Student Hits in an Internet‐Supported Course: How Can Instructors Use Them and What Do They Mean?

The world of education is changing as Web‐based technology and courseware are increasingly used for delivery of course material. In this environment, instructors may need new measures for determining student involvement, and ultimately student performance. This study examines whether hits to a Web site have any value for predicting student performance in a traditional course supported by Web activities. Total Hits at the end of the semester was used as one measure. Hit Consistency, determined by assigning a 0 when no hits occurred between class meetings and by assigning a 1 when one or more hits occurred between class meetings, was another. Hit Consistency was significantly correlated with course average (r= .37, p < .001) for 108 students in two course sections. Hit Consistency started to show a significant relationship with course average by the third week (or class). Total Hits was not found to significantly correlate with course average (r= .08, p > .05) at the end of the semester or during any week. These results suggest that students who consistently access a Web site will perform better than those who do not. When Hit Consistency and Total Hits were entered as independent variables into a stepwise regression with course average as the dependent variable, the model was enhanced by the addition of Total Hits after Hit Consistency was entered (R= .43, p < .001) . Hierarchical regression analysis in which cumulative grade point average was entered as the first controlling variable suggested that online access may go beyond the predictive value of achievement alone for predicting course performance with Hit Consistency appearing to be the dominant causal variable.     

Increasing physical literacy in youth: A two-week Sport for Development program for children aged 6-10

PROSPECTS - Regular physical activity significantly improves health outcomes, yet rates of childhood physical activity remain alarmingly low.&nbsp;Physical literacy has been identified as the...     

The Parent-Caregiver Relationship Scale: Rounding Out the Relationship System in Infant Child Care

The Parent-Caregiver Relationship Scale (PCRS) was developed and field tested as a measure of the perceived quality of the relationship between the parent and the child care provider (“caregiver”) of an infant or toddler. PCRS items were based on review of the parent-caregiver relations literature and interviews with parents and caregivers. The parent and caregiver forms of the scale were administered to 217 parents and caregivers in child care centers and family child care homes. Analysis of the scale and its psychometric properties resulted in potentially useful subscales with adequate reliability. The PCRS showed predicted correlations with other child care context variables, providing preliminary support for its validity. The PCRS shows promise as a relationship-level measure for studies of infants, parents, and caregivers in the context of full-time child care.     

Predictors of Behavior Problems in Three-Year-Old Sons of Alcoholics: Early Evidence for the Onset of Risk

We investigated risk factors in a population-based sample of alcoholic (father) and comparison families with 3-year-old sons. Alcoholic and comparison parents did not differ in socioeconomic status (SES), education, years married, family size, or cognitive functioning. Anti-social behavior and depression were significantly greater in alcoholic parents. High risk children were more impulsive than comparison children, but there were no differences in developmental age, IQ, or behavior problems. A higher percentage of high-risk children were rated in the extreme clinical range for behavior problems than were comparison children. For alcoholic families, mothers' ratings of their children's total behavior problems, externalizing behavior problems, and internalizing behavior problems were predicted by mothers' lifetime alcohol problems, current depression, and family SES. Father variables failed to predict children's behavior problems. Maternal variables were stronger predictors of their 3-year-old sons' problem behaviors than were paternal variables.     

Impacts of enquiry-based science teaching on achievement gap between high-and-low SES students: findings from PISA 2015

The purpose of this study was to empirically investigate, in a large-scale assessment, the prevalence of enquiry-based teaching, as defined by PISA, implemented in science lessons, and the extent to which it is related to students from different socioeconomic status (SES) family backgrounds in the U.S. The Programme of International Student Assessment (PISA) 2015 data including 5,146 students in the U.S. were used. A Latent Profile Analysis (LPA) was conducted to classify students into different science teaching subgroups. Mixture regression analysis was conducted to examine whether there the association between SES and achievement varied across science teaching subgroups. Four science teaching subgroups were identified, varying in the frequency of and type of teaching practices used. Students’ attitudes, gender, science instruction time, and reading achievement are significant predictors of the subgroup membership. SES-achievement gap also varied across the science teaching subgroups. Discussions for the results and suggestions for future study were presented.     

Accelerated HE digitalisation: Exploring staff and student experiences of the COVID-19 rapid online-learning transfer

Education and Information Technologies - In the UK, the first ‘lockdown’ of the COVID-19 pandemic necessitated a rapid shift to online learning and digital technologies in Higher...