School Semester Research Articles

GANs Unplugged

With the influx of deepfake and style transfer technology in today's news and social media, everyone is told that these applications are powered by artificial intelligence and deep learning, but too often the explanation of how it works goes no further. Rather than waiting until second semester of computer science grad school to learn about generative adversarial networks (GANs), we propose a classroom activity to introduce GANs to secondary school students. Our GANs Unplugged activity steps outside a traditional classroom environment and forms groups of students that physically act as the various components of a GAN. Students in the Real and Generator (i.e. Fake) groups both draw sketches of animals on index cards, but only the Real group has the secret, specific instructions on how to draw their animals. A third Discriminator group tries to determine if each card it receives came from the Real group or the Fake group. The Discriminator group also makes a single feedback mark on the drawing to suggest how that drawing could be more "real" before passing the card back to the group that drew it. As this game progresses, the Discriminators get better at determining real and fake, that is until the Generators adapt and learn to draw more and more realistic "fake" images. We describe the details of GANs Unplugged and present our experience running this activity at three different artificial intelligence summer camps for high school students.

Las y los jóvenes confinados Tensiones genéricas cotidianas durante el encierro estudiantil

According to Hinde (2004), virtual ethnography in cyberspace puts in tension articulations such as the role of time and space, the place of communications and the media, as well as the real / virtual, truth / fiction dualities , technology / nature, man / woman. Today, a small being neither alive nor dead has hacked the constructed social order, has allowed the gaze that focuses the questioning of the artificial struggle between the natural and the social (Latour, 2008), between information and knowledge, has revealed the inequalities with greater rawness, creating pores through which as much as possible is filtered. Daily academic practices are the layer that shows us what has happened to the proposed strategies to bring school to life at home. On the other hand, the space occupied by gender relations has produced new networks that show the challenge to the heteronormative dichotomy. 210 students (99 women and 111 men) who are in the second semester of high school at the National Polytechnic Institute, have built a virtual story about their experience during self-confinement through images and brief descriptions, requested through school cyberspace. The youthful narratives draw different ways of facing the changes in daily life, the images they shared are paintings that sustain this diversity in time and space. Young people reveal the possibility of a closer life in common, with tensions, with struggles for personal and shared places and the revaluation of the place of school in their life project. This work seeks to give an account of some aspects of the generic youth daily life in confinement and their efforts to maintain the link with the school.

Development of Innovative Chemistry Practicum Based on Multimedia Senior High School Class XI Semester II Integrated Character Education According to the 2013 Curriculum

This study aims to determine the suitability, feasibility, and integration of character and psychomotor in class XI senior high school chemistry practicum guidebooks used in schools with BSNP criteria. This study is a research and development model modified from the Borg & Gall model. In this study, there are 5 stages carried out; The needs analysis stage, the development stage, the validation stage, the revision stage and the product trial. This research trial was conducted at the Satrya Budi Perdagangan private high school, Simalungun regency. The sample in this study was taken by using cluster random sampling technique. Data collection techniques used BSNP questionnaires, test instrument sheets, character assessment observation sheets, and psychomotor assessment observation sheets. Research result; (2) The innovative chemistry lab guide based on multimedia for class XI Semester II is integrated with character education according to The 2013 curriculum is included in the valid and feasible category for use on average (3) The practicum guide developed can develop the character education values of students, this can be seen from the increase in the attitude value of students before and after using an innovative chemistry-based practical guide multimedia class XI senior high school Semester II integrated character education according to the 2013 curriculum. (4) There are differences in the learning outcomes of students who use an innovative chemistry practicum guide based on multimedia high school grade XI Semester II integrated character education according to the 2013 curriculum with students who use a chemistry lab guide for students with sig. < α (0.000 < 0.05) (5) There are differences in the attitude (character) and psychomotor (skills) values of students who use innovative chemistry lab guides based on multimedia high school grade XI Semester II integrated character education according to the 2013 curriculum with students using chemistry lab guide guide for students.

Does private supplementary tutoring matter? The effect of private supplementary tutoring on mathematics achievement

Participation in private supplementary tutoring (PT) is a global educational phenomenon especially prevalent in East Asia. This study conducted a student-report questionnaire, collected school reports of mathematics achievement to track retrospective longitudinal variations of PT over half a year, and obtained an analysis of the impact of PT participation on mathematics achievement during the school semester and summer vacation. Results show that, during summer vacation, students’ participation in PT has a significant positive effect on their mathematics achievement; however, the effect is insignificant during the school semester. The findings enhance the knowledge about the effectiveness of PT and summer learning.

Impact of COVID-19 social-distancing on sleep timing and duration during a university semester.

Social-distancing directives to contain community transmission of the COVID-19 virus can be expected to affect sleep timing, duration or quality. Remote work or school may increase time available for sleep, with benefits for immune function and mental health, particularly in those individuals who obtain less sleep than age-adjusted recommendations. Young adults are thought to regularly carry significant sleep debt related in part to misalignment between endogenous circadian clock time and social time. We examined the impact of social-distancing measures on sleep in young adults by comparing sleep self-studies submitted by students enrolled in a university course during the 2020 summer session (entirely remote instruction, N = 80) with self-studies submitted by students enrolled in the same course during previous summer semesters (on-campus instruction, N = 452; cross-sectional study design). Self-studies included 2–8 week sleep diaries, two chronotype questionnaires, written reports, and sleep tracker (Fitbit) data from a subsample. Students in the 2020 remote instruction semester slept later, less efficiently, less at night and more in the day, but did not sleep more overall despite online, asynchronous classes and ~44% fewer work days compared to students in previous summers. Subjectively, the net impact on sleep was judged as positive or negative in equal numbers of students, with students identifying as evening types significantly more likely to report a positive impact, and morning types a negative impact. Several features of the data suggest that the average amount of sleep reported by students in this summer course, historically and during the 2020 remote school semester, represents a homeostatic balance, rather than a chronic deficit. Regardless of the interpretation, the results provide additional evidence that social-distancing measures affect sleep in heterogeneous ways.

Ethnic-Racial discrimination experiences predict Latinx adolescents’ physiological stress processes across college transition

Consistent with conceptual frameworks of ethnic-race-based stress responses, and empirical evidence for the detrimental effects of ethnic-racial discrimination, the current study hypothesized that experiencing more frequent ethnic-racial discrimination during adolescence would predict differences in physiological responses to psychosocial stress across the college transition. U.S. Latinx adolescents (N=84; Mage =18.56; SD=0.35; 63.1% female; 85.7% Mexican descent) completed survey measures of ethnic-racial discrimination during their final year of high school and first college semester (~5 months later), as well as a standard psychosocial stressor task during their first college semester. Repeated blood pressure and salivary cortisol measures were recorded to assess cardiovascular and neuroendocrine activity at baseline and stress reactivity and recovery. Data were analyzed using multilevel growth models. Experiencing more frequent ethnic-racial discrimination in high school, specifically from adults, predicted higher baseline physiological stress levels and lower reactivity to psychosocial stress during the first college semester, evidenced by both blood pressure and cortisol measures. Experiencing ethnic-racial discrimination from peers in high school also predicted higher baseline blood pressure in college, but not stress reactivity indices. Results were consistent when controlling for concurrent reports of ethnic-racial discrimination, gender, parents' education level, body mass index, oral contraceptive use, time between longitudinal assessments, depressive symptoms, and general perceived stress. Experiencing frequent ethnic-racial discrimination during adolescence may lead to overburdening stress response systems, indexed by lower cardiovascular and neuroendocrine stress reactivity. Multiple physiological stress systems are sensitive to the consequences of ethnic-racial discrimination among Latinx adolescents transitioning to college.

“I Wish I Had Had You as a PE Teacher”: Physical Educators’ Experiences in a Professional Learning Community

Purpose: Drawing from Occupational Socialization Theory, the purpose of this study was to examine a middle school physical education team’s perceptions and experiences piloting standards-based teaching and grading within an organizational professional learning community (PLC). Method: Using an instrumental case study design, (n = 3) teachers and (n = 1) a principal from a middle school in the upper Midwest participated in this study. Data sources included individual and focus group interviews, observations, and relevant documents collected across three school semesters. Results: Inductive data analysis revealed three themes: (a) Increased Status and Appreciation in the School Community, (b) Growing Pains, and (c) Emotional Safety and Engagement, along with related subthemes. Conclusions: Through actively participating in the school PLC structures, physical educators may proactively facilitate leadership opportunities within the school community notwithstanding perceived limitations. However, physical educators may experience greater success in PLCs as they become increasingly literate in common assessment practices.

Is private supplementary tutoring effective? A longitudinally detailed analysis of private tutoring quality in China

In general, private supplementary tutoring is considered an effective means of improving academic achievement by parents. However, previous studies have produced partial or inconclusive results regarding its effectiveness. Thus, the present study conducted a comprehensive analysis based on a specially designed longitudinal survey of private supplementary mathematics tutoring among middle school students in China. The hierarchical linear analysis did not show a considerably significant positive effect of regular private tutoring, even when such tutoring continued throughout the summer vacation and school semester. The data also allowed a deeper inquiry into the role of the quality, quantity, and applicability of private tutoring. In addition, the heterogeneous effect of private supplementary tutoring across students with different mathematics achievement levels was explored, with possible explanations including the different learning styles of students from different groups, the ceiling effect of the testing tool, and the different learning needs of different groups of students. These results suggest that parents should carefully select private tutoring for their children, and that the government should provide more comprehensive professional guidelines to regulate the industry.

Al-Ibtikārāt fi Istikhdām Wasāil Ta’līmiyyah al-Lugah al-‘Arabiyyah Litaḥsīn al-Mahārāt al-Lugawiyyah fi 'Aṣri al-Wabā' Covid-2019

This research is about innovations in using Arabic language learning media to improve Arabic language skills in the sixth semester of the Islamic elementary school, Arrisalah Slahung- Ponorogo 2019-2020. In this paper, we talk about the process of teaching the Arabic language, its innovations and the benefits of its innovation in the VIB class. In the sixth semester, we need innovation, education, the Arabic language, so that students do not feel afraid to study the Arabic language. By creating this, teaching Arabic is fun and joyful and students do not feel afraid to learn Arabic.
 This research is qualitative , the researcher obtained data from observation, interview, and documentation in the Islamic Primary School of arrisalah. Innovation from the Latin language, innovation means renewal and change. Innovation is the idea, event, and method as something new to a community of people. Education innovation is an innovation in education or innovation to improve problems in education. So, educational innovation is the idea, method, and new state of a person or community, either discovery or interference, which is used to achieve the goals of education or to improve the problems of national education.
 By innovating education in the sixth semester, students' ability increases in the Arabic language lesson better than ever before. And students do not feel afraid when learning Arabic. The Arabic language lesson was fun and enjoyable for the students.

تأثير المفردات من وسائل الصورة في ترقية مهارةالكلام عليطلاب

The purpose of this study was to determine the extent of the effect of the vocabulary of the means of Al Sawar in the promotion of speech skill on the students of the second semester of the Islamic Secondary School of Bibides with a total of 20 students. Based on the student learning test results data, the average value of learning outcomes appears in the pre-test 6.9 and after the selection 7.1, and the test results show that the relationship between the pre-test and the post-test is strong and important, so that it can be concluded that the effect of the media and images in upgrading the skill Speech is for students and worth using it to learn Arabic. Regarding the results of the "double-tailed test" table, it is known that the important value (two-tailed) is large, such as 0.05, ie 0.69 and 0.05. Therefore, conclusions can be drawn which means that there is a positive and important effect on HA. From second grade schools.

Micro worlds: learning about probabilities in simulated contexts

In this study, the learning processes of the concepts of the probability topic are based on the use and simulation of the micro world tools by the learning actors, who demonstrated creativity, selection of the objects visible in the interface, and the introduction of basic programming principles associated with the topic in question. For the development of the study, we proceeded by the experimental design of a pre-experimental type of an intact group made up of 50 students from the 5th academic semester of the Professional School of Education of a Public University. The data were collected by an academic test before and after the experimentation, to later be processed and analyzed through the Student's t-statistic expression for related samples, reaching the following conclusion. The experimentation with micro worlds as active learning strategies based on the theory of constructionism, presents a high degree of interactivity associated with sounds, silhouettes, graphics and activities, which allowed to promote the conceptualization, resolution of exercises and problems of the topic in an experiential way in environments natural simulated by the computer.

Early prediction of the risk of scoring lower than 500 on the COMLEX 1

BackgroundThe Comprehensive Osteopathic Medical Licensing Examination of the United States Level 1 (COMLEX 1) is important for medical students to be able to graduate. There is a glaring need to identify students who are at a significant risk of performing poorly on COMLEX 1 as early as possible so that extra assistance can be provided to those students. Our goal is to produce a reliable predictive model to identify students who are at risk of scoring lower than 500 on COMLEX 1 at the earliest possible time.MethodsAcademic data from medical students who matriculated at Rocky Vista University College of Osteopathic Medicine between 2011 and 2017 were obtained. Odds ratios were used to assess the predictors for scoring lower than 500 on COMLEX 1. Correlation with COMLEX 1 scores was assessed with Pearson correlation coefficient. The predictive models were developed by multiple logistic regression, backward logistic regression, and logistic regression with average scores in courses in the first three semesters, and were based on performances on the Medical College Admissions Test (MCAT) before admission, as well as students’ performances in preclinical courses during the first three semesters. The models were generated in about 82% of the student performance data and were then validated in the remaining 18% of the data.ResultsOdds ratios showed that MCAT scores and final grades in each course in the first three semesters were significant in predicting a score lower than 500 on COMLEX 1. Performances in third-semester courses including Renal System II, Cardiovascular System II, and Respiratory System II were most important in prediction. The three predictive models had sensitivities of 65.8 -71%, and specificities of 83.2 - 88.2% in predicting a score lower than 500 on COMLEX 1.ConclusionsLower MCAT scores and lower grades in the first three semesters of medical school predict scoring lower than 500 on COMLEX 1. Students who are identified at risk by our models will have a 65.8 -71% chance of actually scoring lower than 500 on COMLEX 1. Those students will have enough time to receive assistance before taking COMLEX 1.

فعالية تعليم قواعد اللغة العربية باستخدام كتاب متن الأجرومية لترقية مهارة القراءة

Based on the problem of reduced reading ability of the pupils, the researcher was interested in conducting the search for grammar. As for the research method, which uses quantitative and experimental methods. The research design used is a quasi-experimental design. This study aims to find out, is there an effective teaching of the rules using the text book al-Ajrami to upgrade the reading skill for the eleventh semester of the high school teachers Nahdhat Al-Watan Publishing. The results of the study show that there is a difference of importance, for the ability of reading skill, separation of experimentation and separation of control, and this is evidenced by obtaining the average value of the experimental class, an increase of 74.34 from the first degree of 1531, which increased to 2602. While for the control class, an increase of an average value of 61.97. From the initial result of 1415, it increased to 2169.By looking at the different results of each chapter, it appears that the text of Al-Jarouniyah is an effective medium for learning to read.

تأثير الطريقة الإعزية في ترقيه عدد حفظ المفردات اللغة العربية

One of the problems that often occur in schools, including the secondary school for female teachers, Nahdat al-Watan, and publishing in Arabic language learning, is that students do not memorize Arabic vocabulary. Because of the problems mentioned above, the author decided to conduct research with the formulation of the problem. Vocabulary of the Arabic language for tenth grade students in the secondary school teachers Nahdhat Al-Watan Finchour The destination is to find out whether the condolence method has an effect on achieving memorizing Arabic vocabulary for the ten semester of the Secondary School Teachers Nahdet Al-Watan, for publication. The design used in this study is an experimental model from One Group Pretest PosttestDesign. Based on the results of the hypothesis test analysis, the significance value (p): 0,26 was obtained. That is, if the significance value is less than 0.05, then the significant alternative hypothesis (Ha) is accepted and the null hypothesis (Ho) is rejected. Based on testing the hypotheses, it can be concluded that the use of the method of Al-Moazzi is an effect in the investigation of preserving the Arabic language vocabulary for the ten semester of the secondary school teachers Nahdhat Al-Watan Finchour.

Symptoms of anxiety and depression among medical students: study of prevalence and associated factors

Abstract: Introduction: Common Mental Disorders (CMDs) imply psychological distress, interfering with daily activities, interpersonal relationships and quality of life. It is estimated that CMDs affect 9% to 12% of the world’s population and 12% to 15% of the Brazilian population in all age groups. Among different social groups, university students are more vulnerable to the development of anxiety and depression disorders. Objective: Therefore, this study proposed to estimate the prevalence rates and factors associated with symptoms of anxiety and depression in medical students in a capital city of northeast Brazil. Methods: This is a prevalence study, with a probabilistic sample of 1,339 students who regularly attended the 12 semesters of medical school in January 2018. Data were collected by applying a socioeconomic, behavioral and demographic survey and Beck Anxiety and Depression Inventories. The chi-square test was used to check for differences between anxiety and depression symptoms and socioeconomic and behavioral variables. The prevalence rates (total and by level of severity) and the crude and adjusted prevalence ratio (PR) were used as an association measure. Linear trend analysis was used to verify the existence of an association between anxiety and depression symptoms and semesters of the medical school. The variables that showed a crude PR with p <0.20 were incorporated into the multivariate analysis, using the robust Poisson regression model, to determine the adjusted PR. Results: The prevalence of symptoms of anxiety was 30.8%, whereas depression was 36.0%. The crude and adjusted PR for anxiety symptoms showed a statistically significant association with gender, age and sexual orientation. The crude and adjusted PR for symptoms of depression showed a statistically significant association with gender, ethnicity/skin color and sexual orientation. The correlation analyses between the semesters of the course and the presence of anxiety and depression symptoms indicated a weak coefficient of determination, with a descending characteristic and without statistical significance. Conclusions: As this is a prevalence study, this investigation does not allow conclusions on causality. Additional follow-up studies are needed to elucidate the course of anxiety and depression throughout the school semesters.

Symptoms of anxiety and depression among medical students: study of prevalence and associated factors

Abstract: Introduction: Common Mental Disorders (CMDs) imply psychological distress, interfering with daily activities, interpersonal relationships and quality of life. It is estimated that CMDs affect 9% to 12% of the world’s population and 12% to 15% of the Brazilian population in all age groups. Among different social groups, university students are more vulnerable to the development of anxiety and depression disorders. Objective: Therefore, this study proposed to estimate the prevalence rates and factors associated with symptoms of anxiety and depression in medical students in a capital city of northeast Brazil. Methods: This is a prevalence study, with a probabilistic sample of 1,339 students who regularly attended the 12 semesters of medical school in January 2018. Data were collected by applying a socioeconomic, behavioral and demographic survey and Beck Anxiety and Depression Inventories. The chi-square test was used to check for differences between anxiety and depression symptoms and socioeconomic and behavioral variables. The prevalence rates (total and by level of severity) and the crude and adjusted prevalence ratio (PR) were used as an association measure. Linear trend analysis was used to verify the existence of an association between anxiety and depression symptoms and semesters of the medical school. The variables that showed a crude PR with p <0.20 were incorporated into the multivariate analysis, using the robust Poisson regression model, to determine the adjusted PR. Results: The prevalence of symptoms of anxiety was 30.8%, whereas depression was 36.0%. The crude and adjusted PR for anxiety symptoms showed a statistically significant association with gender, age and sexual orientation. The crude and adjusted PR for symptoms of depression showed a statistically significant association with gender, ethnicity/skin color and sexual orientation. The correlation analyses between the semesters of the course and the presence of anxiety and depression symptoms indicated a weak coefficient of determination, with a descending characteristic and without statistical significance. Conclusions: As this is a prevalence study, this investigation does not allow conclusions on causality. Additional follow-up studies are needed to elucidate the course of anxiety and depression throughout the school semesters.

Children left unattended in parked school vehicles: Internet content analysis and systematic literature review of case series.

Purpose: Childhood injuries resulting from being left in vehicles are an important cause of pediatric mortality. However, no previous study has primarily focused on this occurrence in parked school vehicles. The aim of this study was to investigate the incidence and characteristics of children left unattended in parked school vehicles in Thailand, and systematically review the nature and causes of children being left unattended in parked school vehicles in the peer-reviewed published literature. Methods: We conducted a systematic literature review of three databases including PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science using the specific search terms “parked vehicles” and “child”, and an online search of Thailand published news in websites for incidents that occurred over the 10 year period from January 2010 to December 2020. Results: We found five studies of 96 incidents of children left in parked vehicles; 10 cases occurred in school vehicles. From internet content analysis in Thailand, among 20 cases of children left unattended in parked vehicles, eight cases occurred in school vehicles. All cases were left more than 2 hours and resulted from being forgotten by the teacher or school driver. The median age of children was three. The majority of incidents occurred in the wet or summer season during the first school semester. Conclusion: Children left unattended in parked school vehicles occurred in children slightly older than those occurring in private vehicles, and they show a notable seasonal effect that is not driven by temperature alone but by occurring early in the academic calendar.

O uso de tecnologias de informação e comunicação por estudantes de medicina

Abstract: Introduction: The central topic of the present study is the evaluation of Information and Communication Technology use by medical students, since this relationship has become inseparable from medical training and practice. Objective: To characterize the profile of Information and Communication Technology use among medical students, identifying which are the most frequently used, the possible stimuli and the main impediments to its use. Method: An observational and cross-sectional study was carried out by applying an electronic form on the Google Forms® platform, to students attending from the 1st to the 12th semester of undergraduate medical school. Results: Of the 216 participants, there was a predominance of females (60.6%), aged between 20-24 years (65.3%) and with a family income of less than 3 minimum wages (36.1%). The main device used by the participants was the smartphone (68.1%) and the most frequently used Information and Communication Technologies were text messaging apps (99.5%) and internet browsers (96.8%), while Medication Apps (48.1%) and Specialized Calculators (31%) were significantly less often used. The main benefit mentioned was the possibility of distance communication, while the main impediment was the issue of security. Conclusion: It was concluded that the use of technologies by medical students is quite frequent and varied, but purposeful training, by teachers and students, is necessary for better use of the available technologies.

Understanding the Metacognitive "Space" and Its Implications for Law Students' Learning

This article builds upon our prior work, contributing to the growing literature addressing development of metacognitive skills in law students. Metacognitive skills include knowledge of strategies that impact thinking and learning, and regulation of thinking and learning related to specific learning tasks. Metacognitive skills are important for learning in law school as well as for successful lawyering. Herein we describe an empirical study of first-year law students that addresses four primary research questions: (1) What level of metacognitive knowledge and regulation do law students demonstrate when they enter law school? (2) Do law students’ metacognitive knowledge and regulation change during the first semester of law school? (3) Is there a relationship between law students’ academic performance and metacognitive knowledge and regulation? (4) Does instructional intervention impact law students’ metacognitive knowledge and regulation? In addressing these questions, we refined the qualitative instruments from our prior study to better capture the interplay between metacognitive knowledge and regulation. In so doing, a metacognitive “space” emerged that provides a visual tool for other researchers interested in assessing student metacognitive skills. We posit that the metacognitive “space” may further serve as a tool for instructors to promote development of metacognitive skills in students, and for students to self-reflect and intentionally regulate their learning. We found that most students enter law school lacking metacognitive knowledge but with some metacognitive regulation skills. The majority of students ended their first semester with knowledge. However, metacognitive knowledge was not associated with course performance nor was there an effect of instructional intervention on metacognitive knowledge. Metacognitive regulation, specifically use of strategies identified as most effective in law school, was associated with course performance, as was overall level of metacognitive regulation. While there was no effect of instructional intervention on the level of metacognitive regulation, intervention did result in more students reporting use of strategies such as fact patterns, hypotheticals, and working practice problems, strategies supporting both success in law school and successful lawyering. The article concludes with a discussion of the implications of the work for legal education and future directions for study and practice of metacognition. NOTE: Appendices are available upon email request from the authors.

Frente a la epidemia de COVID19, un estudio sobre la conectividad y las condiciones de estudio de los estudiantes de una universidad pública brasileña

With the outbreak of COVID19 pandemic, all educative institutions were forced to implement remote teaching. One of the hypotheses that rose with greater force was that social inequalities would enlarge inequalities in internet access and study conditions among students. In face to this impasse, graduate commission of one unity of a Brazilian public university, decided to develop a study in order to correlate social characteristics of students, connectivity conditions (internet access and available equipments), and home study conditions. This works presents the results of that study that involved 1.681 graduate students. It was elaborated a questionnaire, available online during a week. A qualitative/quantitative analysis was conducted, relating internet access and home conditions of study, in EaD and/or online modality. Analysis and results obtained made it possible to refute the inference that establish a linear relationship between quantity of equipments and familiar income of a student and the probability of that student favorable to remote teaching. Other hypotheses raised on, such as that the opinion about the continuity of the school semester in that conditions would depend on another kind of factors.