http://hdl.handle.net/11615/15 Περιλαμβάνει δημοσιεύσεις των μελών της ακαδημαικής κοινότητας του ΠΘ σε επιστημονικά περιοδικά, συνέδρια, κεφάλαια βιβλίων κλπ. 2026-09-01T10:01:58Z http://hdl.handle.net/11615/89425 Gamified, technology-enhanced geometry and symmetry instruction for learners with intellectual disabilities: A design-based study in a Greek special school Tasakou, Stavroula; Karachalios, Ilias Geometry and symmetry are fundamental for navigating the world, yet many students with intellectual disabilities (ID) still struggle to fully understand these concepts. This eight-week, three-cycle design-based study explored whether a low-cost blend of gamification and readily available educational technologies could make these concepts more accessible in a Greek Special Vocational Education Laboratory (special secondary school). Six lower-secondary students with moderate ID (mean age = 14.8 years) co-designed and iteratively refined a toolkit that mixed GeoGebra-AR explorations, tablet mini-games, classroom Kahoot challenges, interactive-whiteboard puzzles, and tactile “mirror-tracing” tasks. Preliminary testing showed limited recognition of basic shapes and almost none of reflective symmetry. By the end of the intervention, median correct answers on a 20-item shape test increased from 8 to 17, while symmetry-awareness scores on a 15-item rubric climbed from 4 to 11. Observational checklists documented a steady rise in on-task engagement—from 2.5 to 3.6 on a four-point scale—echoed by “happy-face” exit tickets in almost nine out of ten sessions. Learners also began spontaneously mapping virtual forms onto classroom artefacts (e.g., “This ball is a sphere”), hinting at transfer from the digital to the physical world. Because this approach was applied in a single classroom with a few students, the results cannot be generalised. Even so, they hint that three elements—quick feedback, friendly competition, and presenting ideas in several formats—can together lift understanding for learners with intellectual disabilities. Working side-by-side with the students to shape each activity also seemed to give them a stronger sense of ownership and prompted them to think about how they learn, a step often missed but crucial for lasting progress. Future studies should focus on applying the same approach in larger groups, play with different game features, and test whether carefully structured practice helps these improvements hold and grow over time. 2025-01-01T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/11615/89420 Non-formal education as a pathway to interfaith dialogue: Evidence from an international youth seminar Karachalios, Ilias; Palugyay, Elisabeth Non-formal education is increasingly recognised as a promising space for addressing complex social issues that require dialogue, reflexivity, and relational learning. Among these, interfaith dialogue occupies a particularly significant place in contemporary plural societies. This article investigates the contribution of non-formal education to interfaith dialogue through the evaluation of an international seminar designed for youth professionals. The study draws on evidence from the 3-day "Power of Interfaith Dialogue" seminar, which engaged 26 participants from 17 countries representing diverse professional, cultural, and belief backgrounds. Based on participant evaluation data, the article examines how non-formal education methodologies shaped the learning experience and supported the development of knowledge, attitudes, and competences relevant to interfaith engagement. The findings suggest that participants perceived the seminar as highly valuable for supporting mutual understanding, openness to diverse perspectives, interpersonal dialogue skills, and perceived readiness for future action. Participants emphasised the importance of experiential and dialogical methods, the opportunity for self-reflection, and the exchange of practices across contexts. At the same time, the evaluation revealed a need for more time to process complex issues and for greater exposure to local interfaith initiatives. The article concludes that non-formal education can function as a meaningful pathway to interfaith dialogue by creating conditions for reflective encounter and by equipping youth professionals to promote inclusion, peacebuilding, and religious diversity in their own communities. 2026-01-01T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/11615/89419 From diet culture to food freedom: A retrospective mixed-methods practice evaluation of intuitive-eating-informed non-formal nutrition education activities in Greece Lampropoulou, Mema; Symeopoulou, Markella; Karachalios, Ilias This retrospective mixed-methods practice evaluation examined participant feedback from a portfolio of intuitive-eating-informed, non-formal nutrition activities delivered in Greece between 2023 and 2026. The portfolio included a webinar on workplace stress and overeating, two in-person overeating workshops, in-person and online workshops on emotional eating, a five-session online support group and a mindful dining event. In total, 30 anonymous post-activity feedback records were reviewed. Quantitative feedback was summarised descriptively, while open-ended responses were analysed using a descriptive thematic approach. Overall, feedback was generally positive across formats. Respondents valued non-judgmental facilitation, peer exchange, reflective exercises, mindful and sensory eating activities, and opportunities to question restrictive food rules and food-related guilt. The findings suggest that the activities were acceptable to those who completed feedback and that the most meaningful elements were not limited to the provision of nutrition information. Instead, respondents valued the combination of experiential learning, self-reflection and group-based discussion. The findings should be interpreted cautiously. The dataset was small, feedback was voluntary, forms differed across activities, and no pre-post measures, follow-up data or behavioural outcomes were collected. Therefore, the study does not demonstrate effectiveness. Its contribution is more modest: it documents real-world practice, identifies participant-valued design features and provides a basis for developing a structured intuitive-eating-informed adult-learning programme with a stronger prospective evaluation design. 2026-01-01T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/11615/89418 Preservice teachers’ expectations, fears, and perceived contributions at the start of a compulsory environmental education course: An exploratory thematic analysis Karachalios, Ilias; Velaoras, Konstantinos; Tantaroudas, Nikolaos This study explores the expectations, fears, and perceived contributions of fourth-year preservice teachers enrolled in a compulsory Environmental Education, Sustainability and Sustainable Development course at the Department of Education Sciences in Early Childhood, Democritus University of Thrace, Greece. At the outset of the Fall 2024 semester, 52 students responded to three open-ended questions probing what they anticipated from the course, what concerned them, and how they envisioned contributing to the learning process. The responses were analysed using reflexive thematic analysis. Regarding expectations, the most prominent themes were knowledge acquisition about environmental concepts (44.2%) and pedagogical preparedness for teaching environmental education to young children (36.5%), with a notable demand for experiential and interactive learning approaches (13.5%). In terms of fears, conceptual difficulty (19.2%) and assessment anxiety (19.2%) emerged as equally dominant concerns, followed by unfamiliarity with the subject domain (13.5%). Students’ perceived contributions centred on active participation (48.1%), sharing ideas and opinions (19.2%), and collaborative engagement (15.4%). These findings carry implications for curriculum design in teacher education, suggesting that environmental education courses should explicitly address students’ affective states, scaffold unfamiliar terminology, and embed experiential pedagogies to bridge the gap between expectations and lived learning experiences. 2026-01-01T00:00:00Z