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Young people's confidence in their creative abilities, as well as their beliefs about whether these abilities are fixed or malleable, play potentially important roles in educators' efforts to foster creativity. This study explores a multidimensional model of young people's creative self-beliefs that comprises creative self-efficacy, growth-creative mindsets, and fixed-creative mindsets. It operationalizes and tests this model via a new three-factor instrument appropriate for young samples. Drawing on data from 2980 children and adolescents (mean age 12-13 years), confirmatory factor analysis established the construct validity of the scales, and hence, the multidimensional concepts underpinning creative self-beliefs. All measures evinced suitable levels of reliability, and invariance analysis supported configural, metric, and scalar invariance across gender, language background, and school type. Findings supported the convergent and divergent validity of scales against Big Five (openness and conscientiousness) personality measures. Implications of this three-factor creative self-beliefs model for researchers, educational practitioners, and youth are discussed.

Among a sample of 472 Indigenous high school students, juxtaposed with 15,884 non-Indigenous students from the same 54 schools, we investigated variation in motivation and engagement from school to school, and the role of motivation and engagement in predicting various academic outcomes (aspirations, buoyancy, homework completion, and achievement). We found significantly lower mean-levels of motivation and engagement among Indigenous students. Importantly, however, after accounting for age, gender, socio-economic status (SES), and prior achievement, the motivation and engagement differences between Indigenous and non-Indigenous students were markedly reduced. We also found that Indigenous students' positive motivation and engagement (e.g. self-efficacy, mastery orientation, etc.) predicted academic outcomes to a significantly greater extent than their negative motivation and engagement (e.g. anxiety, self-handicapping, etc.) predicted these outcomes. Findings are discussed with particular focus on how they may be helpful in identifying ways to enhance the educational outcomes of Indigenous students.

Perineuronal nets (PNNs) are specialized extracellular matrix structures that surround subsets of neurons throughout the central nervous system (CNS). They are made up of chondroitin sulfate proteoglycans (CSPGs), hyaluronan, tenascin-R, and many other link proteins that together make up their rigid and lattice-like structure. Modulation of PNNs can alter synaptic plasticity and thereby affect learning, memory, and cognition. In the present study, we degraded PNNs in the medial prefrontal (mPFC) and posterior parietal (PPC) cortices of Long-Evans rats using the enzyme chondroitinase ABC (ChABC), which cleaves apart CSPGs. We then measured the consequences of PNN degradation on spatial working memory (WM) with a trial-unique, non-matching-to location (TUNL) automated touchscreen task. All rats were trained with a standard 6 sec delay and 20 sec inter-trial interval (ITI) and then tested under four different conditions: a 6 sec delay, a variable 2 or 6 sec delay, a 2 sec delay with a 1 sec ITI (interference condition), and a 20 sec delay. Rats that received mPFC ChABC treatment initially performed TUNL with higher accuracy, more selection trials completed, and fewer correction trials completed compared to controls in the 20 sec delay condition but did not perform differently from controls in any other condition. Rats that received PPC ChABC treatment did not perform significantly differently from controls in any condition. Posthumous immunohistochemistry confirmed an increase in CSPG degradation products (C4S stain) in the mPFC and PPC following ChABC infusions while WFA staining intensity and parvalbumin positive neuron number were decreased following mPFC, but not PPC, ChABC infusions. These findings suggest that PNNs in the mPFC play a subtle role in spatial WM, but PNNs in the PPC do not. Furthermore, it appears that PNNs in the mPFC are involved in adapting to a challenging novel delay, but that they do not play an essential role in spatial WM function.

As school education systems worldwide adopt standardized performance measures, teacher effectiveness frameworks have become more influential. This article draws on Australian mixed methods research that aimed to understand the processes behind quality arts pedagogy. Following an in-depth quantitative study, nine high-performing case study arts classes were selected, spanning dance, drama, media arts, music and visual arts. The Quality Teaching Framework (QTF), based on authentic pedagogy, was used to observe and to analyse twenty-seven arts lessons, three per case study. This framework, trialled and validated in prior large-scale research, was adopted by the New South Wales public education system. While the framework's categories were useful in detecting aspects of quality arts pedagogy, we also observed shared practices that were absent from the QTF. The article focuses on these absences. To support the creation of original work, these classes included generative processes not adequately explained by the framework, which made no direct reference to creativity. This led the research team to: (1) question the extent to which generic standardized (GS) teaching frameworks explain the dynamics of arts classrooms, and (2) reflect on whether certain processes are not easily categorized within standardized measures and whether this can lead these processes to be undervalued.

Magnetic resonance is a quantum phenomenon and describes a resonant interaction of spins with electromagnetic fields. Its understanding requires advanced knowledge of quantum mechanics and condensed matter physics and thus often remains elusive to students. However, the great impact of this phenomenon on medicine, science, and technology makes magnetic resonance an important subject for general education, and it requires a graspable model for translating the physical concepts without resorting to advanced physics. One of the most common and familiar objects related to magnetism is the compass. Here, we develop an inexpensive tabletop demonstration experiment for magnetic resonance. The compass is placed into the magnetic field of a permanent magnet (strong refrigerator magnet); an alternating field of an electromagnetic coil (solenoid) excites a resonant oscillation of the compass needle. The experiment has been proven to catch the attention of audiences of all ages.

This longitudinal study examines the relationship between young people's creative and performing arts participation (e.g., in dance, drama, film, music, visual arts) and their arts self-concept. Drawing on the positive youth development (PYD) framework and the reciprocal effects model (REM) of self-concept, a cross-lagged panel design is implemented to explore the connections between arts self-concept and each of school (e.g., school-based arts instruction), home (e.g., parent-child arts interaction), and community (e.g., out-of-school arts instruction) creative and performing arts participation. The study drew on an Australian sample of 643 elementary and high school students from 15 schools. Analyses showed that beyond the effects of socio-demographics and prior achievement, there are longitudinal associations (including reciprocal effects) between numerous forms of creative and performing arts participation and arts self-concept. Implications are discussed.

The concept of the 'creative' in creative writing has a vexed history. This article explores the myths surrounding creativity and how they have influenced the way teachers have approached playwriting pedagogy. It reports on research into the teaching and learning experiences of students and teachers in secondary schools, focusing on the participants' understanding of creativity and the impact this had on the pedagogical process. The research found that a counterproductive idealist view of creativity persists in classrooms: the teachers and students were operating on a conception of creativity and creative practice that reflected a belief in a mystical and unknowable creative process. This article explores the experiences of creativity through systems theory and argues that this approach can inform teaching and learning for creative processes and products. The article concludes that the teaching and learning practices were unnecessarily tentative and that knowledge of creativity theory would improve the students' development of both playwriting proficiency as well as creativity-relevant skills. It suggests that demystifying the creative process should result in greater student proficiency and improved teaching and learning experiences for teachers and students.

Background: Without highly qualified nurse anesthesia educators and administrators, the health care system will be threatened by the inadequate supply of certified registered nurse anesthetists (CRNAs). Purpose: American Association of Nurse Anesthesiologists' Faculty Stabilization Task Force (FSTF) analyzed reasons for high faculty turnover and developed recommendations to support nurse anesthesia faculty and administrators. Methods: A survey evaluated participants' current role, leadership development opportunities, mentorship experiences, and resource needs. Results: Of 109 respondents, 87 (80%) were program administrators or assistant administrators with less than 5 years of experience in their role. Despite academic experience, 51% felt adequately prepared for their role. Conclusions: The FSTF provided 2 recommendations: to create a robust faculty development program for all faculty at all levels of CRNA education and a repository of information needed for program administrators and faculty to oversee and educate students in a high-quality CRNA program. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Contemporary total knee arthroplasty patients have increased expectations of returning to predisease function, including sexual activity (SA). The purpose of this study was to determine whether patients using a digital care management platform (DCMP) were more likely to have a higher rate and frequency of return to SA. We conducted an exploratory analysis of a prospective, multicenter, randomized controlled trial that enrolled patients undergoing total knee arthroplasty. A total of 304 patients were randomized to a DCMP (n = 119) providing preoperative and postoperative education regarding return to SA or standard postoperative care (control group; n = 185). Return to SA, assessed via questionnaire, patient-reported outcome measures, Timed Up and Go test, single leg stance, active range of motion and need for manipulation under anesthesia were assessed at 90 days postoperatively. More patients in the DCMP group returned to SA compared to control at 90 days (58.4 versus 39.6%, P =.018); however, the control group resumed SA sooner (33.1 versus 42.0 days, P =.023). Patients who returned to SA were younger (61.6 versus 65.9 year), more often men (56 versus 35%) (P <.001), higher performing on the Timed Up and Go and single leg stance tests (P <.001), and had greater active range of motion (P =.007). There were no differences in patient-reported outcome measures or need for manipulation under anesthesia between patients that returned to SA and those who did not. More patients using a DCMP resumed SA at 90 days; however, patients in the control group returned to SA sooner. Those who returned to SA were younger, possessed greater physical function, and were more often men. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The goal of this work is to present a time-frequency-based approach to vibration condition monitoring of gas compressor valves. Due to the cyclostationary nature of reciprocating compressors frequency analysis alone is typically insufficient to assess valve condition. Experimental data is collected on an instrumented Dresser-Rand ESH-1 dual-acting reciprocating compressor by seeding known leakage fault severity levels in the suction and discharge manifold valve assemblies. Fault severity is measured by the leakage hole area and the number of damaged valve elements. By applying a short-time Fourier transform signal processing method to externally mounted vibration measurements, it is possible to identify key regions of interest in the compression cycle. Statistical features are then extracted from these regions and used to train a Bayesian classifier. The presented machine learning approach achieves greater than 90% success in assessing the valve leakage health of the compressor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research has shown that participation in the arts at school and in the classroom has many academic and personal well-being benefits. Here we outline some of the key effects of arts participation, with particular focus on one of its psychological yields: "flow." We then define flow and describe its nine ingredients with particular attention to how these occur in the arts classroom: action-awareness merging, clear goals, unambiguous feedback, concentration on the task at hand, sense of control, loss of self-consciousness, transformation of time, and autotelic experience. Suggested implications for arts educators are then identified to provide guidance on how to build flow into the everyday activities of the arts classroom. Moreover, although we focus on the arts and the arts classroom, applications and implications for other subjects and classrooms are readily evident.

We argue that ethically significant behavior of autonomous systems should be guided by explicit ethical principles determined through a consensus of ethicists. Such a consensus is likely to emerge in many areas in which intelligent autonomous systems are apt to be deployed and for the actions they are liable to undertake, as we are more likely to agree on how machines ought to treat us than on how human beings ought to treat one another. Given such a consensus, particular cases of ethical dilemmas where ethicists agree on the ethically relevant features and the right course of action can be used to help discover principles needed for ethical guidance of the behavior of autonomous systems. Such principles help ensure the ethical behavior of complex and dynamic systems and further serve as a basis for justification of this behavior. To provide assistance in discovering ethical principles, we have developed GenEth, a general ethical dilemma analyzer that, through a dialog with ethicists, uses inductive logic programming to codify ethical principles in any given domain. GenEth has been used to codify principles in a number of domains pertinent to the behavior of autonomous systems and these principles have been verified using an Ethical Turing Test, a test devised to compare the judgments of codified principles with that of ethicists.