Measuring Socioeconomic Status at the School Level

Why is there an increased need for quantitative indicators of student socioeconomic status at the school level? What alternative approaches have been used to measure SES? Can principals accurately estimate the SES distribution of their student populations? How do their estimates correlate with other indexes o f family SES?     

Arousal, anxiety, and performance: a reexamination of the Inverted-U hypothesis

Until recently, the traditional Inverted-U hypothesis had been the primary model used by sport psychologists to describe the arousal-performance relationship. However, many sport psychology researchers have challenged this relationship, and the current trend is a shift toward a more "multidimensional" view of arousal-anxiety and its effects on performance. In the current study, 104 college-age participants performed a simple response time task while riding a bicycle ergometer. Participants were randomly assigned to one of eight arousal groups (between 20 and 90% of heart rate reserve) and were told they were competing for a cash prize. Prior to the task, the Competitive State Anxiety Inventory-2 and Sport Anxiety Scale (SAS) were administered to assess the influence of cognitive and somatic anxiety. As hypothesized, regression analysis revealed a significant quadratic trend for arousal and reaction time. This accounted for 13.2% of the variance, F change (1, 101) = 15.10, p < .001, in performance beyond that accounted for by the nonsignificant linear trend. As predicted by the Inverted-U hypothesis, optimal performance on the simple task was seen at 60 and 70% of maximum arousal. Furthermore, for the simple task used in this study, only somatic anxiety as measured by the SAS accounted for significant variance in performance beyond that accounted for by arousal alone. These findings support predictions of the Inverted-U hypothesis and raise doubts about the utility theories that rely on differentiation of cognitive and somatic anxiety to predict performance on simple tasks that are not cognitively loaded.     

Linking at the US National Library of Medicine

The development of services provided by the National Library of Medicine (NLM), which dates back to 1836, is described. MEDLINE, a database of 10-plus million references and abstracts to the world's biomedical literature, was put on the World Wide Web for free searching in 1997 as a system called PubMed, whose use has grown to over 250 million searches per year. PubMed features a variety of links between MEDLINE references and related information – full-text journal articles, DNA sequence data, medical knowledge bases, etc. – at websites within and outside NLM. PubMed is a major component of a larger NLM system, Entrez, which integrates access to a number of genome-related databases with linking features similar to those of PubMed. The newest linked service, which became a reality in February 2000, is PubMed Central, the National Institutes of Health's free repository for primary research reports in all the life sciences.     

Informational Sources,Social Media Use,and Race in the Flint,Michigan, Water Crisis

Safe, clean water is necessary for health and well-being. Water issues affect minority and vulnerable populations at disproportionate rates, including the poor and racial and ethnic minorities. An investigation of the relationships of race, social media use, and informational sources during the municipal water crisis in Flint, Michigan, reflects an instrumental view of communication and uses and gratifications theory in this study. Data from 208 Flint residents in 2016 indicated that African American respondents favored interpersonal networks and resources and were more likely than other racial groups to obtain current information about the water crisis via Instagram. Preferred channels and sources to receive additional crisis information varied on the basis of race.     

Conceptualising Intergenerational Lived Experience: Integrating Art–Moving–Well-Being across Disciplines,Communities and Cultures

Art and movement are motivating forces in, through, and beyond education. As populations age, there is an increasing need to support physical and social well-being. Yet, since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been a reported exponential increase in feelings of loneliness across generations. Complex challenges require trans-disciplinary solutions, and this paper represents a joint effort within and across disciplines, communities and cultures to find ways to ameliorate this silent epidemic. In this paper, we propose a cross-disciplinary conceptual framework where Aboriginal Artists and Knowledge Holders, Teacher Educators, and Physical and Occupational Therapists come together to explore theoretical and pedagogical insights that encompass intergenerational art–moving–well-being practices, reducing feelings of loneliness and improving social connections across generations. There are two main aims of this paper; first, to better understand current studies that report on integrating art–moving–well-being practices, and the effect this has on health and well-being of intergenerational participants (under 10-year-olds, 20+ year olds and 50+ year olds). Second, based on community needs, the long-term aim is to propose a flexible art–moving–well-being conceptual model that is scalable, sustainable and based on social and relational support systems. We propose a model that is flexible and adaptable within and across our local community and beyond. We argue that feelings of loneliness are unique to each individual, and there is a need to connect specific intergenerational programmes with art–moving–well-being practices that readily engage and integrate varied communities and cultures in sustainable ways and thus, contribute to thriving communities.     

Embellishing Problem-Solving Examples with Deep Structure Information Facilitates Transfer

Appreciation of problem structure is critical to successful learning. Two experiments investigated effective ways of communicating problem structure in a computer-based learning environment and tested whether verbal instruction is necessary to specify solution steps, when deep structure is already embellished by instructional examples. Participants learned to solve algebra-like problems and then solved transfer problems that required adjustment of learned procedures. Experiment 1 demonstrated that verbal instruction helped learning by reducing learners' floundering, but its positive effect disappeared in the transfer. More importantly, students transferred better when they studied with examples that emphasized problem structure rather than solution procedure. Experiment 2 showed that verbal instruction was not necessarily more effective than nonverbal scaffolding to convey problem structure. Final understanding was determined by transparency of problem structure regardless of presence of verbal instruction. However, verbal instruction had a positive impact on learners by having them persist through the task, and optimal instructional choices were likely to differ depending on populations of learners.     

Designing for communication at work: A case for technology-enhanced boundary objects

In this article we conceptualise the challenges of communication between a mortgage company and its customers in terms of crossing boundaries between communities. Through an ethnographic study we first address the question: what are the challenges of communication between sales agents and customers of a mortgage company around mathematical artefacts? Insight into these challenges formed the basis for an intervention in which we designed technology-enhanced boundary objects (TEBOs) that were reconfigurations of problematic symbolic artefacts. Secondly, we ask what the sales agents learned from the intervention. The data suggest that the intervention with the TEBOs helped employees to develop a better understanding of the mathematics behind the mortgages they sold, and to improve communication with their customers.     

Survey results of the training, nutrition, and mental preparation of triathletes: practical implications of findings

Although triathlon is growing in popularity at a remarkable rate, it has not been extensively studied. The aims of this research were to identify preparation strategies used by triathletes and to categorize these strategies according to gender and consultation with triathlon coaches. Survey data collected from 401 triathletes (207 males, 194 females) revealed training, nutritional, and mental preparation habits. Most participants engaged in strength training, consumed food and/or fluids during and after training, set training and competition goals, and applied mental preparation strategies during training and the hour before racing. Water was the most commonly consumed fluid; positive self-talk was the most used mental strategy. Participants were more likely to consult with a triathlon coach than a nutrition or sport psychology professional. Athletes with more years of experience in triathlon and those competing in longer distances were more likely to consult a triathlon coach. Female triathletes were more likely than male triathletes to train with others, use mental preparation strategies, and report feeling anxious before competitions. More male triathletes reported using nutritional supplements during training than their female counterparts. These findings add to the limited research base on triathletes' training habits, and hopefully will help guide practitioners who work with this group. The results provide guidance for collaborative efforts among training, nutrition, and mental health professionals to best support triathletes.