Supporting pre-service teachers' evidence-informed reasoning through peer-feedback: effects of feedback provision and feedback integration scaffolds

Having pre-service teachers provide and receive peer-feedback on their analyses of authentic classroom problems may help them acquire evidence-informed reasoning skills. However, without instructional guidance, students may struggle to provide high-quality feedback and to integrate multiple feedback messages. We investigated the impact of feedback provision and feedback integration scaffolds and their combination on (a) pre-service teachers’ improvement from draft to revision, and (b) their acquisition of evidence-informed reasoning skills. N = 254 pre-service teachers analyzed a classroom case vignette by aid of educational theories, provided feedback to two peers, and revised their initial analyses based on the feedback they received. Neither the feedback provision scaffold nor the feedback integration scaffold had a significant effect on the improvement. For the acquisition of evidence-informed reasoning skills, there was a significant negative interaction effect. This suggests that the scaffolds need to be better synchronized so that their combination yields additional effects

Who wants to hear bad news? How the epistemic perspective determines the perception of peer feedback

Processing feedback from peers is an essential part of learning through peer feedback. However, if a feedback message is critical about the students’ initial task solution, students might perceive it as inadequate and not process it further. Based on multiple document research, we assume that epistemic perspectives (i.e., absolutism, multiplism, and evaluativism) determine as how adequate students perceive feedback in case it conflicts with their initial solution. We asked 254 pre-service teachers to analyze a classroom case vignette, provide feedback to each other, and revise their case analysis. Linear mixed models indicated that the lower students’ absolutism or evaluativism was, and the more their feedback contained criticism, the less adequate they perceive it. Multiplism did not interact with criticism. We conclude that the effect of absolutism might depend on the identification with one’s initial solution, and that evaluativism helps to value criticism for it containing new information

Scaffolding the peer-feedback process: a meta-analysis

Peer-feedback can be supported by formal or subject-matter-related scaffolds. However, it is unclear whether these scaffolds differ in their effects on process-related and outcome-related variables. In our meta-analysis including N=22 studies with N=2.473 learners, results show a statistically significant effect only for subject-matter-related scaffolds on process-related variables. The lack of further effects might represent a power problem, i.e., more research is necessary to judge the effectiveness of the different scaffolds on process and outcome-related variables

The Impact of COVID-19 on Infant Maltreatment Emergency Department and Inpatient Medical Encounters

Objective To assess the counts of infant maltreatment-related medical encounters at a large medical system during a 21-month span of the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods Retrospective data for this study came from all inpatient and emergency department medical encounters for infants from January 1, 2016, through November 30, 2021, at a single children’s hospital system in California. Distributions of medical encounters were tabulated and plotted over time. Interrupted time series models were used to evaluate changes in child maltreatment medical encounters. Results Medical encounters for infants with child maltreatment diagnoses increased following the onset of COVID-19. Monthly counts of encounters with indicated maltreatment trended upward following the start of the pandemic. Interrupted time series models showed the count of maltreatment encounters increased 64% with the onset of COVID-19. Conclusions We found an increase in infant maltreatment medical encounters during a 21-month period following the onset of COVID-19. These findings suggest that the pandemic may have adversely affected the safety of infants and ongoing work is needed to understand better the pandemic impacts on child maltreatment

The Children’s Data Network

The Children's Data Network (CDN) is a data and research collaborative focused on the linkage and analysis of administrative records. In partnership with public agencies, philanthropic funders, affiliated researchers, and community stakeholders, we seek to generate knowledge and advance evidence-rich policies that improve the health, safety, and well-being of the children of California. Given our experience negotiating access to and working with existing administrative data (and importantly, data stewards), the CDN has demonstrated its ability to perform cost-effective and rigorous record linkage, answer time-sensitive policy- and program-related questions, and build the public sector's capacity to do the same. Owing to steadfast and generous infrastructure and project support, close collaboration with public partners, and strategic analyses and engagements, the CDN has promoted a person-level and longitudinal understanding of children and families in California and in so doing, informed policy and program development nationwide. We sincerely hope that our experience—and lessons learned—can advance and inform work in other fields and jurisdictions

Genome-wide Analyses Identify KIF5A as a Novel ALS Gene

To identify novel genes associated with ALS, we undertook two lines of investigation. We carried out a genome-wide association study comparing 20,806 ALS cases and 59,804 controls. Independently, we performed a rare variant burden analysis comparing 1,138 index familial ALS cases and 19,494 controls. Through both approaches, we identified kinesin family member 5A (KIF5A) as a novel gene associated with ALS. Interestingly, mutations predominantly in the N-terminal motor domain of KIF5A are causative for two neurodegenerative diseases: hereditary spastic paraplegia (SPG10) and Charcot-Marie-Tooth type 2 (CMT2). In contrast, ALS-associated mutations are primarily located at the C-terminal cargo-binding tail domain and patients harboring loss-of-function mutations displayed an extended survival relative to typical ALS cases. Taken together, these results broaden the phenotype spectrum resulting from mutations in KIF5A and strengthen the role of cytoskeletal defects in the pathogenesis of ALS.Peer reviewe

TRY plant trait database – enhanced coverage and open access

Plant traits - the morphological, anatomical, physiological, biochemical and phenological characteristics of plants - determine how plants respond to environmental factors, affect other trophic levels, and influence ecosystem properties and their benefits and detriments to people. Plant trait data thus represent the basis for a vast area of research spanning from evolutionary biology, community and functional ecology, to biodiversity conservation, ecosystem and landscape management, restoration, biogeography and earth system modelling. Since its foundation in 2007, the TRY database of plant traits has grown continuously. It now provides unprecedented data coverage under an open access data policy and is the main plant trait database used by the research community worldwide. Increasingly, the TRY database also supports new frontiers of trait‐based plant research, including the identification of data gaps and the subsequent mobilization or measurement of new data. To support this development, in this article we evaluate the extent of the trait data compiled in TRY and analyse emerging patterns of data coverage and representativeness. Best species coverage is achieved for categorical traits - almost complete coverage for ‘plant growth form’. However, most traits relevant for ecology and vegetation modelling are characterized by continuous intraspecific variation and trait–environmental relationships. These traits have to be measured on individual plants in their respective environment. Despite unprecedented data coverage, we observe a humbling lack of completeness and representativeness of these continuous traits in many aspects. We, therefore, conclude that reducing data gaps and biases in the TRY database remains a key challenge and requires a coordinated approach to data mobilization and trait measurements. This can only be achieved in collaboration with other initiatives