Childhood aerobic fitness predicts cognitive performance one year later

Abstract

Aerobically fit children outperform less fit peers on cognitive control challenges that involve inhibition, cognitive flexibility, and working memory. The aim of this study was to determine whether, compared with less fit children, more fit 9- and 10-year-old pre-adolescents exhibit superior performance on a modified compatible and incompatible flanker task of cognitive control at the initial time of fitness testing and approximately one year later. We found that more fit children demonstrated increased flanker accuracy at both test sessions, coupled with a superior ability to flexibly allocate strategies during task conditions that required different amounts of cognitive control, relative to less fit children. More fit children also gained a speed benefit at follow-up testing. Structural MRI data were also collected to investigate the relationship between basal ganglia volume and task performance. Bilateral putamen volumes of the dorsal striatum and globus pallidus volumes predicted flanker performance at initial and follow-up testing one year later. The present findings suggest that childhood aerobic fitness and basal ganglia volumes relate to cognitive control at the time of fitness testing and may play a role in cognitive performance in the future. We hope that this research will encourage public health and educational changes that will promote a physically active lifestyle in children.     

The Effects of Mastery and Competitive Conditions on Self-Assessment at Different Ages

It was hypothesized that self-evaluative accuracy will increase with age in a competitive condition, while even young children will appraise their performance quite accurately in a mastery condition. Children at ages 5, 7, and 10 working in either a match-the-standard or a competitive condition copied a drawing and then evaluated their copies. As hypothesized, competing 5-year-olds overestimated the quality of their copies, and self-assessments became less positive and better correlated with adult judgments with age. There were no age differences in self-evaluative accuracy in the mastery condition. Examination of children's explanations for their ratings and their interest in the task supported the interpretation that young children are guided by a nonnormative concept of ability, which can lead to overoptimistic perceptions of competence under competition. Older children tended to adopt normative goals and criteria for self-assessment in competition and mastery ones in the match the standard condition, and were realistic about their performance in both.     

A snapchat story: how black girls develop strategies for critical resistance in school

ABSTRACT

Drawing from Black, feminist epistemologies as well as theories of critical consciousness, and adolescent digital literacies, this paper analyzes the narratives of 7 Black, female high school students who experience oppressive practices, including racial microaggressions, silencing, harsh discipline, and marginalization within a predominately White school environment. At this juncture in which race, politics, and activism intersect with school, media, and identity, this study discusses how Black, female students resist oppression and use digital and social media as well as other available tools to speak out against injustice and heighten the racial awareness of their school community. This qualitative case study uses individual and focus group interviews to examine the ways in which Black female students develop critical resistance strategies, working individually and collectively within existing structures to fight for their humanity and liberation.     

“It means a lot of stuff,in a way”. New York City Youth Interpret Other Youth Produced Videos

This article reports on how a small group of New York City adolescents interpreted audio‐visual expressions that were created by youth participating in the international VideoCulture Project. The New York City youth looked for explicit messages in the youth‐produced video films, but also appreciated features of content and form that prompted their curiosity about the youth producers’ intent, as well as experience of everyday life. This study suggests how American culture has influenced these youth's sensibilities about audio‐visual communication, and discusses the value and problems of engaging youth in projects of this nature     

Quality assurance for distance learning: a case study at Brunel University

Brunel University currently has four distance learning MSc courses, with over 500 students registered, and one undergraduate distance learning course. Some have been running for over five years, and well‐established practices have been developed and provide a basis of support for the university. Quality assurance in the university has always been considered in three, equally important, ways: the curriculum and its assessment; the handling of coursework and assignments; and the liaison with students. The lesson we have learned is that a distance learning programme must be based on an existing full‐time MSc programme, which is the gold standard for curriculum and its assessment, and where possible, common examinations and assessment be used. This can be further assured by scrutinisation by the associated research council. This is going to become ever more important with the increasing scrutiny by overseas governments on the academic quality of distance learning courses, which seek assurance on the comparability and quality of degrees. Quality assurance for the handling of coursework and assignments must be secure and demands a high overhead of paperwork. Detailed feedback to students on their assignments is essential, but this can, at the same time, form a quality assurance check for later progression decisions. We also copy and retain approximately 10% of the assignments for the same purpose. Rapid turnaround is essential if feedback is to be timely and therefore useful, and quality checks on processing time should be standard. Quality assurance for the procedures for liaison with distance learning students are somewhat harder to measure quantitatively. The mark of good distance learning must be its tutorial support. This demands good communications. Our own course, entitled Data Communications Systems, benefits from the high proportion of use of electronic communications, namely email, which allows fast turnaround of questions, yet is not intrusive. However, it is deemed essential that hard copy of all such correspondence is kept. Migration to other Internet support services, such as the World Wide Web, videoconferencing and groupware, is inevitable.     

Defining and navigating ‘action’ in a Participatory Action Research project

ABSTRACT

While the ‘action’ portion of a Participatory Action Research (PAR) project is a crucial component of the process, action tends to be challenging to define, achieve, and measure. The current paper both defines and describes action within the context of a particular PAR collaboration and explores the process and challenges of navigating and implementing action in a PAR project. The specific PAR project detailed in this paper was executed within a higher education setting and involves a group of undergraduate women co-researchers studying their experiences in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) fields.     

Science education journal/periodical reading patterns of senior level undergraduate education students at the university of Oklahoma, 1973-1982

This study analyzed 103 articles from journals/periodicals related to science education submitted to the author over a period often years. This study sought to determine which journals/ periodicals were most popular, as indicated by frequency of reportings. It, secondarily, attempted to verify or refute the paucity of research data currently available related to journal/ periodical reading patterns on the part of teachers, specifically those in secondary schools. Finally, it attempted to study reading patterns within specific secondary school teaching areas, about which this author was unable to find any research. The findings indicated that there were several popular science education-related journals/periodicals. American Biology Teacher, the Journal of Research in Science Teaching and Science Education were the top three journals/ periodicals reported. Most of the findings of earlier research were confirmed.