Gabriel Mareş is an Associate professor at the Physical and Occupational Therapy Department, at the Vasile Alecsandri University of Bacau, Romania. He holds a PhD in the Sciences of Education, a Master’s Degree in Communication, and two Bachelor`s Degrees, one in Educational Sciences and one in Psychology. His research has focused on experiential education, adult and parent education, therapeutic relationships, therapy and education of people with special needs, inclusive education, and social inclusion. His research is reflected in articles and book chapters, textbooks, course materials, and conference presentations. He has clinical expertise in working with HIV-infected people and autistic children, and work experience as a trainer in life skills development programs for children and young people, critical thinking, and career counseling. He has worked on numerous European and national educational projects focused on life skills development for children and youth, the use of innovative teaching methods for inclusive education, and students with special needs. Some of the projects in which he has worked as a coordinator or member include Happy Power – The Use of Positive Psychology for a Meaningful Life of Students, 2023-ongoing; Game-ED: Development of creativity skills by game-based learning methods in adult education, 2021-2023; gamED: Gamification for Developing Essential Competencies in Youth Work, 2020-2022; GameIT: Gamestorming for Innovative Teaching, 2017-2020. The results of the projects in which he has worked include guidelines for teachers and trainers on the use of gamification in education, digital applications, educational resources for educators, and board games. Ioana Boghian is an Associate professor at the Pre- and In-service Teacher Training Department, at the Vasile Alecsandri University of Bacau, Romania. She holds a PhD in the Sciences of Education, a Master’s degree in Cultural and Literary Studies, and a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology. She has 20 years of work experience as a teacher in higher education and as a researcher. Her academic career has focused on improving teacher training by developing and implementing a series of innovative teaching tools and methodologies to empower teachers to build safer, more efficient, and supportive learning environments for all students, as well as raise graduates’ employability. To this effect, she has worked on transnational and national educational projects such as Happy Power – The Use of Positive Psychology for a Meaningful Life of Students, 2023-ongoing; Game-ED: Development of creativity skills by game-based learning methods in adult education, 2021-2023; gamED: Gamification for Developing Essential Competencies in Youth Work, 2020-2022; GameIT: Gamestorming for Innovative Teaching, 2017-2020; DiDeSu: Differentiation of Instruction for Teacher Professional Development and Students’ Success, 2015-2017. Her research includes published books, articles, volume chapters, and conference presentations on topics related to intercultural education, curricular innovations, the use of information and communication technology, gamification in higher education, methodologies, teachers’ guides, as well as games to build creativity and other 21st century skills.
