Search

This study aims to explore the impact of dual learning on preschool teachers' thriving at work and creative performance, and whether preschool teachers' thriving at work acts as a mediating factor in the relationship between dual learning and teachers' creative work. The participants were preschool teachers from Taiwan. Convenience sampling was used, resulting in a sample size of 388 people. The study results found that preschool teachers' dual learning, which includes both exploitative and exploratory learning, can improve the novelty and usefulness of their work and creativity. Furthermore, the study found that preschool teachers' thriving at work mediates the relationship between dual learning and creativity. This study also discovered that dual learning should combine and complement both exploitative and exploratory learning to achieve balance and the most significant effect. Therefore, it is essential to first help preschool teachers engage in both exploitative and exploratory learning. Schools and kindergartens can also provide relevant courses to help teachers combine these two learning methods. By integrating and complementing their advantages and disadvantages, a balance in learning can be achieved, thereby promoting teachers' creativity in their work.

Field experiences provide opportunities for early childhood and early childhood special education (EC/ECSE) educators to implement effective practices in learning settings, and are, therefore, a vital part of EC/ECSE teacher preparation. In this article, we describe field placement models from four universities in the United States: The Bridge Project, Getting Started Early, Peer Coaching to Increase Naturalistic Developmental Behavioral Interventions, and University Supervisors Coaching Teacher Candidates: Supporting Young Bi/Multilingual Children with Disabilities. Although there is variety in the settings and effective practices supported through these field placements, performance feedback and collaboration are clear themes across models.

Lusheng is a traditional wind musical instrument cherished by various ethnic minorities in China. The objective of this study is to investigate the role of Lusheng Chinese musical instruments in promoting literacy through educational functions and transmission. Conducted in Guizhou Province, a region rich in ethnic diversity, this study employs qualitative methods and engages two key informants who are local artisans with interview and observation forms. The data analysis reveals multifaceted insights into Lusheng's transmission and promotion. Findings highlight the challenges posed by modernization to traditional craftsmanship, emphasizing the urgency of preserving Lusheng production skills. The inclusion of Lusheng in the National Intangible Cultural Heritage list and the establishment of educational programs in primary, and secondary schools, and universities underscore the government's commitment to safeguarding Lusheng culture. Moreover, the research underscores the transformative impact of modern media on Lusheng's dissemination, and cross-cultural engagement is recognized as vital for expanding its influence. Balancing tradition and innovation remains a challenge. The study suggests collaborative efforts among government, academia, and society to develop a comprehensive conservation strategy, ensuring the continued transmission and promotion of Lusheng culture.

This study aims to explore whether the creativity of university students in Higher Vocational Education in China can enhance their creative performance through autonomous motivation. The theoretical foundation of this study is interactionist model of creativity, the study employs structural equation modeling for analysis and validation. A survey assessing creativity, creative performance, and autonomous motivation was administered to students from higher vocational schools in China, yielding a valid sample of 392. The overall model results indicate that the creativity of vocational college students has a significant positive impact on creative performance, creativity positively predicted autonomous motivation, which enhanced creative performance. The autonomous motivation partially mediates the relationship between creativity and creative performance. The findings recommend that higher vocational institutions initiate creative activities to foster students' creativity and continuously bolster their autonomous motivation, thus enhancing the creative performance of future technical and skilled professionals -- vocational college students.

The study focuses on the preservation and transmission of Gannan Tea Picking Opera knowledge after the Cultural Revolution in 1949 using qualitative research methods such as interviews and observations with seven key informants. The following findings were obtained, which can be divided into three distinct periods: The tortuous development phase from 1949 to 1966 marked significant growth and development, with the establishment of specialized schools and the implementation of the "three reforms" contributing to knowledge transmission and preservation. The survival dilemma period from 1966 to 1976 during the Cultural Revolution imposed constraints on artistic expression, but the return of artists from rural areas and their role in recruiting apprentices supported the continuity of Gannan Tea Picking Opera. Finally, the Ganzhou Gannan Tea Picking Opera Troupe and educational institutions contributed to the revival of this traditional art form during the period of rebirth from 1976 to 2023. Retired artists continue to play a vital role in knowledge preservation and dissemination, reflecting the enduring resilience of Gannan Tea Picking Opera.

The Accelerate Cancer Education (ACE) summer research program at The University of Kansas Cancer Center (KUCC) is a six-week, cancer-focused, summer research experience for high school students from historically marginalized populations in the Kansas City metropolitan area. Cancer affects all populations and continues to be the second leading cause of death in the United States, and a large number of disparities impact racial and ethnic minorities, including increased cancer incidence and mortality. Critically, strategies to bolster diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility are needed to address persistent cancer disparities. The ACE program offers an educational opportunity for a population of students who otherwise would not have easy access onto a medical center campus to make connections with cancer physicians and researchers and provides a vital response to the need for a more diverse and expansive oncology workforce. Students grow their technical, social, and professional skills and develop self-efficacy and long-lasting connections that help them matriculate and persist through post-secondary education. Developed in 2018, the ACE program has trained 37 high school junior and senior students. This article describes the need for and how we successfully developed and implemented the ACE program.

Number sense is fundamental to the development of numerical problem-solving skills. In early childhood, children establish associations between non-symbolic (e.g., a set of dots) and symbolic (e.g., Arabic numerals) representations of quantity. The developmental estrangement theory proposes that the relationship between non-symbolic and symbolic representations of quantity evolves with age, with increased dissociation across development. Consistent with this theory, recent research suggests that cross-format neural representational similarity (NRS) between non-symbolic and symbolic quantities is correlated with arithmetic fluency in children but not in adolescents. However, it is not known if short-term training (STT) can induce similar changes as long-term development. In this study, children aged 7-10 years underwent a theoretically motivated 4-week number sense training. Using multivariate neural pattern analysis, we investigated whether short-term learning could modify the relation between cross-format NRS and arithmetic skills. Our results revealed a significant correlation between cross-format NRS and arithmetic fluency in distributed brain regions, including the parietal and prefrontal cortices, prior to training. However, this association was no longer observed after training, and multivariate predictive models confirmed these findings. Our findings provide evidence that intensive STT during early childhood can promote behavioral improvements and neural plasticity that resemble and recapitulate long-term neurodevelopmental changes that occur from childhood to adolescence. More generally, our study contributes to our understanding of the malleability of number sense and highlights the potential for targeted interventions to shape neurodevelopmental trajectories in early childhood.

Although identifying the referents of single words is often cited as a key challenge for getting word learning off the ground, it overlooks the fact that young learners consistently encounter words in the context of other words. How does this company help or hinder word learning? Prior investigations into early word learning from children's real-world language input have yielded conflicting results, with some influential findings suggesting an advantage for words that keep a diverse company of other words, and others suggesting the opposite. Here, we sought to triangulate the source of this conflict, comparing different measures of diversity and approaches to controlling for correlated effects of word frequency across multiple languages. The results were striking: while different diversity measures on their own yielded conflicting results, once nonlinear relationships with word frequency were controlled, we found convergent evidence that contextual consistency supports early word learning.

In the current article, we describe the development and validation of the Social Comparison Rumination Scale. This measured was developed as a supplement to existing social comparison measures and to enable us to determine its potential relevance to perfectionism and other personality constructs. The Social Comparison Rumination Scale (SCRS) is a six-item inventory assessing the extent to which an individual is cognitively preoccupied and thinking repetitively about social comparison outcomes and information. Three studies with five samples of university students are described. Psychometric analyses established the SCRS consists of one factor assessed with high internal consistency and the measure is reliable and valid. Analyses showed that elevated levels of social comparison rumination are associated with trait perfectionism, perfectionistic automatic thoughts, perfectionistic self-presentation, ruminative brooding, burnout, depression, and fear of negative evaluation. Links were also established between social comparison rumination and both narcissism and dispositional envy. Overall, our findings support the further use of the SCRS and highlight the tendency of many people to think in deleterious ways about social comparisons long after the actual comparisons have taken place. We discuss social comparison rumination within the context of concerns about excessive social media use and young people being exposed to seemingly perfect lives that became a vexing cognitive preoccupation.

Teaching elementary students how to read is undeniably crucial, yet a substantial number of children encounter difficulties despite early interventions. Cross-age tutoring, a pedagogical approach that pairs older students with younger peers, emerges as a cost-effective solution that brings academic and social benefits to both the tutor and the tutee. Consequently, cross-age tutoring programs are widely adopted globally. To maximize the effectiveness of cross-age tutoring, we offer five evidence-based recommendations tailored for its implementation. When integrated into the preparation and implementation steps, these recommendations hold the potential to significantly improve learning outcomes for both tutors and tutees.

This study aims to examine the relationship among motivation for joining an educational leadership training programme (MOT), perceived skills (PS), and perceived changes in transformational leadership (PCTFL) in educational leadership training. The study drew on survey data from 761 participants who were associated with a leadership development programme under an EU-China cooperation project. The conceptual model was tested by structural equation modelling (SEM) by the Mplus programme. MOT and PCTFL were measured, respectively, by second-order factor structure assessments due to their multi-dimensional nature. The findings of the study suggest that motivation positively influences perceived changes in transformational leadership, and this relationship is positively mediated by perceived skills as learning gains in educational leadership training. The study provides novel empirical evidence on motivation that leads to transformational leadership changes in leadership training programmes. Policymakers and other key stakeholders can use these findings to gain a deeper understanding of the success of projects and encourage academic members to participate in leadership training programmes to improve transformational leadership.

Over the past decade, increasingly more colleges and universities have had to address student-initiated demands following racist incidents that occur both locally and nationally. However, the demands to address unfair conditions on campus do not necessarily result in meaningful change. To better understand how student activism facilitates administrative actions that lead to change and the extent to which social media accentuates activism, we examined student-initiated efforts to increase "diversity" at Yale University. Our study combined more than 100 documents with 5 years of social media data to identify key patterns that significantly contributed toward facilitating institutional change. The findings show that to facilitate administrative actions, student activists grew their reach, reiterated their demands over time, and activated the individuals and groups peripheral to the original demands. Their combined efforts were accentuated by the use of social media, which served to make their activism even more consequential for mediating tangible and demonstrable change at the institutional level.

The role that symbols play in facilitating or hindering institutional transformation efforts on campuses is underexplored. Through this embedded, multiple case study, we examine interview data from 52 participants at four private postsecondary institutions to investigate how power dynamics influence symbols to advance or hinder these institutional agents' work in diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). The findings highlight the contested nature of symbols and symbolic acts, which include (a) a disproportionate emphasis on positional leaders as symbols of opportunity, (b) complicating the idea of diversity centers as symbols of commitment, and (c) struggles to engage frameworks and strategic plans as symbols of shared vision and ownership. Specifically, we attend to how power dynamics may play a role in who/what becomes a symbol, and how symbols are interpreted in contradictory ways by different campus constituents, which have implications for how institutions can unite campus efforts toward DEI. Together, these findings present the tensions that universities must contend with as they use symbols to encourage a collective effort to advance DEI.

The present study aims to translate the questionnaires of Parents' Attitudes toward Early Childhood Career Development (PAECCD) and Parents' Attitudes toward Vocational Education Implementation in Preschool Curriculum (PAVEIPC) into Chinese versions (PAECCD-C and PAVEIPC-C) and examines their reliability and validity through two studies. In Study 1, exploratory factor analyses (EFAs) were conducted to evaluate their factor structure among 232 Chinese preschoolers' parents. In Study 2, confirmatory factor analyses (CFAs) were conducted to confirm their factor structures among other 355 Chinese preschoolers' parents, supporting the superiority of the initial theoretical model. Multigroup CFA comparisons indicated the measurement invariance for fathers and mothers. The PAECCD-C and PAVEIPC-C had excellent reliability values from 0.82 to 0.92. This study added to the existing research literature by supporting the applicability of PAECCD and PAVEIPC among Chinese preschoolers' parents.

This study examined the impact of integrating virtual science inquiry activities with Predict-Observe-Explain (POE) teaching strategies on 5th graders' understanding of science concepts and epistemic beliefs in science. A cohort of 80 5th graders (mean age of 12 years old, 40 boys and 40 girls) from a public primary school in North China took part in the research. The data collected encompassed pre-test and post-test results on understanding of science concepts and epistemic beliefs, along with students' behavioral data during virtual science inquiry. The findings demonstrated that integrating virtual science inquiry activities with POE strategies increased students' understanding of science concepts and epistemic beliefs in science. Furthermore, notable differences were found in observation time and inquiry strategy between high and low achievers, while significant distinctions in page time allocation and page navigation behavior were evident between boys and girls. The results provided empirical support for enhancing the implementation of virtual science inquiry activities in primary school science learning.

The trend in history education is gradually emphasizing the development of historical thinking and collaborative problem-solving skills, which are expected to enhance the breadth and depth of learners' thinking. The integration of game-based learning with collaborative problem-solving activities designed for historical thinking is expected to help increase learners' motivation. Cognitive scaffolding can provide immediate guidance in educational games to facilitate proper understanding and discussion of historical knowledge among learners. In this study, we used the history educational game "Void Broken 2.0" embedded with cognitive scaffolding to guide students to use their historical thinking skills in collaborative problem-solving tasks, and analyzed the behavioral patterns of the learners in using cognitive scaffolding and discussing historical thinking. The participants in this study were 158 high school students divided into an experimental group (game-based learning) and a control group (reading-based learning). The results showed that the learning activities of both groups contributed to the learning effectiveness, and there was no significant difference between the groups. As the game progressed, students in the experimental group actively utilized the assistance of the cognitive scaffolding. The need for immediate access to the cognitive scaffold's prompts did not increase significantly as the game progressed, and students with high prior knowledge were willing to share their understanding and incorporate more diverse types of information into the discussion. Low prior knowledge students' need for immediate access to the cognitive scaffolding hints increased significantly as the game progressed, and they were more willing to work with their peers to find information related to chronological reasoning, engage in repetitive discussions, and explore possible clues.

The allocation of financial resources in higher education has always been a hot topic of concern in academia and society. The measurement and evaluation of the allocation efficiency of higher education financial resources from the perspective of 'Double first-class' construction is the most important initiative to improve the quality of higher education development and promote the construction of a community with a shared future for mankind. The author constructs a resource allocation efficiency evaluation index system, including two input factors: basic expenditure and project expenditure, and four primary indicators: personnel cultivation, scientific research, international repercussions and social contribution, in addition, ten secondary culture results, results Awarded, education of students abroad, achievement transformation, etc., are considered as output factors. The three-stage Global Super Slacks-Based Measure (SBM) model is applied to accurately measure and scientifically evaluate the allocation efficiency of financial resources in China's higher education. Results show that: first, the true efficiency level can be revealed by eliminating the influence of external environmental factors and random noise. Only 2.82% of universities are located on the effective frontier, indicating that there is significant room for improvement in universities' financial resource allocation capacity and fund utilization efficiency. Second, influenced by factors such as external dependence, R&D intensity, industrial structure and fiscal decentralization, the financial resources allocation efficiency is significantly overestimated, many universities rely heavily on external policy environments for financial resource allocation, and the support from the external environment for efficiency improvement in a few universities still needs to be strengthened. The third, promoting the classification evaluation of universities can meet the needs of 'Double first-class' construction and guarantee the development of university characteristics and diversification. The research shows that first-class universities, comprehensive universities, eastern universities have relatively mature management capabilities, and first-class universities, comprehensive universities and central universities are the most suitable for operation scale; while first-class disciplines, liberal arts universities and western universities have the most significant improvement in the efficiency. Additionally, in view of the research questions and empirical analysis results, this paper also discusses the construction of evaluation index system, the impact of environmental factors and efficiency measurement, classification evaluation, and the effectiveness and promotion of the three-stage Global Super-SBM model, presenting the supporting literature, the uniqueness of this study and the areas for further research. Finally, conclusions are summarized, and suggestions are proposed to provide theoretical guidance and methodological references for dynamic adjustments in the allocation of resources in the new round of 'Double first-class' construction and the strategic planning of higher education resource allocation.

In recent years, many schools have started implementing remote teaching due to the impact of the COVID-19. Flipped classroom has been proven to be a student-centered teaching method that can effectively improve learning effectiveness. Nonetheless, if students fail to watch the instructional videos prior to class or encounter difficulties during the learning process, it can result in unfavorable learning outcomes. Therefore, this study proposes the use of the flipped classroom combined with the WPACQ learning model for programming courses. During the pre-class phase, students engage in online collaboration with their classmates, working together to accomplish the tasks outlined in the flipped classroom learning sheet. They actively share essential summaries with peers, engage in collective problem-solving of concepts and processes, all with the ultimate goal of enhancing the effectiveness of their learning experience. This study will develop a learning system that combines the flipped classroom with the WPACQ learning model, guiding learners to adopt the WPACQ learning strategy. In this system, the experimental group learners go through stages including watching instructional videos (Watch), guided outline-style note-taking with peers (Peer-Summary), unit test (Assessment), error correction (Correction), and final questioning (Question). Through viewing peer-summary key notes and engaging in error correction activities with peers, learners cultivate the ability to summarize key points and deepen their understanding of the learning content. They reflect on their own learning process to identify areas for improvement. The research results demonstrate that learners who adopt the flipped classroom combined with the WPACQ learning model exhibit better learning effectiveness compared to those using the conventional flipped classroom learning model. Furthermore, this approach effectively helps learners enhance their learning motivation, self-efficacy, reflective abilities, programming learning attitudes, and reduce cognitive load.

Reading requires appropriate strategies to spark initial interest and sustain engagement. One promising strategy is the pedagogical approach of learning-by-teaching, transforming learners into active participants. Integrating this approach into digitalized and individualized reading contexts has the potential to foster the development of young readers. Currently, AI techniques are primarily used in chatbots as tutors, with limited focus on tutee chatbots that employ the learning-by-teaching pedagogy. Therefore, this study adopted a teachable Q&A agent and probed into the effect of chatbot training, employing AI techniques and utilizing student-generated questions and answers, with the aim of enhancing students' reading interest and engagement. Ninety-five fifth graders participated in a 9-week reading program. A quasi-experimental design was conducted. The results proved that incorporating a learning-by-teaching approach into the chatbot training activity significantly enhanced their reading interest and engagement. However, the quantity of certain question types is negatively correlated with interest and engagement. This implies that asking diverse questions poses a certain level of challenge to young readers, which requires deliberate training and incubation. Additionally, the identification of four distinct student clusters exhibited the affordances and limitations of tutee chatbots for reading.

Abacus-based mental calculation (AMC) is a widely used educational tool for enhancing math learning, offering an accessible and cost-effective method for classroom implementation. Despite its universal appeal, the neurocognitive mechanisms that drive the efficacy of AMC training remain poorly understood. Notably, although abacus training relies heavily on the rapid recall of number positions and sequences, the role of memory systems in driving long-term AMC learning remains unknown. Here, we sought to address this gap by investigating the role of the medial temporal lobe (MTL) memory system in predicting long-term AMC training gains in second-grade children, who were longitudinally assessed up to fifth grade. Leveraging multimodal neuroimaging data, we tested the hypothesis that MTL systems, known for their involvement in associative memory, are instrumental in facilitating AMC-induced improvements in math skills. We found that gray matter volume in bilateral MTL, along with functional connectivity between the MTL and frontal and ventral temporal-occipital cortices, significantly predicted learning gains. Intriguingly, greater gray matter volume but weaker connectivity of the posterior parietal cortex predicted better learning outcomes, offering a more nuanced view of brain systems at play in AMC training. Our findings not only underscore the critical role of the MTL memory system in AMC training but also illuminate the neurobiological factors contributing to individual differences in cognitive skill acquisition.

This study surveyed 183 college and senior high school students' graph-interpretation competence in scientific and daily contexts. Specifically, whether students' graph interpretation in scientific and daily contexts differed across educational levels was investigated. Furthermore, the questions of whether students' graph interpretation competence in scientific contexts might predict their graph interpretation in daily contexts were explored. Other factors including age and gender were also considered and examined to discern significant factor(s) predicting graph interpretation competence in daily contexts. Results indicated that there were statistically significant differences across educational levels in terms of graph interpretation competence in both scientific and daily contexts. Furthermore, the students' graph interpretation competence was related between scientific and daily contexts. The important factors predicting students' graph interpretation in daily contexts include age and graph-interpretation in scientific literacy. Implications are discussed.

While the topic of attracting and maintaining inbound international students has received much scholarly attention in higher education, attracting female international students has rarely been discussed. This study addresses the issue of attracting degree-seeking female international students. Based on the notion of situational factors and total quality management (TQM), we assumed both institutional design and students' satisfaction are core concepts for attracting and retaining female international students that will make a difference in higher education. A total of 215 survey responses were analyzed, and a covariance-based structural equation modeling (CB-SEM) approach was developed. The results confirm female international students' perception of 14 observed variables in the three first-order components and suggest that they can create a second-order construct of push factors, institutional situations, and satisfaction (latent variables). This study demonstrates that higher-order modeling leads to theoretical parsimony and reduces model complexity in the proposed CB-SEM. The findings suggest that the casual relationship works well and both institutional leadership and international strategy can play crucial roles in the process of transforming female international students' learning satisfaction.

Each year in Taiwan, hantaviruses cause 0-4 human Cases of hemorrgagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS) (1). Rattus norvegicus rats are a notable local reservoir host for Seoul virus (SEOV), [...]