How Online Counselling Is Utilised, Evaluated, and Received

This chapter covers the broad range of online counselling work, using the COVID-19 era as a point of reference. It provides an overview of online applications of counselling and psychotherapy at pre-COVID-19 time and informs the reader of how online counselling provision has been accelerated during the pandemic. A theoretical overview of the key counselling and therapeutic processes as conceptualised in the cyberspace which considers six distinct modes of online communication are provided. An evaluation and the review of the latest efficacy and effectiveness research evidence of online counselling is also provided. The key benefits and challenges of digitalised therapeutic interventions from the clients' and therapists' perspectives covering pre and during COVID-19 are identified. Attention is drawn to existing studies on counselling engagement, adherence, outreach, non-stigmatising counselling practices, power imbalances in the counselling process, and therapy outcomes.

The Application of Social Network Theory During a Pandemic

This chapter provides a theoretical overview of social network theory, given the widespread of social media during the COVID-19 outbreak. It mainly focuses on three social network theories (the social capital and structural halls, the strength of weak ties, and the small-world). It gives insights into how different researchers have examined these theories during the pandemics and how they have been used in exchanging and communicating information during pandemics. In addition, it reviews previous research concerning how epidemic propagation often happens based on these theories.

Theoretical Overview of the Game in Education and an Innovative Proposal in Higher Education

There is a growing academic interest in active methodologies related to games, that is gamification and game-based learning (GBL). However, the use of games for educational purposes is not a current trend, since, as discussed in the first section of the chapter, it was already recommended for centuries as an activity to develop certain skills from an early age. Next, gamification is explored in depth by analysing some of its most significant theoretical findings, well-known frameworks, as well as some current experiences in higher education. Similarly, the theory and practice of serious games and GBL are presented, and the chapter ends with the design of a digital escape room implemented with university students of educational degrees.

Development of ethno-environmental culture among future teachers

The article offers a brief analysis of implementation of ethno-environmental component in academic subjects included in basic academic program "teachers’ training" with two training profiles "Biology and Chemistry" and "Biology and Geography". The subject matter of the article is the curriculum and extracurricular activities that are relative to ethnocultural features. The article is a theoretical overview of Russian and foreign literature on the considered topic. The analysis of the curriculum and extracurricular activities was carried out with the sue of applied examination method. It is concluded that ethno-environmental education of future biology, chemistry and geography teachers is facilitated with a range of conditions developed in the Faculty of Science Education, which include: disciplines of subject-methodical unit aimed on development of environmental thinking, based on ethno-cultural experience of Chuvash; curricular and extracurricular activities aimed on activation of their ecological and ethno-cultural practice. The main forms of upbringing the ethno-environmental culture of future teachers are as follows: master classes in ethno-environmental research; round tables devoted to ethnocultural information about toponyms; ethno-environmental seminars on the problems of protected areas of Chuvashia, etc.

Development Clusters for Small Places and Rural Development for Territorial Cohesion?

This article proposes an alternative policy development approach for territories encompassing rural areas with small urban settlements or ‘small places’, which normally suffer from lagging territorial development trends. The proposed ‘Development Clusters for Small Places’ approach draws on the potential of all places to further their development via municipal clustering, based on four analytic dimensions: (i) existing functional areas; (ii) similarities in economic circularity and specialisation; (iii) presence of ongoing territorial and governance cooperation processes; and (iv) spatial physical connectivity and accessibility. Besides a theoretical overview of this policy approach, the article analyses concrete examples of its potential implementation in two case studies: Alentejo in Portugal and Innlandet in Norway. The findings highlight the potential advantages of municipal clustering over current mainstream regional development rationales to implement endogenous rural development in a supra-municipal scale, thus increasing institutional thickness and policy influence towards a more territorial cohesive region.

MANIPULATIVE SPEECH: A THEORETICAL OVERVIEW

Manipulation is one of the concepts that needs a more in-depth theoretical and practical examination. It is employed in many areas of life, including personal and social matters, intellectual and professional pursuits, and, of course, politics. This paper is an approach, the purpose of which is to study the concept of manipulation as a psychological and linguistic phenomenon where the central emphasis is on the manipulative techniques and tactics that are utilized for various reasons such as illegitimate domination and social abuse. At this level of investigation we find it essential to illustrate different approaches to the study of this phenomenon as well as certain dictionary definitions to be able to fully perceive and comprehend the properties of manipulation.

Understanding health education, health promotion and public health

Across the globe, there can be confusion about the difference between the concepts of health education, health promotion and, often also, public health. This confusion does not limit itself to the individual terms but also to how these terms relate to each other. Some use terms such as health education and health promotion interchangeably; others see them clearly as different concepts. In this theoretical overview paper, we have first of all outlined our understanding of these individual terms. We suggest how the five principles of health promotion as outlined by the World Health Organization (WHO, 1984) fit into Tannahill’s (2009) model of three overlapping areas: (a) health education; (b) prevention of ill health; and (c) health protection. Our schematic overview places health education within health promotion and health promotion itself in the center of the overarching disciplines of education and public health. We hope our representation helps reduce confusion among all those interested in our discipline, including students, educators, journalists, practitioners, policymakers, politicians, and researchers.

How Well do Covariates Perform When Adjusting for Sampling Bias in COVID-19 Research? Insights from Multiverse Analyses

Background. COVID-19 research has relied heavily on convenience-based observational samples, which—though often necessary—are susceptible to important sampling biases. We begin with a theoretical overview and introduction to the dynamics that underlie sampling bias. We then empirically examine sampling bias in COVID-19 surveys and evaluate the degree to which common statistical adjustments for demographic covariates successfully attenuate such bias. Methods. We analysed responses to identical questions from three convenience and three largely representative samples (total N = 13,731) collected in Canada within the International COVID-19 Awareness and Responses Evaluation Study (www.icarestudy.com). We compared samples on 11 behavioural and psychological outcomes (e.g., adherence to COVID-19 prevention measures, vaccine intentions) across three time points and employed multiverse-style analyses to examine how 512 combinations of demographic covariates (e.g., sex, age, education, income, ethnicity) impact sampling discrepancies on these outcomes. Results. Significant discrepancies emerged between samples on 73% of outcomes, such that participants in the convenience samples held more positive thoughts towards and engaged in more COVID-19 prevention behaviours. Covariates attenuated sampling differences in only 55% of cases and increased differences in 45%. No covariate performed reliably well. Conclusion. Our results suggest that convenience samples may hold more positive dispositions towards COVID-19 prevention behaviours being studied than would samples drawn using more representative means. Adjusting results for demographic covariates frequently increased rather than decreased bias, suggesting that researchers should be cautious when interpreting adjusted findings. Using multiverse-style analyses as extended sensitivity analyses is recommended.

Représentations interculturelles dans le discours touristique des Blogs de voyages français: une vision de l'Andalousie stéréotypée?

El desarrollo del discurso turístico en Internet ha cambiado la manera de diseñar y vender el producto turístico.En una decena de años hemos pasamos de hablar del turismo 2.0 al turismo 4.0. Este nuevo discurso integra el oral y el escrito para persuadir y convencer al turista internauta que ahora es emisor y receptor de un mismo producto.Esta nueva visión del Otro a partir de la práctica digital de los blogs de viaje será el objeto de esta contribución. Ofreceremos, en primer lugar, una visión general teórica de este nuevo discurso turístico, que ha renovado la manera de concebir la imagen de un país y sus identidades, a partir de la opinión de estos blogueros-turistas. Nuestro análisis se centrará, posteriormente, en la visión de Andalucía que estos viajeros dibujan diariamente en los blogs para verificar si la imagen que se traslada es engañosa, estereotipada o realza aspectos desconocidos de esta región para el potencial turista. The development of tourism discourse on the Internet has changed the way to design and sell the tourist product. In ten years, we have gone from talking about tourism 2.0 to tourism 4.0. This new discourse integrates oral and written discourse to persuade and convince the Internet tourist, who is now both transmitter and receiver of the same product. This new vision of the Other considered from the digital practice of travel blogs will be the subject of this contribution. Firstly, we will offer a theoretical overview of this new tourism discourse, which has renewed the way of conceiving the image of a country and its identities, based on the opinion of these blogger-tourists. Our analysis will then focus on the vision of Andalusia drawn daily by these travelers in blogs, to verify whether the image conveyed is misleading, stereotyped or enhances unknown aspects of this region for the potential tourist. Le développement du discours touristique sur Internet a changé la manière de concevoir et de vendre le produit touristique.En une dizaine d’années, nous sommes passés du tourisme 2.0 au tourisme 4.0. Ce nouveau discours intègre l’oral et l’écrit pour persuader et convaincre le touriste internaute qu’il est maintenant l’émetteur et le récepteur d’un même produit.Cette nouvelle vision de l’Autre à partir de la pratique numérique des blogs de voyage fera l’objet de cette contribution.Nous offrirons, en premier lieu, un aperçu théorique de ce nouveau discours touristique, qui a renouvelé la manière de concevoir l’image d’un pays et ses identités, à partir de l’avis de ces blogueurs-touristes. Notre analyse se concentrera ensuite sur la vision de l’Andalousie que ces voyageurs dessinent quotidiennement dans les blogs pour vérifier si l’image qui se déplace est trompeuse, stéréotypée ou met en valeur des aspects inconnus de cette région pour le touriste potentiel.

Designing and comparing cleaning pipelines for TMS-EEG data: a theoretical overview and practical example

Combining transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) with electroencephalography (EEG) is growing in popularity as a method for probing the reactivity and connectivity of neural circuits in basic and clinical research. However, using EEG to measure the neural responses to TMS is challenging due to the unique artifacts introduced by combining the two techniques. In this paper, we overview the artifacts present in TMS-EEG data and the offline cleaning methods used to suppress these unwanted signals. We then describe how open science practices, including the development of open-source toolboxes designed for TMS-EEG analysis (e.g., TESA - the TMS-EEG signal analyser), have improved the availability and reproducibility of TMS-EEG cleaning methods. We provide theoretical and practical considerations for designing TMS-EEG cleaning pipelines and then give an example of how to compare different pipelines using TESA. We show that changing even a single step in a pipeline designed to suppress decay artifacts results in TMS-evoked potentials (TEPs) with small differences in amplitude and spatial topography. The variability in TEPs resulting from the choice of cleaning pipeline has important implications for comparing TMS-EEG findings between research groups which use different online and offline approaches. Finally, we discuss the challenges of validating cleaning pipelines and recommend that researchers compare outcomes from TMS-EEG experiments using multiple pipelines to ensure findings are not related to the choice of cleaning methods. We conclude that the continued improvement, availability, and validation of cleaning pipelines is essential to ensure TMS-EEG reaches its full potential as a method for studying human neurophysiology.