Twenty-four-hour movement behaviours and fundamental movement skills in preschool children: A compositional and isotemporal substitution analysis

ABSTRACT

Studies that have analysed the association between the different movement behaviours and fundamental movement skills (FMS) have considered it in an independent manner, disregarding the compositional nature of 24-h movement behaviours (24-h MB). The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between the 24-h MB and FMS in preschoolers using a compositional data analysis . Two hundred and four preschoolers (4.5 ± 0.8 years old; 101 boys) provided objectively assessed physical activity (PA) and sedentary behaviour (SB) data (Actigraph wGT3X), and FMS (TGMD-2). Sleep duration (SD) was reported by parents. Association of daily composition of movement behaviours with FMS was explored using compositional analysis and isotemporal substitution (R Core Team, 3.6.1). When considered as a 24-h MB composition (PA, SB and SD), adjusted for age, BMI and sex, the composition predicted locomotor (r² = 0.31), object control (r² = 0.19), and total motor score (r² = 0.35), respectively (all P < 0.001). Reallocation of time from light to moderate-to-vigorous PA was associated with greatest positive changes in total motor score. Achieving adequate balance between movement behaviours over the 24-h period, and its relationship with locomotor and object control skills should be considered and further investigated in early childhood.     

Use of Decontextualized Talk Across Story Contexts: How Oral Storytelling and Emergent Reading Can Scaffold Children's Development

This study examined 33 mothers' and preschoolers' oral language skills (decontextualized discourse) across an emergent reading, shared reading, and oral storytelling interaction. The sample comprised primarily African American families from various socioeconomic backgrounds, ranging from Head Start families to middle-income families. Two measures of decontextualized language were assessed—literate language features and type of talk (i.e., a coding scheme categorizing comments/questions on a continuum from contextualized to decontextualized talk). Mothers used more decontextualized language during the oral storytelling interaction versus the other interactions, but children used more during the emergent reading interaction. Mothers with advanced literacy skills were more likely to make decontextualized comments/questions and use mental/linguistic verbs during the interactions. Results are discussed in terms of implications for parent-child home literacy interventions.     

“Doing What I can,but I got no Magic Wand:” A Snapshot of Early Childhood Educator Experiences and Efforts to Ensure Quality During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Early Childhood Education Journal - The COVID-19 pandemic impacted early childhood programs serving infants, toddlers, and preschoolers in dramatic ways. After temporarily closing, many educators...     

Composing print essays versus composing across modes: students' multimodal choices and overall preferences

The current study presents results from students' engagement of composing print essays and composing across modes on the same topic. It builds on the premise that print‐based reading and writing should complement and coexist with multimodal pedagogy. A group of Taiwanese adolescent students were invited to complete one print essay and one multimodal product on the same topic of “My favorite place in the world”. For their multimodal product, students were required to use at least two modes (e.g. words and image, sounds and words) in any medium (e.g. video, collage, scrapbook or website) of their choice. It was found that the most frequently used medium for students' multimodal projects was video which incorporated words, sounds and visuals. Most students felt that for the topic of “My favorite place in the world”, their multimodal products helped them to convey their ideas better because they provided the audience with more sensory information. To conclude the paper, a few future research directions are outlined to help move the research of multimodal composing forward.     

“Think before you type”: the effectiveness of implementing an anti-cyberbullying project in an EFL classroom

Cyberbullying takes place when the Internet is used purposefully to cause harm or discomfort to a specific person or group of persons. Because of the fast growth of digital technologies, cyberbullying is replacing physical bullying and becoming a prevalent social problem around the world. This study outlines the author’s efforts of integrating David Kolb's experiential learning theory, project-based learning, and a critical approach to language education to engage a group of Taiwanese college English-as-a-foreign-language students about the issues related to cyberbullying and the importance of healthy Internet behaviors. The results indicated that the 9-week project work heightened students’ awareness of cyberbullying and other social issues and enhanced their language skills. Students also held an overall positive attitude toward the project work. To conclude the article, several research directions are suggested to continue this line of inquiry.     

Young adult outcomes of the Abecedarian and CARE early childhood educational interventions

Adult benefits for participants in Project CARE were compared with those of the Abecedarian Project, a closely related randomized study of early childhood educational intervention for children from low-income families who were at risk of developmental delays and school failure. CARE replicated Abecedarian's young adult treatment-related educational and vocational attainment gains. CARE data also supported the Abecedarian reduction in marijuana use. Treated individuals in both studies reported adopting a more active life style. The average age at birth of a first child, the number of children, and the proportion of teen parents were positively affected in the Abecedarian sample but not in CARE. Finding significant educational and vocational gains lasting into young adulthood in the CARE study reinforces Abecedarian young adult findings and strengthens the case for early childhood intervention for children from low-income families.     

Design and the management of multi-institutional research collaborations: Theoretical implications from two case studies

Over the past three decades, U.S. science and technology funding agencies have increasingly supported large-scale, centralized, block grant-based research projects that often span multiple disciplines and institutions. This trend has developed at such a rate that research focused on understanding the management of these new collaborative models has largely not kept pace. We use two case studies of large-scale, multi-disciplinary collaborations to develop an institutional framework that illuminates the relationships among (a) the epistemic norms of the disciplines represented in the collaboration, (b) the organizational structure of these collaborations, and (c) the inter-institutional collaboration success.The results of our case study analysis demonstrate that large-scale, multi-discipline, inter-institutional collaborations need a relatively high level of development in either (1) the epistemic development of the disciplines involved in the collaboration or (2) the organizational structure of the collaboration. We argue that the domain (i.e. epistemic or organizational) that provides the highest level of institutionalization is the one that organizes the “rules” of the collaboration.     

Compression of parallel texts

The world-wide use of digital storage and communications devices is increasing the need to make texts available in multiple languages. In this article we explore the possibility of storing a compressed form of a translated version of a text, taking advantage of the availability of the original text. The original text provides some of the semantic content of the text that is to be compressed, and therefore makes it possible for compression to be more efficient than if that information were not available. We begin with an experiment to evaluate the information content of a text when a parallel translation is available. This is achieved by having human subjects guess texts letter by letter, with and without a parallel translation. The perceived information content of a text can be determined from the way subjects make their guesses. The design and results of this experiment are described. The main conclusion is that while the text is considerably more predictable with the aid of a parallel translation, there is a surprising amount of information introduced by the translation. Insights obtained from this experiment are then applied in the design of a mechanical system for compressing parallel texts. The system stores one translation of a text intact, and then compresses further translations of the text with the aid of the original. The method described is able to compress texts significantly better than is possible without the aid of a parallel text. Aspects of the design are also applicable to future compressors that might take advantage of the semantic content of a text to obtain better compression.