The mirror’s curse: Weight perceptions mediate the link between physical activity and life satisfaction among 727,865 teens in 44 countries

Purpose:The present study aimed to examine the link between physical activity(PA)and life satisfaction in a large international study of adolescents.We also aimed to test whether overweight and underweight perceptions act as mediators and whether age and sex acted as moderators.Methods:For this purpose,we analyzed data from the Health Behavior in School-aged Children study,which comprises 727,865 observations from 44 nations at 4 measurement occasions.Results:Multilevel analyses revealed a positive link between PA and life satisfaction.In addition,underweight and overweight perceptions mediated the effect of PA on life satisfaction.We further found that age and sex acted as moderators.In older adolescents,stronger effects were found in the links between PA and life satisfaction,PA and overweight perception,and both weight perceptions and life satisfaction.In addition,in female adolescents,the link between overweight perception and life satisfaction was stronger.Conversely,the links between PA and both weight perceptions were stronger for boys.Conclusion:The results suggest that weight perception explains part of the relationship between PA and life satisfaction in adolescents and that these effects vary as a function of age and sex.     

The missing link: an econometric analysis on the impact of curriculum standards on student achievement

Nationwide, state policy-makers have increasingly adopted curriculum standards as a means of improving education. However, relatively little empirical research has been done to investigate if a link actually exists between curriculum standards and student performance. Using data collected by the New York State Department of Education, the impact of standards on high school student achievement is examined through estimation of a one-way fixed-effects model of the education production function. Curriculum standards are operationalized as the award of a “50–64” variance, which is considered a means of increasing the number of students taking demanding courses. The findings suggest that curriculum standards can improve student performance, but they do little to improve equity. While larger portions of pupils pass curriculum-based assessment exams, continued associations between select student characteristics and student performance remain.     

A Perspective on Strategy Research: Progress and Prospects

Our goal in this article is to present a broad perspective on the state of strategy research and to consider, in brief, the prospects for strategy research in the future. We first draw on the literature in an effort to delineate the attributes of strategies and to consider several dimensions of strategies that dot the research landscape. Next, we distinguish strategic performance from skillful behavior. With this definitional framework in place, we survey changes that might be evidenced in learners' strategic processing over time, as a consequence of knowledge and motivation, as well as other personal factors. Additionally, we explore aspects of the task and the context that serve as change agents in strategy development, including domain, time, and instructional support. We conclude with a brief reflection on issues that deserve attention in research and practice in the next decade, to assist strategies instruction in reaching its potential as a part of integrated, validated instructional practices.     

Do students notice stress in teachers? Associations between classroom teacher burnout and students' perceptions of teacher social–emotional competence

The goal of the present study was to investigate the link between elementary school teacher burnout and students' perceptions of teacher social–emotional competence (SEC). A total of 676 Grades 4–7 students in 35 classrooms rated their classroom teachers' SEC. In addition, teachers self-reported their current level of experienced burnout at work (i.e., depersonalization and emotional exhaustion). Multilevel analyses revealed significant classroom-level variability (i.e., 34%) in student-ratings of teacher SEC. Teacher burnout significantly predicted student-rated teacher SEC, over and above significant student-level variables (school self-concept, sense of autonomy in the classroom) and contextual variables (teacher age, school neighborhood income). Specifically, higher levels of teacher burnout were related to receiving lower SEC ratings by students. Teacher burnout explained a significant portion of the classroom-level variability in student-rated teacher SEC. The present study emphasizes the link between teacher burnout and the SEC. Furthermore, given that teacher reports (burnout) were linked to student reports (teacher SEC), these findings also suggest that students notice stress in their classroom teacher.     

Indeed,sometimes knowledge does not help: A replication study

In an earlier study we found that intermediate experts in the domain of economics did not surpass novices in complex learning and knowledge application with a computer-based business simulation. In the present study, it was investigated whether these contra-intuitive findings can be replicated. In order to scrutinize the reasons which led to these findings, some parameters of the learning environment were changed. The duration of the exploration phase and of the problem-solving phase as well as the complexity of the situations were increased, motivation and acquired declarative knowledge were assessed. In view of mastering recurring demands and the functionality of mental models, no differences were found between a group of novices (15 students of humanities with a supplementary training in economics) and a group of intermediate experts (13 advanced students of economics). The findings of the original study were replicated, motivation had no effect on the result. In terms of declarative knowledge, the novices turned out to be even better.