Which game are you playing? - An interactive and educational video show

Project “Which game are you playing?” is an interactive video show, which has an educational purpose. Video records projected on the three walls are swapped according to where a person has sat down, in other words, according to a person’s »ego« role: child, parent or adult. Videos show conflicts among young people and their resolution according to the person's »ego« role. We made the project with two programs: Smart Wall and vvvv. For the realization of this project we need two computers, which are connected with an ethernet cable, two cameras, one placed on the ceiling and the other in front of the »ego« chairs, and three projectors

Process in contemporary visual art as a paradigm shift in the visual art education: perspective of creativity

The authors discuss contemporary visual art, its creation processes and their implementation in art education in primary and secondary/grammar school. Changing the paradigm of studying from “fine to visual arts” within art education is a process itself. Visual art, which involves a participatory and new media art, is also concerned with processes that establish unique relationships between subjects and their effect on the real life of the participants or audience. It is no longer enough to deal with aesthetic concepts, but it is necessary to use art forms to create everyday life, and deal with ethical concepts. Transferring these processes into education connects students’ creative activities and their everyday life context, so that they can learn how to create social and personal relationships by using images. Experimental research in grammar school affirms the importance of teaching topics as are socially and politically engaged art or artistic activism, mediated by new media. Action research in elementary school affirms proposed style of art education as an acceptable way of transferring the way of thinking from visual art, especially a participatory and new media art, to the process of education as a discovering problems in society and offering solutions represented by visual forms

Prevalencija antitela klase G na antigene uzročnika lajmske bolesti kod pasa u Vojvodini, Srbija

Lyme disease is a multisystemic disease, zoonotic in nature, caused by the Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato complex. In the continent of Europe, these spirochetes are predominantly transmitted by ticks of the genus Ixodes. Small mammals and birds have particular significance as reservoirs of the cause of lyme disease. The objective of these epidemiological investigations was to determine the value of IgG seroprevalence to Borrelia burgdorferi and to secure the geographic distribution of seropositive dogs in Vojvodina. The investigations covered 135 dogs that were not vaccinated against lyme disease. The indirect ELISA test was used to determine IgG prevalence to Borrelia burgdorferi antigens. Reactive blood serums of dogs were tested again using the rapid immunochromatographic and immunoblot test. A seroprevalence of G class antibodies to antigens of lyme disease causes of 8.1% (11/135) was established in the examined dog population of Vojvodina. The biggest number of positive results was recorded for the South Bačka District. The presented value for the seroprevalence of anti-Borrelia burgdorferi antibodies in the dog population indicates the exhistence of a significant risk of humans becoming infected with the cause of lyme disease in Vojvodina.Lajmska bolest je multisistemsko oboljenje, zoonoznog karaktera, izazvano uzročnikom Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato complex. Ove spirohete se na evropskom kontinentu dominantno prenose krpeljima iz roda Ixodes. Poseban epidemiološki značaj imaju mali sisari i ptice kao rezervoari uzročnika lajmske bolesti. Cilj ovog epidemiološ kog istraživanja je da se utvrdi vrednost seroprevalencije IgG na Borrelia burgdorferi i sagleda geografska distribucija seropozitivnih pasa u Vojvodini. U ispitivanje je bilo uključeno 135 pasa koji nisu vakcinisani protiv lajmske bolesti. Za utvrđivanje prevalencije IgG na antigene Borrelia burgdorferi korišćen je indirektni ELISA test. Reaktivni krvni serumi pasa su ponovo testirani primenom brzog imunohromatografskog i imunoblot testa. Ustanovljena je seroprevalencija antitela klase G na antigene uzročnika lajmske bolesti od 8,1% (11/135) u populaciji pasa na području Vojvodine. Najveći broj pozitivnih rezultata je zabeležen u Južnobačkom okrugu. Navedena vrednost seroprevalencije anti-Borrelia burgdorferi antitela u populaciji pasa ukazuje na postojanje značajnog rizika za infekciju kod ljudi izazvanu uzročnikom lajmske bolesti u Vojvodini

Rare-earth (Gd3+,Yb3+/Tm3+, Eu3+) co-doped hydroxyapatite as magnetic, up-conversion and down-conversion materials for multimodal imaging

Taking advantage of the flexibility of the apatite structure, nano- and micro-particles of hydroxyapatite (HAp) were doped with different combinations of rare earth ions (RE3+ = Gd, Eu, Yb, Tm) to achieve a synergy among their magnetic and optical properties and to enable their application in preventive medicine, particularly diagnostics based on multimodal imaging. All powders were synthesized through hydrothermal processing at T ≤ 200 °C. An X-ray powder diffraction analysis showed that all powders crystallized in P63/m space group of the hexagonal crystal structure. The refined unit-cell parameters reflected a decrease in the unit cell volume as a result of the partial substitution of Ca2+ with smaller RE3+ ions at both cation positions. The FTIR analysis additionally suggested that a synergy may exist solely in the triply doped system, where the lattice symmetry and vibration modes become more coherent than in the singly or doubly doped systems. HAp:RE3+ optical characterization revealed a change in the energy band gap and the appearance of a weak blue luminescence (λex = 370 nm) due to an increased concentration of defects. The "up"- and the "down"-conversion spectra of HAp:Gd/Yb/Tm and HAp:Gd/Eu powders showed characteristic transitions of Tm3+ and Eu3+, respectively. Furthermore, in contrast to diamagnetic HAp, all HAp:RE3+ powders exhibited paramagnetic behavior. Cell viability tests of HAp:Gd/Yb/Tm and HAp:Gd/Eu powders in human dental pulp stem cell cultures indicated their good biocompatibility

CROPINNO – Introducing multi-omics tools for improved crop stress resilience

Agriculture is one of the “victims” of climate change and one of the most severely affected sectors. It has become evident that as the climate changes, crop production strategies must change as well, including primarily adaptations through breeding and crop management. In the future, it is expected that integrative approaches that combine -omics technologies by using bioinformatic tools will facilitate the identification of target genes and markers for complex traits and facilitate crop adaptation to the changing environment. Within its activities, Twinning project CROPINNO will implement at and validate different phenotyping and multi-omics tools in breeding for improved stress resilience. Sunflower is chosen as a model crop for validation of different tools and approaches since it is considered as potential model crop for adaptation to a changing environment. Activities within CROPINNO are aimed at: i) pre-screening sunflower genotypes from IFVCNS collection using for biotic and abiotic stress resilience using different phenotyping methods; ii) study of effects of drought on sunflower plants at chromatin and transcriptional level; iii) performing whole genome SNP analysis in order to develop SNP-based markers for drought stress resilience; iv) performing integrated data analysis and comparative bioinformatics for drought responses in order to unveil possible direct correlations between stress-induced genes transcriptional variation and histone modification levels and design of networks of candidate genes for sunflower drought tolerance. Models, tools and know-how developed on sunflower will be transferred and implemented in the breeding programs of other main field crops at IFVCNS and Western Balkans region

Uvedba ustvarjalnega procesa po imerzivni metodi

The immersive method is a new concept of visual education that is better suited to the needs of students in contemporary post-industrial society. The features of the immersive method are: 1) it emerges from interaction with visual culture; 2) it encourages understanding of contemporary art (as an integral part of visual culture); and 3) it implements the strategies and processes of the dominant tendencies in contemporary art (new media art and relational art) with the goal of adopting the creative process, expressing one’s thoughts and emotions, and communicating with the environment. The immersive method transfers the creative process from art to the process of creation by the students themselves. This occurs with the mediation of an algorithmic scheme that enables students to adopt ways to solve problems, to express thoughts and emotions, to develop ideas and to transfer these ideas to form, medium and material. The immersive method uses transfer in classes, the therapeutic aspect of art and “flow state” (the optimal experience of being immersed in an activity)/aesthetic experience (a total experience that has a beginning, a process and a conclusion)/immersive experience (comprehensive immersion in the present moment). This is a state leading to the sublimative effect of creation (identification with what has been expressed), as well as to self-actualisation. The immersive method teaches one to connect the context, social relations and the artwork as a whole in which one lives as an individual. The adopted creative process is implemented in a critical manner on one’s surrounding through analysis, aesthetic interventions, and ecologically and socially aware inclusion in the life of a community. The students gain the crucial meta-competence of a creative thinking process. (DIPF/Orig.

Impact of the immersive method on artistic expression of the students in art education

Art education in elementary schools in Croatia is mainly based on acquiring a visual language that will serve as a notational system for all forms of visual art. This dissertation focuses on an immersive teaching method because it closely connects the acquisition of visual language with different stages of the creative process, from the generation of ideas to the various ways in which these ideas can be given form through the use of different materials and media. In addition, the immersive approach focuses on students’ ability to express themselves and to communicate using the visual arts. Both contemporary visual art and the ‘new media’, students are exposed to today, must be taken into account in considering the creative process and in organizing students' formal education. Context is of central importance to the immersive method and should be emphasized in teaching by engaging all the senses. Particular attention should be given to transferring the creative process involved in art-making to the creative process used in teaching, such that each student's innate creativity is encouraged. The creative process can be divided into eight phases that are passed through cyclically and that permeate it: (1) universal themes; (2) generative themes; (3) the generation of ideas; (4) the transformation of ideas into forms; (5) the selection of material and media; (6) reflection; (7) self-realization; and (8) analysis of the outcome and remediation. For such a complex approach, the teacher's creativity, expertise and personality are of the utmost importance. Therefore, the teacher's ability to learn about the particular characteristics of contemporary fine art and other forms of visual art was one of the subjects of this research. The first part of the study was quantitative: the teacher's education, professional and teaching competence, knowledge of contemporary visual art and new media, attitude towards the current visual arts curriculum, professional development, job motivation and need for continuing education were assessed using a questionnaire that was completed by a representative sample of teachers in Croatia. The teachers’ ability to employ immersive teaching methods was evaluated via a descriptive analysis of the questionnaire's results. In addition, students completed a second questionnaire that assessed their knowledge of what they had been taught, their ability to apply that knowledge and their motivation. The questionnaire, which was given to a representative sample of fifth- and eighth-grade students in Zagreb and other parts of Croatia, also assessed the usefulness of the course content in students' everyday lives and future occupations (taking into account the new media common in society and the nature of contemporary visual art) and their knowledge of the creative process. The findings of the two questionnaires are presented as frequency distributions and percentages. Differences in responses between fifth- and eighth-grade students were evaluated using the chi-squared test and the results are presented in contingency tables. The second part of the study, the implementation phase, was also based on questionnaire findings. An immersive teaching strategy was devised in four steps: (1) teaching methods and techniques for stimulating creative thinking are introduced; (2) the students' intrinsic motivation is stimulated by employing generative themes (emotional and cognitive content); (3) during the creative process, students carry out self-assessment and reflect on their art independently; and (4) students become semi-autonomous in applying all phases of the creative process, become sensitive to context and adopt a critical attitude. The samples comprised four teachers and 128 students. The results of the students’ assignments were then analysed qualitatively and their artworks were assessed using descriptive statistics with the aid of an evaluation table. The research answered all the questions that arose in the first and second parts of the study. The first part of the research showed that: (1) teachers lacked sufficient knowledge about teaching methods and strategies, about contemporary visual art, and about the new media environment that surrounds students; (2) teachers were not sufficiently interested in professional development or continuing education; (3) teachers did not sufficiently understand the need for a new approach to fine art lessons; (4) students were not able to use teaching content in a creative way; (5) students did not associate the new media ubiquitous in everyday life with the creation of art; and (6) students were not familiar with using free associations to generate ideas. The second part of the research showed that the immersive teaching method: (1) influenced students’ use of contemporary visual art strategies in formal visual expression; (2) influencing approaches to learning and teaching; (3) increased students’ interest in visual expression and critical thinking about the environment; (4) stimulated students to engage with more original ideas and to be more creative in choosing the appropriate form for content and the most appropriate material for transferring content into their chosen medium; (5) promoted greater interest in moral and ethical issues; and (6) encouraged a more equal use of new media technologies (e.g. cell phones, tablets and computers) and art media. The successful application of an immersive approach to teaching art depends on the teacher having the appropriate professional and educational skills. In the hands of a competent teacher, an immersive approach can stimulate learning about the characteristics of all forms of visual art and help students develop creative thinking. Students should then be able to visually express their emotions, thoughts and values in the context of the critical thinking they have developed

Impact of the immersive method on artistic expression of the students in art education

Pouk likovne kulture v osnovnih šolah na Hrvaškem v glavnem temelji na usvajanju likovnega jezika kot notacijskega sistema, svojstvenega likovni in drugi vizualni umetnosti. V doktorski disertaciji je predstavljena imerzivna metoda, ki močneje povezuje usvajanje likovnega jezika in etape ustvarjalnega procesa od ustvarjanja idej do načina njihove uresničitve v formi, materialu in mediju. Poučevanje z imerzivno metodo je namenjeno izražanju učencev in njihovi komunikaciji s pomočjo likovnega izdelka in izdelka drugih vizualnih umetnosti. Ta proces upošteva sodobno vizualno umetnost in novomedijsko okolje učencev v današnjem času, iz katerih imerzivna metoda prevzema ustvarjalni proces in strategije, ki jih uporablja pri formalnem vidiku ustvarjalnega procesa in organizaciji vzgojno-izobraževalnega procesa. Imerzivna metoda se temeljiteje ukvarja s kontekstom in tako poudarja močan vzgojni vidik pouka in spodbujanje čim več čutil. Posebno pozornost posveča prenosu ustvarjalnega procesa iz ustvarjanja sodobne likovne in drugih vizualnih umetnosti v ustvarjalni proces pri pouku, s čimer se spodbuja prirojena ustvarjalnost vsakega izmed učencev. Ustvarjalni proces je algoritemsko razčlenjen na osem etap, ki se medsebojno prežemajo in ponavljajo v ciklih (univerzalna tema, generativna tema, izločanje idej, prenašanje v formo, material in medij, refleksija, samouresničitev, analiza rezultatov in remediacija). Pri tem kompleksnem pristopu so izjemnega pomena ustvarjalnost, strokovnost in osebnost učitelja. Usposobljenost učitelja za spoznavanje posebnosti sodobnih likovnih in drugih vizualnih stvaritev je zato eden izmed predmetov te raziskave. V prvem delu raziskave (kvantitativnem) so s pomočjo anketnega vprašalnika za priložnostni vzorec učiteljev (območje celotne Hrvaške) ugotovljeni izobrazba učitelja, strokovne in pedagoške kompetence, poznavanje sodobne vizualne umetnosti in novomedijskega okolja, stališče do veljavnega programa za likovno kulturo, strokovno izpopolnjevanje, motivacija za delo in potreba po nadaljnjem izobraževanju. Iz deskriptivne analize rezultatov je razvidno, da učitelji niso usposobljeni za delo po imerzivni metodi. S pomočjo vprašalnika za priložnostni vzorec učencev petih in osmih razredov (Zagreb in del Hrvaške) so med učenci preverjeni poznavanje in uporaba učne vsebine, motivacija, presoja uporabnosti učne vsebine v vsakdanjem življenju in prihodnjem poklicu, prepoznavanje novomedijskega konteksta vsakdanjega življenja in sodobne vizualne umetnosti ter poznavanje ustvarjalnega procesa. Na podlagi rezultatov je zasnovan drugi del raziskave (akcijski), in sicer uvajanje imerzivne metode v pouk v štirih akcijskih korakih: 1) uvajanje učnih metod in strategij ter tehnik za spodbujanje ustvarjalnega mišljenja, 2) spodbujanje intrinzične motivacije s pomočjo generativnih tem (čustvena in kognitivna vsebina učenca), 3) samoocena in samostojna refleksija med ustvarjalnim procesom, 4) delna samostojnost učenca pri uporabi algoritemske sheme ustvarjalnega procesa, občutljivost za kontekst, kritično stališče. Vzorec so bili štiri učiteljice in 128 učencev. Naloge za učence so analizirane s kvalitativno in vsebinsko analizo, medtem ko so rezultati, dobljeni s tabelo za ocenjevanje vizualnih del učencev, statistično analizirani. Rezultati raziskave podajajo odgovore na vsa raziskovalna vprašanja iz prvega in drugega dela raziskave. Rezultati prvega dela raziskave so pokazali da: učitelji nimajo dovolj znanja o učnih metodah in strategijah, sodobni vizualni umetnosti, strategijah novomedijske umetnosti in novomedijskega okolja učencev, niso dovolj zainteresirani za strokovno izpopolnjevanje in dodatno izobraževanje ter ne dojemajo v zadostni meri potrebe po spremembah v pristopu k pouku likovne kultureda učenci učne vsebine ne morejo ustvarjalno uporabljati, ne povezujejo novomedijskega konteksta vsakdanjega življenja z nastankom likovne in druge vizualne stvaritve, ne poznajo produkcije in uporabe prostih asociacij in idej. Rezultati drugega dela raziskave so pokazali, da imerzivna metoda vpliva na uporabo strategij sodobne vizualne umetnosti v formalnem vidiku likovnega in drugega vizualnega izražanja učencev ter na povečanje učenčevega interesa za likovno in drugo vizualno izražanje, na učenčevo kritično premišljanje o okolju, na sposobnost učencev, da ustvarjajo izvirnejše zamisli in bolj ustvarjalno izbirajo ustrezno formo za vsebino in prenos vsebine s pomočjo materiala v medij, na večje zanimanje za moralna in etična vprašanja ter njihovo premišljanje in na enakopravno uporabo novomedijskih tehnologij (mobitel, dlančnik, računalnik) in likovnih medijev. Za uspešno vključitev imerzivne metode v vzgojno-izobraževalni proces je nujen predvsem usposobljen učitelj, ki ima pedagoške in strokovne kompetence. Tako usposobljen učitelj bi z uporabo imerzivne metode spodbudil spoznavanje posebnosti sodobne likovne in drugih vizualnih umetnosti ter tudi razvijanje ustvarjalnega mišljenja pri učencih, vizualno izražanje pa bi tako imelo vlogo komunikacije čustev, misli in vrednot z okoljem, do katerega bi se razvilo kritično stališče.Art education in elementary schools in Croatia is mainly based on acquiring a visual language that will serve as a notational system for all forms of visual art. This dissertation focuses on an immersive teaching method because it closely connects the acquisition of visual language with different stages of the creative process, from the generation of ideas to the various ways in which these ideas can be given form through the use of different materials and media. In addition, the immersive approach focuses on students’ ability to express themselves and to communicate using the visual arts. Both contemporary visual art and the ‘new media’, students are exposed to today, must be taken into account in considering the creative process and in organizing students\u27 formal education. Context is of central importance to the immersive method and should be emphasized in teaching by engaging all the senses. Particular attention should be given to transferring the creative process involved in art-making to the creative process used in teaching, such that each student\u27s innate creativity is encouraged. The creative process can be divided into eight phases that are passed through cyclically and that permeate it: (1) universal themes(2) generative themes(3) the generation of ideas(4) the transformation of ideas into forms(5) the selection of material and media(6) reflection(7) self-realizationand (8) analysis of the outcome and remediation. For such a complex approach, the teacher\u27s creativity, expertise and personality are of the utmost importance. Therefore, the teacher\u27s ability to learn about the particular characteristics of contemporary fine art and other forms of visual art was one of the subjects of this research. The first part of the study was quantitative: the teacher\u27s education, professional and teaching competence, knowledge of contemporary visual art and new media, attitude towards the current visual arts curriculum, professional development, job motivation and need for continuing education were assessed using a questionnaire that was completed by a representative sample of teachers in Croatia. The teachers’ ability to employ immersive teaching methods was evaluated via a descriptive analysis of the questionnaire\u27s results. In addition, students completed a second questionnaire that assessed their knowledge of what they had been taught, their ability to apply that knowledge and their motivation. The questionnaire, which was given to a representative sample of fifth- and eighth-grade students in Zagreb and other parts of Croatia, also assessed the usefulness of the course content in students\u27 everyday lives and future occupations (taking into account the new media common in society and the nature of contemporary visual art) and their knowledge of the creative process. The findings of the two questionnaires are presented as frequency distributions and percentages. Differences in responses between fifth- and eighth-grade students were evaluated using the chi-squared test and the results are presented in contingency tables. The second part of the study, the implementation phase, was also based on questionnaire findings. An immersive teaching strategy was devised in four steps: (1) teaching methods and techniques for stimulating creative thinking are introduced(2) the students\u27 intrinsic motivation is stimulated by employing generative themes (emotional and cognitive content)(3) during the creative process, students carry out self-assessment and reflect on their art independentlyand (4) students become semi-autonomous in applying all phases of the creative process, become sensitive to context and adopt a critical attitude. The samples comprised four teachers and 128 students. The results of the students’ assignments were then analysed qualitatively and their artworks were assessed using descriptive statistics with the aid of an evaluation table. The research answered all the questions that arose in the first and second parts of the study. The first part of the research showed that: (1) teachers lacked sufficient knowledge about teaching methods and strategies, about contemporary visual art, and about the new media environment that surrounds students(2) teachers were not sufficiently interested in professional development or continuing education(3) teachers did not sufficiently understand the need for a new approach to fine art lessons(4) students were not able to use teaching content in a creative way(5) students did not associate the new media ubiquitous in everyday life with the creation of artand (6) students were not familiar with using free associations to generate ideas. The second part of the research showed that the immersive teaching method: (1) influenced students’ use of contemporary visual art strategies in formal visual expression(2) influencing approaches to learning and teaching(3) increased students’ interest in visual expression and critical thinking about the environment(4) stimulated students to engage with more original ideas and to be more creative in choosing the appropriate form for content and the most appropriate material for transferring content into their chosen medium(5) promoted greater interest in moral and ethical issuesand (6) encouraged a more equal use of new media technologies (e.g. cell phones, tablets and computers) and art media. The successful application of an immersive approach to teaching art depends on the teacher having the appropriate professional and educational skills. In the hands of a competent teacher, an immersive approach can stimulate learning about the characteristics of all forms of visual art and help students develop creative thinking. Students should then be able to visually express their emotions, thoughts and values in the context of the critical thinking they have developed

Ecological footprint as indicator of students environmental awareness level at Faculties of Organizational Sciences, University of Belgrade and University of Maribor

The Ecological Footprint is a complex sustainability indicator that answers a simple question: How much of the Earth’s resources is demanded to support humankind lifestyle and activities? Ecological Footprint translates consumption and waste flow data into a measurement of the biologically productive area required to sustain that flow. We used Ecological Footprint as input feature that provides an effective heuristic and pedagogic tool for capturing current human resource use. The key aspect of this paper will be focused on the measuring of environmental awareness level among the students of the Faculty of Organizational Science, University of Belgrade and University of Maribor. For the determining student’s environmental awareness level and their Ecological Footprint, we used a closed form questionnaire with 15 questions. Statistical analysis has been performed in SPSS software package