Acquisition of new arithmetic skills based on prior arithmetic skills: A cross-sectional study in primary school from grade 2 to grade 5

BACKGROUND

In several countries, children's math skills have been declining at an alarming rate in recent years and decades, and one of the explanations for this alarming situation is that children have difficulties in establishing the relations between arithmetical operations.

AIM

In order to address this question, our goal was to determine the predictive power of previously taught operations on newly taught ones above general cognitive skills and basic numerical skills.

SAMPLES

More than one hundred children in each school level from Grades 2 to 5 from various socio-cultural environments (N = 435, 229 girls) were tested.

METHODS

Children were assessed on their abilities to solve the four basic arithmetic operations. They were also tested on their general cognitive abilities, including working memory, executive functions (i.e., inhibition and flexibility), visual attention and language. Finally, their basic numerical skills were measured through a matching task between symbolic and nonsymbolic numerosity representations. Additions and subtractions were presented to children from Grade 2, multiplications from Grade 3 and divisions from Grade 4.

RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS

We show that addition predicts subtraction and multiplication performance in all grades. Moreover, multiplication predicts division performance in both Grades 4 and 5. Finally, addition predicts division in Grade 4 but not in Grade 5 and subtraction and division are not related whatever the school grade. These results are examined considering the existing literature, and their implications in terms of instruction are discussed.

Are We on the Way to Successfully Educating Future Citizens?-A Spotlight on Critical Thinking Skills and Beliefs about the Nature of Science among Pre-Service Biology Teachers in Germany

A rapidly changing world and constantly expanding knowledge requires education to no longer focus on teaching subject-matter knowledge but also to promote students' critical thinking (CT) and an accurate understanding of the nature of science (NOS). However, several studies have shown that these skills are still poorly acquired during formal education. Given the cause-effect sequence from teacher education to teacher action to student learning, it seems reasonable to consider individual factors on the part of (pre-service) teachers as possible contributors to such skill gaps. In our study, we therefore investigated how pre-service biology teachers perform on tasks assessing their CT skills and NOS beliefs. In addition, we addressed the questions of whether test performance and/or the relationships between CT skills and NOS beliefs differ as a function of the number of learning opportunities. Our results show that our participants' CT skills were only in the low-average range. Moreover, 86% of them did not have an informed understanding of NOS. Although participants in the master's program demonstrated clearly superior CT skills than those in the bachelor's program, no such difference was found in terms of NOS beliefs. However, there was a consistent advantage for pre-service teachers who were aspiring to a teaching qualification in two (as opposed to only one) scientific subjects. Our findings provide useful implications, particularly with respect to the influence of learning opportunities in university teacher education and the effectiveness of CT- and NOS-based instructional settings. On a more prospective note, our findings underscore that, given the grand global tasks of the 21st century, it seems more important than ever to ensure that pre-service science teachers have sufficient expertise in CT and NOS in order to increase the likelihood that these teachers will be able to successfully help their future students develop these skills.

Vegetative regulation of vascular tone and features of the nervous system of pedagogical universities students. Is there a relationship with professional specialization?

Purpose. To select recommendations on the use of physical culture means for students of future teachers, it is necessary to identify their functional features and genetically determined properties of the nervous system. Purpose: to reveal the relationship between the performance of the nervous system, orthostatic test and professional specialization of students of pedagogical universities. Material and methods. Students from 9 different faculties of Ukraine's leading pedagogical institute took part in the study. The total number of subjects was 841 people. Soon the reactions were determined by the program "Psychodiagnostics". Orthostatic reactions were determined by the results of heart rate in the supine position and in the standing position. An analysis of variance (ANOVA) was performed using Duncan's method to determine the influence of teaching faculty on test performance. A correlation analysis of testing indicators and ranks of faculties was carried out using the Tau-b Kendall method. Results. Students of all experimental faculties were divided into 4 groups according to the number of errors in the choice reaction test based on the results of variance analysis (Duncan method). Faculties were divided into ranks from the first to the fourth. A significant negative correlation of the rank of the faculty according to the indicator of the strength and speed of nervous processes with the heart rate in the standing position (p<0.05) and the difference between the heart rate in the standing and lying positions (p<0.01) was revealed. Conclusions. Physical exercises should be applied according to the professional characteristics and personal inclinations of the students, who were divided into 4 groups according to the indicators of reaction speed and orthostatic test. For students of the faculties of primary education and preschool education (1st group), we recommend using mobile and sports games. For students of humanities and natural sciences faculties (2nd group), any physical exercises that require an average manifestation of all physical qualities are suitable: dances, gymnastics, sports games, martial arts. Students of the Faculty of Arts (3rd group) are suitable for physical exercises that require high concentration of attention for a long time, for example, cyclical exercises. We recommend that students of the Faculty of Physical Education and Sports (4th group) continue to improve in their chosen sport, while also studying other sports.

THE STATE OF THE ART IN ACROBATIC GYMNASTICS: A BIBLIOMETRIC ANALYSIS

Since acrobatic gymnastics is a recent gymnastics discipline, with only a few decades old, with only a few decades old, it is not yet much explored as a scientific research field. Despite its increasing popularity, and while science mapping has become an essential activity for all scientific disciplines, no bibliometric analysis on this topic was available. Therefore, this study aims to provide a static picture of the scientific research development in acrobatic gymnastics by collecting information about the main contributors as well as the main investigation topics, the publication dynamics and cooperative networks. A search conducted in the Web of Science and Scopus databases retrieved 37 journal articles between 2001-2021. Results suggest that the year of 2015 was a milestone for scientific research in acrobatic gymnastics since it marked the beginning of the dominance of authors from Spain, followed by Poland and Portugal. Countries are generally focused on their own territory and there is a limited scientific collaboration between different nations. The Spanish and the Polish research institutions are leading publishing in this sport. As a reference for future studies, our results suggest that although balance was identified as the niche investigation topic, there has been a lack of interest for the pyramids balance, which is a major feature of acrobatic gymnastics.

CONSEQUENCES OF ELASTIC BAND TRAINING ON MUSCLE STRENGTH IN AEROBIC ATHLETES

ABSTRACT Introduction: The elastic band training method has been widely used in strength training and collective rehabilitation of international athletes as a new method of strength training. Objective: Compare the research on the effect of resistance strength training for aerobics athletes, practicing the latest theories and techniques of this strength training. Methods: Evaluation tests, experimental tests, and mathematical statistics were conducted to complete the study and research. Results: Elastic band training can potentially improve the blood circulation of specialized aerobic athletes, increasing muscle strength and improving the activities of daily living of its practitioners. Conclusion: Elastic band training can improve the strength quality of aerobics athletes, increasing the diversity of training methods in its practitioners. Level of evidence II; Therapeutic studies - investigation of treatment outcomes.

EFFECTS OF FUNCTIONAL TRAINING ON THE ATHLETIC QUALITY OF AEROBICS PRACTITIONERS

ABSTRACT Introduction: Athletes’ level of physical fitness has become the basis for achieving their sports ability. The lack of physical fitness can generate a great impasse in the quality of movements and the performance of the athletes. Objective: Study functional training research on aerobics athletes’ athletic quality. Methods: The content of functional training applications in competitive aerobics and fitness was analyzed through a literature review. Research methods of mathematical statistics were used to analyze the collected data and contrast it with the current scientific literature. Volunteers for the research were athletes from the aerobics team at the Institute of Physical Education. They were randomly divided into two groups, the experimental group (n=9) and the control group (n=9). Functional training was added only to the experimental group; all performed the standard training. Results: In the mean total score of the FMS functional movement screening test, the athletes in the experimental group from 9.22 points before the experiment to 15.65 points after the experiment. The control group athletes improved from 9.83 points before the experiment to only 11.23 points after. Conclusion: It was evidenced a dominant improvement in the movement of the athletes who executed the suggested training, acquiring greater coordination gain through functional training. Level of evidence II; Therapeutic studies - investigation of treatment outcomes.

ABDOMINAL CORE STRENGTH TRAINING IN YOUNG STUDENTS

ABSTRACT Introduction: Recent studies point out that strength training with load may substantially help athletes’ strength, while strength training with moderate load may improve motor coordination. Objective: Investigate the current status of abdominal core strength training in young people, surveying the current problems. Methods: Students from a particular province were selected for the investigation. We performed tests, comparisons, and analyses of results on the abdominal core strength of the exercises practiced in sports schools to provide better support for amateur training. The Abdominal Octopole Strength Bridge Test uses overcoming one's weight. Results: Boys accounted for 59.04% of abdominal core strength, while girls accounted for only 22.50%, with most of them at their average level of 40.00%. The proportion of girls with low scores is also higher (26.25%); in boys, the deficient proportion is 8.77%. Conclusion: There is a significant difference in the abdominal core strength of the students. The expectation of a difference between male and female students not being very large contrasted with the reality, suggesting that girls need to pay attention to abdominal core strength training during training. Level of evidence II; Therapeutic studies - investigation of treatment outcomes.

Computer-based performance approach for critical thinking assessment in children

BACKGROUND

Critical thinking (CT) has been identified as one of the key skills in the modern world. Despite a variety of CT assessment systems for secondary school and higher education, there is a shortage of CT assessments for children.

AIMS

To fill the gap, we developed a computer-based performance assessment (CPBA) of CT with automatic scoring. In the study, we analysed: (1) To what extent is the internal structure of the critical thinking assessment tool confirmed? (2) What are the patterns of students' behaviour within the CPBA? (3) To what extent is the convergent validity of the CPBA supported?

SAMPLE AND METHODS

The sample consists of 1689 students, aged 9-11 years. To answer the research questions, the following quantitative data analysis methods were selected. The Bayesian Network was applied to investigate the internal structure. Latent Class Analysis was used to investigate the patterns of students' behaviour. To verify the convergent validity, the students were asked to solve the standardized math and language literacy tests.

RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS

The theoretically expected internal structure of the CPBA was confirmed: the two-factor structure (the Analysis of information and the Making inferences subskills of CT) describes the data appropriately. Moreover, CT was described not as a list but as a sequence of cognitive operations. Four different strategies that lead to different results of CT were revealed. A weak positive correlation between the results of the CPBA and the achievement tests confirmed the test validity.

Comparative characteristics of the functional state of future art teachers and other pedagogical specialties students

Purpose: to reveal the autonomic regulation peculiarities of the functional state based on indicators of the nervous and cardiovascular systems work of future fine arts and music teachers for the development of recommendations for the use of physical exercises. Material and methods 812 students of pedagogical institutions of higher education of Ukraine took part in the study. During psychophysiological testing, the following indicators were determined for each test: reaction time, number of errors. The shorter the reaction time, the higher the mobility of nervous processes. The lower the number of errors in the reaction test of choosing two elements out of three, the higher the stability of nervous processes. Orthostatic reactions were determined by the results of heart rate in the lying position and in the standing position. Parametric processing methods (Student's method for comparing average values) and hierarchical cluster analysis were used. Results Two groups of students - future teachers were identified: with a predominance of the sympathetic department of the autonomic nervous system and with a predominance of the parasympathetic department of the autonomic nervous system. The largest number of students with predominance of the parasympathetic department of the autonomic nervous system was found among students – future teachers of creative specialties (faculty of arts). Students of the Faculty of Arts have significantly longer latency time of visual-motor reaction compared to representatives of other faculties. This indicates a lower mobility of nervous processes of students of the Faculty of Arts in comparison with students of other faculties. Along with this, future art teachers have significantly fewer errors in the test for choosing 2 elements out of 3. This indicates greater stability of nervous processes in future teachers – representatives of art compared to other future teachers. Conclusions Students – future teachers of creative specialties (faculty of arts) have the more stability and less mobility nervous system in combination with the autonomic nervous system parasympathetic department predominance. That is why endurance exercises that do not require frequent switching of attention are suitable for them. Such exercises include walking, slow running, swimming et. all. Exercises should be performed for at least one hour. They will also be suitable for exercises with the activation of visual perception.

Promoting college students' systems thinking in asynchronous discussions: Encouraging students initiating questions

Introduction

Systems thinking is one of the most important thinking skills for medical students. Most of the studies focused on designing technological-rich learning environments which usually take several weeks or months to implement. However, the occurring of COVID-19 health crisis does not allow extensive period of time to implement classroom interventions. How to support students' systems thinking in fully online environments remains an issue. This study examines if encouraging students initiating questions on asynchronous discussion forum supports their systems thinking development.

Methods

Twenty-two junior students participated in this study. We compared if and how students developed systems thinking when they were encouraged asking questions in asynchronous discussion forums in one unit with another unit in which traditional method was used. Multiple analytical methods were applied in this study, including, social network analysis, epistemic network analysis, inferential statistical analysis and qualitative analysis.

Results

Quantitative results showed that all students improved systems thinking compared with traditional teaching unit among which leader students improved most. Further analysis on students' discussion posts suggested leader students asked high systems thinking level questions and provided high level responses. Epistemic network analysis unpacked how leader, regular and peripheral students engaged in initiating questions and providing responses differently.

Discussion

This study provides methodological and practical contributions. Methodologically, this study extends prior methods of applying network analysis beyond its original preservice teacher training contexts; practically, this study provides strategies to practitioners to support students' asynchronous forum discussions.

Psychological Adaptability and Intervention Strategies of College Students’ English Learning under the Mixed Foreign Language Teaching Environment Monitoring

The issues with traditional teaching methods in current English education are becoming more and more evident in college classrooms, which significantly impedes the innovative growth of college English education and does not promote the development of college students' all-around English proficiency. This essay focuses on the English learning adaptability and intervention tactics of college students using BFLTM (Blended Foreign Language Teaching Model). This study employs the individual-centered approach to choose college students as its primary subjects and conducts a cluster analysis of the adaptability of various college students' English learning based on the classification indicators. The study makes the following deductions: the general state of students' adaptability to studying English is average (M = 2.17). On the internal dimension, learning easy adaptation (M = 2.165) is average, and cognitive strategy adaptation (M = 2.642) is average, whether the average learning adaptability of English majors is significant (P = 0.001 < 0.05), and it is significant in the dimensions of learning attitude, learning interaction, and learning environment (P < 0.05). In view of the improvement of college students' English learning adaptability under BFLTM, this paper puts forward some strategies to further cultivate students' English autonomous learning ability by creating a suitable classroom atmosphere for autonomous learning, establishing an English autonomous learning center and a virtual community.

Application of Biomechanics Based on Intelligent Technology and Big Data in Physical Fitness Training of Athletes

Physical training has a high degree of participation all over the world. With the opening of the era of national fitness, physical training has become more popular from the original specialization, and the complex training methods and contents have gradually become simplified. The development and change of physical training has also brought many problems to the professional training of athletes, such as high training intensity but poor effect, insufficient training posture, and long-term physical injury. In order to help athletes achieve better results in physical training and reduce the probability of injury, taking sprint training as an example, this article adopted the sports and body data of elite athletes through intelligent technology and big data analysis, established a human motion model from the perspective of biomechanics, and then conducted a corresponding test run experiment for athletes. The experimental results suggested that drag resistance running could improve the specific strength quality of sprinting. At the same time, when using resistance load for training, the maximum speed should not exceed 90% of the maximum speed without resistance. The average horizontal maximum velocity decreased by approximately 9% when training under a resistance load, and the best training results were obtained by training athletes within this range.

Multiple Intelligence Informed Resources for Addressing Sustainable Development Goals in Management Engineering

The competence-based model focuses on acquiring skills and abilities, yet each student’s individual circumstances condition the way in which they learn, develop, and implement them. Accordingly, there is a growing interest in defining learning activities that consider the diverse range of intelligences, abilities, and prevailing mindsets in each individual in order to promote inclusive education and sustainable development. This article seeks to design a methodology for the teaching–learning resources associated with the nature of the prevailing intelligence in the competence-based model. Thus, the “competence-intelligence-resource triangle” was proposed for promoting inclusive education in the degree in Management Engineering at the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU). A total of 99 teaching–learning resources, 11 competences, and 9 types of intelligence were combined. As far as the multiple intelligence approach is concerned, the 50 students surveyed prioritized logical–mathematical, interpersonal, intrapersonal, linguistic, and spatial intelligences. As a conclusion, the use of teaching–learning resources designed for promoting different types of intelligence in the competence-based model constitutes an adaptive strategy for the students to successfully acquire competences.

On Newton’s First Law of Motion

We present arguments in support of the view that Newton’s first law of motion extends itself to stochastic motions as follows: Every entity perseveres in its state of independent and stationary increments except insofar as it is compelled to change its state by forces impressed. Some of the far-reaching consequences of the extended law are briefly touched upon as well.

Games for Teaching/Learning Quantum Mechanics: A Pilot Study with High-School Students

The teaching of quantum physics is challenging, not the least because teachers must overcome the traditional narrative approach, students must gain a conceptual understanding of fundamentals, and citizens must become aware of quantum technologies. Quantum games are powerful tools to overcome obstacles and push one’s limits without fear of failure. We report on a pilot study involving twenty high-school student volunteers, consisting of a compact intervention module on the concepts of quantum states, properties, measurement, superposition, and entanglement within the framework of the Model of Educational Reconstruction, followed by playing a game, quantum TiqTaqToe. The outcomes of this research-based learning environment are discussed via the qualitative analysis of students’ answers to two open questionnaires. We find that students grasped the concepts of superposition and, with special awareness, entanglement, the game proving effective to help students experience their implications in quantum behavior. The informal and stimulating tournament atmosphere favored intertwining of the game with learning goals. Our central message is that the use of quantum game tools fits a teaching/learning environment in manners often not well understood in the literature; it enhances awareness of the nature of new and non-intuitive concepts, increases complementarity with other languages within the process of thinking about physics, boosts student engagement, and improves intervention efficiency and effectiveness.

The spontaneity of chemical reactions: challenges with handling the concept and its implications

The spontaneity concept plays crucial roles in the description of chemical reactions and entails a variety of implications, including the determination of the difference between galvanic and electrolytic cells. Students experience challenges with handling the concept and its implications within chemistry contexts. Everyday-life examples do not provide immediate evidence of chemistry-related spontaneity, and some features may be misinterpreted. The ΔG < 0 spontaneity criterion does not have an everyday-life correspondence and mostly remains abstract. Tendencies to equate exothermic or fast with spontaneous appear frequently. Using the spontaneity or non-spontaneity concepts in the interpretation of observed simple electrochemical phenomena may pose difficulties. The challenges are greatly enhanced by two diffuse contextual features: tendency to rote learning and inadequate language-mastery, with the latter being a major cause of the former and generally hindering conceptual understanding. The paper highlights the main difficulties diagnosed within an action research approach, documenting them with a sufficiently ample selection of illustrative examples. The ways in which diagnoses are utilised as guidelines for in-class interventions aimed at addressing identified challenges are delineated and discussed. The integration of chemistry-concepts analysis and language-analysis is viewed as the most powerful instrument to address identified difficulties in real time.

Liquid Science and Digital Transformation: How Knowledge between Researchers Flows in Their Scientific Networks

Purpose: The purpose of this article is to explore how information and communication technologies have affected the way in which research groups are connected in their professional setting. It also analyses the techniques of interaction and cooperation of research groups, the exploration of information and the gateway to information, as well as the main tendencies and variations that researchers have observed during the last years. Design/methodology/approach: A survey was proposed to 305 scholars from different areas observing 159 variable responses. In order to complement and correctly interpret the information gathered within the survey, selected researchers were interviewed, and some of their opinions are reported in this work. Findings: Researchers see how their scientific networks expand thanks to digital tools, establishing professional relationships with other researchers. Moreover, researchers want to increase the amount of their scientific collaboration but they also need analogical meetings with others researchers, where face-to-face relations can accomplish the lack of this in digital communication. Originality: The dominance of tools used in scientific network activity is mixed, composed of analogical and digital ones. Researchers recognize the primary role assumed by digital practices in their work, increasing the quantity and the quality of it thanks to the efficiency and the access to information from different parts of the world. Social implication: Digital transformation has modified the research practices of researchers, from communication among them to the management of data. This new context of professional relations opens innovative implications and approaches for sharing knowledge between researchers and international collaborations.

Analysis of Piano Performance Characteristics by Deep Learning and Artificial Intelligence and Its Application in Piano Teaching

Deep learning (DL) and artificial intelligence (AI) are jointly applied to concrete piano teaching for children to comprehensively promote modern piano teaching and improve the overall teaching quality. First, the teaching environment and the functions of the intelligent piano are expounded. Then, a piano note onset detection method is proposed based on the convolution neural network (CNN). The network can analyze the time-frequency of the input piano music signal by transforming the original time-domain waveform of the piano music signal into the frequency distribution varying with time. Besides, it can detect the note onset at a stable state after 8 × 104 iterations. Moreover, an intelligent piano teaching method is designed to teach Jingle Bells for 40 preschool children aged 4-6 years. Finally, a questionnaire survey is performed to investigate the teaching situation, including the learning interest and learning effect of children and learning feedback from parents. The results show that 80% of children like smart music scores, 82% of children like intelligent piano lessons with games, and 84% of children can learn actively in the intelligent piano class. Besides, 85% of parents believe that their children are more interested in learning piano. In general, the intelligent piano teaching method effectively combines DL with AI to realize the overall optimization of piano performance. It is widely favored by preschool children and their parents and plays an important role in improving the interest of preschool children in piano learning.

Effects of aerobics training on anxiety, depression and sleep quality in perimenopausal women

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the effect of aerobics training on anxiety, depression and sleep disturbance in perimenopausal women.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

A total of 289 perimenopausal women with anxiety, depression or sleep disorder in Lishi district of Luliang city were treated with aerobics training. Self-rating anxiety scale, self-rating depression scale and Pittsburgh sleep scale were used to investigate the anxiety, depression and sleep status of perimenopausal women before and after intervention.

RESULTS

After aerobics training, the scores of self-rating anxiety scale, self-rating depression scale and Pittsburgh sleep questionnaire were 48.26 ± 6.47, 50.27 ± 6.54 and 10.64 ± 4.38, respectively. The levels of anxiety, depression and sleep disorder in 289 subjects were significantly lower than those before intervention (t = 3.865, 4.541, 5.596, P < 0.01). The remission rate of symptoms was significantly different in subjects with different frequency of spontaneous practice (P < 0.01), and the higher the number of spontaneous practice, the higher the remission rate of anxiety, depression and sleep disorders in subjects (P < 0.01).

CONCLUSION

aerobics training can effectively improve the anxiety and depression of perimenopausal women, improve sleep quality, the more frequency of practice, the more obvious the effect. It can be used as an intervention to improve the mental health level of perimenopausal women in terms of anxiety, depression and sleep quality in clinical promotion.

Structural-Integrated 3D Model of a Teacher-Organizer Professional Identity in Conditions of Recreation Institution

The article briefly outlines the scientific basis for the study of professional identity in historical and modern contexts and presents one aspect of the study of teachers - organizers professional identity in a recreational institution, namely the study of psychological characteristics of teachers - organizers professional identity at recreational institutions. The aim of the article is to clarify the structural features of the theoretical structural - holistic 3D model of a teacher - organizer professional identity at recreational institution, represented by integral - qualitative categories (reference professional image of a teacher - organizer, individual psychosemantic matrix, differential - psychological differential) and hierarchical levels: cognitive, associative, autonomous and integral. The empirical study was performed on the basis of the All-Ukrainian Children's Center "Young Guard" in the period from 2016 to 2021. A total of 214 people aged 19 to 35 took part. The subjects reflect the specifics of the professional community of teachers - organizers at a recreational institution. Certain structural elements of the model have a unique content and qualitative and quantitative indicators that reproduce the psychological features of the phenomenon of professional identity of a teacher-organizer at a recreation center. A unique feature of the model "spiral development" determines the development of a teacher - organizer professional identity in spiral and means that the processes and criteria embedded in the proposed model of professional identity develop in time and space simultaneously on several levels and with different quality.

Database of amphibian vouchers and records available at the Kerala Agricultural University Natural History Museum in Thrissur and an updated checklist of amphibians of Kerala, India

The amphibian database of the Centre for Wildlife Studies of Kerala Agricultural University has the data that are either available as voucher specimens with the Kerala Agricultural University Natural History Museum (KAUNHM) or as photo vouchers and other opportunistic records from Kerala part of the southern Western Ghats between 2008 and 2020. This repository holds information on 91 species of amphibians belonging to 10 families, of which 87% are endemic to the Western Ghats and 34% are classified under the IUCN Red List threatened categories.  This study highlights the significance of such digital databases that can serve as an immense source of regional biodiversity data, and therefore, biodiversity monitoring and conservation. 

Helping Pregraduate Students Reach Deep Understanding of the Second Law of Thermodynamics

Pregraduate students often have low success expectations toward their thermodynamics courses, which are often considered too abstract and remarkably difficult to understand. For this reason, they may not even try to reach any level of comprehension while settling for reproducing mathematical calculations and memorizing definitions to pass the exams. Traditional lectures on thermodynamics, focusing on mathematical deductions while neglecting the qualitative characterization of the concepts behind the equations, do not help in this respect. Aiming at a change in the teaching practice and focused on the second law of thermodynamics, the main goals of this work are to characterize the way of reasoning of the expert; to present a review on the most important learning difficulties encountered by students and categorize them into three groups: the disregard of qualitative understanding, the inherent conceptual difficulties, and those related to the students’ previous knowledge; and to propose some suitable teaching practices to assist instructors in this difficult but rewarding task.

Complete complementarity relations and their Lorentz invariance

It is well known that entanglement under Lorentz boosts is highly dependent on the boost scenario in question. For single-particle states, a spin-momentum product state can be transformed into an entangled state. However, entanglement is just one of the aspects that completely characterizes a quantum system. The other two are known as the wave-particle duality. Although the entanglement entropy does not remain invariant under Lorentz boosts, and neither do the measures of predictability and coherence, we show here that these three measures taken together, in a complete complementarity relation (CCR), are Lorentz invariant. Peres et al. (Peres et al. 2002 Phys. Rev. Lett. 88 , 230402. ( doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.88.230402 )) realized that even though it is possible to formally define spin in any Lorentz frame, there is no relationship between the observable expectation values in different Lorentz frames. Analogously, one can, in principle, define complementary relations in any Lorentz frame, but there is no obvious transformation law relating complementary relations in different frames. However, our result shows that the CCRs have the same value in any Lorentz frame, i.e. there is a transformation law connecting the CCRs. In addition, we explore relativistic scenarios for single and two-particle states, which helps in understanding the exchange of different aspects of a quantum system under Lorentz boosts.

Substantiation of Methods for Predicting Success in Artistic Swimming

To develop a methodology for predicting success in artistic swimming based on a set of morphofunctional indicators and indices, 30 schoolgirls, average age (12.00 ± 0.22), were divided into two groups. Group 1: 15 athletes, training experience 4–5 years. Group 2: 15 schoolgirls without training experience. For each participant, we determined the length and weight of the body, the circumference of the chest, vital lung capacity, and the circumference of the biceps in a tense and at rest. The Erisman index, biceps index, and the ratio of proper and actual vital lung capacity was calculated. Them, we conducted the Stange and Genchi hypoxic tests, and flexibility tests for “Split”, “Crab position”, and “Forward bend”. Prediction was conducted using the Wald test with the calculation of predictive coefficients and their informativeness. A predictive table containing results of functional tests and indices of artistic swimming athletes is developed. It includes nine criteria, which informativeness varied in the range of 395.70–31.98. The content of the prediction consists of evaluating the results, determining the appropriate predictive coefficient, and summing these coefficients before reaching one of the predictive thresholds. The conducted research allowed us to substantiate and develop a method for predicting the success of female athletes with the use of morphofunctional indicators and indices.

Application research on information security of aerobics information digital system based on Internet of things technology

Aerobics was officially introduced into my country in the 1980 s. With the further development of sports, Chinese universities and primary and secondary schools gradually introduced aerobics and related courses into teaching, making aerobics develop rapidly. Due to objective reasons, the teaching of aerobics has always been at a low-efficiency teaching level. Therefore, it is urgent to establish a digital system of aerobics information. The aerobics knowledge database is for aerobics teachers to publish teaching knowledge, students learn aerobics knowledge and interact with teachers. Platform, the platform can use various technical means to increase the relevant knowledge content, enrich the means of interaction between the platform and students, the system architecture mainly solves the connection of various links in the system application, the deployment of subsystems, and the storage of information. On the basis of the platform, it provides a powerful technical support for the teaching and promotion of aerobics. The experimental results of this paper show that the system shows that the self-evaluation of aerobics of the experimental class in the male group is 0% in the 6th class, and 100% is satisfied or above. The self-evaluation of the aerobics of the experimental class of the female group is in the fourth. The dissatisfaction rate is 0% during the course, and 100% is satisfied or above. From this point of view, the system meets the requirements.

Sustainable Education Starts in the Classroom

Definitions of a sustainable higher education focus on the different factors that are critical to the continued existence of the institution, the people it serves, and the surrounding society. If higher education is assumed to be a conduit for the acquisition of knowledge and skills that can contribute to a healthy, ethical, and sustainable society, then it has to be able to induce lasting behavioral change in its primary beneficiaries (i.e., students). In the age of fake news, misrepresentation, and rejection of scientific principles and facts, we identified cognitive operations that are key to scientific reasoning (i.e., apply, analyze and evaluate), and offered sustainable practice to students enrolled in a course devoted to scientific writing. Students were classified as possessing an inclination towards a reproductive mode of learning, which could increase their vulnerability to absorb fabrications and distortions of information. The research first asked whether practice in applying, evaluating, and analyzing induces an information processing change (as measured by the content of scientific writing). Then, it asked whether environmental disruptions (e.g., shifting from face-to-face instruction, a mode familiar to students, to online instruction due to the COVID-19 pandemic) would affect the likelihood of change. We found that this type of practice was an effective propeller of change in students’ scientific reasoning. A disposition towards reproductive learning did not impair scientific reasoning, whereas engagement and practice made a positive contribution. We concluded that behavioral change is blocked by neither the availability of technology, nor the learner’s use, but rather by one’s motivation to make use of opportunities for change. A sudden alteration in the learning environment may create uncertainty but does not substantially alter this motivation. The findings of the present study can be useful to the development of a sustainable education in the Middle East and beyond.

Predictors of information literacy self-efficacy among medical students: PLS-SEM analysis

Purpose

The study was designed to examine the predictors of information literacy self-efficacy skills (IL skills) of medical students.

Design/methodology/approach

The study was quantitative in nature and was carried out by using survey research method. Wong and Law Emotional Intelligence Scale (WLEIS) and Information Literacy Self-Efficacy Scale for medical students (ILSES-M) were used to collect the data. Data was collected randomly from 223 out of 526 undergraduate medical students on proportionally random basis according to the number of students available in each year. PLS-SEM analysis was run with the help of SmartPLS 3.2.

Findings

The findings of the study revealed that three subconstructs for emotional intelligence (EI), that is, self-emotions appraisal, others-emotion appraisal, use of emotions, had a statistically significant positive impact (p < 0.05) on information literacy (IL) self-efficacy of the medical students. The findings further confirm that English language proficiency and frequency of attended IL instruction sessions also have a significant positive impact on IL self-efficacy of medical students.

Originality/value

The exploration of EI in relation to IL is comparatively a novel area. The study observed the influence of EI level on IL self-efficacy of medical students. The study will be a significant contribution to the IL literature. The results may help the information professionals/librarians, particularly those who are engaged in teaching and designing IL programs.

The Biochemical Literacy Framework: Inviting pedagogical innovation in higher education

When developing meaningful curricula, institutions must engage with the desired disciplinary attributes of their graduates. Successfully employed in several areas, including psychology and chemistry, disciplinary literacies provide structure for the development of core competencies-pursuing progressive education. To this end, we have sought to develop a comprehensive blueprint of a graduate biochemist, providing detailed insight into the development of skills in the context of disciplinary knowledge. The Biochemical Literacy Framework (BCLF) aspires to encourage innovative course design in both the biochemical field and beyond through stimulating discussion among individuals developing undergraduate biochemistry degree courses based on pedagogical best practice. Here, we examine the concept of biochemical literacy aiming to start answering the question: What must individuals do and know to approach and transform ideas in the context of the biochemical sciences? The BCLF began with the guidance published by relevant learned societies - including the Royal Society of Biology, the Biochemical Society, the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and the Quality Assurance Agency, before considering relevant pedagogical literature. We propose that biochemical literacy is comprised of seven key skills: critical thinking, self-management, communication, information literacy, visual literacy, practical skills and content knowledge. Together, these form a dynamic, highly interconnected and interrelated meta-literacy supporting the use of evidence-based, robust learning techniques. The BCLF is intended to form the foundation for discussion between colleagues, in addition to forming the groundwork for both pragmatic and exploratory future studies into facilitating and further defining biochemical literacy.

‘Scientific Literacy’: An Exercise in Model Building

‘Literacy’ and ‘science’ are power words and the interaction between them is of potential interest to people working at other boundaries between text and content, such as that characterising wider disciplinary literacy. ‘Scientific literacy’ has a deep enough literature base to support an attempt to build a model of these interactions. If robust, such a model could synthesise existing literature and resolve differences within a narrower range of journals. This quantitative review suggests such a model based on a wide review of previous literature and then challenges it by comparing publication patterns in premium international journals dealing specifically with research in science education. The emergent model comprises interaction between Use of, Engagement with and Access to science and its application revealed changes in publication patterns both within and between the five science education research journals surveyed. The use of power words can obscure, rather than clarify, discussions that lead to curriculum and pedagogical decisions. Robust models can resolve multiple components of a complex field and make it easier to understand for newcomers, easier to explain when change seems necessary to those more deeply involved, and then expedite the prediction of fruitful areas for further work.

The Mediating Role of Positive and Negative Affects in the Relationship Between Self-Esteem and Happiness

Background

Affects, both positive and negative, can act as mediators between self-esteem and happiness. The present study is undertaken among 812 university students in order to examine the relationship between these variables.

Methods

The sample included 812 university students – 361 men (44.46%) and 451 women (55.54%) – who participated voluntarily. The Positive and Negative Affect Scale, Subjective Happiness Scale and Self-Esteem Scale were the instruments used in this study.

Results

The results revealed that men have greater self-esteem and positive affects, while women scored higher in terms of subjective happiness. The analysis revealed a significant correlation between the variables under analysis. Positive affects show a strong positive correlation between self-esteem and happiness, while negative affects show a negative correlation. Mediation analysis suggests that affects, both positive and negative, mediate the relationship between self-esteem and subjective happiness. The results of this study may present us with new perspectives concerning the role that affects play between self-esteem and happiness.

Conclusion

The data present evidence of the mediating role-played by affects, both positive and negative, in the relationship between self-esteem and happiness. More research is needed to examine to what extent these results can be extrapolated, and how to design measures to improve psychological health and well-being.

Remembering, Reflecting, Reframing: Examining Students' Long-Term Perceptions of an Innovative Model for University Teaching

This article presents a follow-up examination of 10 iterations of a blended course on educational psychology and e-learning carried out at the University of Bari. All iterations of the course considered in this study were designed using the constructive and collaborative participation (CCP) model. Our main research questions are: What are the students' long lasting memories of this course? How do the students use the skills and the competences acquired through the course across an extended period of time? In line with these research questions, the aims of this investigation can be summarized as follows: (i) to understand the students' perceptions and long lasting memories of the course and (ii) to investigate the transfer of skills and knowledge across an extended period of time, based on a self-reported survey. The analysis was carried out by administering the survey to all 196 students who took part in the course in the 2005-2015 decade. 96 participants responded to the survey. The survey is designed to collect data in two areas. First, the memories related to the course and second, the way skills and content knowledge acquired during the course have been transferred to and used in other contexts after the course ended. The data were analyzed using a mixed methods approach, which revealed trends in the responses across the decade. In general, participants remembered the teaching methodology and often recalled specific activities such as Role Taking and the creation of products through group-work. These activities and approaches seemed to provide significant learning opportunities for the students. Several students also recalled key concepts and content knowledge acquired during the course. In relation to transfer of skills, participants tended to reuse mostly transversal skills, such as communicative and organizational skills, especially in work contexts. Further, about half of the respondents reused the content knowledge of the course. This analysis is valuable because it allows us to understand the aspects of the model that are significant for the students in the long term, and to discover and interrogate the acquisition and transfer of skills useful for the students' personal and professional lives beyond the academy.

Relationship between Leadership and Emotional Intelligence in Teachers in Universities and Other Educational Centres: A Structural Equation Model

This study uses an explanatory model of the dimensions of leadership and emotional intelligence according to the methods used in particular teaching environments (universities and other educational institutions). The effect of different kinds of leadership on emotional intelligence dimensions is also established using an explanatory model. A total of 954 teachers participated in this cross-sectional study, teaching in 137 different schools/universities. The instruments used for the data collection were the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ-5) and the Trait Meta Mood Scale (TMMS-24). Data analysis was performed with the software IBM AMOS 23.0. (International Business Machines Corporation, Armonk, NY, USA) using multi-group analysis and structural equations. Results showed that the structural equation model had a good fit. Transformational leadership depends mainly on intellectual stimulation in university teachers, whereas intrinsic motivation is more relevant at the lower educational levels. In relation to transactional leadership, contingency reward has a greater regression weight in non-university education, whereas passive leadership is governed more by passive exception in university teachers. There was a positive and direct relationship between levels of emotional intelligence and transformational leadership in non-university teachers, which reveals the need for effective understanding and management of both one’s own and students’ emotions in order to act effectively as a leader. Transactional leadership was negatively related to some emotional intelligence dimensions, given the relevance of obtaining power in this dimension.

Of Techno-Ethics and Techno-Affects

As digital labour becomes more widespread across the uneven geographies of race, gender, class and ability, and as histories of colonialism and inequality get drawn into these forms of labour, our imagination of what these worlds contain similarly needs to expand. Beyond the sensationalist images of the ‘brogrammer’ and the call-centre worker lie intersecting labour practices that bring together histories of bodies and materiality in new ways. In the recent past, these entanglements have yielded oppressive results. As scandals over predictive policing, data mining and algorithmic racism unfold, digital labourers need both to be accounted for in analyses of algorithmic technologies and to be counted among the designers of these platforms. This article attempts to do both of these by highlighting particular cases in which digital labour frames embodied subjects, and to propose ways digital workers might train themselves to recognise ethical problems as they are emerging. I use the idea of attunements as a way to grasp what these forms of care might look like for the digital worker.

Potentialities of Thermography in Ecocentric Education of Children: An Experience on Training of Future Primary Teachers

Current serious environmental issues, such as deforestation, compel compulsory school education on the need for reflection on pedagogical practices to promote education for environmental sustainability. The educational process about the “tree as living being” requires that content and attitudinal dimensions be deeply integrated. Therefore, meaningful learning of biological similarity—between tree and animal—needs to be prioritised. It will promote the development of tree protection attitudes. Under this approach, an action research was developed to contribute to a future primary teacher education model. A didactic-pedagogical intervention was designed. It was implemented to assess the educational potential of infrared thermography in the development of ecocentric education. A group of students attending the 3rd year of primary education participated in this qualitative case study. The results revealed that ecocentric conceptions were constructed bringing these children closer to scientific knowledge. It resulted in the development of conservation/protection tree attitudinal learning. It is also worth mentioning the contribution of this study to (re)think (re)construction of the formative process of future primary teachers in order to: direct the teaching–learning process to environment real problems; and to promote the necessary debate on the contribution of technology to achieve innovation of pedagogical practices.

Gymnastic-Based Movement Therapy for Children With Neurodevelopmental Disabilities: Results From a Pilot Feasibility Study

Background: Developmental and behavioral issues often limit the participation of children with neurodevelopmental disabilities (NDD) in community-based activities with their peers, which decreases opportunities for their social learning and development. Parents of children with NDD seek out programs that address physical and psychosocial development. Several studies already support the positive effects for the child to attend physical activity programs (PAPs). However, these studies are highly prone to biases and Hawthorne effect. In the planning stage of a large prospective study to assess the effectiveness of PAPs we reviewed the records of children who participated in a gymnastic-based program, the Empowering Steps Movement Therapy (ESMT). Besides generating useful data for developing the prospective study we thought these data reflect the rate of changes in context of normal practice in a naturalistic environment; therefore protected from Hawthorne effect and other biases. Design: This is a historical cohort: the files of 67 children with NDD were examined across a 2-year period (Jan 2011 to Jan 2013). As part of standard practice, the ESMT therapists document changes in motor function every 6 months, using the ESMT's proprietary motor scale. Parents also completed a parental questionnaire in June 2011 regarding their perceptions of changes in their child's physical and psychosocial function, as well as family functioning since their child started the program. Results: Linear Mixed Effects Model clearly identified three groups according to changes in motor function: the ones with rapid changes (mostly functional children with autism spectrum disorder: n = 13), the ones with moderate changes (different types of NDD diagnoses: n = 41) and the ones that did not change or even decreased motor skills over the follow-up (children with complex diseases or uncontrolled epilepsy despite treatment: n = 13). Parental questionnaires (n = 39) reported improvement in most of the children's physical and psychosocial abilities; they also indicated improvement in some of the family parameters. There was no association between the changes in children's motor functions and parents' responses to the questionnaire. Conclusion: Despite limitations due to the retrospective nature of the study, the absence of a control group and the absence of validated measurement tools, the observed positive effects of attending movement therapy center on motor performance and psychosocial development confirm in a naturalistic environment what has been shown in context of clinical trials or quasi-experimental studies. These results are not conclusive. They warrant further, rigorous investigation using validated instruments, independent assessors, and control groups.

Teste de pensamento crítico para estudantes dos ensinos básico e secundário || Critical thinking test for elementary and secondary students

A importância que o pensamento crítico tem na educação é apoiada por inúmeros trabalhos de investigação desde há décadas. Não existindo um teste de avaliação do pensamento crítico pensado e construído de raíz para ser utilizado em Portugal, o foco deste artigo é a apresentação de um teste de pensamento crítico (TPC) para adolescentes portugueses. Apresentamos o estudo exploratório de validação deste instrumento, administrado a 128 estudantes de ambos os sexos, com idades entre os 12 e os 19 anos, a frequentar escolas dos ensinos básico e secundário de estatuto socioeconómico baixo e alto. Estimou-se a validade de construto do instrumento constituído por nove itens mediante uma Análise Fatorial Exploratória (AFE), para avaliar a multidimensionalidade do TPC, verificando-se a existência de três fatores: Criação, argumentação e explicação, explicando 70.07% da variância total. Foram encontradas diferenças significativas entre os anos de escolaridade e entre as escolas. Os resultados sugerem que o desenvolvimento de competências de pensamento crítico tem relação com o ano de escolaridade e o estatuto socioeconómico dos estudantes.