The effect of physical activity on fourth-grade students\u27 reading achievement in one elementary school

There is a critical need to improve students\u27 reading and comprehending ability. In 2011, Louisiana\u27s students scored well below the national average in reading on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). Research suggests there is a connection between physical activity and students\u27 ability to focus and comprehend during reading class, therefore improving reading comprehension. However, many school districts are cutting back physical activity time in favor of more academic time. The purpose of this 12-week study was to examine the effect of physical activity on fourth-grade students\u27 achievement in reading. A quasi-experimental design was used to study 108 fourth-grade students at one elementary school. The experimental group received 15 minutes of physical activity each day prior to reading class, while the control group had a story read to them. This study found the experimental group\u27s combined total comprehension and vocabulary posttest mean scores improved 15.36% over the pretest, while the control group\u27s posttest mean scores improved 3.12% over the pretest. The experimental group\u27s pretest and posttest comprehension mean score difference was statistically significant with a 19.34% increase, while the control group had a -3.95% decrease. Therefore, the main conclusion drawn from this study was that when physical activity occurs prior to fourth-grade students\u27 reading class, it does have a significant effect on students\u27 ability to comprehend. However, the difference between the vocabulary pretest and posttest mean scores did not indicate that physical activity had an effect on the students\u27 vocabulary, which indicated students may need more explicit instruction with new or unfamiliar words. Furthermore, there was no difference in students\u27 daily attendance, which suggested physical activity had no impact on motivating students to attend class more frequently. This research argues for the use of physical activity before reading class. Therefore, it is recommended to study physical activity with additional subjects such as mathematics, science, and social studies, all of which may provide a deeper understanding of the effects physical activity can have on students\u27 academic success. In addition, using more than one elementary school and lengthening the duration of the study may impact the outcome, as well

The Role of Service-Learning on College Students\u27 Environmental Literacy: Content Knowledge, Attitudes, and Behaviors

This study evaluated the relationship of environmental service-learning on environmental literacy in undergraduates. The subjects were 36 undergraduates at a small liberal arts university enrolled in an environmental biology course.To determine the role of environmental service-learning on college students’ environmental knowledge, attitudes, behaviors, and environmental literacy, this study utilized concurrent mixed methods approach for qualitative and quantitative analysis. A quasi-experimental repeated measures approach was the design of the quantitative component of the study.Data were collected on attitude, behavior, and content knowledge aspects of environmental literacy as measured by the Environmental Literacy Survey (Kibert, 2000). Hypotheses were tested by independent samples t-tests and repeated measures ANOVA.Repeated measures ANOVA conducted on participants’ three subscales scores for the Environmental Literacy Survey (attitude, behavior, and knowledge) indicated that students who participated in environmental service-learning scored statistically significantly higher than those that did not initially participate in service-learning. Qualitative data collected in the form of journal reflections and portfolios were evaluated for themes of environmental attitudes or affective statements, environmentally positive behaviors and skills, and ecological content. Quantitative and qualitative data support the positive role of environmental service-learning in the development of environmental literacy in undergraduate students

Manipulating Fate: Medical Innovations, Ethical Implications, Theatrical Illuminations

Transformative innovations in medicine and their ethical complexities create frequent confusion and misinterpretation that color the imagination. Placed in historical context, theatre provides a framework to reflect upon how the ethical, legal, and social implications of emerging technologies evolve over time and how attempts to control fate through medical science have shaped -- and been shaped by -- personal and professional relationships. The drama of these human interactions is powerful and has the potential to generate fear, create hope, transform identity, and inspire empathy -- a vivid source to observe the complex implications of translating research into clinical practice through the lens of other individuals. As the scientific landscape shifts at an ever increasing pace, it becomes even more essential to search for creative approaches to better understand the issues and to place them in historical and societal context. This article is structured in the format of a play with six Acts representing the evolution of societal issues raised by attempts to manipulate fate by advances in medical science. Excerpts from forty-six plays are integrated chronologically to reflect the ethical and legal context of their era -- and the analysis of the themes that reoccur over the centuries. Even though the power of technology continues to increase dramatically, raising more ethical implications, the urge to use medical innovations to manipulate our fate and those of others remains constant. This article is part of a broader bioethical and legal research project to stimulate interdisciplinary discourse on the implications of emerging medical technologies and to enhance the health policy process

Dichotomous Key

Dichotomous Key is a physical, visual, and conceptual exploration of American consumer culture . As an artist I use the objects that I own and desire to form a visual discussion of this consumer culture. This written thesis serves as the conceptual support for this action. It is my attempt as an artist to bring awareness and perhaps spark a change in the lifestyle of my viewers through the critique and celebration of their consumerism. I use myself as a tool with which I can form a discussion of this excessive American lifestyle. I begin this process by categorizing the objects that I already own into essential or desirable. My stove is essential, while my favorite stainless steel floor lamp is desirable. Dichotomous Key explores these personal relationships I have with the objects I own and my insatiable desires for more. The Dichotomous Key is a key for the identification of organisms based on a series of choices between alternative characters. A user will be given a series of two choices that will lead to the correct name of a given item. For example, a. object is covered in stainless steel and b. object is not covered in stainless steel. Given the option of a toaster and a Kleenex box, the user could then easily identify each object. The introduction of Dichotomous Key as the title becomes a conceptual device for the viewer to visually make connections between multiple objects and the objects he or she consumes. &nbsp; I attempt to take away the categories of essential and excess in my own domestic objects through their deconstruction. By visually existing as shapes, each object in Dichotomous Key begins to [questions] ideas of commodity by being rendered functionless. In the following pages I will explore the personal interactions I have with the objects that I own, and my insatiable desires for more, in relationship to the concepts, materials, and contexts of Dichotomous Key.</p

Recovery of critically endangered Nassau grouper (Epinephelus striatus) in the Cayman Islands following targeted conservation actions.

Many large-bodied marine fishes that form spawning aggregations, such as the Nassau grouper (Epinephelus striatus), have suffered regional overfishing due to exploitation during spawning. In response, marine resource managers in many locations have established marine protected areas or seasonal closures to recover these overfished stocks. The challenge in assessing management effectiveness lies largely in the development of accurate estimates to track stock size through time. For the past 15 y, the Cayman Islands government has taken a series of management actions aimed at recovering collapsed stocks of Nassau grouper. Importantly, the government also partnered with academic and nonprofit organizations to establish a research and monitoring program (Grouper Moon) aimed at documenting the impacts of conservation action. Here, we develop an integrated population model of 2 Cayman Nassau grouper stocks based on both diver-collected mark-resight observations and video censuses. Using both data types across multiple years, we fit parameters for a state-space model for population growth. We show that over the last 15 y the Nassau grouper population on Little Cayman has more than tripled in response to conservation efforts. Census data from Cayman Brac, while more sparse, show a similar pattern. These findings demonstrate that spatial and seasonal closures aimed at rebuilding aggregation-based fisheries can foster conservation success

Conceptualising quality early childhood education:Learning from young children in Brazil and South Africa through creative and play-based methods

Early childhood has increasingly been acknowledged as a vital time for all children. Inclusive and quality education is part of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, with the further specification that all children have access to quality pre-primary education. As early childhood education (ECE) has expanded worldwide, so have concerns about the quality of ECE provision, including whether its pedagogy is culturally meaningful and contextually appropriate. While these issues are much debated in themselves, often missing is a key stakeholder group for such discussions: young children. Young children have critical insights and perspectives of key importance for ensuring quality ECE. This article addresses how quality ECE can be conceptualised, through reflections on creative and play-based methods with young children, used in a cross-national project titled Safe Inclusive Participative Pedagogy. The article draws on community case studies undertake by two of the country teams in Brazil and South Africa. In contexts where children's participation is not necessarily familiar in ECE settings nor understood by key stakeholders, the fieldwork shows that children can express their views and experiences through using creative and play-based methods. We argue that these methods can become part of a critical pedagogy through ECE settings, where ECE practitioners, children and other key stakeholders engage in ongoing, challenging and transformative dialogue. In turn, critical pedagogy has the potential to strengthen local practices, challenge top-down approach, and foster quality safe, inclusive, participative early years education.</p