Cross‐Validated Prediction of Academic Performance of First‐Year University Students: Identifying Risk Factors in a Nonselective Environment

Early prediction of academic performance is important for student support. The authors explored, in a multivariate approach, whether pre‐entry data (e.g., high school study results, preparative activities, expectations, capabilities, motivation, and attitude) could predict university students’ first‐year academic performance. Preregistered applicants for a bachelor's program filled out an intake questionnaire before study entry. Outcome data (first‐year grade point average, course credits, and attrition) were obtained 1 year later. Prediction accuracy was assessed by cross‐validation. Students who performed better in preparatory education, followed a conventional educational path before entering, and expected to spend more time on a program‐related organization performed better during their first year at university. Concrete preuniversity behaviors were more predictive than psychological attributions such as self‐efficacy. Students with a “love of learning” performed better than leisure‐oriented students. The intake questionnaire may be used for identifying up front who may need additional support, but is not suitable for student selection.     

Effects of strength training on physical fitness and sport-specific performance in recreational,sub-elite,and elite rowers: A systematic review with meta-analysis

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this systematic review with meta-analysis was to examine the effects of strength training (ST) on selected components of physical fitness (e.g., lower/upper limb maximal strength, muscular endurance, jump performance, cardiorespiratory endurance) and sport-specific performance in rowers. Only studies with an active control group were included if they examined the effects of ST on at least one proxy of physical fitness and/or sport-specific performance in rowers. Weighted and averaged standardized mean differences (SMD) were calculated using random-effects models. Subgroup analyses were computed to identify effects of ST type or expertise level on sport-specific performance. Our analyses revealed significant small effects of ST on lower limb maximal strength (SMD = 0.42, p = 0.05) and on sport-specific performance (SMD = 0.32, p = 0.05). Non-significant effects were found for upper limb maximal strength, upper/lower limb muscular endurance, jump performance, and cardiorespiratory endurance. Subgroup analyses for ST type and expertise level showed non-significant differences between the respective subgroups of rowers (p ≥ 0.32). Our systematic review with meta-analysis indicated that ST is an effective means for improving lower limb maximal strength and sport-specific performance in rowers. However, ST-induced effects are neither modulated by ST type nor rowers’ expertise level.     

Echoes of Early Life: Recent Insights From Mathematical Modeling

In the last decades, developmental origins of health and disease (DOHaD) has emerged as a central framework for studying early‐life effects, that is, the impact of fetal and early postnatal experience on adult functioning. Apace with empirical progress, theoreticians have built mathematical models that provide novel insights for DOHaD. This article focuses on three of these insights, which show the power of environmental noise (i.e., imperfect indicators of current and future conditions) in shaping development. Such noise can produce: (a) detrimental outcomes even in ontogenetically stable environments, (b) individual differences in sensitive periods, and (c) early‐life effects tailored to predicted future somatic states. We argue that these insights extend DOHaD and offer new research directions.     

Highly integrated model assessment technology and tools

Effective and efficient measurement of the development of skill and knowledge, especially in domains of human activity that involve complex and challenging problems, is important with regard to workplace and academic performance. However, there has been little progress in the area of practical measurement and assessment, due in part to the lack of automated tools that are appropriate for assessing the acquisition and development of complex cognitive skills. In the last 2 years, an international team of researchers has developed and validated an integrated set of assessment tools called highly integrated model assessment technology and tools (HIMATT) which addresses this deficiency. HIMATT is web-based and has been shown to scale up for practical use in educational and workplace settings, unlike many of the research tools developed solely to study basic issues in human learning and performance. In this paper, we describe the functions of HIMATT and demonstrate several applications for its use. Additionally, we present two studies on the quality and usability of HIMATT. We conclude with research suggestions for the use of HIMATT and for its further development.     

An altar in honor of the anatomical gift

On All Saints Day 2009 a monument for body donors was unveiled by the Department of Anatomy, at the Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Centre (RUNMC). Although body donation to medical science contributes substantially to the quality of medical education, the ceremony was only the first time that the RUNMC publicly reciprocated the anatomical gift. By means of the monument the department of Anatomy endeavors to express gratitude for the gift of body donors and raise awareness among students to value the gift and treat donor bodies with the proper respect. Furthermore, the large attendance of bereaved at the unveiling ceremony, revealed another equally important meaning of the monument, which is the significance of the monument to the donor kin. The wish of a body donor has large implications for the way bereaved can take leave of the donor; there is limited time to bade the deceased farewell, the body will not be available for a funeral, and the donor kin stay behind empty handed without even a grave or ashes. Therefore the monument can be meaningful by facilitating the bereaved with a place of commemoration. The design of the monument anticipates on these multiple meanings and symbolisms by placing an old marble dissection table in the shape of an altar and fixing a bronze sculpture of a phoenix as symbol of imperishableness. Anat Sci Educ. © 2010 American Association of Anatomists.     

巨大的挑战

"Keep staring:I might do a trick!"That's the message on a T-shirt of mine. People stare at me all the time, so I thought this shirt would be funny.See, I'm a dwarf(矮子).     

Selection to the Master’s Phase at the Binary Divide,a Dutch Case Study

Tertiary Education and Management - This article presents a case study of selection for graduate study at the Vrije Universiteit (VU) in the Netherlands. The VU developed and implemented an...