Lead contamination of public drinking water and academic achievements among children in Massachusetts: a panel study

Background Public drinking water can be an important source exposure to lead, which can affect children’s cognitive development and academic performance. Few studies have looked at the impact of lead exposures from community water supplies or their impact on school achievements. We examined the association between annual community water lead levels (WLLs) and children’s academic performances at the school district level. Methods We matched the 90th percentile WLLs with the grade 3–8 standardized test scores from the Stanford Education Data Archive on Geographic School Districts by geographic location and year. We used multivariate linear regression and adjusted for urbanicity, race, socioeconomic characteristics, school district, grade, and year. We also explored potential effect measure modifications and lag effects. Results After adjusting for potential confounders, a 5 μg/L increase in 90th percentile WLLs in a GSD was associated with a 0.00684 [0.00021, 0.01348] standard deviation decrease in the average math test score in the same year. No association was found for English Language Arts. Conclusions We found an association between the annual fluctuation of WLLs and math test scores in Massachusetts school districts, after adjusting for confounding by urbanicity, race, socioeconomic factors, school district, grade, and year. The implications of a detectable effect of WLLs on academic performance even at the modest levels evident in MA are significant and timely. Persistent efforts should be made to further reduce lead in drinking water.

The Mediating Effect of Creativity on the Relationship Between Mathematic Achievement and Programming Self-Efficacy

Purpose: This study aimed to explore the relationship between mathematic achievement and programming self-efficacy, and adopt a mediation model to verify the mediating role of creativity on the relationship between mathematic achievement and programming self-efficacy.Methods: A total of 950 upper-secondary school students were surveyed using their math test scores, the Kirton Adaption-Innovation and the Programmed Self-Efficacy Scale. SPSS-26 was used for descriptive statistical analysis and correlation analysis of related variables. The PROCESS plugin was used to test the mediating effect of creativity.Results: (1) Mathematic achievement has a positive effect on programming self-efficacy, mathematic achievement is positively related to creativity, and creativity also has a positive influence on programming self-efficacy. (2) Creativity has a mediating effect on the relationship between mathematic achievement and programming self-efficacy.Conclusion: The results revealed that mathematic achievement affected programming self-efficacy directly and also indirectly through creativity. This provided certain ideas for the development of programming education for teenagers. Since students’ mathematics learning and creativity are related to programming learning, it is necessary to pay attention to the integration of the disciplines of programming education and mathematics. Further, the cultivation of innovative thinking is also critical to facilitate programming learning.

Impact of Active Breaks in the Classroom on Mathematical Performance and Attention in Elementary School Children

Background: The increasing need to face the problem of sedentarism, especially in the COVID-19 era, induced teachers and researchers to find new intervention methodologies in school context. Active breaks (ABs) include brief periods of physical activity as a part of the curriculum. This study aimed to investigate the AB acute responses on attentive skills and mathematical performance and attention in a primary school. Methods: A total of 141 children (aged 9.61 ± 0.82), divided into six classes, participated in this study. Each class was randomly assigned to three groups on the basis of the type of protocol performed during the three ABs scheduled in a school day: fitness (FIT), creativity (CREAT), and control group (CON). At baseline and at the end of interventions, all participants underwent the Stroop Color and Word test (SCWT) and the math test (MATH) to assess the level of attention and mathematical performance, respectively. The degree of enjoyment was evaluated through the modified Physical Activity Enjoyment Scale. Results: The factorial ANOVA showed significant differences between the FIT and CON in MATH test (p = 0.023) and SCWT (p = 0.034). CREAT and FIT groups showed higher degree of enjoyment than the CON (both ps < 0.001). Conclusions: This study showed a positive acute impact of AB interventions. FIT positively influenced attentive and math performances more than the CREAT, probably due to the correct work/rest ratio and executive rhythm that allowed children to reach a good level of exertion. This report showed that ABs can be a useful and productive activity to be performed between curricular lessons.

The effect of gender stereotypes on young girls’ intuitive number sense

Despite the global importance of science, engineering, and math-related fields, women are consistently underrepresented in these areas. One source of this disparity is likely the prevalence of gender stereotypes that constrain girls’ and women’s math performance and interest. The current research explores the developmental roots of these effects by examining the impact of stereotypes on young girls’ intuitive number sense, a universal skill that predicts later math ability. Across four studies, 762 children ages 3–6 were presented with a task measuring their Approximate Number System accuracy. Instructions given before the task varied by condition. In the two control conditions, the task was described to children either as a game or a test of eyesight ability. In the experimental condition, the task was described as a test of math ability and that researchers were interested in whether boys or girls were better at math and counting. Separately, we measured children’s explicit beliefs about math and gender. Results conducted on the combined dataset indicated that while only a small number of girls in the sample had stereotypes associating math with boys, these girls performed significantly worse on a test of Approximate Number System accuracy when it was framed as a math test rather than a game or an eyesight test. These results provide novel evidence that for young girls who do endorse stereotypes about math and gender, contextual activation of these stereotypes may impair their intuitive number sense, potentially affecting their acquisition of formal mathematics concepts and developing interest in math-related fields.

Kesalahan Siswa Sekolah Menengah Pertama dalam Menyelesaikan Soal Matematika Tipe Pisa

This study aimed to determine student errors and the factors that caused students to make mistakes in solving PISA-type math problems. Error analysis was carried out based on Newman's analysis through tests and interviews. This research was conducted in one of the junior high schools in the Province of the Bangka Belitung Islands, involving 26 students. Subjects were selected based on a purposive sampling technique with three considerations: academic ability, teacher recommendations, and student willingness. This study used the descriptive qualitative method. The PISA math test questions tested consisted of change and relationship, space and shape, quantity and uncertainty, and data content. The results showed that reading errors were 40.21%, comprehension errors were 41.86%, transformation errors were 87.29%, process skill error is 90.26%, and the answer writing error is 88.46%. While uncertain and data is the content with the most significant error percentage, which is 82.31%. In general, errors were caused by students who cannot relate PISA questions to the material they usually study, and students were not accustomed to working on PISA questions.

Smartphone Use and Academic Performance: A Pervasiveness Approach Beyond Addiction

Over the past decade, smartphones have permeated all domains of adolescents’ everyday lives, with research dominated by “smartphone addiction.” This study compares one of the most used measures of smartphone addiction with a new alternative measure, the Smartphone Pervasiveness Scale for Adolescents (SPS-A), which focuses on the frequency of smartphone use at key social and physiological moments of daily life. A sample of 3,289 Italian high school students was used to validate the two constructs and compare their suitability for research on academic performance. SPS-A was moderately correlated with smartphone addiction, showed measurement invariance (across ethnic origins, parental education, and gender), and negatively predicted language and math test scores. SPS-A is a nonpathologizing instrument suitable for analyzing the role of smartphone use in academic achievement in combination with students’ social backgrounds.

Sibling Gender Effects on Test Scores

This study examines the hypothesis that having an older sister causes one to perform relatively better at reading. For the analysis, a cross-subject analysis is conducted to examine a student's relative reading test score (reading test score minus math test score) based on older sibling gender. We found that a student's relative reading test score is larger when the student has an older sister than when he or she has an older brother. Further analyses show that although conversation frequency does not vary based on older sibling gender, siblings are more likely to talk about studying, career paths, or school life when an older sibling is a sister than when an older sibling is a brother.

Isolation, characterization and optimization of bacterial isolate SARR1 for biodegradation of pretreated low density polyethylene

Accumulation of low-density polyethylene (LDPE) has caused a threat to the environment because of its stable and inert nature as it cannot be degraded easily by microorganisms. Its lightweight, low cost, strength, durability, and its various other applications, have led to the wide usage of the polymer, which is exerting a negative effect on both marine and land biota. The development of an eco-friendly or a promising strategy is needed to reduce LDPE waste from both land and water. In the present study, observations have been made to isolate highly efficient LDPE degrading bacteria. The response surface methodology (RSM) was used to predict the best optimization of media for the degradation of LDPE by isolate SARR1. The isolate SARR1 was selected through primary screening by weight loss method and secondary screening using CO2 evolution test, TTC and MATH Test. The isolate SARR1 showed 6.30 ± 0.25 g/L CO2 evolution. The microbial adhesion hydrophobicity (MATH) was observed during log phase (100 to 56.89 ± 0.97 %) and stationary phase (100 to 82.92 ± 1.24 %). An isolate SARR1 converted the TTC into red coloured insoluble triphenyl formazan (TPF) after incubation of 7 days. The isolated bacteria SARR1 showed 38.3 ± 1.27 % biodegradation efficiency in the pretreated LDPE strips at 37 °C and pH 7.0 under optimized conditions within 30 days of incubation. This bioremediation and biodegradation approach is eco-friendly and safe for the environment. The results of treatment with isolate SARR1 had a potential hope to degrade LDPE at higher rate than natural degradation.

The effect of brief anxiety interventions on reported anxiety and math test performance

Research suggests that math and test anxiety have detrimental impacts on performance in math. To prevent these effects, a number of interventions have been developed, but these interventions have not been extensively tested. In the current study, we examine whether four brief anxiety interventions reduce state anxiety and/or increase math performance. We also examine whether any of the interventions weaken the relation between math or test anxiety and math performance. Participants were 300 college students varying in math and test anxiety levels. Participants were randomly assigned to one of four single-session interventions, which each took 5 minutes or less (reappraisal as challenge, reappraisal as excitement, expressive writing, and look ahead), or a no intervention control group. Results generally show that none of the interventions had an effect on reports of state anxiety or performance on a difficult math assessment, with the exception that students in the expressive writing condition reported higher levels of state anxiety. None of the interventions served to attenuate the relation between math or test anxiety and math performance. These findings were not consistent with results of previous work, and suggest that interventions may need to be more extensive in order to have an effect on state anxiety and math performance.