The Prevalence, Beliefs, and Instruction of Using Homework Materials as Reported by Physical Educators in Arkansas

The purpose of the study was to find out the prevalence of physical educators assigning homework to their classes (17.4%) and to identify factors that are related to whether physical educators assign homework. The questionnaire was completed by 144 employed physical educators from the state of Arkansas. Logistic regression, an independent samples t test, and a chi-square test were used to analyze if specific predictors, school demographics, and the personal beliefs of physical educators affected using homework in physical education. No statistical significance was found in the demographics or predictors, but nine of the beliefs selected indicated that a physical educator\u27s beliefs towards homework may be a major factor in assigning homework. Primarily, the physical educators who assigned homework believed more strongly than others that homework could increase physical activity, make grading easier, and increase content knowledge. Physical educators who did not assign homework believed more strongly that grading homework would take too much time, as teachers they had too many time constraints, that activity homework would be difficult to prove completion, if other in-class assignments exist then it was unnecessary, and believed that homework assignments would be hated by parents and students

Response Time and Puzzle Solving Skills in Gamers vs. Non- gamers

Video gaming requires rapid response times, problem solving skills, adaptive learning and attention to detail by continuously engaging cognitive and physical reactions to cues provided via visual stimuli. Gaming more than nine hours a week has been said to positively affect individuals’ reaction times and problem solving skills. Given the advancements of technology and video gaming, an increase in research on the effects gaming has on motor and cognitive skills has yet to come. PURPOSE: To compare the response times and problem solving skills between gamers and non-gamers. METHODS : Subject (N=68) were required to complete a survey, the tower of Hanoi puzzle, and a set of ten trials on a MOART board designed to measure response time. Gamers 9+ hrs/wk (N=24), sometimes gamers 1-8 hrs/wk (N=18), non-gamers 0 hrs/wk (N=26). On day 1 participants completed a series of 10 trials on the Moart Board which measured their reaction and movement times. On day two, individuals completed three trials on the Tower of Hanoi which was used to measure problem solving skills. Their objective was to move the stack of blocks from peg one to peg three while following two rules; only move one block at a time, and do not stack a bigger block on top of a smaller block. A one-way ANOVA (α =.05) was used to compare the aggregated mean scores in the Tower of Hanoi puzzle and the Response time of the MOART board. RESULTS: There was no statistical significance when comparing the groups for puzzle completion and error time when solving the Tower of Hanoi until the third trial. During the third trial of completion the significance between gamers and non-gamers was (p=0.016). Response time was only noted as statistically significant when comparing gamers and non-gamers (p=0.007). CONCLUSION: There was not statistical significance between gamers and non-gamers in many of the trials. However, there was a notable trend in the percent of subjects completing the trial. By trial 3, 80% of gamers completed the tower compared to only 38% of non-gamers. Not only were gamers solving the puzzle faster than the partial and non-gamers but there were more gamers solving the puzzle than any other group. There was no significance between gamers and sometime gamers (0.130) or sometime gamers and non-gamers (0.620). However, significance was present between gamers vs. non-gamers (0.014)

Comparison of Handedness, Athleticism, and Time to Position Under a Paired Sight Trial

Proprioception is defined as the process of taking in and analyzing information about the position of the body. Proprioception can be tested by excluding the visual sense and performing arm movements in a repetitive manner. An arm kinesthesiometer, used to test proprioception, is a device that measures the angle of movement around a joint in 1 degree increments and allows both active and passive movement. PURPOSE: The purpose of the study was to determine whether sighted individuals perform better than those with occluded sight (blindfolded) due to proprioceptive awareness. METHODS: For 1 week, 92 student subjects from a South Texas university population participated in arm motor tasks. Subjects were randomly assigned to two groups (n = 46/group): A (blindfolded Session 1) and B (blindfolded Session 2). On day 1, instructions were given on how to use and perform proper movement on a kinesthesiometer. Subjects sat in a chair with their feet flat on the floor, their arm resting on the device, their elbow at the corner, and their middle finger pointing to zero. Subjects performed three timed trials with both preferred and non-preferred hands, moving their arm from 90 degrees (extended straight away from body) towards their body horizontally to exactly 30 degrees. Time to position and constant error (+/-) were recorded for each trial. On day 2, a week later, subjects completed the same trials as day 1, but the conditions reversed so that Group A was now sighted and Group B was blindfolded. RESULTS: Considering only handedness in the subjects with a paired-samples t-test, the average change in time to position from Session 1 to Session 2, with the subjects using their non-preferred hand in both sessions, was significantly (p=0.002) faster in the second session by 200.145 msec. In the use of their preferred hand, average change in time to position from Session 1 to Session 2, with the subjects was significantly (p=0.000) faster in the second session by 286.250 msec. When comparing the subjects on sighted to occluded sight with an independent t-test, only Group B (blindfolded Session 2), demonstrated a significant difference in the average change in time to position, specifically in the non-preferred hand (p=0.017) at the speed of 309.198 msec. faster in the second session. Additionally, there were no significant differences seen between session 1 and 2 or Group A and B in regards to speed (msec.) and constant error for sighted or occluded sight subjects or handedness.CONCLUSION: The present study confirms the overall trend that on average sighted subjects typically perform with better accuracy and faster speeds than those with occluded sight. However, when considering the issue of handedness, there does seem to be a learning curve that may not achieve more accuracy in the short time allowed for the subjects, but may have a quicker average change in time to position. While this is across all groups, it seems that this phenomenon in this study is enough to overcome the occluded sight in the second session by Group B in their non-preferred hand. Further research should be performed to note if learning behavior in a non-preferred hand may be higher since it is often less practiced in speed/accuracy movement, and therefore, may have a higher level of trainability

Beliefs and Attitude Changes Towards Virtual Reality Usefulness After Disabilities Simulation

ABSTRACT Virtual Reality (VR) has been utilized often as a potential recreational tool for enjoyment by generating false realities to interact with, but in regards to a potential tool to introduce understanding in cultures and empathetic responses it has seen little use. Stereotypical beliefs seem to exist that disabled people are unable to care for themselves (Burgstahler & Doe, 2004). Furthermore, individuals without disabilities may not fully understand how a person with disabilities is able to even function in daily life (McKenny, 2018). Leo and Goodwin (2016) emphasized the value of simulation exercises to change individual attitudes and perspectives towards those who live with disabilities. PURPOSE: The purpose of the study was to assess people’s attitudes and belief changes towards the use of VR after participating in disability simulations. METHODS: Implemented in a class about motor movement in special populations, subjects were college students(n=44) who were administered a Likert scale pre-survey. The survey emphasized subject’s beliefs around the use of VR for gaming, education, work preparation, therapy, use for individuals with disabilities, and those developing empathy towards individuals with disabilities. Subjects then participated in a VR training session, an autism emotional disturbance simulation, and a simulation of what a blind person’s imagination goes through while handling sounds and touch sensations around them. A Wilcoxon Signed Rank Test was used in SPSS software to analyze the nonparametric data for two nominal variables comparing pre and post beliefs and attitudes. RESULTS: Overall, most questions posed to the subjects were not found to be statistically significant with the error rate used throughout the entirety of the study (α = 0.05). However, when asked about the ability for VR simulations to create or increase empathy in the subjects towards those with disabilities there was a statistical significance (Z = -2.02, p = 0.042.) Additionally, positive trends were found in the aggregated mean scores when comparing the pre and post surveys with subjects across all variables in the survey. CONCLUSION: While more categories were expected to have a significant change, only empathy showed statistical significant. This result encourages the ability of VR simulations to assist in understanding and sharing comprehension with another individual who has disabilities or in a restricted perceptual motor/behavioral state. Further research on the topic may also reveal that the positive trends found in this study may have statistical significance if used in larger sample sizes

Enhanced Leak Detection

A key requirement for Veeder-Root’s Enhanced Leak Detection System is that it be able to test in situ for the presence of leaks at gasoline dispensing facilities. Aside from the obvious issues of safety and lost product, this functionality is obligatory for compliance with environmental standards mandated by federal and state oversight bodies, such as the California State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB). The SWRCB demands a testing procedure that includes conditions as close to operational as possible, while still using environmentally safe gases as a test fluid. Although the test parameters (e.g., pressure) are allowed to deviate from operating conditions in order to facilitate the test procedure, a prescribed rescaling of the test thresholds must then be applied to account for the deviation. Whether the test is run at operation conditions or in a slightly different parameter regime, the fact that the testing must be done on the product and return lines after installation at a service station presents significant challenges in devising an effective test strategy

Measuring personal networks and their relationship with scientific production

The analysis of social networks has remained a crucial and yet understudied aspect of the efforts to measure Triple Helix linkages. The Triple Helix model aims to explain, among other aspects of knowledge-based societies, ¿the current research system in its social context. This paper develops a novel approach to study the research system from the perspective of the individual, through the analysis of the relationships among researchers, and between them and other social actors. We develop a new set of techniques and show how they can be applied to the study of a specific case (a group of academics within a university department). We analyse their informal social networks and show how a relationship exists between the characteristics of an individual¿s network of social links and his or her research output

Two warm, low-density sub-Jovian planets orbiting bright stars in K2 campaigns 13 and 14

We report the discovery of two planets transiting the bright stars HD 89345 (EPIC 248777106, $V=9.376$, $K=7.721$) in K2 Campaign 14 and HD 286123 (EPIC 247098361, $V=9.822$, $K=8.434$) in K2 Campaign 13. Both stars are G-type stars, one of which is at or near the end of its main sequence lifetime, and the other that is just over halfway through its main sequence lifetime. HD 89345 hosts a warm sub-Saturn (0.66 $R_J$, 0.11 $M_J$, $T_\mathrm{eq}=1100$ K) in an 11.81-day orbit. The planet is similar in size to WASP-107b, which falls in the transition region between ice giants and gas giants. HD 286123 hosts a Jupiter-sized, low-mass planet (1.06 $R_J$, 0.39 $M_J$, $T_\mathrm{eq}=1000$ K) in an 11.17-day, mildly eccentric orbit, with $e=0.255\pm0.035$. Given that they orbit relatively evolved main-sequence stars and have orbital periods longer than 10 days, these planets are interesting candidates for studies of gas planet evolution, migration, and (potentially) re-inflation. Both planets have spent their entire lifetimes near the proposed stellar irradiation threshold at which giant planets become inflated, and neither shows any sign of radius inflation. They probe the regime where inflation begins to become noticeable and are valuable in constraining planet inflation models. In addition, the brightness of the host stars, combined with large atmospheric scale heights of the planets, makes these two systems favorable targets for transit spectroscopy to study their atmospheres and perhaps provide insight into the physical mechanisms that lead to inflated hot Jupiters.Comment: 16 pages, 12 figures; accepted for publication in A

Disentangling sequential and concerted fragmentations of molecular polycations with covariant native frame analysis

Using covariance analysis methods, we study the fragmentation dynamics of multiply ionized 1- and 2-iodopropane. Signatures of isomer-specific nuclear motion occurring during sequential fragmentation pathways are identified.</jats:p

TESS Reveals HD 118203 b to be a Transiting Planet

The exoplanet HD 118203 b, orbiting a bright (V = 8.05) host star, was discovered using the radial velocity method by da Silva et al., but was not previously known to transit. Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) photometry has revealed that this planet transits its host star. Nine planetary transits were observed by TESS, allowing us to measure the radius of the planet to be 1.136^(+0.029)_(-0.028) R_J, and to calculate the planet mass to be 2.166^(+0.074)_(-0.079) M_J. The host star is slightly evolved with an effective temperature of T_(eff) = 5683^(+84)_(-85) K and a surface gravity of log g = 3.889^(+0.017)_(-0.018). With an orbital period of 6.134985^(+0.000029_(-0.000030) days and an eccentricity of 0.314 ± 0.017, the planet occupies a transitional regime between circularized hot Jupiters and more dynamically active planets at longer orbital periods. The host star is among the 10 brightest known to have transiting giant planets, providing opportunities for both planetary atmospheric and asteroseismic studies