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Abstract: Bike commuters are regularly exposed to environmental stressors that impact their health and well-being. The Urban Cycling Lab in Ljubljana, developed within an Urban Living Lab and citizen science framework, engaged stakeholders in assessing exposure to particulate matter and noise, and in co-creating strategies to reduce it. This citizen science intervention combined sensor-enhanced ICT tools with behaviour change theory to assess both environmental and behavioural aspects of exposure. Exposure assessment included low-cost personal sensors as well as chemical analysis in biological samples to evaluate environmental exposure, while biochemical analysis of biological samples aimed to evaluate potential biological effects of exposure. Participants collected data using portable sensors and accessed real-time exposure comparisons via the Route Exposure Comparator web app. Biological samples (peripheral blood and spot urine) were collected from each participant at the end of data collection period. Data on sociodemographic characteristics, commuting habits, and environmental health literacy were collected via questionnaires. Ethnographic methods captured participants’ perceptions, route choices, and the intervention’s influence on commuting behaviour. This paper presents the methodology used to implement this intervention and provides a transferable model for participatory environmental exposure assessment. 1. Designed and implemented a citizen science intervention to assess cyclists’ exposure to air pollution and noise using sensor-enhanced ICT tools. 2. Promoted environmentally informed route choices through behaviour change strategies and digital feedback. 3. Applied survey and ethnographic methods to explore commuting behaviours and intervention impact.
Keywords: personal sensors, environmental exposure assessment
Published in DiRROS: 03.12.2025; Views: 99; Downloads: 42
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Abstract: This paper presents the results of a study aimed at examining Croatian primary education teachers’ conceptions of assessment and the correlation between these conceptions and the implementation of assessment in their teaching practice. The analysis of teachers’ conceptions includes considerations of the reliability and importance of assessment, its role in fostering students’ development, the perception of assessment as a tool for ensuring the quality of school and teacher performance, and its role in preparing students for examinations. The study also examines teachers’ assessment practices, analyzing whether they predominantly focus on formative assessment thus fostering student development, or on summative assessment by preparing students for test-related tasks. The research was conducted on a sample of 261 primary education teachers in Croatia. The findings reveal a statistically significant correlation between teachers’ perceptions of assessment and its implementation in teaching. Teachers who perceive assessment as important for students’ personal development are more likely to employ formative assessment in their teaching. Based on the results, the study discusses implications for practice and possibilities for improving the perception and implementation of assessment in primary education, emphasizing the potential of assessment to promote holistic student development.
Keywords: formative assessment, teacher's self assessment, fostering student development, summative assessment, purpose of assessment
Published in DiRROS: 30.11.2025; Views: 126; Downloads: 50
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Abstract: As programming education becomes increasingly complex, grading student code has become a challenging task. Traditional methods, such as dynamic and static analysis, offer foundational approaches but often fail to provide granular insights, leading to inconsistencies in grading and feedback. This study addresses the limitations of these methods by integrating contrastive learning with explainable AI techniques to assess SQL code submissions. We employed contrastive learning to differentiate between student and correct SQL solutions, projecting them into a high-dimensional latent space, and used the Frobenius norm to measure the distance between these representations. This distance was used to predict the percentage of points deducted from each student’s solution. To enhance interpretability, we implemented feature ablation and integrated gradients, which provide insights into the specific tokens in student code that impact the grading outcomes. Our findings indicate that this approach improves the accuracy, consistency, and transparency of automated grading, aligning more closely with human grading standards. The results suggest that this framework could be a valuable tool for automated programming assessment systems, offering clear, actionable feedback and making machine learning models in educational contexts more interpretable and effective.
Keywords: automated programming assessment systems (APASs), contrastive learning, explainable AI, feature ablation, integrated gradients, machine learning in education, natural language processing (NLP)
Published in DiRROS: 09.09.2025; Views: 293; Downloads: 145
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Abstract: This chapter analyzes the differences in reading achievements related to different assessment modes (digital and paper) among students in Croatia and Slovenia using IEA’s Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) 2021 data. It focuses on the relationship various ICT-related variables may have with the reading achievement by the mode of administration. The findings revealed no significant differences in average reading scores between the two modes, with both education systems showing similar outcomes. Although differences in achievement between the two modes could not be detected, nuances emerged regarding the association between ICT variables and reading achievement. Notably, ownership and the sharing of digital devices like smartphones indicated contrasting impacts for each country, suggesting country-specific digital divides. Additionally, while certain ICT resources seemed to marginally benefit reading scores, the general lack of significant disparities between digital and paper assessments highlights the complex interplay of factors influencing educational outcomes. Digital self-efficacy is related to reading achievement only in Slovenia. The study outlined in this chapter calls for nuanced understanding and policy interventions considering these subtle yet crucial differences.
Keywords: education, reading literacy, PIRLS 2001, reading achievement, assessment mode, digital self-efficacy, Croatia, Slovenia
Published in DiRROS: 07.07.2025; Views: 368; Downloads: 221
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Abstract: In the beginning of 2020, the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic led to a crisis in which diagnostic methods for the genome detection of SARS-CoV-2 were urgently needed. Based on the very early publication of the basic principles for a diagnostic test for the genome detection of SARS-CoV-2, the first noncommercial laboratory-developed tests (LDTs) and commercial tests were introduced. As there was considerable uncertainty about the reliability and performance of different tests and different laboratories, INSTAND established external quality assessment (EQA) schemes for the detection of SARS-CoV-2 starting in April 2020. In close partnership in a scientific network, the EQA schemes were enhanced, especially the April, June and November 2020 terms. The enhancement included: (i) immediate provision of suitable virus including variants of concern at the beginning of the pandemic outbreak, (ii) short frequency of EQA schemes, (iii) concentration dependency of the testing and sensitivity check, achieved by using SARS-CoV-2-positive samples from a 10-fold dilution series of the same starting material, (iv) specificity check of the testing, achieved by using SARS-CoV-2-negative samples containing human coronaviruses or MERS CoV, (v) revealed samples for orientation on test performance during an ongoing or at the start of an EQA scheme using a pre-quantified SARS-CoV-2-positive EQA sample with a low viral RNA load of only 1 570 copies/mL assigned by digital PCR (dPCR) in June 2020 and (vi) quantified reference materials based on the experiences of the first two EQA schemes with dPCR-assigned values in copies/mL beginning in November 2020 for self-evaluation of the applied test system. This manuscript summarizes the results of a total of 13 EQA schemes for the detection of SARS-CoV-2 between April 2020 and June 2023 in which a total of 1 413 laboratories from 49 countries participated. The qualitative results for the detection of SARS-CoV-2-positive samples were between 95.8 % and 99.7 % correct positive, excluding extremely low concentration samples. For all SARS-CoV-2-negative EQA samples, the qualitative success rates ranged from 95.1 % to 99.4 % correct negative results. The widely varying values for the cycle threshold (Ct)/crossing point (Cq) reported for the different target genes and test systems were striking. A few laboratories reported quantitative results in copies/mL for several VOCs with an acceptable rate of over 93 % correct positive results in the majority of cases. The description of the enhanced EQA schemes for SARS-CoV-2 detection in terms of timing and scope can serve as a blueprint for the rapid development of a quality assessment of diagnostics for an emerging pathogen.
Keywords: COVID-19 pandemic, SARS-CoV-2, virus genome detection tests, reference materials, external quality assessment, laboratory medicine, epidemiology
Published in DiRROS: 18.06.2025; Views: 519; Downloads: 459
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