Mathematics teachers’ beliefs about primary school students’ mathematical attitudes

The lifestyles change of children and adolescents during the COVID-19 pandemic due to antipandemic measures can affect their sleep health. Existing studies have used convenient samples and focused on the initial months of the pandemic, leaving a knowledge gap on changes in young people's sleep patterns under the "new normal" under COVID-19. As part of a territory-wide epidemiological study in Hong Kong, this cross-sectional study recruited primary and secondary school students by stratified random sampling. Sleep parameters were collected using the structured diagnostic interview for sleep patterns and disorders. We investigated the pandemic's effects on sleep parameters by comparing data of participants recruited pre-COVID and those recruited during COVID using multivariate regression, adjusting for age, sex, household income, seasonality, and presence of mental disorders, and the moderators and mediators of the effects. Between September 1, 2019 and June 2, 2021, 791 primary and 442 secondary school students were recruited and analyzed. Primary school and secondary school participants assessed before COVID had a longer sleep latency on school days (95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.0-5.2 minutes, adjusted P-value = .010; and 95% CI= 3.9-13.0 minutes, adjusted P-value = .004, respectively) and nonschool days (95% CI = 1.7-7.2 minutes, adjusted P-value = .005; 95% CI = 3.4-13.7 minutes, adjusted P-value = .014, respectively). Low household income was a moderator for later bedtime (adjusted P-value = .032) and later sleep onset (adjusted P-value = .043) during nonschool days among secondary school students. Changes associated with COVID have a widespread and enduring effect on the sleep health of school-aged students in Hong Kong. Household income plays a role in adolescent sleep health resilience, and the impact of antiepidemic measures on the health gaps of the youth should be considered. Chau SWH, Hussain S, Chan SSM, etal. A comparison of sleep-wake patterns among school-age children and adolescents in Hong Kong before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. J Clin Sleep Med. 2023;19(4):749-757.

To explore the behaviors related to infectious disease and family factors in primary and middle school students, and to provide evidence for improving behaviors related to infectious disease. A total of 8465 students were randomly surveyed by a standard questionnaire of behaviors related to infectious disease. Chi-square test was used to analyze the influential factors for behaviors related to infectious disease, and non conditional logistic regression analysis was used to analyze the multiple factors. The total formation rate of behaviors related to infectious disease was 66.4%. The rates for primary and middle school students were 69.4% and 62.8% respectively, with significant difference (P<0.05). There were significant differences in the following behaviors, such as washing hands before eating food, rarely buying snacks on outside stalls, informing teachers when showing infectious disease symptoms (all P<0.05), the degree for such behaviors in primary school students was higher than that in middle school students. There were also significant differences in the following behaviors, such as washing hands after using the toilet, blocking with a handkerchief, wiping while coughing and sneezing (all P<0.05), the degree for such behaviors in middle school students was higher than that in primary school students. Non conditional logistic regression analysis showed that the behaviors related to infectious disease in primary and middle school students were associated with parents' education degree, mother's occupation and living status with parents. Behaviors related to infectious disease in primary and middle school students need to be improved, and the formation of these behaviors may be related to many family factors.

Bullying has become more prevalent not only among secondary school (SMP and SMA) students but also in primary school (SD) students. Children's physical and psychological development in primary school are the most crucial aspects. However, many primary school students face physical and psychological pressure in social interactions due to bullying. However, they are rarely reported even though they have a detrimental effect on both victims and perpetrators. Bullying is still considered normal in social interactions and is used as a joke and a way to demonstrate strength. One of the causes is primary school students’ lack of comprehension of bullying.This research aimed to determine primary school students' knowledge about bullying before and after receiving health education and analyze the impact of bullying themed illustrated storybooks on primary school students’ knowledge in Kupang to prevent bullying behaviors. The quasi experimental approach pre-test and post-test with one group design. There were 200 primary school students involved in intervention. The Wilcoxon test results show that the average respondents’ knowledge improvement after being provided with health education about bullying using illustrated storybooks was 78.5%, with a p-value of 0.000. Therefore, it can be concluded that health education using illustrated storybook positively impacts primary school (SD) students’ bullying knowledge in Kupang. Collaboration between various parties, including parents, teachers, schools, and nurses, will continue to provide education about bullying for elementary school children as an effort to prevent bullying behavior in elementary school children.

To analyze and describe the status and characteristics of using electronic screens of primary and middle school students in China from 2016 to 2017. From 2016 to 2017, 275 monitoring points were selected from 31 provinces in China, and 280 primary and middle school students were selected from each monitoring point to complete the survey. Using the suggestion from "Healthy China Initiative(2019-2030)"of which the screen time of primary and middle school students should be less than one hour per day as the standard. A total of 74 314 primary and secondary school students(except grade 9 and grade 12) were included in this study. Among them, there were 37 147 boys(50.0%) and 37 167 girls(50.0%); 44 612 pupils(60.0%), 14 858 junior school students(20.0%), and 14 844 senior high school students(20.0%); 38 995(52.5%) rural students and 35 319(47.5%) urban students; 53 287 boarding students(71.7%) and 20 537 day students(27.6%). From 2016 to 2017, the average daily screen time of Chinese primary school students was 1.45 hours, M(P25, P75) was 1.14(0.57, 1.93) h. That of junior high school students was 1.92 hours, M(P25, P75) was 1.43(0.71, 2.48) h. That of senior high school students was 2.37 hours, M(P25, P75) was 1.71(0.90, 3.02) h. The average daily screen time qualified rates of primary school, junior high and senior high school students were 46.1%, 37.1% and 27.7%, respectively. From 2016 to 2017, the most used electronic screen products of primary school students in China were TV/videos(62%), followed by mobile phones(21%). Junior high school students spent 38% and 37% of the total time watching TV/videos and playing mobile phones, respectively. High school students spend the longest time using mobile phones(49%) of the total time, followed by watching TV/videos(26%). With the increasing of grade, screen time became longer, and screen time qualified rate dropped. Moreover, the most used electronic screens were mobile phones and TV/videos.

The study has systematized the theoretical basis for ethical or moral education for students in primary schools on the current status of ethical education for students in public primary schools in Cai Rang District, Can Tho City, then proposed some measures to manage ethical education activities for students in primary schools in Cai Rang District, Can Tho City. Based on theoretical research and practical surveys, the researchers would pose 6 specific suggestions to manage moral education activities for students in primary schools in Cai Rang District, Can Tho City. Two hundred and ninety-six respondents participated in the questionnaires, among of whom were school managers, teachers, and representative boards of students' parents from 4 public primary schools in Can Rang District, Can Tho City. The proposed measures would impact all subjects and stages of the management process from the stage of raising the needs, planning, organizing, and directing to inspection and evaluation, the elements of managing moral education activities for students at public elementary schools, such as developing selection plans, assigning use, fostering, stimulating and motivating teaching and creating a favorable environment for the management of moral education activities for students in primary schools in Cai Rang District, Can Tho City. Each proposed suggestion has different goals, tasks and implementation methods, but in general, they are closely related, interactive and complementary. Therefore, those measures must be implemented in a synchronous, unified, flexible and flexible manner to achieve high results, meeting the requirements of improving the quality of public primary education in the current period.&lt;p&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt; Article visualizations:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src="/-counters-/soc/0771/a.php" alt="Hit counter" /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

This paper is used to know about the psychological health situation for middle and primary school students in Xianning City and provide a certain empirical basis for meaningful development of psychological health education and psychological assistance. This paper uses the MHT scale prepared by Bucheng Zhou professor et al. to conduct a test for 1000 students in 7 middle and primary schools in Xianning City. The detection rate of psychological health problem accounts for 1.6% where the positive detection rate of study anxiety ranks first (43.2%). The psychological health situations have much difference in sex (t = -4. 624, P<0. 001), and it’s lower in male students than female ones. There is a significant difference between the psychological health situation for only and non-only children (t = -2. 519, P<0. 01).There is a significant difference on the psychological health situation for primary school, middle school and high school students (F = 11. 3, P<0. 001), and the psychological health situation of primary school students is better than that for middle school students. It can be concluded that the psychological health situation of middle and primary school students in Xianning City is fairly good, and the psychological health situation for male student, only children and primary school student is also fairly good.

The prevalence of ocular diseases in primary and junior high school students on Orchid Island

Objective: To examine the purchase behaviors of prepackaged food and its determinants among primary and middle school students in 6 provinces of China. Methods: A multi-stage sampling strategy was adopted to select 2 499 primary and middle school students and their parents from the eastern region of China(Beijing, Jiangsu Province, Guangdong Province), the northeast region(Heilongjiang Province), the central region(Henan Province) and the western region(Sichuan Province) from July 2020 to March 2021. Socio-demographic characteristics of students and their parents, eating-related behaviors and the purchase behaviors of prepackaged food of students, and parents' attitudes towards students' eating behavior were collected through questionnaire towards students and their parents. The χ² test was conducted to compare the purchase behaviors in different groups of students, and multivariate logistic stepwise regression analysis was used to analyze the determinants among primary and middle school students. Results: The age of 2 499 participants was(12.7±2.5) years. There were 1 272(50.9%) females and 1 279(51.2%) middle school students. About 1 404(56.2%) students bought prepackaged food. The top 6 prepackaged foods bought at least once a week were milk and dairy products(74.6%), baked food(58.7%), beverages(42.8%), puffed food(40.8%), chocolate and candy(39.8%), and nuts and dried fruits(37.5%). The multivariate logistic regression model analysis results showed that compared with primary school students, rural students, non-boarding students, students who did not like snacks and students whose parents paid attention to their children eating snacks, middle school students(OR=3.36, 95%CI:2.73-4.12), urban students(OR=1.33, 95%CI:1.11-1.61), boarding students(OR=2.15, 95%CI:1.66-2.79), students who liked snacks(OR=2.01, 95%CI:1.66-2.43), students whose parents did not pay attention to their children eating snacks(OR=1.27, 95%CI:1.05-1.54) were more likely to buy prepackaged food by themselves. Compared with students whose parents had education level of junior high school and below, students whose parents had education level of undergraduate and above(OR=0.70, 95%CI:0.53-0.92) were less likely to buy prepackaged food by themselves. Compared with students whose family monthly income was less than 5 000 yuan, students whose family monthly income was over 10 000 yuan(OR=0.67, 95%CI:0.52-0.87) were less likely to buy prepackaged food by themselves. Conclusion: Many primary and middle school students buy prepackaged food by themselves in 6 provinces of China. Individual characteristics such as grade, place of residence, boarding status, as well as family environment such as parents' education level, monthly income and concern about children eating snacks are the influencing factors of purchasing prepackaged food.

Somatic symptoms and concern regarding COVID-19 among Chinese college and primary school students: A cross-sectional survey

Objective: To investigate the prevalence of dyslipidemia, and to explore the association between extracurricular physical activity and dyslipidemia among primary, middle and high school students in Guangzhou. Methods: This cross-sectional study selected primary and middle school students in Guangzhou by the stratified cluster sampling method from March to December 2019. Physical examination and blood lipid test were performed. Information about students' basic characteristics and extracurricular physical activity was collected by questionnaire. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to determine the association between extracurricular physical activity and dyslipidemia in this cohort. Results: A total of 7 797 participants (mean aged (12.2±2.9) years) were included (4 194 (53.79%) boys and 3 603 (46.21%) girls]. The detection rates of high total cholesterol, high triglycerides, low high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, high low-density lipoprotein cholesterol and dyslipidemia were 12.49% (974/7 797), 6.44% (502/7 797), 6.62% (516/7 797), 11.31% (882/7 797) and 23.83% (1 858/7 797), respectively. Dyslipidemia rate was lower in the junior school students (21.39% (675/3 156)) than in primary school students (25.96% (896/3 451)) and high-school students (24.12% (287/1 190)) (P<0.001). The dyslipidemia rates of boys and girls were similar (23.15% (971/4 194) vs. 24.62% (887/3 603), P>0.05). Dyslipidemia rate was lower in students with extracurricular physical activity than in students without extracurricular physical activity (22.50% (923/4 102) vs. 25.30% (935/3 695), P<0.05). Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that extracurricular physical activity was associated with lower risk of dyslipidemia (OR=0.88, 95%CI=0.79-0.99, P=0.033). Among all types of extracurricular physical activities, participating in extracurricular large ball game was associated with 28% lower risk among junior school students (OR=0.72, 95%CI=0.57-0.91, P=0.006). Conclusion: The prevalence of dyslipidemia is high among primary, middle and high school students in Guangzhou. Extracurricular physical activity is associated with reduced risk of dyslipidemia in this cohort.

Background: The transition from primary school to secondary school has negative effects on a significant part of the student body, such as a substantial decrease in self-esteem, motivation, academic performance and the risk of bullying and school dropout school. Social support and school factors are positively associated with transition success; thus, they need to be strengthened in transition programmes. In this sense, the application of pedagogical models that address affective and social domains could set a suitable framework to develop positive transition programmes. Purpose: The aim of this work was to test the impact of a programme consisting in a Service-Learning experience embedded in a Sport Education season on social and school transition facilitators within a positive school transition framework. Methods: A total of 17 teachers, 130 secondary school students (age: 15–16), and 305 primary school students (age: 11–12 years) across five established Sport Education networks participated in this study. The networks were composed of one secondary school group and between two and four primary school groups. The programme comprised between 18 and 21 physical education lessons for each secondary school group, and between 14 and 18 physical education lessons for each primary school group. The data were obtained in multiple time points through focus groups with students and primary school teachers, interviews with secondary school teachers and researchers’ field diaries. Findings: Results evidenced the development of facilitators in the social and school factors. Regarding the social factor, the programme created a positive relationship between primary school and secondary school students and increased quantity and quality of the relationship between students of the same age, as well as expectations of social support in the new stage. Within the school factor, the development of facilitators of school connectedness and a feeling of safety was verified. A shift in primary school students’ ideas and expectations about the transition was identified, which included a greater sense of security and more positive expectations. Conclusions: The Sport Education Service-Learning programme appears to be effective in developing school and social facilitators to promote positive school transition. Results suggest that Sport Education facilitates a positive and respectful relationship between equals, while Service-Learning is a highly suitable framework for relationships with older students. The long-term impact on social relationships established during programmes with a positive focus is suggested as prospective research.

Objective: To analyze the daily drinking behavior and related factors of primary and middle school students in the Nutrition Improvement Program for Rural Compulsory Education Students (NIPRCES) pilot regions. Methods: Multi-stage stratified random cluster sampling method was used to select one to three national pilot counties in 22 provinces in central and western China where the NIPRCES was implemented in 2019. According to different feeding patterns, two primary schools and two middle schools were selected as key monitoring schools. One or two classes were selected from grade 3 to grade 9. The student questionnaire was used to collect the basic information and daily drinking behavior. Taking whether the drinking water ≥5 cups every day as the dependent variable, multivariate logistic regression model was used to analyze the related factors of drinking behavior among students. Results: A total of 27 374 students were included. On average, primary and middle school students in the regions where NIPRCES was implemented had 3.9 cups of water every day. Logistic regression model showed that boys (OR=1.230, P<0.001), primary school students (OR=1.379, P<0.001), father worked outside the home (OR=1.169, P<0.001), both parents worked outside the home (OR=1.228, P<0.001), non-resident students (OR=1.142, P<0.001), the school in the village (OR=1.638, P<0.001) or township (OR=1.358, P<0.001), school feeding (OR=1.252, P<0.001), the school building with flush toilets (OR=1.384, P<0.001) and the central regions (OR=1.300, P<0.001) students were more likely to drink ≥5 cups water every day. Conclusion: The water consumption of primary and middle school students in the pilot regions of NIPRCES is low, and their drinking behaviors are affected by many factors.

The Study Orientation Questionnaire in Mathematics (Primary) is being developed as a diagnostic measure for South African teachers and counsellors to help primary school students improve their orientation towards the study of mathematics. In this study, participants were primary school students in the North-West Province of South Africa. During the standardisation in 2007, 1,013 students (538 boys: M age = 12.61; SD = 1.53; 555 girls: M age = 11.98; SD = 1.35; 10 missing values) were assessed. Factor analysis yielded three factors. Analysis also showed satisfactory reliability coefficients and item-factor correlations. Step-wise linear regression indicated that three factors (Mathematics anxiety, Study attitude in mathematics, and Study habits in mathematics) contributed significantly (R2 = .194) to predicting achievement in mathematics as measured by the Basic Mathematics Questionnaire (Primary).

Effective long term teacher support is key to promoting and sustaining students' study well-being at school. However, little is known about individual variations in the development of perceived teacher support and how such variations are associated with study engagement and study-related burnout. Also, understanding of the differences between age cohorts across school levels is still limited. To address this limitation, we used latent growth mixture (LGM) modeling to study whether teacher support trajectories influenced study engagement and study-related burnout among Finnish primary and lower-secondary school students. Two cohorts of students, namely primary school students from the 4th to 6th grades (N = 2,204) and lower-secondary school students from the 7th to 9th grades (N = 1,411), were followed for three years. LGM revealed four latent trajectories for teacher support, which were labeled high stable (72%), low stable (12%), decreasing (11%) and increasing (5%). The teacher support trajectories were strongly associated with students' study engagement and study burnout. Moreover, heightened study-related burnout symptoms and decreased study engagement were associated with a decline in perceived teacher support, while higher levels of study engagement and low levels of study burnout symptoms were associated with a continuum of positive teacher support experience. Primary school students were more likely to employ stable and high levels of teacher support, compared with lower-secondary school students, highlighting the importance of improving conditions in lower-secondary school so that the teacher support will better reach all their students.

Despite the rise of Ocean Literacy (OL) movement at the beginning of 2000s, ocean sciences remain a neglected topic in school curricula of many countries, including Italy. This study investigates ocean-related knowledge and opinions in a sample of 351 primary and secondary school students of North Eastern Italy (4th, 5th and 8th grades) by means of structured questionnaires, before and after a teaching intervention aimed at promoting higher education and careers in the maritime sector. Students demonstrated a moderate level of knowledge and positive opinions about their relationship with the marine environment, as well as some misconceptions about the connectedness of all seas, the origin of half of atmospheric oxygen from the sea and the global dimension of water cycle. After the teaching intervention, primary school students’ scores evidenced a significant improvement, while secondary school results showed minimal change. This difference could possibly be attributed to differences in teaching organisation between primary and secondary schools. This is the first investigation on OL among Italian students, and is part of a larger project carried out by EMSEA (European Marine Science Educators Association) in three Mediterranean countries.