Title Affiliations Abstract "Examining Driving Behavior of Adults with Higher Functioning Autism Spectrum Disorders to Develop and Evaluate an Innovative Driving Instructor Training Program" "Traffic Safety" "The current project aims to comprehensively investigate driving behaviors as well as related psychological characteristics of novice drivers with ASD. For this, we use self-report measures and a driving simulator. The to-be-developed simulated driving scenarios can serve as validated assessment tools in future research. Furthermore, this project targets the development of innovative training modules for the driving instructors to equip them with the knowledge, tools and techniques to effectively develop driving capabilities and safe driving behaviors of novice drivers with ASD. By developing and distributing the proposed training modules, we expect that more people with ASD will be able to obtain a driving license, hereby enhancing their level of autonomy, as they will not be dependent on relatives and friends to assist in transportation requirements. The project also comes with an economic impact. First, as more people with ASD become able to obtain a driver's license, more people will be able to pursue vocational goals. Second, the driver instructors will be able to attract more learner drivers who experience difficulties with learning how to drive due to their ASD diagnosis. Third, the utilization of driving simulators in traffic safety and operation studies in Qatar is quite novel and it will significantly enhance the understanding of driver behavior in specific target groups such as people with ASD. Finally, this project will initiate active collaboration between research bodies and driving schools in order to improve driver-training programs in the state of Qatar." "Development, implementation and pilot-testing of a gamified E-learning platform for the improvement of (motor)cycling knowledge & skills of Vietnamese adolescents" "Kris BRIJS" "Traffic Safety, Ton Duc Thang University" "Traffic accidents and traffic concerns are always types of heavy pressure on the society. Several studies indicate that violation of traffic laws and a lack of situation awareness are core issues leading to traffic accidents, especially, poor hazard perception and undeveloped driving skills are main reasons of young-novice accidents. In Vietnam, to improve road safety in adolescents, a number of solutions such as strengthening communications on traffic safety among people, spreading traffic rules on the mass media and even increasing the fine for violating regulations, are introduced. However, most of interventions have not been highly effective because they focus on raising awareness instead of learning knowledge and training skills. By using the gamified e-learning platform in the co-operation to IMOB, the research focus on promoting (motor)cycling-related knowledge and skills among Vietnamese adolescents. This gamified educational tool is extremely useful for young people to improve their knowledge of road traffic laws and predictions traffic situation in order to make timely handling. To begin with, needs of improvement in (motor)cycling-related knowledge and skills of Vietnamese adolescents will be identified through assessing key problems related to risk motorcyclist behaviour. Next, e-learning platform will be developed to adapt to Ho Chi Minh City by collecting and transforming traffic data of the local context. Finally, pilot testing of e-learning platform in the context of Ho Chi minh City will be conducted. Results from pilot testing will be analysed and evaluated to identify the impact of the application on improvement in (motor)cycling-related knowledge and skills of the focus group in the comparison to that of the target group." "Cultural difference and social belonging: The formation of social ties and identities in intercultural interactions and networks" "Karen Phalet" "Social and Cultural Psychology" "Belonging denotes the social grounding of people’s sense of self in their relationships with others. This process connects critical individual outcomes - such as (poor) health, (under)achievement, civic (dis)engagement - to the social environment. As our social world is becoming increasingly culturally diverse, a lack of belonging of (some) cultural minorities causes public concern, and there is an urgent need to better understand the micro-foundations of belonging in high-diversity environments. Our theoretical aim is to rethink a well-established social identity approach of human sociality with a view to articulating belonging with cultural difference. Building on recent experimental and naturalistic evidence of social identity formation in interactive groups, we shift attention away from category-based identities (‘being Belgian defines who I am’) towards less researched tie-based identities (‘having a Belgian friend defines who I am’). Extending this line of inquiry, we will examine the formation of social ties and identities in intercultural interactions and networks. Planned studies supplement social network analysis of large-scale multi-level longitudinal ‘CILS’ data in low-/high-diversity interactive groups in 5 countries with new lab and field experiments creating identities and promoting belonging in intercultural interactions." "Problematic of dropout and school reintegration of girls in the Democratic Republic of Congo from 1960 to 2010." "Marc Depaepe" "Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, Kulak Kortrijk Campus, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences" "School dropout is a process that leads a young person in initial education to break away from the training system until he or she leaves school before graduating. This stall is a clear social problem that appeals to parents, teachers, managers and political leaders alike. It is often apprehended as a female problem in the Democratic Republic of Congo; since they are statistically more likely to drop out of high school than boys. Hence, this research aims first of all to apprehend this phenomenon from the point of view of drop-outs, then to identify the factual consequences for the future of both the concerned and the society; finally, while drawing inspiration from educational models that have proved their worth, propose reeducation perspectives specific to the Congolese context" "Road safety in an international and digital era." "Tom BRIJS" "Traffic Safety" "For academic year 2018-2019, the School for Transportation Sciences professor George Yannis was nominated for the Francqui Chair. The central topic for the lectures is ""Road safety in an international and digital era"". As a professor of road safety and management at the National Technical University of Athens (NTUA, Greece), he is in charge of the Transportation Planning and Engineering Department. He has an impressive academic curriculum (490 scientific articles, including 147 in international journals) and participates actively in numerous (inter) national research projects and scientific committees in the field of mobility and traffic safety (EC, UN / ECE, OECD, WHO, World Bank, CEDR , ERF, ETSC). He is also a member of the editorial board of 5 international scientific journals. Professor Yannis' research is very international with many collaborations in various European countries and beyond. Prof. dr. Yannis is a fascinating speaker and very active in science popularization. For example, he has his own science blog (www.georgeyannis.com) in which he shares visions and opinions on current mobility issues. Finally, he manages a website (www.nrso.ntua.gr) on which the latest new studies, project results, new conferences and road safety statistics in Europe are communicated." "The use of online personal narratives to improve adolescents' coping with psychological distress." "Karolien Poels" "Media, ICT and interpersonal relations in Organisations and Society (MIOS)" "Adolescence is a life phase characterised by increased stress and negative emotions. Therefore, developing the right skills to cope with this stress is vital for adolescents. This research project seeks to uncover how sharing, reading of and responding to online personal narratives enable adolescents to better cope with stress. We conduct an online survey with adolescent users of online support group fora to investigate how online personal narratives can help adolescents to cope with stress, and to determine which adolescents benefit the most from these online personal narratives. Moreover, we set up three experimental studies to examine how the interface design of an online support group forum can increase the beneficial effects of online personal narratives. This research project provides a theoretical contribution to the field of health communication, by combining insights in the power of narratives and the design of communication technologies. Results from this project also provides youth helpline and mental health organisations with recommendations in order to empower adolescents in coping with stress." "An ethnographic study on everyday practices of ethnic discrimination in Flemish secondary schools." "Centre for Migration and Intercultural Studies (CeMIS), EduBROn" "Ethnic discrimination in the educational sector has been a topic of research within a myriad of social disciplines. Yet surprisingly, a lot of research fails to systematically study and categorize the different levels and types of ethnic discrimination within specific school settings. This explorative study wants to gain insight in the different types of interpersonal and institutional ethnic discrimination, with an emphasis on the perceptions of the phenomenon by different school actors (i.e., pupils and school staff). Subsequently, the study also wants to explore the diverse coping mechanism used and related consequences experienced by the relevant school actors in relation to interpersonal and institutional ethnic discrimination. The research will be executed in six classes of three Flemish secondary schools with varied ethnic and socio-economic compositions, and all located in one city setting. Different forms of data collection will be carried out, including ethnographic observations, document analysis, a diary method for pupils, and interviews with pupils, teachers and leading staff. The research would provide valuable insights in the relationship between different levels and types of ethnic discrimination and the interconnectedness with specific coping mechanism used and consequences experienced by pupils and school staff. These findings could support school staff (in training) in raising awareness about and better respond to experiences of ethnic discrimination in a school context." "Evaluation of the Permanent Education Program for Bus Drivers." "Sven De Maeyer" EduBROn "Bus Drivers are obliged to follow a permanent schooling during their career. The sector of bus drivers in Belgium has developed an envelope of courses and trainingen that bus drivers can follow. This project has a two-fold goal: (1) exemplary investigate the effectiveness of a limited number of trainings in this envelope; (2) develop a framework and methodology to analyse all the courses and trainings on their effectiveness." "D-PAC: from research project to spin-off." "Sven De Maeyer" EduBROn "This POC application enables D-PAC to start a successful spin-off. In the last four years, D-PAC was a IWT-SBO financed research project having two aims. Firstly, the method of comparative judgement for the assessment of competences was investigated. Secondly, a prototype tool needed to be developed that supports assessments using the principles of comparative judgement. Currently, the research project reaches the last phase, and the research group EduBROn can conclude that the method of comparative judgements has a sound scientific underpinning and many opportunities for implementation. Also, the number of D-PAC users increases, because the tool offers great value regarding high quality judgements and interesting learning applications. To transform the research project D-PAC to a successful spin-off, it is important to translate the current tool to a viable product for which users can and will pay. In addition, more effort is needed to develop a business plan, for which next to the Flemish educational market also the international educational market and other markets will be studied. Therefore, this project proposes four working packages. The first working package concerns the development of an algorithm server, which enables the use of the by D-PAC developed algorithms for comparative judgement in other platforms. The second working package focuses on the development of a Content Management System (CMS) for educational purposes. Based on four years of experience, this CMS can be developed according to the needs of end users in education in such a way that they shall be willing to pay for it. The third working package investigates the business model for education. This mainly concerns studying whether assumptions and strategies working for the Flemish context can be applied for the Dutch and international market as well. The fourth working package deals with a market investigation for other applications of D-PAC, as for example selection, prioritizing or training aims." "Understanding the reciprocal associations between adolescents’ social media use and alcohol: A multimethod approach" "Kathleen Beullens" "Leuven School for Mass Communication Research" "Accumulating evidence indicates that adolescents’ use of social networking sites (SNS) is associated with alcohol consumption. The current project extends this line of research in important theoretical, empirical, and methodological ways. First, building upon models such as the reinforcing spirals model (Slater, 2007), the differential susceptibility to media effects model (Valkenburg & Peter, 2013) and the prototype willingness model (Gerrard et al., 2008), the project aims to determine the specific impact of adolescents’ use of SNS on alcohol use and misuse over and beyond the impact of offline influences (e.g., dispositional and social factors). Second, the study is the first to take the heterogeneity of different social media platforms into account when examining the longitudinal and reciprocal associations between adolescents’ SNS use and alcohol consumption. A multimethodological approach combining qualitative go-along interviews and a quantitative longitudinal survey will be used to attain these objectives. Not only will this study contribute to a more sophisticated understanding of why adolescents consume alcohol, it will also lead to the development of a conceptual framework explaining the various ways through which adolescents’ SNS uses are associated with health and risk-related outcomes."