Exploring Daily Physical Activity and Nutrition Patterns in Early Learning Settings: Snapshots of Young Children in Head Start,Primary, and After-School Settings

The purpose of this research project was to gain a greater understanding of daily routines of 4–7 year olds regarding physical activity and nutrition practices in typical early learning environments. The settings selected for this observational study included Head Start, primary, and after-school learning environments in a city in the southeast. Specifically, this exploratory study focused on the research question: What are typical daily physical activity and nutrition patterns in community-based early learning settings for young children 4–7 years of age in the United States? Two overarching themes were identified through data analysis: restriction of activity and restriction of physical movement. Results indicated that children in elementary school settings had fewer opportunities for indoor and outdoor physical activity than children in other settings and that children seek to be physically active and will do so when given the opportunity. Increasing time for both structured and unstructured physical activity and play for children ages 4–7 in early learning settings was recommended by the researchers.     

Social Networking: Boundaries and Limits Part 1: Ethics

The number of educators, administrators, and institutions that utilize social networking has increased dramatically. Many have adopted social networking in order to be up-to-date and connected with their students’ learning beyond the boundaries of the classroom. However, this increase in the use of social networking in academia presents many potential issues. In this paper, we address the growing prevalence of social networking in education and some of the issues. Next, we use social role theory to explore some pitfalls for educators using social networking. Finally, we suggest that foundational ethical principles from the field of psychology can provide a basis for developing guiding principles for use of social networking in education.     

Chinese Family Groups' Museum Visit Motivations: A Comparative Study of Beijing and Vancouver

This comparative study explored Chinese family groups' dominant visit motivations in science museums and aquariums in order to understand the perceptions of these audiences, who are an under‐represented cultural demographic in the literature. In this study, 503 Chinese participants—131 in the China Science and Technology Museum, Beijing; 127 in the Beijing Aquarium, Beijing; 136 in Science World British Columbia, Vancouver; and 109 in the Vancouver Aquarium, Vancouver—completed a Family Group Visit Motivation Questionnaire. The results report four dominant visit motivations for these Chinese family groups. Significant differences in a fifth motivation, social interaction, were detected in comparing the Beijing and Vancouver Chinese family samples. Also, Chinese family groups were more likely to perceive science museums to be settings that can satisfy their educational and personal interest needs, compared to aquariums. This study provides insights for science museums and aquarium practitioners to better understand this audience demographic.     

Accuracy and Precision

Within the framework of a two-hour interactive lecture, we explore the related ideas of accuracy and precision in calculation. The aim is to show that numerical data must be understood as numbers in a context.