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This qualitative study explores the impact of the emergency transition to remote education (ETRE) during the COVID-19 pandemic on instructors and students through the lens of self-determination theory (SDT). A modified thematic analysis of narratives from a cross-sectional survey revealed eight themes: Sense of loss/grief, Role conflict, Helplessness, I had no choice, This felt impossible, Lost connections, Am I safe, and They don't care about me. Sub-themes expound on their associated themes. Participant narratives shared feelings of trauma and crisis as they related experiences of higher education during the mandated global shutdown. The stories of these experiences are indicative of loss of autonomy, competence, and relatedness, tenets of self-determination. These experiences, for the majority of students, led to a loss of motivation to learn, participate, or produce meaningful work. For most instructors, the experiences led to a similar lassitude and frustration. The authors conclude that the experience of the ETRE negatively impacted both teaching and learning in the higher education setting. Recommendations include further development in higher education to support both instructors' and students' self-determination during catastrophic change.

In the Spring term of 2020, nearly 90% of higher education institutions in the United States were forced to transition from primarily face-to-face (F2F) instruction to various modes of remote or online instruction in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. State-funded colleges and universities in Georgia were mandated to do the same in April of 2020, which led to a system-wide hiatus in face-to-face instruction while instructors prepared to return to all-remote teaching. This study examined the effects of this transition to Emergency Remote Instruction (ERI) at six institutions in Georgia, using a survey completed by 910 instructors who made that transition in at least one course in the Spring term of 2020. 65% of the instructors taught remotely or online for the first time after the transition. Instructors reported accessing a variety of institutional, collegial, and internet resources to aid in the transition, leading 53.4% of them to express that they were adequately prepared for ERI. Once classes resumed online, instructors found themselves to be needing much more time for remote instruction than their previous F2F instruction. From a one-word summary description of their experience, instructors reported that it led them to be challenged, stressed, overwhelmed, and exhausted.

Student success is an important focus within higher education as it relates to retention, progression, and graduation rates. Limited research exists examining the predictors of success within an undergraduate Exercise Science program. The purpose of this investigation was to examine the viability of an admission policy implemented within an undergraduate Exercise Science program as a method of predicting student success. Data from 652 students from 2012 through 2018 were collected from the University's Enterprise Information Management system. Regression analysis indicated ES 2100, an introductory Exercise Science course, was the best predictor of student performance in required major courses. Furthermore, the results indicated performance in general education courses, including English Composition II, Precalculus, General Chemistry II Laboratory, Human Anatomy and Physiology II, and General Psychology were also significantly related to performance in the required major courses, after controlling for performance in other courses. The results of the investigation provide insight regarding future success within required major courses in the program. This knowledge can be valuable when examining methods to improve retention of students, progression, minimizing repeat attempts at courses, and improving graduation rates. In conclusion, the identification of these courses, related to student success, may provide valuable insight for other Exercise Science-related programs that are considering implementing a program admission policy.

The higher education Spring semester of 2020 was heavily impacted by stakeholders' calls for a complete shutdown of in-person gatherings. This call to action forced instructors and students to transition from face-to-face education to the virtual, online classroom. Institutions were given a few days to 2 weeks for this transition. During this crisis, 14 faculty from across Georgia formed a research consortium to investigate the perspectives of instructors and students on multiple topics, including academic honesty. As part of a mixed method approach, surveys were distributed via email across the university system, which included both quantitative items and narrative, open-text response options. The results of thematic analysis and frequencies revealed the application of well-documented strategies from instructors for reducing the occurrence of cheating during assessments but also revealed new and challenging tactics of cheating by students. These perspectives from the instructors and students provide a rich description of how the shutdown impacted academic honesty in the higher education community. The authors detail these participant narratives and provide information on strategies to encourage academic honesty that move beyond creating more tests, such as revision, randomizing items, and proctoring to catch cheaters in the act. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this investigation was to utilize several different technologies to compare body composition results across two phases of the menstrual cycle, and to investigate whether being on hormonal birth control or not has any effect on results. The secondary purpose was to determine if body satisfaction or perception of fluid retention differed across phases or between groups. A total of 39 females with a mean age of 26 ± 7 yrs were included in the study, 15 were on hormonal birth control (BC) and 24 were not (non-BC). Participants came into the lab for two trials: once while menstruating and another during the estimated pre-ovulation phase of the menstrual cycle. Demographic and body satisfaction questionnaires were completed prior to body composition testing. This testing included dualenergy x-ray absorptiometry, BOD POD®, and three separate bioelectrical impedance analyses. Participants completed the body satisfaction questionnaire and all body composition tests on each trial. No significant differences (P > 0.05) were found between body fat percentage or total body water estimates taken during menses and pre-ovulation for the BC or non-BC group. There was no significant difference (P > 0.05) in overall body satisfaction across the two phases for the non-BC group, though the BC group had significantly lower body satisfaction during menses (P < 0.01). Participants in both groups identified feeling more bloated during menses (P ≤ 0.001). Results suggest that menses should not affect the reliability of body composition estimates regardless of whether or not females are on hormonal BC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Methylliberine (Dynamine ® ; DYM) and theacrine (Teacrine ® ; TCR) are purine alkaloids purported to have similar neuro-energetic effects as caffeine. There are no published human safety data on DYM, and research on TCR is limited. The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of four weeks of DYM supplementation with and without TCR on cardiovascular function and blood biomarkers. One-hundred twenty-five men and women (mean age 23.0 yrs, height 169.7 cm, body mass 72.1 kg; n = 25/group) were randomly assigned to one of five groups: low-dose DYM (100 mg), high-dose DYM (150 mg), low-dose DYM with TCR (100 mg + 50 mg), high-dose DYM with TCR (150 mg + 25 mg) , and placebo. Regardless of group and sex, significant main effects for time were noted for heart rate, systolic blood pressure, and QTc ( p < 0.001), high-density lipoproteins ( p = 0.002), mean corpuscular hemoglobin ( p = 0.018), basophils ( p = 0.006), absolute eosinophils ( p = 0.010), creatinine ( p = 0.004), estimated glomerular filtration rate ( p = 0.037), chloride ( p = 0.030), carbon dioxide ( p = 0.023), bilirubin ( p = 0.027), and alanine aminotransferase ( p = 0.043), among others. While small changes were found in some cardiovascular and blood biomarkers, no clinically significant changes occurred. This suggests that DYM alone or in combination with TCR consumed at the dosages used in this study does not appear to negatively affect markers of health over four weeks of continuous use., Competing Interests: T.A.V. received a grant from Compound Solutions, Inc. to complete this research. All funding was handled by the Kennesaw State University Grant’s Office. No authors, including T.A.V, have a financial or business interest related to the studied products.