Discovering the latent structures of knowledge of the physical environment of future teachers in Spain. What do they know, and why?

Sketch maps are externalizations of cognitive maps which are typically distorted, schematized, incomplete, and generalized. Processing spatial information from sketch maps automatically requires reliable formalizations which are not subject to schematization, distortion or other cognitive effects in sketch maps. Based on previous empirical work, we identified different sketch aspects such as ordering, topology and orientation to align and integrate information from sketch maps with metric maps qualitatively. This research addresses the question how these qualitative sketch aspects can be formalized for a computational approach for sketch map alignment. In this study, we focus on the ordering aspect: ordering of landmarks and street segments along routes and around junctions. We first investigate different qualitative representations and propose suitable representations to formalize these aspects. The proposed representations capture qualitative relations between spatial objects in the form of qualitative constraints networks. We then evaluate the proposed representations by testing the accuracy of qualitative constraints between sketched objects and their corresponding objects in a metric map. Results of the evaluation show that the proposed representations are suitable for the alignment of spatial objects from sketch maps with metric maps.

With the advent of Volunteered Geographic Information (VGI) the amount and accessibility of the spatial information such as sketched information produced by layperson increased drastically. In many geo-spatial applications, sketch maps are considered an intuitive user interaction modality. In sketch maps, the spatial objects and their relationships enable users to communicate and reason about their actions in the physical environment. The information people draw in sketch maps are distorted, schematized, and incomplete. Thus, processing spatial information from sketch maps and making it available in information systems requires suitable representation and alignment approaches. As typically only qualitative relations are preserved in sketch maps, performing alignment and matching with geo-referenced maps on qualitative level has been suggested. In this study, we analyzed different qualitative representations and proposed a set of plausible representations to formalize the topology and orientation information of extended objects in sketch maps. Using the proposed representations, the qualitative relations among depicted objects are extracted in the form of Qualitative Constraint Networks (QCNs). Next, the obtained QCNs from the sketch maps are compared with QCN derived from the metric maps to determine the degree to which the information is identical. If the representations are suitable, the QCNs of both maps should be identical to a high degree. The consistency of obtaining QCNs allows the alignment and integration of spatial information from sketch maps into Geographic Information Systems (GISs).KeywordsQualitative representationsExtended objectsSketch maps Qualitative constraints networksQualitative alignment

The reliability of data collected from sketch maps

Effective business communication skills are essential for managerial success, yet the factors influencing students' proficiency in this domain remain underexplored. This study examines the impact of demographic attributes (gender, stay type), academic background (10th and 12th board affiliations, prior academic performance), and sectoral specialization (Financial Services vs. Retail Management) on Business Communication Performance among 80 managerial students. Using a mixed-methods approach, quantitative data was analyzed through Mann-Whitney U Tests, Kruskal-Wallis Tests, and Multiple Linear Regression to determine the significance of these factors. The results indicate that gender and academic background do not significantly affect Business Communication Performance, but stay type (hosteller vs. day scholar) shows a statistically significant influence (p = 0.0077), with hostellers outperforming day scholars. Additionally, English proficiency exhibits a moderate positive correlation (0.42) with Business Communication scores, suggesting that stronger language skills contribute to improved writing proficiency. However, past academic performance (10th, 12th, and undergraduate marks) and sectoral specialization show no significant impact, highlighting that business writing skills are developed through practice rather than prior academic achievements. These findings underscore the need for targeted business communication training,particularly for day scholars and students with lower English proficiency. Future research should explore longitudinal studies, cross-institutional comparisons, and the integration of digital learning tools to enhance professional writing education. The study contributes to business education by reinforcing the universal relevance of business communication training across managerial disciplines. Keywords: Business Communication Performance, Managerial Education, Academic Background and Writing Proficiency, Stay Type and Learning Outcomes, English Proficiency in Business Communication

Sketch maps are often used as a means of assessing participants’ knowledge of spatial environments. However, the evaluation of sketch maps is challenging as they differ in many aspects and can be scored on many possible criteria. In particular, the classification of sketch maps into different types can be problematic, because participants rarely follow any of the identifiable formats consistently. This paper presents a set of criteria that can be used to score a sketch map on two dimensions simultaneously: its “route-likeness” and its “survey-likeness”. The scoring is based on the presence or absence of six features for route-conveying information and six features of conveying survey information. In the present study, reliability estimates and factor structure of the approach were examined with 460 sketch maps with a high variability of spatial elements included. Results show that the two dimensions are largely independent. Sketch maps are found that score high on the route dimensions but low on the survey dimension and vice versa, as well as sketch maps that score high (or low) on both dimensions. It is concluded that the proposed two-dimensional scoring is useful for analysing sketch maps, however, results will also depend on the task and instruction when assessing participants’ knowledge of spatial environments.

Food insecurity is an important public health concern; however, research into this phenomenon within the Netherlands is limited. Food insecurity is not solely related to individual factors, but can also be influenced by various factors in the social and physical environment. Therefore, this study aimed to identify determinants of food insecurity within the personal, social and physical environment, based on the social ecological model (SEM), and to identify their relative importance for experiencing food insecurity. The study population consisted of 307 participants living in disadvantaged neighbourhoods of the Dutch city The Hague, of which approximately one-quarter were food insecure. Participant characteristics showing bivariate associations P < 0⋅20 were placed in a predetermined level of the SEM, after which a multivariate logistic regression was performed for each level and the Nagelkerke pseudo R 2 was presented. Determinants of food insecurity were BMI, gross monthly income, highest educational attainment, smoking status, diet quality, employment status, marital status and religion (P < 0⋅05). The results showed that 29⋅7 % of the total variance in food insecurity status was explained by all included determinants together. The personal, social and physical environment explained 20⋅6, 14⋅0 and 2⋅4 % of the total variance, respectively. Our findings suggest that determinants within the personal environment are most important for explaining differences in experienced food insecurity. The present study contributes to furthering the knowledge about the relative importance of the personal, social and physical environment, indicating that determinants within the personal environment may be most promising for developing targeted interventions to reduce food insecurity.

Academic life satisfaction is an important indicator of students' contentment with both their academic and personal environments. Therefore, determining the factors that promote academic life satisfaction is of great importance. This study aimed to investigate the mediating role of flow experiences in the association between academic procrastination and personal satisfaction and satisfaction with the academic environment. A total of 581 undergraduate students (65.4% women) participated in the study. The students' ages ranged from 18 to 25 years, with an average age of 20.44 years (SD = 2.02). This study found that academic procrastination was negatively associated with flow experiences, personal satisfaction and satisfaction with the academic environment. Flow experiences were positively associated with personal satisfaction and satisfaction with the academic environment. Flow experiences acted as a mediator in the association between academic procrastination and personal satisfaction and satisfaction with the academic environment. The study findings show that academic procrastinators may have difficulty in experiencing flow, which in turn leads to poor academic life satisfaction. This study addresses the need for practices aimed at reducing academic procrastination and experiencing flow in interventions to enhance academic life satisfaction among university students.

Background and Objectives:PA is a multi-factorial behavior that is affected by interpersonal, intra personal, environmental and social factors. In this study we applied explanatory model to determine the total, indirect and direct impact of physical environment, personal factors and social support on PA among employed women.Methods:This study was a correlational cross-sectional study which was conducted to model total, indirect and direct impact of environmental, psychological and social factors on PA. A total of 200 women were chosen from Tabriz University by using convenience sampling method. Data about demographic characteristics, psychological variables, social and physical environment were gathered by using self-reported questionnaire and also the PA was measured by using the International PA Questionnaire and pedometer.Results:personal factors, physical and social environment, showed direct effects on PA. Social factors could be seen to have indirect effects on PA through their influence on personal factors such as pros, cons and self-efficacy; also physical environment had indirect effects on PA through social environment. The total effects of physical and social environment on PA type were respectively 0.17, 0.16 on walking, 0.05, 0.07 on moderate activity and 0.15, 0.18 on vigorous activity.Conclusions:Findings from this study indicated that social factors had indirect effects on walking, moderate and vigorous activity, especially through the effects on these factors of self-efficacy, physical environment, pros and cons, and the interactive role of individual, environmental and social impacts on PA. The current study identifies that psychological, physical and social factors could be shown to have direct and indirect influences on all forms of activity. The barriers of PA were the most predictor of this behavior, and based on results, it can be concluded that decreasing the barriers along with improving social and physical environment can lead to increasing PA and health promotion.

This study reports on the status and correlations among environmental literacy (EL), locus of control (LOC), and future orientation (FO) of STEM students (N = 512). The EL results showed a low rate of students’ Environmental Knowledge but high Environmental Skills. The LOC results revealed that students believed that they could best create environmental impacts through recycling yet least by advocating on the environment. They were also more inclined to considering distant outcomes or consequences of their actions rather than focusing on their immediate needs. The STEM students’ academic background, convenience, and personal benefit among others might have contributed to correlation results of EL, LOC, and FO reported in this study. It is suggested that ample opportunities be given to students to improve their EL. This may include going beyond environmental theories and engaging students in authentic experiences to provide them with active roles in learning environmental topics. Moreover, these topics should not only be consistently integrated among the fields of sciences but also in other subjects making them interdisciplinary, meaningful, and relatable.

The importance of the social environment for physically active lifestyle — results from an international study

This thesis explores the influence and impact of the physical indoor environment in the context of falls prevention, safety, participation in activities and well-being of older persons. Using a mixed method approach, the first survey covered 240 aged care facilities in the Klang Valley and the second study utilised the Residential Environment Impact Survey (REIS, Version 3.0) at 48 consenting facilities. Major gaps exist in identification of hazards in the physical environment. Screening the indoor environment becomes an integral part needing to be undertaken by all staff within aged care facilities. Best practices are documented, but minimal application is reported.

This paper explores the implementation of internationalisation in the Spanish university system and its effects from a mixed methods approach, combining quantitative corpus linguistics techniques and qualitative interview protocols. Results from the quantitative and qualitative analysis showed that Spanish universities’ written policies align with the national framework and rely on a complementary use of ‘abroad’ and ‘at home’ strategies for research and education mostly through mobility, collaboration, and English-medium instruction. A positive representation of internationalisation is also identified, with both top-down and bottom-up actors stressing its benefits for society and individuals. Yet, some critical voices pointed at mismatches between institutional views and stakeholders’ experiences, questioning the sufficient allocation of resources and lack of recognition and incentives. The paper argues that effective comprehensive internationalisation should include written internationalisation plans, communication strategies, and a clearly defined internationalisation model adapted to the universities’ particularities.

Over the past years, user-generated content has gained more prominence in the area of geographic information science. In many geo-spatial applications, sketch maps are considered as an intuitive user interaction modality. As typically only qualitative relations are persevered in sketch maps, processing spatial information on qualitative level has been suggested. The information represented in sketch maps are distorted, schematized, incomplete, and generalized. Particularly, streets are schematized and their angles of connectivity at junctions are distorted. In sketch maps, streets are lineal features and each street consists of one or more connected street segments. Straightening curved streets and distorting angles affect the qualitative information of streets. Thus, processing spatial information from sketch maps and making it available in information systems requires reliable formalizations which are robust against cognitive distortions. In this paper, we proposed a set of plausible representations to formalize the qualitative information of street segments in street networks. Further, we identify suitable orientation sectors. The orientation sectors are scrutinized and encoded with the proposed representation to capture the relative orientations of street segments. Afterwards, the representations are evaluated for the qualitative alignment of street segments from sketch maps with geo-referenced maps. The successful alignment of street segments will allow us to integrate spatial information from sketch maps into a Geographic Information System (GIS) as volunteered informationKeywordsSketch map alignmentQualitative constraint networksStreet segmentsStreet networkOrientation sectorsQualitative representation

Frontline communities and allies have long advocated for environmental protections that address cumulative impacts (CI) as a solution to the disproportionate and adverse pollution burden in low-income and communities of color. Cumulative impact assessments (CIAs) include the environmental health burden of a community from multiple sources, pollutants, and pathways as well as the existing conditions, including impacts from non-chemical stressors such as exposure to social adversity. Addressing the CI in communities requires a pivot away from the traditional risk assessment approach to include more qualitative information, particularly lived experience (LE) from impacted communities and populations. Mixed methods (MM) approaches have well-equipped structures and validity practices to inform how to integrate, process, and analyze both qualitative and quantitative data to answer research questions and provide examples for regulatory analyses that inform environmental decision making. This article describes an investigation of the existing MM studies in the environmental science and environmental health literature, MM parameters, data integration methodologies, and validity practices to ensure study rigor. The analysis of the included publications describes and highlights robust examples for community LE inclusion during data collection, analysis, and interpretation phases but found few examples of studies where impacted communities informed the initial research design. The authors consider how MM approaches can support the integration of quantitative and qualitative data, including LE, in applicable phases of CIAs.

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