The Effect of Standing Versus Sitting on Creativity in Adolescents—A Crossover Randomized Trial: The PHIT2LEARN Study

Creativity is important for school performance. As several brain mechanisms involved in creativity are stimulated by low-intensity physical activity, standing might influence creativity. Few studies on the relationship between standing and creativity have been executed, and none among vocational education and training (VET) students. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate whether standing influences creativity in VET students. In a randomized crossover study, 192 VET students were randomly allocated to standing or sitting (i.e., control) for 30 min. After 15 min, they performed two creativity tests: Guilford's Alternative Uses Test (divergent thinking) and Remote Associates Test (convergent thinking). Subsequently, conditions were switched, and the procedure was repeated. Multilevel analyses showed no significant effect of standing on divergent or convergent thinking test performance. Our results show that 30 min of standing does not affect creativity in VET students.     

Granularity matters: comparing different ways of measuring self-regulated learning

Metacognition and Learning - Although self-regulated learning (SRL) is becoming increasingly important in modern educational contexts, disagreements exist regarding its measurement. One...     

Identifying waking time in 24-h accelerometry data in adults using an automated algorithm

As accelerometers are commonly used for 24-h measurements of daily activity, methods for separating waking from sleeping time are necessary for correct estimations of total daily activity levels accumulated during the waking period. Therefore, an algorithm to determine wake and bed times in 24-h accelerometry data was developed and the agreement of this algorithm with self-report was examined. One hundred seventy-seven participants (aged 40–75 years) of The Maastricht Study who completed a diary and who wore the activPAL3? 24 h/day, on average 6 consecutive days were included. Intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) was calculated and the Bland–Altman method was used to examine associations between the self-reported and algorithm-calculated waking hours. Mean self-reported waking hours was 15.8 h/day, which was significantly correlated with the algorithm-calculated waking hours (15.8 h/day, ICC = 0.79, P = < 0.001). The Bland–Altman plot indicated good agreement in waking hours as the mean difference was 0.02 h (95% limits of agreement (LoA) = ?1.1 to 1.2 h). The median of the absolute difference was 15.6 min (Q1–Q3 = 7.6–33.2 min), and 71% of absolute differences was less than 30 min. The newly developed automated algorithm to determine wake and bed times was highly associated with self-reported times, and can therefore be used to identify waking time in 24-h accelerometry data in large-scale epidemiological studies.     

Sources and Determinants of Job Stress among Employees Working in Therapeutic Toddler Classes in Dutch Rehabilitation Centres

The first purpose of this study was to determine to what degree infant teachers and therapists in Dutch therapeutic toddler classes perceive job stress. Another purpose was to identify the sources of job stress. Further, this study examined whether infant teachers, physical, occupational and speech therapists have to cope with different degrees of job stress and, finally, the influence of staff characteristics on the degree of job stress was investigated. Sixty-two infant teachers and 88 therapists working in therapeutic toddler classes completed a questionnaire for job stress. Most job stress was perceived to be a result of lack of non-contact time. Nine sources of job stress were identified. The four disciplines responded differently to the sources of stress. Regression analysis showed profession to be the strongest predictor of job stress.