During the COVID-19 pandemic, schools had to face the need to urgently switch to distance learning, which was associated with significant stress for both students and their parents, as well as for school administration and teachers (Petrakova, Kanonir, Kulikova, 2021). Considering that even before the pandemic, studies identified burnout and high levels of stress as key risks for this profession (Guglielmi, Tatrow 1998; Schonfeld, Bianchi, Luehring-Jones, 2017), it can be assumed that teachers during this period were subjected to additional psychological and emotional stress, which in turn could affect the effectiveness of their professional activities (Brown, Westbrook, Challagalla, 2005).

The hypothesis of this study is that teachers' stress and anxiety because of the COVID-19 pandemic may have affected the academic results of their students.

The empirical basis of the study was data from a study of the Sber.Class learning platform, conducted by the International Laboratory for Evaluating Practices and Innovations in Education in 367 Russian schools in 2020-2021. The study shows that during the COVID-19 pandemic, the problem of the emotional well-being of teachers turned out to be quite common. A significant proportion of teachers faced stress and fears associated with the need to transfer the educational process to a remote format and build interaction with students in a digital environment. Teachers' feelings about their professional skills, in general, had a negative impact on the academic achievements of 5th-graders. The other effects of teacher stress on student learning outcomes have been mixed.

Abstract: Theoretically, with an increase in state-funded places at the stage of higher education, it could lead to an increase in equality in access to higher education for students with different backgrounds. However, inequality can be seen in another manifestation at this stage. This research examines the theory of Effectively Maintained Inequality [Lucas 2001], according to which a quantitative increase in places available for a certain level of education will lead to a qualitative difference. Based on the longitudinal project "Trajectories in Education and Career", we study the educational choice of students after middle and high school graduation. Moreover, in addition to the academic performance and socio-economic status (SES) of students, we take into account their personal characteristics, Grit. Grit is widely considered a trait composed of perseverance of effort (PE) and consistency of long-term interests (CI) that is positively associated with educational and professional attainments.  

Our study was conducted on a large sample of students (N = 3110) from a national longitudinal study of Russian school graduates. These students were also participants in both the TIMSS and PISA studies.

The results showed that after graduating from high school, the direct role of socio-economic status is more important for the transition to an academic trajectory (higher education) than academic performance. Even with high educational achievements, low SES students are less likely to make a choice in favor of a university and prefer vocational education institutions. When choosing between selective and non-selective universities, the role of academic performance weakens even more. The characteristics of the family directly affect the choice of trajectory, and become key predictors.

Also, perseverance of effort was a better predictor than interests, although the effects of perseverance on long-term educational outcomes were more often indirect. Consistency of interests did not predict educational trajectories or achievements. Accordingly, we failed to find any consistent patterns in perseverance and interests with long-term educational outcomes. The findings so far reflect that it is only perseverance that matters. The consistency of interests construct looks very promising for future research, but for now it is too ill-defined and cannot be properly measured.

Abstract: This study reports on the results of the experiment examining neurocognitive basis of moral reasoning and behavior. That is, the participants of the experiment were given the vignettes or short stories describing various social situations. Next, the participants were asked to contemplate about morality of action and behavior of the character in the context of socioemotional situation described in each vignette. The multivariate pattern analysis and statistical methods were used to analyze participants’ brain functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data. The results provide comprehensive understanding of brain functional connectivity underlying human moral judgement in a wider range of socioemotional contexts. This talk can be useful for practicing teachers, educators, parents, and students to understand what regions of the brain participate in moral reasoning and how they relate to moral behaviors.

Abstract: The social studies curriculum has been the subject of fierce debate globally, but in societies with more diverse ethnicities and ideologies, it has been the most contested topic. An apostolic vision seeks to establish a theocracy or monotheistic society, which contradicts the concept of a modern nation-state. In contrast, a curriculum that emphasizes diversity and multiculturalism is considered dynamic and strives to meet criteria of significance and relevance; in a globalizing world, a focus on national scales alone is insufficient. The social studies curriculum can be seen as having two distinct goals: either to promote peace and tolerance or to obstruct them by promoting violence, prejudice, and hatred or related concepts. Recent research has focused on the formation of social identity through social studies curricula. Using one of the leading models that supports social identity formation and promotes peace and tolerance through a history curriculum, this seminar paves the way for an analysis of a social studies curriculum. It investigates the role of social history education in fostering or hindering concepts such as peace, tolerance, violence, and prejudice.

Abstract: Social integration (SI) plays a critical role in doctoral students’ success. However, SI experiences could differ depending on the characteristics of students and their programmes. The study investigates differences in the SI of doctoral students at Russian universities and identifies the main groups at risk who have more difficulties with SI. To achieve this, the study utilized data from a cross-institutional online survey of doctoral students conducted in 2021 on behalf of the Russian Ministry of Science and Higher Education.

Abstract: Within the context of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, artificial intelligence (AI) has emerged as the primary topic of discussion worldwide. AI can also have an influence on digital transformation of higher education. Higher education faces an era of rapid socio-economic development and must meet a challenge of preparing a talent pool for the AI revolution. That is, preparing students with necessary skill sets to become competitive in the AI era. The pedagogical implications of the impact of emerging technologies on the way students learn and the way higher education is changing include, but are not limited by, application of AI and educational technologies to complement essential activities in higher education, changes in our traditional elements of teaching and learning, and some of the challenges faced by higher education institutions and students in adopting these technologies for teaching, learning, to name a few. In this seminar, we would like to discuss the findings of research in Higher Education Institutions and reveal how organizations react to transformative adaptation of higher education to the age of artificial intelligence.

Abstract: 

TRIZ is a Russian acronym for ‘Teoriya Resheniya Izobretatelskikh Zadatch’ that is known in English as the Theory of Inventive Problem Solving. It is a problem-solving, analysis, and forecasting tool derived from the study of patterns of invention in the global patent literature.

TRIZ was devised by the Soviet inventor Genrich Altshuller and his colleagues in 1946, and can be viewed as a way of Lateral Thinking. It has the following premises at its bedrock:

• The given problem (or a similar one) has already been solved by someone someday
• Never accept contradictions, but resolve them
• Use the inherent defect as a resource to find the solution

Sara has founded a TRIZ-based primary school for the first time in Iran. During this seminar, Sara will talk about how TRIZ can improve problem-solving skills in primary school students based on her real experience.

Abstract: Women sports fans have been substantially understudied compared to their male counterparts. While a growing number of studies seek to redress this, there remains a stark absence of quantitative approaches that would allow investigations regarding patterns of women’s sporting consumption and historical trends in the potential growth of this fandom. This study seeks to redress these issues by testing the ‘feminization’ thesis of increased women’s sporting fandom over the past three decades. In addition, we consider whether women’s fandom has become increasingly ‘omnivorous’ over this time period and the nature of this consumption today.

Abstract: Schools are considered to have a pivotal role in socio emotional development of students. The importance of school in an adolescent’s life increases not only because of amount of time spent by adolescent within schools, but, also by relations developed by teachers and peers within schools. These experiences have a predictive role in determining the success of students later in life. High sense of school connectedness (SC) among students also predict fewer behavioral problems. It is considered to be a protective factor whose importance enhances manifold because of empirical evidences highlighting it as a powerful predictor of health and academic outcome of a student. Quality environment at school fosters a sense of belongingness, relatedness, and connectedness towards the institution; which is considered to be a predictive factor for academic success and fewer behavioral problems. The objective of study was to explore relationship between peer victimization (PV), school connectedness (SC) and mental wellbeing (MWB) among adolescents. It also aimed to explore the differences based on gender and status of school across study variables. The findings will be shared during the seminar.

Abstract: Narcissism has received considerable research attention as an individual difference variable. The current study broadened the scope of the literature on narcissism by examining differences in scores on narcissism between countries, whether country-level variables could account for those differences, and if there was a cross-level interaction between country-level political corruption and gender. Drawing on a large sample of Internet users from 53 different countries (N = 31,391, 35% female, Mage = 28.64, SD = 10.98), multilevel modelling was used to examine whether there was significant between-country variability on grandiose narcissism. Political corruption, social progress, economic prosperity, and individualism were included as between-country predictors. Most of the variance in narcissism scores occurred at the individual level. Within countries, younger individuals, as well as men, were more narcissistic. Between countries, those with better social progress (e.g., meeting basic human needs) had lower aggregate narcissism scores. The other predictors correlated strongly with social progress and did not account for unique variance. Overall, these results suggest that while some variance in narcissism scores occurs between countries, more variance occurs at the individual level. As such, it is less meaningful to call countries “narcissistic,” and more meaningful to apply this label to individuals