Is more child-initiated always better? Exploring relations between child-initiated instruction and preschoolers’ school readiness

Although research suggests that the use of child-initiated vs. teacher-directed instructional practices in early childhood education has implications for learning and development, the precise nature of these effects remains unclear. Using data from the Midwest Child-Parent Center (CPC) Expansion Project, the present study examined the possibility that a blend of child- and teacher-directed practices best promotes school readiness among preschoolers experiencing high levels of sociodemographic risk and explored whether the optimal blend varies based on child characteristics. Sixty-two CPC preschool teachers reported their instructional practices throughout the year, using a newly developed questionnaire—the Classroom Activity Report (CAR). The average reported proportion of child-initiated instruction was examined in relation to students’ end-of-year performance on a routine school readiness assessment (N = 1289). Although there was no main effect of child-initiated instruction on school readiness, there was a significant interaction between instruction and student age. Four-year-olds’ school readiness generally improved as the proportion of child-initiated time increased, while 3-year-olds showed a U-shaped pattern. The present findings add to the evidence that child-initiated instruction might support preschoolers’ school readiness, although they also suggest this relation may not always be linear. They also point to the importance of examining instructional strategies in relation to student characteristics, in order to tailor strategies to the student population. The CAR has potential as a brief, practical measurement tool that can support program monitoring and professional development.

Nutrition Literacy Measurement Tool With Multiple Features for Chinese Adults

Background: Nutrition literacy is an emerging term which is increasingly used in policy and research. Progression is limited by the lack of an accepted method to measure nutrition literacy in Chinese adult, even research in this area is growing. Objective: The objective of this study is to develop a valid instrument to assess nutrition literacy in Chinese adults. Methods: The process involved 2 steps: constructed nutrition literacy conceptual framework, and developed potential items of scale based on literature review; and conducted 2 rounds of Delphi consultation to select items of the preliminary questionnaire. Results: In Delphi survey, the content validity index for each domain, level, and dimension of nutrition literacy was 1.0, coefficient of variation was less than 0.10, and Kendall’s coefficient of concordance was greater than 0.83. All of the 2 domains, 3 levels, and 6 dimensions initially formulated by our research team were reserved in the conceptual framework of nutrition literacy. Furthermore, a 43-item nutrition literacy measurement scale was established. Each item kept in the final scale reaches a high degree of concentration and a high degree of coordination, with the mean of importance ranging from 4.38 to 5.00. Conclusions: A nutrition literacy measurement scale with multiple features was established for Chinese adults, providing an operationalized tool to assess comprehensively nutrition literacy for research and practice in the field of nutrition, diet, and health.

Quality of meta-analyses of non-opioid, pharmacological, perioperative interventions for chronic postsurgical pain: a systematic review

BackgroundIn an attempt to aggregate observations from clinical trials, several meta-analyses have been published examining the effectiveness of systemic, non-opioid, pharmacological interventions to reduce the incidence of chronic postsurgical pain.ObjectiveTo inform the design and reporting of future studies, the purpose of our study was to examine the quality of these meta-analyses.Evidence reviewWe conducted an electronic literature search in Embase, MEDLINE, and the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. Published meta-analyses, from the years 2010 to 2020, examining the effect of perioperative, systemic, non-opioid pharmacological treatments on the incidence of chronic postsurgical pain in adult patients were identified. Data extraction focused on methodological details. Meta-analysis quality was assessed using the A Measurement Tool to Assess Systematic Reviews 2 (AMSTAR 2) critical appraisal tool.FindingsOur search yielded 17 published studies conducting 58 meta-analyses for gabapentinoids (gabapentin and pregabalin), ketamine, lidocaine, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, and mexiletine. According to AMSTAR 2, 88.2% of studies (or 15/17) were low or critically low in quality. The most common critical element missing was an analysis of publication bias. Trends indicated an improvement in quality over time and association with journal impact factor.ConclusionsWith few individual trials adequately powered to detect treatment effects, meta-analyses play a crucial role in informing the perioperative management of chronic postsurgical pain. In light of this inherent value and despite a number of attempts, high-quality meta-analyses are still needed.PROSPERO registration numberCRD42021230941.

Partial Discharge Diagnostics: Data Cleaning and Feature Extraction

Detection of partial discharge (PD) in switchgears requires extensive data collection and time-consuming analyses. Data from real live operational environments pose great challenges in the development of robust and efficient detection algorithms due to overlapping PDs and the strong presence of random white noise. This paper presents a novel approach using clustering for data cleaning and feature extraction of phase-resolved partial discharge (PRPD) plots derived from live operational data. A total of 452 PRPD 2D plots collected from distribution substations over a six-month period were used to test the proposed technique. The output of the clustering technique is evaluated on different types of machine learning classification techniques and the accuracy is compared using balanced accuracy score. The proposed technique extends the measurement abilities of a portable PD measurement tool for diagnostics of switchgear condition, helping utilities to quickly detect potential PD activities with minimal human manual analysis and higher accuracy.

Accuracy of Body Mass Index and Obesity Status in Police Trainees

The first aim of this study was to compare body mass index (BMI) (indirect method) classification with the body fat percent (PBF) (direct method) and to determine how BMI classifies subjects with different levels of skeletal muscle mass percent (PSMM). The second aim was to determine the prevalence of overweight and obesity status among police trainees (PTs). A total of 103 male PTs participated in this research: age = 21.46 ± 0.64 years, body mass (BM) = 75.97 ± 8.10 kg, body height (BH) = 174.07 ± 6.31 cm, BMI = 25.05 ± 2.12 kg/m2. The InBody 370 multichannel bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) measured body composition. Study results indicated that muscular PTs could be misclassified as overweight and that PBF identified more subjects as obese. Namely, three PTs were obese according to BMI, while 13 were obese according to PBF. The information provided by this research could be used to help professionals understand the importance of measuring body composition, and the inaccuracies in BMI classification. In conclusion, whenever possible PSMM and PBF should replace the utilization of BMI to screen overweight and obesity in PTs. Agencies may think of using BIA as non-invasive, quick and inexpensive measurement tool.

Reliability of hip joint position sense tests using a clinically applicable measurement tool in elderly participants with unilateral hip osteoarthritis

Hip joint proprioception is vital in maintaining posture and stability in elderly individuals. Examining hip joint position sense (JPS) using reliable tools is important in contemporary clinical practice. The objective of this study is to evaluate the intra-rater and inter-rater reliability of hip JPS tests using a clinically applicable measurement tool in elderly individuals with unilateral hip osteoarthritis (OA). Sixty-two individuals (mean age = 67.5 years) diagnosed with unilateral hip OA participated in this study. The JPS tests were evaluated using a digital inclinometer in hip flexion and abduction directions. The absolute difference between target and reproduced angle (repositioning error) in degrees was taken to measure JPS accuracy. The intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC (2.k), was used to assess the reliability. The Intra rater-reliability for hip JPS tests showed very good agreement in the lying position (hip flexion-ICC = 0.88–0.92; standard error of measurement (SEM) = 0.06–0.07, hip abduction-ICC = 0.89–0.91; SEM = 0.06–0.07) and good agreement in the standing position (hip flexion-ICC = 0.69–0.72; SEM = 0.07, hip abduction-ICC = 0.66–0.69; SEM = 0.06–0.08). Likewise, inter-rater reliability for hip JPS tests demonstrated very good agreement in the lying position (hip flexion-ICC = 0.87–0.89; SEM = 0.06–0.07, hip abduction-ICC = 0.87–0.91; SEM = 0.07) and good agreement in the standing position (hip flexion-ICC = 0.64–0.66; SEM = 0.08, hip abduction-ICC = 0.60–0.72; SEM = 0.06–0.09). The results support the use of hip JPS tests in clinical practice and should be incorporated in assessing and managing elderly participants with hip OA.

EGO DEPLETION AND ACADEMIC DISHONESTY IN STUDENTS COLLEGE DURING PANDEMI COVID-19

The COVID-19 pandemic is still being felt until September 2021 in several countries around the world. We examine the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, especially on unethical behavior during online learning—other phenomena such as ego depletion trigger academic dishonesty behavior that occurs. A total of 92 students participated in this research. The measurement tool uses the ego depletion scale and the academic dishonesty scale. The results show that ego depletion is a significant predictor of academic dishonesty. The contribution of ego depletion to academic dishonesty is 16.3%. Ego fatigue makes students choose an easier academic path, which they feel has been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. So that the behavior of academic dishonesty increases. The implications and research suggestions are discussed in detail.

Rates of sustainment in the Universal Stages of Implementation Completion

Background Sustainment is a desirable outcome of implementation, but its precise definition remains unclear, contributing to the difficulty of identifying a generalized rate of sustainment. Several studies and reviews on the topic differ on both definition and levels of analysis. Furthermore, methodological limitations might have influenced the results, including the unknown quality with which some interventions were delivered. The Universal Stages of Implementation Completion (UniSIC) is a standardized measurement tool that tracks the implementation process and milestone completion across a wide range of real-world implementations—this provides a unique opportunity to identify a generalized rate of sustainment. Methods UniSIC data was captured from the SIC website on 27 September 2020 and included data from all sites (n = 1778) that had been tracked to date. Data were restricted to sites that achieved competency in program delivery, and thus had a newly adopted program worthy of sustainment. Dates and indicator variables of implementation activities were combined to form two alternate definitions of sustainment: sustained (start-up) was achieved if sites continued to deliver services 2 years past their program start-up date; sustained (competent) was achieved if sites continued to deliver services 2 years past their competence and/or certification date. Of sites eligible for inclusion based on these definitions (N = 208), descriptive analyses were conducted to determine a rate of sustainment for all programs that successfully started a program. These definitions were also applied to a combined sample for a general rate of sustainment among all sites. Rates of competency among both a sample of sites that started up and a combined sample were also identified. Results The rate of competence was 58.5% and the rate of sustained (start-up) was 37.1%, while the rate of sustained (competent) was 25.1%. The rates of competence and sustainment among the combined samples were far lower: 15.6% for competence, 6.8% for sustained (start-up), and 4.4% for sustained (competent). Conclusions These identified rates of sustainment are accurate initial estimates of sustainment of community-based practices, or in general. Future research on rates of sustainment should carefully define measures of sustainment and be transparent about the real-world conditions on which analyses are centered.

Development and Validation of Digital Literacy Scale (DLS) and its Implication for Higher Education

The study aimes to develop and validate Digital Literacy Scale (DLS) based on Chen’s (2015) theoretical framework which includes nine dimensions: communication, collaboration, critical thinking, creativity, citizenship, character, curation, copyright, and connectedness. A question pool consisting of 62 items based on the nine dimensions of digital literacy was generated on a 5-point Likert-type scale. Content validity of the question pool was sought from experts in terms of clarity of items, language understanding, and relevance. SPSS and AMOS were used for statistical analysis. Using a sample of 349 university students, Exploratory Factor Analysis was employed for reliability analysis, construct validation, and factor structure of the scale. EFA confirms the nine dimensions; however, some items were deleted during this process. Finally, Confirmatory Factor Analysis was employed to check the reliability and validity of the factor structure by using a second sample (n=442). CFA showed that all the values were within the acceptable range (Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin 0.886, the total variance explained 62.87%, Cronbach Alpha 0.894, and the goodness of fit 0.924). Thus a standardized DLS consisting of 36 items and 9 factors (communication, copyright, critical thinking, character, citizenship, curation, connectedness, creativity, and collaboration) was finalized. DLS is a psychometrically sound, reliable, and valid measurement tool that can be used to measure digital literacy.

Understanding the National Student Satisfaction Survey in Light of Intellectual Capital Framework

The study aims to examine whether an online national student survey can contribute to the understanding of intellectual capital in higher education institutions. The study adopts a performance management and measurement perspective towards NSS and applies the lens of intellectual capital measurement theory which distinguishes between human, relational, and structural capitals. By adopting a conceptual and explorative research approach, the study is based on an intensive analysis of document sources related to the Norwegian online national student survey – Study Barometer. The results suggest that the Norwegian national student survey reflects certain categories of the intellectual capital framework – including those categories that are of interest to university stakeholders. However, the scope of the intellectual capital categories in the survey is limited to a few certain items. The study concludes that national online student survey can be used as a performance measurement tool and assist our understanding of the IC in HEIs – even though to a limited degree.