Schooling effects on preschoolers’ self-regulation, early literacy, and language growth

The present study examined the influence of schooling during children's first and second years of preschool for children who experienced different amounts of preschool (i.e., one or two years), but who were essentially the same chronological age. Children (n = 76) were tested in the fall and spring of the school year using measures of self-regulation, decoding, letter knowledge, and vocabulary. Using hierarchical linear modeling (HLM), preschool was not associated with children's development of self-regulation in either year. For decoding and letter knowledge, children finishing their second year of preschool had higher scores, although both groups of children grew similarly during the school year. Thus, our results suggest that the first and second years of preschool are both systematically associated with decoding and letter knowledge gains, and the effects are cumulative (two years predicted greater gains overall than did one year of preschool). Finally, children's chronological age, and not whether they experienced one versus two years of preschool, predicted children's vocabulary and self-regulation outcomes. Implications for preschool curricula and instruction are discussed, including the increasing emphasis on literacy learning prior to kindergarten entry and the need to address self-regulation development along with academic learning.     

A poisoned chalice? Why UK women engineering and technology students may receive more ‘help’ than their male peers

The UK engineering and technology (E&T) sector is male-dominated, with women facing various cultural and structural barriers in entering and developing their careers within it. Existing research in this area has focused on women’s recruitment or retaining women in employment, but little has addressed women’s transition to industry through the higher education (HE) system. This paper therefore explores women’s experiences of HE in E&T, focusing particularly on the gendered help and support women were found to receive, as well as possible causes and consequences of this behaviour. The research adopts a qualitative design, using semi-structured interviews with women E&T students. The gendered help women received is shown to be something of a ‘poisoned chalice’; although there are sometimes short-term benefits, this is likely to hinder women from progressing in their careers at the same rate as their male peers.     

Two-dimensional and three-dimensional dynamic imaging of live biofilms in a microchannel by time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry

A vacuum compatible microfluidic reactor, SALVI (System for Analysis at the Liquid Vacuum Interface), was employed for in situ chemical imaging of live biofilms using time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (ToF-SIMS). Depth profiling by sputtering materials in sequential layers resulted in live biofilm spatial chemical mapping. Two-dimensional (2D) images were reconstructed to report the first three-dimensional images of hydrated biofilm elucidating spatial and chemical heterogeneity. 2D image principal component analysis was conducted among biofilms at different locations in the microchannel. Our approach directly visualized spatial and chemical heterogeneity within the living biofilm by dynamic liquid ToF-SIMS.Mapping how metabolic pathways are interconnected and controlled at the subcellular scale within dynamic living systems continues to present a grand scientific challenge. Biofilms, consisting of aggregations of bacterial cells and extracellular polymeric substance (EPS), present an important avenue for deciphering complex microbial communities. During biofilm formation, cells assemble in a secreted polymer milieu of polysaccharides, proteins, glycolipids, and DNA.^1,2 Microfluidics provides unprecedented control over flow conditions, accessibility to real-time observation, high-throughput testing, and mimics in vivo biological environments.³ An understanding of the mechanism underlying biofilm formation and the design of advanced microfluidic experiments could address challenges such as interpreting microbial community interactions, biofouling, and resistance to antimicrobial chemicals. However, only a handful of biofilm studies used microfluidic approaches that provided hydrated chemical imaging at high spatial resolution.^4–7 Most studies utilized confocal microscopy,⁴ FTIR spectroscopy,⁵ or other approaches (e.g., high density interdigitated capacitors⁷) for biofilm monitoring. Imaging mass spectrometry has been demonstrated in biofilm studies.^8,9 A coupled microfluidic-imaging mass spectrometry approach would provide the chemical molecular spatial mapping needed to better address the scientific challenge of biofilms.Recently, we developed a portable microfluidic reactor, System for Analysis at the Liquid Vacuum Interface (SALVI),^10,11 which overcame the grand challenge of studying liquids with high volatility and liquid interfaces using surface sensitive vacuum instruments. SALVI enables direct imaging of liquid surfaces using electron or ion/molecular based vacuum techniques. Our microfluidic approach used a polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) microchannel fully enclosed with a thin silicon nitride (SiN) membrane (100 nm thick). For visualization, 2 μm diameter holes were opened in the SiN membrane in vacuo. These detection windows were dynamically drilled using the time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (ToF-SIMS) primary ion beam (e.g., Bi⁺).¹²Unlike liquid sample holders for transmission electron microscopy and scanning transmission electron microscopy, SALVI is self-contained and portable.¹³ As a result, it can potentially be used in many finely focused analytical tool with minimal adaptation.¹⁰ The analytical performance of SALVI has been demonstrated with a variety of analytes ranging from biology to material sciences.^14,15 Unlike most microfluidic applications that are only suitable under ambient conditions (e.g., separations, cell and small amount sample manipulation, and thermal flow-sensors),^16–18 SALVI is compatible with both in situ ambient and in vacuo spectroscopy analysis and imaging.¹⁹ Biofilms have been successfully cultivated inside the microfluidic channel and imaged using correlative confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM) and ToF-SIMS.²⁰Our approach opens a new avenue to study biological sample in their natural state. Although ToF-SIMS has been widely used for providing molecular signatures of organic and biological molecules in complex biological systems^21,22 or lipid spatial mapping,²³ the vacuum-based ToF-SIMS generally requires solid (either dried²⁴ or cryo treated²⁵) samples. Here, we report ToF-SIMS two dimensional (2D) and three dimensional (3D) chemical images of hydrated biofilms. In situ time and space-resolved identifications of fatty acid (FA) fragments characteristic of Shewanella are illustrated by 3D images reconstructed from the ToF-SIMS depth profile time series. Principal component analysis (PCA) further elucidates biofilm chemical and spatial heterogeneity and shows the key chemical component at different depth and location of the biofilm including the biofilm-surface attachment interface.For all growth experiments, two samples were cultured simultaneously. At days 5 and 6, one sample was harvested for immediate analysis, respectively, using a ToF-SIMS V spectrometer (IONTOF GmbH, Münster, Germany). Similar results were obtained from both samples, because the biofilm-attachment surface was probed. For consistency, only day 6 data are shown here, while additional data are provided in the supplementary material.²⁸ 2D and 3D image visualizations were obtained using the IONTOF instrument software. PCA was performed using MATLAB R2012a (MathWorks, Inc., Natick, MA, USA). 2D images of .bif format were converted and integrated into a matrix. Data were pretreated by normalization to total ions, square root transformation, and then mean centering.²⁶ For m/z spectra PCA, unit mass peaks from m/z 199 to m/z 255 were used (see Figure S-2²⁸). Unit mass peaks from m/z 1–300 were also used and results are comparable (see Figure S-3²⁸). Five characteristic FA peaks (m/z 199, 213, 227, 241, and 255, corresponding to C12, C13, C14, C15, and C16 FAs) were used in image PCA.²⁷ Images representing each PC were reconstructed from the score matrix using the red, green, and blue (RGB) color scale.Using depth profiling, we drilled through the SiN membrane and collected depth-resolved images of the live biofilm (Figure 1(a)). Our analysis of the negative ToF-SIMS spectra after SiN punch-through showed Shewanella FA fragments in the m/z 195–255 range.²⁰ From the depth profile time series, we selected five regions (highlighted as I, II, III IV, and V) within the FA m/z range to visualize 2D spatially resolved images collected for 46 s (1000 scans) before (I), during (II), or after (III, IV, V) SiN membrane punch-through.²⁰ When false color 2D images of FA fragments characteristic of Shewanella biofilms were selected from the dynamic depth profiling data, differences were observed (Figure 1(b)) among the five regions. Furthermore, the biofilm images after SiN membrane punch-through (III, IV, V) displayed variations across the 2 μm diameter surfaces, with C12 (m/z 199) being distributed across regions III, IV, and V and C15 (m/z 241) FAs mostly in region V (see Figure S-4 for additional FA images²⁸). This suggested that depth-resolved chemical heterogeneities were present in the biofilm. To illustrate, we reconstructed the 2D images from depth profiling data within the biofilm region (from the beginning of III through the end of V) and show spatially resolved 3D chemical images within the entire sample (Figure 1(c) and movies S1-S3²⁸). The reconstructed 3D images revealed the heterogeneous spatial distribution overlay for C12 (red) and C15 (green) FAs during 302 s biofilm depth profiling from day 5 (Figure S-5²⁸) and day 6 (Figure 1(c)).Open in a separate windowFIG. 1.(a) ToF-SIMS depth profiling of the day 6 biofilm attached to the SiN membrane in the microfluidic channel. Five regions representing sample before SiN punch-through (I) during punch-through (II) or within the biofilm region (III, IV, and V) are illustrated. (b) 2D false color images of day 6 biofilm FAs at the five time regions highlighted in (a). (c) Reconstructed 3D day 6 biofilm images showing FA fragment distributions within the entire biofilm region (III–V, 302 s). The time axis represents depth profiling from near the SiN surface into the biofilm. (d) Spectra PCA score plot of day 6 biofilm showing the differences and similarities among selected five regions (m/z 199–255). A 95% confidence limit for each region was defined by an ellipse with the same color to the corresponding region clusters. (e) Loadings of PC1 and PC2 corresponding to (d) and the plot of PC variance contributions.Spectral PCA was used to analyze the m/z spectra. The deepest region (V) into the biofilm was the most different from the other two biofilm regions (III and IV), further confirming the heterogeneities observed in the 2D images (e.g., C12 and C15 FA fragments) contributing most to this spatial difference. In addition, C12 FA fragments played a key role in the biofilms imaged near the SiN membrane attachment surface (III and IV). When inspected individually, C12 FAs were observed throughout the entire biofilm region, suggesting that C12 FA fragments may play a role in biofilm attachment to a surface and they may be main components of EPS throughout the biofilm. In contrast, C15 FAs were more abundant deeper within the biofilm, indicating that they may be more relevant to bacteria cells themselves.Uniform sputtering rate was assumed during depth profiling. To better determine the depth and shape of the SIMS ionization crater, AFM measurements were collected using an agarose sample in the SALVI reactor as a proxy for the biofilms (Figure S-6²⁸). The AFM results showed that the 100 nm SiN was drilled through and confirmed that the biofilm interface was probed by ToF-SIMS. Ideally, real-time correlative AFM and ToF-SIMS measurements will be needed due to the self-healing property of biofilms. However, such capability is currently under development.To further analyze chemical differences within biofilms, we performed ToF-SIMS depth profiling at three locations along the microchannel; namely, the inlet, center, and outlet as illustrated in Figure S-1(b).²⁸ At each location, we defined the five regions described in Figure 1(a), and 2D image PCA analysis was conducted on the biofilm region (from the beginning of III through the end of V) to visualize the chemical distributions on day 6. Figure 2(a) shows the loading plots for the m/z peaks that contribute to each PC image (Figure 2(b)). The first three PCs explained 93.79% of the variance within the data. For PC1, the strongest positive loading fragments were C12 and C15 FAs, which are the bright red areas in three PC1 images. The C12 FAs were the main contributor to the green regions in the PC2 image. The strongest loading for PC3 in blue was C14 FAs. Compared to PC1 and PC2, PC3 played a limited contribution to the overall spatial distribution discrimination. The merged images give a demonstration of chemical spatial distribution of key components of biofilms in the liquid microenvironment.Open in a separate windowFIG. 2.(a) Image PCA loading plots illustrating the contribution of each FA peak in the day 6 biofilm at three locations within the microfluidic channel. The variance contributions of each PC are shown at the bottom. (b) Reconstructed false-color 2D PCA images in RGB corresponding to each PC scores at these locations along the microfluidic channel. The RGB composite images of the three key PCs are depicted in the bottom. Only data within the 2 μm diameter circle were considered in analysis.Our results show that SALVI and liquid ToF-SIMS studies of live biofilms offer dynamic, depth-resolved chemical mapping and produce 2D and 3D visualizations of spatial heterogeneity within a biofilm. Chemical imaging of biofilms near the attachment interface can enhance our understanding of biofilm formation in environmental, medical, and industrial settings. Our approach provides a universal portable platform and enables in situ probing of complex living biological systems potentially across multiple time and space scales. Because of the portability and vacuum compatibility, SALVI offers a valuable linkage with proteomic mass spectrometry via microfluidics and a nondestructive package for integrative in situ analysis of live biological systems in system biology.     

Trauma‐Informed Response in the Age of Title IX: Considerations for College Counselors Working With Survivors of Power‐Based Personal Violence

Intimate partner violence, sexual violence, and stalking are pervasive in the United States, and college women are disproportionately affected by this power‐based personal violence (PBPV). Title IX mandates that colleges and universities offer support services to trauma survivors, and college counselors should be prepared to meet this need. Therefore, this article serves to explore a diverse assortment of trauma‐informed counseling techniques, based in feminist theory, for college counselors working with PBPV survivors.     

The effect of attentional focus cues on object control performance in elementary children

Background and purpose: Attentional focus cues have been shown to impact motor performance of adults and children. Specifically, an external focus of attention results in improved motor learning and performance as compared to adopting an internal focus of attention. The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of an internal and external attentional focus cue on children’s object control skill performance during a commonly used motor skill assessment.

Methods: Using a within-participant design, a total of 44 children (M_age?=?7.7 years, 20 boys and 24 girls) completed all three attentional focus conditions. The object control subscale of the Test of Gross Motor Development-2nd Edition (TGMD-2; Ulrich, 2000. Test of Gross Motor Development-2. Austin: Pro-Ed.) served as the motor skill assessment in present study. The TGMD-2 is a normed and criteria-referenced assessment frequently used to assess fundamental motor skill competence in children. The object control subtest of the TGMD-2 assesses a child’s ability to complete six fundamental motor skills – striking a stationary ball, stationary dribble, catch, kick, overhand throw, and underhand roll. All participants completed the object control subtest of the TGMD-2 under three different attentional focus conditions: baseline (i.e. neutral focus), internal, and external. The internal cue focused on movement performance and the external cue focused on movement outcome. In all three conditions, a video demonstration of proper skill performance was used to ensure no difference in visual demonstration, but the overlaying audio was changed to encompass each attentional focus condition. Children’s motor performance was recorded and later coded by a single researcher blinded to the study. A repeated-measures analysis of variance was used to determine if children’s motor scores changed among the three conditions.

Results: Findings demonstrated that children’s performance differed among the three conditions (F_(2,43)?=?3.5, p?Post hoc analysis revealed that children scored significantly better in the external cue condition compared to the baseline (difference?=?1.98, p?Conclusion: Children performed better when given a verbal instruction to focus their attention externally rather than a verbal instruction with no attentional focus cue. No significant differences exist between the internal and external focus condition or between the neutral and internal condition. Our findings align with the literature and support that external attentional focus cues have a positive effect on motor performance. From a teaching and learning standpoint, using consistent instructions appears to be essential for young learners. Slight changes in verbal cues can have a significant effect on how well children execute fundamental motor skills.     

Building capacity among health care librarians to teach evidence-based practice—an evaluation

Objective:An innovative funding scheme for health care librarians to attend an intensive short course in teaching evidence-based practice was established in the West of England in 2016. This evaluation aims to understand the value of the scheme and the impact of the training opportunity for the librarians, establish an evidence base for continuing with the funding scheme, and inform the development of plans to build additional capacity among health care librarians to provide critical appraisal training.Methods:Seven librarians working in health care system settings were funded by the scheme between 2016 and 2018. Post-course feedback forms gathered initial views on course content and delivery, which informed the development of questions for the qualitative phase of the evaluation. All seven librarians participated in group discussions and individual interviews.Results:The course boosted confidence, provided valuable new skills, and positively impacted careers of the librarians through access to new opportunities. It inspired the development of new approaches to critical appraisal training. An important need was identified among the librarians for more education in teaching. Librarians funded by the scheme have successfully cascaded the training to their colleagues.Conclusion:This evaluation supports the continuation of the funding scheme to further build capacity among health care librarians to teach evidence-based practice. It suggests additional investment in this type of specialist training, as well as in education in teaching skills, would be beneficial for health care librarians. Evidence from this evaluation is informing new plans to support these professionals with the vital service they provide, which contributes to the evidence-based culture of their organizations and to patient outcomes.     

Measuring conceptual understanding in randomised controlled trials: Can comparative judgement help?

An impediment to conducting high-quality quantitative research studies in education is the paucity of valid measures of learning gains. Studies often seek to investigate students’ deep, conceptual understanding yet many measures assess only surface, procedural understanding. One reason is that the development of validated measures of conceptual understanding is resource intensive and time consuming, and success is not guaranteed. We evaluated a novel and efficient technique, based on comparative judgement, for assessing conceptual understanding. We applied the technique to a randomised controlled trial in which students were taught simple algebra based on either the Grid Algebra or the MiGen software package. The participants were Year 5 students (N = 188) drawn from four primary schools who had not encountered algebra previously. An instrument from the literature (Concepts in Secondary Mathematics and Science: Algebra Scale) and a novel comparative judgement assessment were administered following the intervention. Students in the Grid Algebra condition outperformed those in the MiGen condition on both post-test measures. The comparative judgement technique performed similarly to the standard instrument but was far more efficient to design and implement. The technique can, in principle, be quickly applied to any target concept of interest. We conclude that comparative judgement is a valid, reliable and practical tool that could help to increase both the quantity and quality of quantitative research in education.     

Who Cares About Caring in Early Childhood Teacher Education Programs?

The ability to care for oneself, near and distant others, animals, plants, human-made objects, and even ideas is an antidote for violence in its many forms as experienced in childhood as well as adulthood. This article makes a case for facilitating the development of the ability to care as children develop. The authors emphasize the importance of teachers facilitating this development. However, early education teachers may not be able to nurture the ability to care in others without the ability to care being facilitated in their own development. This article emphasizes the importance of creating caring teacher education programs as a model to foster its development in preservice early education teachers.