This paper reviews the key research of the automatic engagement detection in education. Automatic engagement detection is necessary in enhancing educational process, there is a lack of out-of-the-box technical solutions. Engagement can be detected while tracing learning-centered affects: interest, confusion, frustration, delight, anger, boredom, and their facial and bodily expressions. Most of the researchers reveal these emotions on video using Facial Action Coding System (FACS). But there doesn’t exist a set of ready-made criteria to detect engagement and many scientists use additional techniques like self-reports, audio-data, physiological indicators and others. In this paper we present a review of most recent researches in the field of automatic affect and engagement detection and present our theoretical model of engagement in educational process based on the learning-centered affects’s detection. Engagement is understood as an affective and cognitive state, accompanying learning process. While reaching optimal engagement students experience various affects, where highly positive and negative feelings mean that a student is close to be engaged in the learning process.

Background. Initial psychological papers on COVID-19, mental health and wellbeing mostly focus on the aftermath lockdown-related stress and stress related to the disease itself. Still, we presume that personal well-being can be resistant to stressors depending on the way the person is settled in their life. Objective. We seek to reconsider the contribution of lockdown-related stressors to existential well-being, to assess existential well-being during the outbreak and to compare the contribution of living conditions and COVID-19-related factors on well-being. Design. An online survey was conducted during the peak of the outbreak in Moscow (April-May 2020) (N=880). The data was obtained using the “Test of Existential Motivations” questionnaire and a series of questions addressing (1) living conditions — mental and physical health, employment, and social distancing; (2) COVID-19-related stressors — non-chronic illness, financial losses, and unavailability of goods or services; (3) sociodemographic indicators — age, gender, and income. Data analysis included hierarchical multiple regression, one-sample ttest, and analysis of variance. Results. Surprisingly, the existential well-being of Moscow citizens during the period was moderate. Each of the three groups of factors predicted a similar proportion of the variance of well-being (3-3,9%). The strongest predictors of well-being were long-term mental health status and financial stability. The effect of COVID-19-related stressors was most pronounced when they co-occur. Conclusion. The negative association between lockdown-related stressors and poor well-being is not universal. It is necessary to study the effect of COVID19-related stressors in combination with individual living conditions and regionspecific factors and to focus on the prevention of the occurrence of stressors.

The educational space of a contemporary metropolis is characterized by broad diversity. Often, the choice of an educational institution that best meets the needs of the child and family is made in favor of a school that is at a distance from home, and the development of transport infrastructure makes this choice easier. Studies of children’s daily mobility, the factors that determine them, and the quality of families’ involvement in moving around the city to get an education are becoming quite relevant. The goal of the present research is to assess the significance to families with children of different ages of choosing a school within remote or walking distance and to describe the difficulties faced by parents. Methods included the authorial questionnaire, a sample of 414 parents of children studying in one of the administrative districts of Moscow. The basic results of the study can be formulated as follows. The topic of everyday educational mobility in the views of parents is relevant and significant for the city; the convenience of the school location is a key factor of choice; mobility increases as children grow up, with enlargement of schools, and the implementation of the “Big city schools” project which increases intraschool mobility; the average travel time to school is about 10 minutes on foot; for families whose children study in remote accessibility, the most important are vital topics of safety for the children’s life and health, including lifestyle issues; developing programs for parents whose children walk to school, and families who use private vehicles requires a differentiated approach.

Today we may witness a dire need to research how the urban environment influences urban health, well-being, and sustainability of local communities. The issue of urban health is closely connected with disease prevention projects and the integration of new preventive medical approaches with educational technologies. Due to a large number of responsible parties for the development of health literacy under the authority of different establishments, there is a problem to coordinate aligned activities. Thus the research of the healthcare institutions actions in health literacy development is extremely relevant. The objective of this research is to carry out an integral assessment of the degree to which the functions of preventing non-communicable diseases and developing health literacy are fulfilled by the sectors responsible for urban healthcare. The methods used in this research include a two-phase expert survey: the first group of experts (n: 24) selected the key aspects of healthcare activities, and the second group of experts (n: 35) assessed the quality of implementation of tasks by institutions in charge of disease prevention. The major problem is the lack of effective communication mechanisms in the sphere of intersectoral cooperation, informing the key disease prevention bodies of distributed responsibility, as well as state and social control of execution of laws and regulations. According to the obtained results, the state healthcare system is an important component of the health infrastructure. The functions connected with meeting the vital needs of the city population received medium-high ratings. However, the implementation of disease prevention functions by the healthcare system in Moscow was rated by experts at a low level. Besides, the experts consistently assigned an extremely low rating to the development of health literacy as one of the areas of activity covered by all sectors. To reinforce their outreach and awareness-raising work in the sphere of healthcare, executors of federal projects have to incorporate educational activities into their daily work.

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