Overcoming a Hurricane and Maintaining Wellness in College Student Physical Education

Background: With instructional time lost due to natural disasters, it is essential to examine the effect of a physical education course (PED 101) on college student well-being and motivation.Aim: This research examines the effect of physical education classes with a wellness component on wellness and motivation during a disruptive hurricane.Methods: A pre and posttest survey methodology was utilized to measure well-being and motivation, including by gender and exercise frequency, using the Wellness Inventory on college students enrolled in PED 101 who experienced Hurricane Florence.Results: All 12 dimensions of participants' wellness and their motivation to make changes in those wellness dimensions increased by the end of the hurricane semester. The results found significant changes between the pre- and post-assessment scores for all dimensions of wellness and motivation for male and female participants, as well as for all levels of exercise frequency.Conclusions: Including a well-being and motivation component in a college level physical education curriculum may enhance students' overall well-being and motivation during a disruptive hurricane.

An emergency flipped classroom intervention in an L2 Dutch course: An action research study

The flipped classroom has been gaining increasing popularity over the last decade, especially in the university context. This pedagogical approach not only contributes to students’ engagement and motivation, but also enables a more flexible management of instructional time in class, which makes it a promising option for emergency situations. In October 2020, a ‘Women’s Strike’ took place in Poland, influencing the teaching schedule in numerous higher education institutions. Since these circumstances caused a problem with managing the course and making it possible for the students to catch up with the new material, an action research investigation was undertaken to explore the applicability of the flipped classroom in an emergency situation. Hence, this article describes the evaluation of a flipped classroom emergency intervention with one group of first-year students of Dutch Studies at Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań.

Understanding Nutrition Education and Physical Activity Instruction in Rural Elementary Schools

We surveyed K-6 classroom teachers in four rural counties in Oregon to ascertain current nutrition and physical activity and/or physical education (PA/PE) instruction, barriers to teaching these subjects, and interest and need for professional development. Although most respondents reported teaching nutrition and PA/PE in their classrooms and appear to place high importance on teaching these subjects, reported delivery time was low. Extension can play an influential role in ensuring that students receive adequate nutrition and PA/PE instructional time by providing support to teachers through professional development, direct education in the classroom, and policy, systems and environmental change.

The effect of learning condition on memory for and integration of related information

Although we often are tasked with learning pieces of information that are related in some way in educational settings, the learning conditions that promote learning of and connections across related information are still poorly understood. In this thesis, I asked: Which instruction methods promote learning of and connections across (integration of) related information? In the two experiments in this thesis, participants were presented related information in two different formats, and we assessed their memory for related information, in addition to how well they could integrate related information to derive new knowledge. The two presentation formats incorporated the same number of exposures of related information, but the sequence with which information was presented was manipulated: In one presentation format (blocked) participants strongly learn one set of information, before being confronted with a related set of information, whereas participants learn related information in parallel in the other (interleaved). In Experiment 1, we found that blocked presentation enhanced both memory for and integration of related information. However, given potential effects of testing order on our results, we more closely examined memory for related information in Experiment 2. In Experiment 2, we no longer found a difference in overall memory for related information between the two presentation formats. In fact, we found evidence that presence of shared information enhanced learning of related information after interleaved presentation only. Regardless, the results of both experiments demonstrated that manipulating just the sequence with which information is presented, without increasing the number of exposures, can enhance learning, an impactful finding in an era of increased pressures to maximize instructional time.

The effect of learning condition on memory for and integration of related information

Although we often are tasked with learning pieces of information that are related in some way in educational settings, the learning conditions that promote learning of and connections across related information are still poorly understood. In this thesis, I asked: Which instruction methods promote learning of and connections across (integration of) related information? In the two experiments in this thesis, participants were presented related information in two different formats, and we assessed their memory for related information, in addition to how well they could integrate related information to derive new knowledge. The two presentation formats incorporated the same number of exposures of related information, but the sequence with which information was presented was manipulated: In one presentation format (blocked) participants strongly learn one set of information, before being confronted with a related set of information, whereas participants learn related information in parallel in the other (interleaved). In Experiment 1, we found that blocked presentation enhanced both memory for and integration of related information. However, given potential effects of testing order on our results, we more closely examined memory for related information in Experiment 2. In Experiment 2, we no longer found a difference in overall memory for related information between the two presentation formats. In fact, we found evidence that presence of shared information enhanced learning of related information after interleaved presentation only. Regardless, the results of both experiments demonstrated that manipulating just the sequence with which information is presented, without increasing the number of exposures, can enhance learning, an impactful finding in an era of increased pressures to maximize instructional time.

Augmenting State Capacity for Child Development: Experimental Evidence from India

We use a large-scale randomized experiment to study the impact of augmenting staffing in the world’s largest public early childhood program: India’s Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS). Adding a half-time worker doubled net preschool instructional time and led to 0.29σ and 0.46σ increases in math and language test scores after 18 months for children who remained enrolled in the program. Rates of stunting and severe malnutrition were also lower in the treatment group. A cost-benefit analysis suggests that the benefits of augmenting ICDS staffing are likely to significantly exceed its costs even under conservative assumptions.

Kindergarten in a Large Urban District

Using data from 82 classroom observations conducted in a large urban school district, we explore how kindergartners spend their time in general and across schools serving children from lower and higher income households. Consistent with prior research, we find that kindergartners spend the majority of instructional time on reading and mathematics, with little time devoted to other subjects. On average, 2.5 hours are spent on noninstructional activities such as transitions. Kindergartners in lower income schools spend more time on reading and mathematics and experience more noninstructional time. They also spend substantially less time being physically active and have fewer opportunities to choose their own activities than their peers in higher income schools.