exposure, including TTCT tasks in Part I of the experiment, and AUT and RAT tasks in Part II. They also completed questionnaires to assess their mood, and HRV data were collected for physiological analysis. The results showed that the subjects performed worse on a creativity test at an extremely low illuminance of 150 lx. Within a comfortable neutral lighting range, the participants’ creativity at 300 lx was superior to that at 1500 lx. In exploring light color, the conventional correlated color temperature (CCT) variable was replaced with colored lighting. The results indicated that both blue and orange light enhanced creative performance compared to white light. Additionally, an interactive effect of illuminance and colored lighting was observed. Fluency on the Alternative Uses Task (AUT) test was greater under 5000 K and 300 lx lighting, while originality on the AUT test was enhanced under 1500 lx, colored lighting. Emotional experience was found to be significantly correlated with creative performance. These findings contribute to the development of a design guideline that utilizes lighting intensity, color, and other elements to foster a relaxing indoor atmosphere that enhances positive mood and creativity. Full article

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of verbal working memory (VWM) interventions on reading speed, accuracy, and comprehension in elementary school students diagnosed with specific learning disabilities (SLD). Given the limited research on the role of VWM in reading performance, this study fills a critical gap in the literature. A pre-test and post-test design was employed, with an experimental group (n = 14) receiving VWM interventions over 4 weeks, while the control group (n = 12) received no intervention. The intervention focused on enhancing VWM and verbal short-term memory (V-STM) through structured cognitive tasks, including rehearsal techniques and phonological loop strengthening activities, delivered over 24 sessions. Results showed that although VWM interventions significantly enhanced VWM capacity (t(24) = 3.39, p < 0.05, d = 1.48), they did not lead to significant improvements in reading speed or accuracy. However, a statistically significant improvement in reading comprehension was observed (p = 0.04, d = 0.92). These findings suggest that while enhancing VWM may not directly improve reading fluency, it can positively affect comprehension. The study highlights the importance of considering VWM in educational interventions targeting reading comprehension and recommends further research into other cognitive and linguistic factors influencing reading speed and accuracy. Additionally, future studies should explore the long-term effects of diverse intervention strategies on reading outcomes. Full article

A conversational system is an artificial intelligence application designed to interact with users in natural language, providing accurate and contextually relevant responses. Building such systems for low-resource languages like Swahili presents significant challenges due to the limited availability of large-scale training datasets. This paper proposes a Retrieval-Augmented Generation-based system to address these challenges and improve the quality of Swahili conversational AI. The system leverages fine-tuning, where models are trained on available Swahili data, combined with external knowledge retrieval to enhance response accuracy and fluency. Four models—mT5, GPT-2, mBART, and GPT-Neo—were evaluated using metrics such as BLEU, METEOR, Query Performance, and inference time. Results show that Retrieval-Augmented Generation consistently outperforms fine-tuning alone, particularly in generating detailed and contextually appropriate responses. Among the tested models, mT5 with Retrieval-Augmented Generation demonstrated the best performance, achieving a BLEU score of 56.88%, a METEOR score of 72.72%, and a Query Performance score of 84.34%, while maintaining relevance and fluency. Although Retrieval-Augmented Generation introduces slightly longer response times, its ability to significantly improve response quality makes it an effective approach for Swahili conversational systems. This study highlights the potential of Retrieval-Augmented Generation to advance conversational AI for Swahili and other low-resource languages, with future work focusing on optimizing efficiency and exploring multilingual applications. Full article

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of scaffolded English writing instruction using mind mapping tools on English narrative writing proficiency among Chinese middle-school EFL students. Specifically, we examined its effects on four subcomponents of narrative writing compositions: lexical complexity, grammatical complexity, accuracy, and fluency. Non-equivalent group pre-test–post-test design was employed in this study. The participants were 55 eighth-grade students in an English class. The data were collected through two writing tests administered before and after a two-month intervention. The results showed that students’ writing demonstrated significant improvements in lexical complexity, grammatical complexity, accuracy, and fluency. These findings suggest that scaffolded writing instruction with mind mapping can effectively enhance multiple dimensions of writing skills in adolescent EFL learners. This study provides insights into the application of using mind mapping to scaffold EFL learners’ narrative writing proficiency. Full article

Today, Smart Assistants (SAs) are supported by significantly improved Natural Language Processing (NLP) and Natural Language Understanding (NLU) engines as well as AI-enabled decision support, enabling efficient information communication, easy appliance/device control, and seamless access to entertainment services, among others. In fact, an increasing number of modern households are being equipped with SAs, which promise to enhance user experience in the context of smart environments through verbal interaction. Currently, the market in SAs is dominated by products manufactured by technology giants that provide well designed off-the-shelf solutions. However, their simple setup and ease of use come with trade-offs, as these SAs abide by proprietary and/or closed-source architectures and offer limited functionality. Their enforced vendor lock-in does not provide (power) users with the ability to build custom conversational applications through their SAs. On the other hand, employing an open-source approach for building and deploying an SA (which comes with a significant overhead) necessitates expertise in multiple domains and fluency in the multimodal technologies used to build the envisioned applications. In this context, this paper proposes a methodology for developing and deploying conversational applications on the edge on top of an open-source software and hardware infrastructure via a multilayer architecture that simplifies low-level complexity and reduces learning overhead. The proposed approach facilitates the rapid development of applications by third-party developers, thereby enabling the establishment of a marketplace of customized applications aimed at the smart assisted living domain, among others. The supporting framework supports application developers, device owners, and ecosystem administrators in building, testing, uploading, and deploying applications, remotely controlling devices, and monitoring device performance. A demonstration of this methodology is presented and discussed focusing on health and assisted living applications for the elderly. Full article

This longitudinal study examined the development of executive function and calibration accuracy in preadolescents. This study’s sample consisted of 262 students (127 females) from grades 4 (n = 91), 5 (n = 89), and 6 (n = 82) who took measures of executive function and performance calibration in a sport task three times over 20 months. A latent growth-curve modeling analysis showed a significant relationship between the rates of change of executive function and calibration accuracy. The results also showed a dynamic interplay in the development of executive function and calibration accuracy. There were significant interindividual differences in the estimated population means both in executive function and calibration accuracy and in the rate of change of executive function, but not in the rate of change of calibration accuracy. The age of the participants had a positive effect only on the estimated population mean of executive function. Full article

One important internal factor influencing reading comprehension is a child’s executive functioning. The primary objective of this paper is to evaluate the effectiveness of a cognitive stimulation program, ExeFun-READ (a program focusing on executive functioning stimulation via the L1 (Slovak language) curriculum with a specific focus on enhancing reading comprehension). The program is explicitly based on the assumed bi-directional relationship between executive functioning and language abilities related to reading comprehension. The program is domain-specific; the curriculum of L1 (Slovak) is a curricular area in which cognitive mediation occurs. The study will investigate whether the domain-specific ExeFun-READ intervention had a positive effect on children’s executive functioning and language subcomponents of reading comprehension. Keeping in mind ecological validity, ExeFun-READ was designed primarily for educational purposes, specifically professional tutoring for low-performing students. The intervention consists of 30 units; each unit lasts for 45–60 min. A stimulation unit approximates a teaching unit rather than a clinical experimental intervention. In total, 151 low-performing students attending grade four from seven elementary schools took part in the project. The study employs a pre-test–training–post-test design with three conditions: experimental, active control, and passive control. In the current study, the intervention led to improved language abilities related to reading comprehension. Significant improvements were found in vocabulary (semantic knowledge), completion of sentences (syntactic knowledge), and classification of terms (verbal fluency and inferencing) in the group of children that received the ExeFun-READ intervention. In terms of executive functioning, the improvement only extended to switching fluency. Full article

Creative thinking as a 21st century skill is fundamental to human development and a catalyst for innovation. Researchers frequently study it as it encourages students to analyze, synthesize, and evaluate information from different angles, vital for making informed decisions and solving complex problems. Therefore, this study aimed to assess the impact of a STEM-based curriculum on the development of creative thinking in high school students studying physics. Employing a quasi-experimental design, data were collected from 94 high school students of mixed gender and grade levels using the Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking (TTCT). Data analyses involve multivariance analyses (MANOVA) to answer the research questions. The findings showed that a STEM-based curriculum significantly impacted the development of students’ creative thinking compared to students who studied under a traditional curriculum regarding the metrics of fluency, flexibility, and originality. However, the development of participants’ metric of elaboration remained the same. Furthermore, the findings showed a significant influence of the grade level of participants who studied under a STEM-based curriculum on the metrics of fluency and elaboration. On the other hand, the findings revealed that grade level did not relate to the STEM-based curriculum for the metrics of flexibility and originality. The findings are discussed in light of recent research on the impact of STEM education. Full article

This article explores the effects of different task repetition schedules on English learners’ oral fluency in terms of speed, breakdown, and repair indices using a PRAAT script to enhance objectivity and consistency in the assessment of learner performances. A total of 90 freshmen participated in the experiment and were divided into three groups: the blocked repetition group, the interleaved repetition group, and a control group. This study adopted a pre- and post-test design. After the learners repetitively practiced the problem-solving tasks for three weeks, their improvement was measured by a new task of the same type. The analyses of speed, breakdown, and repair in learners’ oral performance reported that the experimental groups outperformed the control group in fluency measurement. Specifically, the interleaved repetition group was advantageous compared with the blocked repetition group, except for the silent pause numbers. The findings not only support the interleaving effects and enrich the line of task repetition research but also have pedagogical implications in that introducing interleaved practice in real classrooms is beneficial to L2 speaking enhancement. Full article

This study compared cognitively challenging physical activity games and health-related fitness activities in terms of their effects on students’ executive functions and situational interest in physical education. A total of 102 fourth- and fifth-grade students (56 boys, 46 girls) participated in this study. A group-randomized controlled trial design involving an acute experiment was used. Two intact classes of students (one fourth-grade and one fifth-grade) were randomly assigned to each one of the three groups. Students in Group 1 participated in cognitively challenging physical activity games, students in Group 2 participated in activities for developing their health-related fitness, and Group 3 students were the control group without physical education. Executive functions were measured pre- and post-intervention with the design fluency test, whereas situational interest was only measured post-intervention with the situational interest scale. Group 1 students who played cognitively challenging physical activity games had increased their executive functions’ scores more than the Group 2 students involved in health-related fitness activities. Students of both these groups outperformed control group students. Moreover, Group 1 students reported higher levels of instant enjoyment and total interest than Group 2 students. The results of this study suggest that cognitively challenging physical activity games can be an effective means for enhancing executive functions, and motivate students to be involved in interesting and enjoyable forms of physical activity. Full article

With the field of late-life language learning (LLLL) expanding fast, ample attention has been paid to cognitive benefits ensuing from LLLL. However, these studies have yielded mixed results, which may be partly explained by seniors’ language learning needs not being taken into account, and theoretical insights on effective language teaching have not included seniors. In order to link seniors’ language learning needs to possible cognitive benefits, and to expand the second language acquisition literature, 16 Dutch seniors took part in a three-month English course, with or without explicit grammar instruction, to ascertain the effects of more implicit versus more explicit language teaching pedagogies on cognitive flexibility. More specifically, we used linear mixed effects models to determine these methods’ differential effects on attention, working memory, processing and switching speed, inhibition, and shifting and switching abilities, as subdomains of cognitive flexibility, by using a pretest–post-test–retention test design. On the digit span tasks, the explicitly taught group showed significant improvements compared to the implicitly taught group. For Dutch verbal fluency, participants’ performance significantly improved regardless of condition. On the other measures, no differences between the groups were found. Hence, if the goal is to improve seniors’ working memory, then explicit language instruction appears more fruitful than implicit language instruction. Full article

The nurturing of a student’s core competencies and creativity has been promoted and prioritized as one of the main axes in education worldwide, which has also been emphasized in Taiwan’s new curriculum guidelines. This study aims to develop a new creative teaching and learning approach—“Self-designed Board Games” (SdBG), in which the students work in groups to design and play their self-designed board games in high school citizenship studies. The study further investigates the impact of SdBG on the students’ citizenship competencies and creativity. A quasi-experimental design was employed throughout one semester; 76 high school students were randomly assigned to either the experimental group (SdBG) or the comparison group (traditional lecturing teaching). The experimental group was asked to develop board games based on their interests and the learning contents of the 18- week semester. Later, all of the experimental group students played the board games developed by themselves and other fellow students. The main findings are as follows: (a) Citizenship competencies: the experimental group experienced a significant improvement in citizenship competencies, whereas no significant difference was found in the control group. (b) Creativity: the experimental group witnessed great improvements in all four facets of creativity, including fluency, flexibility, originality, and elaboration, whereas the control group experienced significant regression in all four facets in the pretest and post-test. To our knowledge, this is the first study that creates a so-called “Playful Space”, enabling students to play their self-designed board games and simultaneously investigates its impact on citizenship competencies and creativity. Evidence revealed that the SdBG is an effective approach in Citizenship studies, which offers the warrant for the study to make theoretical and practical contributions to the field and knowledge. Full article