Preadolescents (10-12 years) are prolific media users, yet it is still being determined whether the different types of social media engagement are impacting their bodies. This exploratory study aimed to test a model of relationships between types of social media engagement, attitude to alter one's physical appearance, dualism, and body…

This study draws on research that investigated transformative learning with reference to complexity theories. It describes the use of dance-informed performative autoethnography employed to analyze and interpret participants' experience of crisis in research conducted within a disability service system in Italy during COVID-19 pandemic. Firstly,…

In the typically developing population, social touch experiences are influenced by several factors, including the biological sex of toucher and receiver, the body area wherein the touch is delivered and the social context in which the tactile exchange occurs. However, it is currently unexplored how social touch experiences of autistic adults are…

Cooperation is crucial in classrooms for positive interactions among pupils, but the factors influencing children's cooperative behaviors remain debated. This study explores the impact of cardiac vagal tone (CVT), a measure of physiological self-regulation, and cognitive control on cooperation among 109 primary school students. Heart rate…

Anatomical education is pivotal for medical students, and innovative technologies like augmented reality (AR) are transforming the field. This study aimed to enhance the interactive features of the "AEducAR" prototype, an AR tool developed by the University of Bologna, and explore its impact on human anatomy learning process in 130…

Cadaver dissection has always played a fundamental role in medical education. However, especially in Italy, the topic of body donation has remained partially unknown for years. The current study analyses graphic medicine as a new possible communication tool, evaluating and reflecting, with second-year students enrolled in the International School…

In the post-pandemic era we're living through, it can seem as though real life resides in the virtual world -- the one driven by screens and the sedentary lifestyle that shapes a human being's posture and intellectual faculties (Vincent, 2018). As we look back over this period of enforced confinement, it is worth examining how being at home has…

The didactic-performative experience at a distance, centred on the body in action of the training laboratories activated at the University of Study Cattolica del Sacro Cuore of Milan and the University of Study Suor Orsola Benincasa of Naples, encouraged, through the exercise of 'simplex property' of the separation of functions, the crossing of…

Enactive education is an innovative model based on embodied cognition. This quasi-experimental controlled study with pretest-posttest design investigated the effects of an online enactive school program on students' learning, academic self-concept, and physical self-concept. The study was conducted in three secondary schools in Salerno and…

The term "toilet" conveys different meanings; it may be seen as an isolated place or a public service, a secluded and dirty area or a symbol of civilisation and progress. In the film "The Phantom of Liberty" (1974), Luis Buñuel presented a formally dressed social group gathering over a meal in toilets around a table, with the…

In this note, we analyse the use of gestures and gazes by a group of university lecturers while distance teaching. We investigated the video lessons produced and recorded by 22 lecturers, with the purpose of spotting the presence of signalling behaviours such as glances aimed at drawing the attention to parts of the screen, or pointing gestures,…

There is inconsistent evidence that human bodies are processed through holistic processing as it has been widely reported for faces. To assess how configural and holistic processes may develop with age, we administered a visual body recognition task assessing the presence of body inversion and composite illusion effects to white adults (114…

This study addresses the role of the body in the pedagogy of Italian as a second language. Given that the understanding of meanings and functions of body movements in combination with speech can enrich language pedagogy, we organized a study to investigate whether context of learning determines more or less awareness of the body in Italian…

From its very beginning, the Protestant Reformation adopted the theatre as one of its educational tools. Together with choral music, visual arts, and preaching, Luther, Melanchthon, Oekolampad, and other Reformers promoted both the cultivated school theatre and the popular street theatre in order to spread the new faith, create a community ethos,…

Can a bodily engagement with music affect the process of musical meaning formation and, as such, affect children's graphic representation of music? To address this question a comparative study was conducted in which primary school children (n = 52; age = 9-10) without any formal music education participated in a verbal-based (describe the music…