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.     

Feedback seeking behaviour in higher education: the association with students’ goal orientation and deep learning approach

To make sure that feedback fulfils its aspirations, students’ active role in feedback should be acknowledged in higher education: It is students’ uptake of feedback that determines its effectiveness. In this study, feedback seeking behaviour of students is introduced in order to enrich our knowledge about students’ active role in feedback. Goal orientation was studied as antecedent of feedback seeking behaviour, and students’ deep learning approach as a mediating factor. Results indicated that students use both monitoring and inquiry strategies of feedback seeking, but they preferred monitoring. The association between feedback seeking behaviour and goal orientation was stronger for mastery goals than for performance goals. The preference for monitoring is stronger for students with more performance goal orientation. Deep learning approach was found to be a mediator in the relationship between goal orientation and feedback seeking behaviour. It can be concluded that students with the goal to learn from the activity will use more deep learning strategies and will seek more feedback, both in an active and passive way. This effect is less present for students with performance goals.     

Four Perspectives on Flipping the Statistics Classroom: Changing Pedagogy to Enhance Student-Centered Learning

Abstract

The term “flipped” or “inverted” classroom includes a broad range of pedagogical innovations, and has recently received a significant amount of press. Although flipping an entire course might be a more extreme step than most are able to take, we discuss modular ideas for change that can be more easily implemented. This paper offers the perspective of four faculty members at different institutions who have all flipped material in statistics courses that were already highly interactive and activity-based. We share common pitfalls and core ideas that were found among diverse environments.     

Exploring Relationships Among Belief in Genetic Determinism,Genetics Knowledge,and Social Factors

Genetic determinism can be described as the attribution of the formation of traits to genes, where genes are ascribed more causal power than what scientific consensus suggests. Belief in genetic determinism is an educational problem because it contradicts scientific knowledge, and is a societal problem because it has the potential to foster intolerant attitudes such as racism and prejudice against sexual orientation. In this article, we begin by investigating the very nature of belief in genetic determinism. Then, we investigate whether knowledge of genetics and genomics is associated with beliefs in genetic determinism. Finally, we explore the extent to which social factors such as gender, education, and religiosity are associated with genetic determinism. Methodologically, we gathered and analyzed data on beliefs in genetic determinism, knowledge of genetics and genomics, and social variables using the “Public Understanding and Attitudes towards Genetics and Genomics” (PUGGS) instrument. Our analyses of PUGGS responses from a sample of Brazilian university freshmen undergraduates indicated that (1) belief in genetic determinism was best characterized as a construct built up by two dimensions or belief systems: beliefs concerning social traits and beliefs concerning biological traits; (2) levels of belief in genetic determination of social traits were low, which contradicts prior work; (3) associations between knowledge of genetics and genomics and levels of belief in genetic determinism were low; and (4) social factors such as age and religiosity had stronger associations with beliefs in genetic determinism than knowledge. Although our study design precludes causal inferences, our results raise questions about whether enhancing genetic literacy will decrease or prevent beliefs in genetic determinism.     

Muscle Soreness Following Resistance Exercise With and Without Eccentric Contractions

The present study reported on translating the Exercise Identity Scale (EIS: Anderson &; Cychosz, 1994) into Greek and examining its psychometric properties and cross-cultural validity based on U.S. individuals' EIS responses. Using four samples comprising 33, 103, and 647 Greek individuals, including exercisers and nonexercisers, and a similar sample comprising 800 U.S. individuals, the concurrent validity, factor structure, internal reliability, test-retest reliability, external validity, gender invariance, and cross-cultural validity of the EIS responses were examined using confirmatory factor analytical procedures. The results supported the concurrent validity, an adequate unidimensional factor structure for the translated EIS and the internal reliability and test-retest reliability over a 6-week interval. Further, cross-gender configural, partial metric, partial strong factorial, and partial strict factorial invariance and cross-cultural configural and partial metric invariance supported the cross-cultural equivalence of the EIS versions. Moreover, the external validity of the translated EIS responses was also supported. Overall, the findings supported the validity of the exercise identity construct outside North American boundaries and the EIS items' equivalence, providing initial evidence for its cross-cultural applicability.