THE IMPACT OF ON-LINE LECTURE RECORDINGS ON STUDENT PERFORMANCE

The use of online lecture recordings as a supplement to physical lectures is an increasingly popular tool at many universities. As its popularity grows, however, there is increasing evidence that some students are using these recordings as a substitute to attending the actual lectures, rather than as a complement that helps them revisit difficult content, or for study purposes. Does this trend matter? If students receive as much (if not more) benefit from viewing their lectures online as they do by attending in person, then this is surely the student’s right. However, this has potentially significant consequences for the delivery of lecture content in higher education. This paper combines survey data with student record data for students in a first year Microeconomics class to examine this issue. The main finding is that, whilst there are indeed some students using online lecture recordings as a substitute to attending lectures, they are ultimately at a fairly severe disadvantage in terms of their final marks. Controlling for a wide variety of student characteristics, we find that, relative to attending zero to six lectures (out of 26), those attending essentially all lectures in person (25 or 26 lectures) have a direct advantage of nearly eight marks. Moreover, students attending zero to six lectures do not close this gap by viewing more lectures online, despite having double the number of lecture recording hits as their colleagues who attended 25-26 lectures. In contrast to this, students who attend the majority of lectures in person do receive a benefit from additional use of the lecture recordings. The results provide evidence that, when used as a complementary tool, lecture recordings are a valuable supplement for students. However, when used as a substitute, lecture recordings provide no additional benefit.

Doing what it says on the tin?:A psychometric evaluation of the Assessment Experience Questionnaire

The Assessment Experience Questionnaire has been widely used to measure conditions of learning from assessment. It is one of three methods used in the ‘Transforming the Experience of Students through Assessment’ research process, originally funded by the Higher Education Academy to explore programme assessment patterns, and now used extensively in universities in the United Kingdom. Given the growth of assessment and feedback research over the last decade, the Assessment Experience Questionnaire is ripe for revision. Critics have queried its theoretical and statistical robustness. This study investigated the psychometric properties of the Assessment Experience Questionnaire, as the first step in the process of strengthening the instrument. Specifically, we examined the validity of the questionnaire with a sample of final year undergraduate students from eight UK universities (n = 633). Results were mixed, confirming that the questionnaire has some value, but indicating that not all sub-scales possess adequate psychometric properties to underpin confident conclusions. As a result, we have embarked on a process of making conceptual modifications to the Assessment Experience Questionnaire, both to update the theoretical constructs, and to ensure stronger overall validity. This article indicates the direction of these modifications, which will be outlined in a second article

The mental toughness questionniare-48: A re-examination of factorial validity

The Mental Toughness Questionnaire-48 (MTQ48; Clough, Earle, & Sewell, 2002) is the most utilised instrument to measure mental toughness in sport (Gucciardi, Wanton, & Mallett, 2012). To date, preliminary research (Gucciardi et al., 2012; Perry et al., 2013) examining the factorial validity of the MTQ48 in athlete samples has yielded equivocal findings. The aim of this paper was to re-examine the factorial validity of the four- and six-factor models of the MTQ48 in moderate (n = 480) and large (n = 1184) independent student athlete samples. Using confirmatory factor analyses, findings revealed little support for the hypothesised models of the MTQ48 in both samples. The results support those found by Gucciardi et al. and suggest that, in its current form, the MTQ48 may not be a valid measure of the 4/6Cs model of mental toughness when using student athletes

No-reference image quality assessment based on the AdaBoost BP neural network in the wavelet domain

Considering the relatively poor robustness of quality scores for different types of distortion and the lack of mechanism for determining distortion types, a no-reference image quality assessment (NR-IQA) method based on the AdaBoost BP Neural Network in Wavelet domain (WABNN) is proposed. A 36-dimensional image feature vector is constructed by extracting natural scene statistics (NSS) features and local information entropy features of the distorted image wavelet sub-band coefficients in three scales. The ABNN classifier is obtained by learning the relationship between image features and distortion types. The ABNN scorer is obtained by learning the relationship between image features and image quality scores. A series of contrast experiments are carried out in the LIVE database and TID2013 database. Experimental results show the high accuracy of the distinguishing distortion type, the high consistency with subjective scores and the high robustness of the method for distorted images. Experiment results also show the independence for the database and the relatively high operation efficiency of this method

Implementing an evolutionary algorithm to optimise fractal patterns and investigate its possible contribution to the design of engineering systems

This is ongoing interdisciplinary research drawing inspiration from the rapidly growing field of evolutionary developmental biology, i.e., the so-called “Evo-Devo” paradigm. We not only aim to investigate the similarities but importantly, also the differences between the synthesis of a biological organism and an engineering system. A bespoke algorithm will be developed using an Evolutionary Algorithm to generate fractal patterns observed in nature. The success of this method will allow us to investigate its possible usage in designing an engineering system

Examining the Predictors of Mental Ill Health in Esport Competitors

Few research studies have examined the predictors of mental ill health in esports. This study addresses that gap by investigating stressors, sleep, burnout, social phobia anxiety and mental ill health in esport athletes. An online survey was disseminated to competitive student esport athletes (n = 313) residing in the UK. The survey included measures of stressors resulting from competing in esports, sleep quality, burnout, and social phobia, as well as outcome measures of mental ill health. Hierarchical regression analyses examined these relationships. All the hypotheses were supported, with stressors significantly predicting sleep quality, burnout, and social phobia anxiety, and stressors, sleep quality, burnout, and social phobia anxiety were all significant positive predictors of mental ill health. The strength of these predictions varied, for example, the daytime dysfunction subscale of sleep was a strong predictor of all outcome variables; two subscales of burnout, reduced sense of accomplishment and exhaustion significantly predicted each of the three mental ill health outcome variables, and two subscales of social phobia anxiety, fear and avoidance, significantly predicted mental ill health. Our study has important implications for player health in esports, highlighting interventions that could target specific aspects of stress, sleep, burnout, and social phobia anxiety to improve the mental health of those who compete in esports

Examining the theory of challenge and threat states in athletes: do predictions extend to academic performance?

Challenge and threat responses have been seen to predict success in meaningful performance environments, however, it is not as clear whether challenge and threat states predict academic outcomes. We tested if predictions from the Theory of Challenge and Threat in Athletes (TCTSA) can be extended to an academic context, by considering antecedents and outcomes of challenge and threat states as well as whether cardiovascular markers predicted academic performance. Thirty-six undergraduate students were asked to give speeches on an academic topic, and their cardiovascular responses, overall annual marks, and marks in a specific presentation assessment were recorded. Challenge and threat indexes failed to predict either of the performance measures. Limited support was found for other hypothesised relationships of the TCTSA, with challenge states predicting greater reinvestment, which was opposite to that hypothesised. Results suggest that predictions of the TCTSA may not be as pertinent in understanding goal pursuit in academic settings

Indexing Esport Performance

The assessment of an athlete’s performance can play a key role in determining their current state, their readiness to compete, the impact of an experimental manipulation, and/or the influence of an intervention. At present, there is limited empirical evidence stating the indicators that encapsulate individual performance within any esport. To identify the variables that are historically associated with indicating Counter-Strike: Global Offensive performance, a literature review was conducted. Identified variables were accumulated and presented to three technical expert panels composed of world-class esport athletes, researchers, and practitioners. We utilized a modified Delphi method to provide direction concerning the examination of performance in esports. The expert panelists presented numerous opinions on what encapsulates performance, considerations for best practices, and concerns associated with the semantics of performance. This study presents the opinions of various domain-specific experts and encourages the use of more explicit terminology when discussing performance measurement. It was the intention of the project to generate an open discussion rather than draw a unified conclusion on best practices

Optimal omegas – barriers and novel methods to narrow omega-3 gaps. A narrative review

Copyright © 2024 Derbyshire, Birch, Bonwick, English, Metcalfe and Li. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.Dietary intakes of omega-3 long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (O3LC-PUFAs) such as eicosapentaenoic and docosahexaenoic acid are central to development and health across the life course. O3LC-PUFAs have been linked to neurological development, maternal and child health and the etiology of certain non-communicable diseases including age-related cognitive decline, cardiovascular disease, and diabetes. However, dietary inadequacies exist in the United Kingdom and on a wider global scale. One predominant dietary source of O3LC-PUFAs is fish and fish oils. However, growing concerns about overfishing, oceanic contaminants such as dioxins and microplastics and the trend towards plant-based diets appear to be acting as cumulative barriers to O3LC-PUFAs from these food sources. Microalgae are an alternative provider of O3LC-PUFA-rich oils. The delivery of these into food systems is gaining interest. The present narrative review aims to discuss the present barriers to obtaining suitable levels of O3LC-PUFAs for health and wellbeing. It then discusses potential ways forward focusing on innovative delivery methods to utilize O3LC-PUFA-rich oils including the use of fortification strategies, bioengineered plants, microencapsulation, and microalgae