A Prospect-Guided global query expansion strategy using word embeddings

The effectiveness of query expansion methods depends essentially on identifying good candidates, or prospects, semantically related to query terms. Word embeddings have been used recently in an attempt to address this problem. Nevertheless query disambiguation is still necessary as the semantic relatedness of each word in the corpus is modeled, but choosing the right terms for expansion from the standpoint of the un-modeled query semantics remains an open issue. In this paper we propose a novel query expansion method using word embeddings that models the global query semantics from the standpoint of prospect vocabulary terms. The proposed method allows to explore query-vocabulary semantic closeness in such a way that new terms, semantically related to more relevant topics, are elicited and added in function of the query as a whole. The method includes candidates pooling strategies that address disambiguation issues without using exogenous resources. We tested our method with three topic sets over CLEF corpora and compared it across different Information Retrieval models and against another expansion technique using word embeddings as well. Our experiments indicate that our method achieves significant results that outperform the baselines, improving both recall and precision metrics without relevance feedback.     

A critical narrative analysis of the perspectives of physical trainers and fitness instructors in relation to their body image,professional practice and the consumer culture

The purpose of this study was to critically analyse the perspectives of physical trainers and fitness instructors in relation to their body image, professional practice, and the consumer culture. Fourteen fitness professionals (8 personal trainers, 6 fitness instructors), between 28–37 years of age, volunteered to participate in the study. The data were collected through semi-structured interviews and analysed inductively through narrative content analysis. Two main categories emerged: (a) multiple representations of body image as an instrument of professional practice and (b) strategies for keeping a lean, youthful, and professional body image while coping with the standards of the consumer society. Each had its corresponding subcategories. The results show that there exist several links between corporeal identity, body image, and the consumer culture. Some of these connections represent sources of credibility and cultural capital, whereas others have detrimental physical and psychological consequences for fitness professionals.     

Sex-differences in elite-performance track and field competition from 1983 to 2015

The purpose of this study was to assess the veracity of the Court of Arbitration for Sport’s assertion that sex-differences in athletic performance in elite-standard track and field competition is of the order of 10–12%. Exponential curves were fitted to the data of selected track and field events of the finals of all IAAF World Championships and Olympic Games from 1983 to 2016. For each curve, the coefficient of determination R² was calculated, in combination the corresponding 95% confidence intervals for the curve constants. Sex-differences were evaluated via differences in the fitted curves between men and women. Mean performances of winners, as well as overall performance means of all participants, were also analyzed. The calculated sex-difference was 8.2 ± 1.0% – 11.8 ± 2.1% for sprints, 10.3 ± 3.3% – 12.8 ± 4.0% for middle and long-distance events, 9.7 ± 2.9% – 13.1 ± 2.9% for relays and 14.2 ± 2.2% – 25.0 ± 4.4% for jumps. This study therefore confirms that the percentage difference accepted by the CAS is appropriate for elite-standard track and field events.     

Academic self‐attributions for success and failure in mathematics and school refusal

The aim of this research is twofold: to analyze the mean differences scores in mathematic self‐attributions based on school refusal and to verify its predictive capability on high scores in school refusal. The Sydney Attribution Scale and the School Refusal Assessment Scale‐Revised were administered to 1078 Spanish students (50.8% boys) aged between 8 and 11 years (M = 9.63; SD = 1.12). School refusers based on negative affect or anxiety attributed their failures more to the lack of capacity and effort, whereas students searching for tangible reinforcements outside of the school were more likely to attribute their successes to capacity. In turn, academic attributions acted as both positive and negative predictors of high‐school refusal. Results are discussed considering more adaptive attributional styles.     

Inequality of educational opportunities: School failure trends in Spain (1977–2012)

School failure is substantive in Spain. The percentage of students that do not achieve the compulsory education diploma is around 20%. School failure is higher for students from lower socio-economic backgrounds. Students who ‘fail’ cannot continue to post-compulsory education and, sooner or later, they have to leave formal education. The evolution of school failure in Spain follows a U-shaped curve that decreases from the seventies and rises from the end of the past century. This article explores the evolution of the impact of students’ socio-economic backgrounds on school failure from the seventies onwards and tests whether this impact increased at the end of last century. Using logit models of estimation to control for socio-demographic factors, we demonstrate that students from higher socio-economic backgrounds show fewer fluctuations in school failure than students from lower socio-economic backgrounds. We also provide evidence in support of an increase in the impact of socio-economic background on school failure from the end of the past century, thereby increasing differences by social origin of students. Our paper is consistent with previous literature showing that the impact of socio-economic background on school failure from the seventies onwards is declining. Nevertheless, we show an increase in this impact from the late nineties not described before. We offer a possible explanation for this upward trend in the shape of change in the institutional structure of the education system, although labour market incentives may also have played a role.     

Students’ performance on missing-value word problems: a cross-national developmental study

European Journal of Psychology of Education - This study investigates Spanish and Chinese students’ performance on both addition problems and proportion problems considering a cross-national...     

Assessment of Preschool Early Literacy Skills: Linking Children's Educational Needs with Empirically Supported Instructional Activities

The importance of the preschool period for becoming a skilled reader is highlighted by a significant body of evidence that preschool children's development in the areas of oral language, phonological awareness, and print knowledge is predictive of how well they will learn to read once they are exposed to formal reading instruction in elementary school. Although there are now a number of empirically supported instructional activities for helping children who are at -risk of later reading difficulties acquire these early literacy skills, limitations in instructional time and opportunities in most preschool settings requires the use of valid assessment procedures to ensure that instructional resources are utilized efficiently. In this paper, we discuss the degree to which informal, diagnostic, screening, and progress-monitoring assessments of preschool early literacy skills can inform instructional decisions by considering the strengths and weaknesses of each approach to assessment.