Aerobic training but no resistance training increases SIRT3 in skeletal muscle of sedentary obese male adolescents

In recent years, prevalence of obesity in children and adolescents has increased. A strategy for prevention and management of obesity is aerobic training (AT) due to its effectiveness to decrease fat mass. AT increases the content of SIRT3, a mitochondrial protein that increases the expression of PGC-1α and NFR1, thereby enhances mitochondrial function and metabolic health. Resistance training (RT) provides metabolic benefits but its effect on SIRT3 content is unknown. To compare the effect of AT and RT on SIRT3, PGC-1α and NRF-1 protein levels in skeletal muscle of sedentary obese adolescents. Twenty-seven sedentary obese male adolescents (age: 16.7?±?0.9 years; BMI: 33.7?±?4.3?kg/m²) completed a 1-month control period prior to randomization to one of two supervised exercise protocols: AT (3 days/week, 40 min/day, 70–80% peak heart rate) or RT (3 days/week, 11 exercises, 2 sets/exercise, 12 repetitions/set) for 12 weeks. Biopsies were obtained from the vastus lateralis muscle before and after 12 weeks to analyse SIRT3, PGC-1α and NRF-1 proteins content. Peak oxygen consumption (VO_2peak) and anthropometric variables were evaluated before and after training. AT increased SIRT3 content, which was associated with improvements in PGC-1α content and body fat percentage. RT did not affect SIRT3 or PGC-1α. VO_2peak increased only in AT. The increase in muscle mitochondrial SIRT3 was observed only following AT. In contrast, RT increased muscle mass without improving SIRT3 in obese male adolescents.     

A tool-kit to help students from low socioeconomic status background: a school-based self-regulated learning intervention

European Journal of Psychology of Education - Socioeconomic status has been a long-time discussed topic due to its impact on children’s school paths. However, despite extant research...     

Efficacy of a cultural adaptation of the Identity Project intervention among adolescents attending multiethnic classrooms in Italy: A randomized controlled trial

This registered report evaluated the efficacy of an Italian adaptation of the Identity Project, a school-based intervention promoting adolescents' cultural identity. Migration background and environmental sensitivity were explored as moderators. After adapting and piloting the intervention, a randomized controlled trial was conducted between October 2021 and January 2022 on 747 ethnically diverse adolescents (M_age = 15 years, 53% girls, 31% with migration background) attending 45 classrooms randomly assigned to the intervention or control condition. Bayesian analyses confirmed the efficacy of the Italian IP in enhancing exploration processes (Cohen's d = .18), whereas no cascading effect on resolution emerged. Youth with higher (vs. lower) levels of environmental sensitivity benefited more in terms of exploration. Implications for developmental theory and practice are discussed.     

What makes a student feel vital? Links between teacher-student relatedness and teachers’ engaging messages

Recent studies suggest that teacher messages can affect students’ well-being. Using a multilevel, variable, and person-centred approach, this study aimed to identify profiles of students according to their teachers’ use of engaging messages and analyse the relation among these profiles and teacher-student relatedness and students’ subjective vitality. A total of 1209 students participated in the study. At the student-level, profile analysis indicated the existence of four different profiles: the few messages profile, the autonomous motivational appeals profile, the loss-framed messages profile, and the gain-framed messages profile. At the teacher level, profile analysis indicated the existence of two profiles: the variant and the invariant profiles. Results showed that overall, at both levels of analysis, teachers’ engaging messages related with teacher-student relatedness (either positively or negatively) with clear differences among profiles. Moreover, also at both levels of analysis, teacher-student relatedness related with students’ subjective vitality. Main findings and implications for practice are discussed.

     

Factors Influencing Scientific Achievements of Medical Students in the Anatomy Research Group: An Analysis From the Autonomous University of Nuevo León in Mexico

Scientific research and student involvement are critical to the formation of physicians, yet the number of medical researchers has decreased over time. To implement corrective strategies, the variables associated with positive research attitudes and productivity among medical students must be identified. The aim of this study was to evaluate the variables associated with students interested or involved in research. A validated questionnaire was applied to the student members of an established anatomy research group in a Mexican medical school with a six-year medical program. Data were collected and analyzed. A total of 85.5% (n = 77/90) students answered the survey with most respondents being second-year medical students. The majority of respondents indicated that the important component of conducting research was a contribution to the new knowledge (45.5%) and to the scientific community (42.9%). More than half of respondents mentioned a professor or a peer as the initial motivation to become involved in research. Lack of time was the main limitation (59.7%) to research involvement. Perceived benefits were knowledge and team work skills. Of those involved, most (85.7%) wished to continue participating in research as a complement to their clinical work. Professors and student colleagues were found to play an important motivational and recruitment role for medical research. These efforts in turn have developed into long-lasting mentor-mentee relationships. Students also anticipated that early involvement in research will positively influence the likelihood of future physicians' contribution and collaboration in research.     

Building personalised homework from a learning analytics based formative assessment: Effect on fifth-grade students' understanding of fractions

This study analyses the potential of a learning analytics (LA) based formative assessment to construct personalised teaching sequences in Mathematics for 5th-grade primary school students. A total of 127 students from Spanish public schools participated in the study. The quasi-experimental study was conducted over the course of six sessions, in which both control and experimental groups participated in a teaching sequence based on mathematical problems. In each session, both groups used audience response systems to record their responses to mathematical tasks about fractions. After each session, students from the control group were given generic homework on fractions—the same activities for all the participants—while students from the experimental group were given a personalised set of activities. The provision of personalised homework was based on the students' errors detected from the use of the LA-based formative assessment. After the intervention, the results indicate a higher student level of understanding of the concept of fractions in the experimental group compared to the control group. Related to motivational dimensions, results indicated that instruction using audience response systems has a positive effect compared to regular mathematics classes.

Practitioner notes

What is already known about this topic

• Developing an understanding of fractions is one of the most challenging concepts in elementary mathematics and a solid predictor of future achievements in mathematics.
• Learning analytics (LA) has the potential to provide quality, functional data for assessing and supporting learners' difficulties.
• Audience response systems (ARS) are one of the most practical ways to collect data for LA in classroom environments.
• There is a scarcity of field research implementations on LA mediated by ARS in real contexts of elementary school classrooms.

What this paper adds

• Empirical evidence about how LA-based formative assessments can enable personalised homework to support student understanding of fractions.
• Personalised homework based on an LA-based formative assessment improves the students' comprehension of fractions.
• Using ARS for the teaching of fractions has a positive effect in terms of student motivation.

Implications for practice and/or policy

• Teachers should be given LA/ARS tools that allow them to quickly provide students with personalised mathematical instruction.
• Researchers should continue exploring these potentially beneficial educational implementations in other areas.

     

Training for Impact: Improving the Quality of Staffs Performance

The study reported in this article examines the effects of training, feedback, and on–the–job coaching on the quality of staff performance. Forty staff members in three units of a psychiatric hospital were trained in a new system for writing patient progress notes. Initial training (Training 1) included a) establishing the importance of progress notes, b) rules and format for good notes, and c) examples of properly written notes. Training 1 resulted in slight improvement in performance over baseline. A second training program (Training 2), including examples and non–examples of well–written notes, was followed by a substantial increase in quality of staff notes. The quality of notes reached desired levels only after a feedback component was added in which the trainer posted data showing overall quality of notes and provided individual coaching to staff members regarding quality of group notes. We conclude from these results that the quality of staff performance of an organizationally significant task can be improved by a combination of training, feedback, and on–the–job coaching. Training using both examples and non–examples of properly completed tasks is superior to training using examples only. Training followed by feedback and on–the–job coaching is superior to training alone. The results support our conclusion that omitting a basic element of performance technology will yield low quality performance.