Small Class Research Articles

Typologies of secondary school student academic resilience in science with classroom and school context predictors

ABSTRACT The education system strives to help students from low-income families achieve academic success. Academic resilience is related to not only individuals but also classrooms and schools. This study aimed to construct a comprehensive resilience model in science domains that presents the image of resilient students and describes the mechanisms by which they arise. This goal was achieved through a parametric multilevel latent profile analysis with level 1 and level 2 covariates. Latent profile indicators included variables reflecting motivation, subjective well-being, and engagement in science of secondary school students. Variables related to science classroom and school contexts constituted the levels 1 and 2 covariates. We used secondary data from Japan and Macao (China) collected in the 2015 Programme of International Student Assessment (PISA). The sample sizes were 1594 and 1114, respectively. We identified three resilience levels among students. The emergence of resilient students benefited from science classroom discipline, teacher-directed instruction, inquiry-based teaching, adjusting instruction, and teacher support. In Japan, the most robust predictor was inquiry-based teaching, while in Macao, it was teacher-directed instruction. Therefore, science teachers play a crucial role in building students’ resilience. It also suggests that a small class decreases the likelihood of students entering the high-level resilience group.

The Long and Winding Road: standards- and attribute-based grading in vastly different first-year math courses

Standards- and attribute-based marking methods grade students according to specific learning objectives. These methods can be difficult to implement but lead to positive results for both students and instructors. This paper summarizes the experience of and results from two divergent grading systems, one that utilized standards-based grading for a small part of the grade in a very large class and another that used attribute-based grading for the entire experience of a small class. The instructors discuss the challenges in implementing their systems and how the benefits outweighed the accompanying difficulties. The results of the alternative marking led to greater student engagement and to changes in course curriculum. Suggestions for easing the use of these systems are proposed.

Internet + Badminton Training in the New Context

Badminton is popular among people of all ages, and it also occupies an important position in the Chinese badminton market. As a global sports activity, badminton has received extensive attention in recent years at home and abroad. With the rapid development of Internet technology, all walks of life are actively exploring the integration of the Internet and traditional industries. In this context, the badminton training industry has also ushered in new opportunities and challenges. Traditional badminton training mainly relies on training venues and coaches for badminton. And now online training platforms provide more possibilities for it. With the gradual improvement of living standards, more and more parents attach more importance to the comprehensive development of their children, and interest training institutions for teenagers and children have mushroomed. However, from the perspective of the interest training market for teenagers and children, there are few sports trainings, most of which have no educational qualifications, and the cost is expensive. In this context, Internet plus+badminton training will have unique advantages, we can provide a platform for physical exercise for teenagers aged 6-16 through online self-learning, self-training, and offline small class tutoring.

Separation Anxiety and Relief Strategies for Children in the New Small Class

Separation Anxiety and Relief Strategies for Children in the New Small Class

Overcoming doxorubicin resistance in triple-negative breast cancer using the class I-targeting HDAC inhibitor bocodepsin/OKI-179 to promote apoptosis

BackgroundTriple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is an aggressive breast cancer subtype with a poor prognosis. Doxorubicin is part of standard curative therapy for TNBC, but chemotherapy resistance remains an important clinical challenge. Bocodepsin (OKI-179) is a small molecule class I histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitor that promotes apoptosis in TNBC preclinical models. The purpose of this study was to investigate the combination of bocodepsin and doxorubicin in preclinical TNBC models and evaluate the impact on terminal cell fate, including apoptosis and senescence.MethodsTNBC cell lines were treated with doxorubicin and CellTiter-Glo was used to assess proliferation and determine doxorubicin sensitivity. Select cell lines were treated with OKI-005 (in vitro version of bocodepsin) and doxorubicin and assessed for proliferation, apoptosis as measured by Annexin V/PI, and cell cycle by flow cytometry. Immunoblotting was used to assess changes in mediators of apoptosis, cell cycle arrest, and senescence. Senescence was measured by the senescence-associated β-galactosidase assay. An MDA-MB-231 xenograft in vivo model was treated with bocodepsin, doxorubicin, or the combination and assessed for inhibition of tumor growth. shRNA knockdown of p53 was performed in the CAL-51 cell line and proliferation, apoptosis and senescence were assessed in response to combination treatment.ResultsOKI-005 and doxorubicin resulted in synergistic antiproliferative activity in TNBC cells lines regardless of p53 mutation status. The combination led to increased apoptosis and decreased senescence. In vivo, the combination resulted in increased tumor growth inhibition compared to either single agent. shRNA knock-down of p53 led to increased doxorubicin-induced senescence that was decreased with the addition of OKI-005 in vitro.ConclusionThe addition of bocodepsin to doxorubicin resulted in synergistic antiproliferative activity in vitro, improved tumor growth inhibition in vivo, and promotion of apoptosis which makes this a promising combination to overcome doxorubicin resistance in TNBC. Bocodepsin is currently in clinical development and has a favorable toxicity profile compared to other HDAC inhibitors supporting the feasibility of evaluating this combination in patients with TNBC.

MetDIT: Transforming and Analyzing Clinical Metabolomics Data with Convolutional Neural Networks.

Clinical metabolomics is growing as an essential tool for precision medicine. However, classical machine learning algorithms struggle to comprehensively encode and analyze the metabolomics data due to their high dimensionality and complex intercorrelations. This article introduces a new method called MetDIT, designed to analyze intricate metabolomics data effectively using deep convolutional neural networks (CNN). MetDIT comprises two components: TransOmics and NetOmics. Since CNN models have difficulty in processing one-dimensional (1D) sequence data efficiently, we developed TransOmics, a framework that transforms sequence data into two-dimensional (2D) images while maintaining a one-to-one correspondence between the sequences and images. NetOmics, the second component, leverages a CNN architecture to extract more discriminative representations from the transformed samples. To overcome the overfitting due to the small sample size and class imbalance, we introduced a feature augmentation module (FAM) and a loss function to improve the model performance. Furthermore, we systematically optimized the model backbone and image resolution to balance the model parameters and computational costs. To demonstrate the performance of the proposed MetDIT, we conducted extensive experiments using three different clinical metabolomics data sets and achieved better classification performance than classical machine learning methods used in metabolomics, including Random Forest, SVM, XGBoost, and LightGBM. The source code is available at the GitHub repository at https://github.com/Li-OmicsLab/MetDIT, and the WebApp can be found at http://metdit.bioinformatics.vip/.

Resolving taphonomic and preparation biases in silicified faunas through paired acid residues and X-ray microscopy.

Paired petrography and acid maceration has shown that preferential silicification of shelly faunas can bias recovery based on taxon and body size. Here, silicified fossils from the Upper Ordovician Edinburg Formation, Strasburg Junction, Virginia, USA, were analyzed using X-ray tomographic microscopy (μCT) in conjunction with recovered residues from acid maceration of the same materials to further examine sources of potential bias. Results reveal that very small (<~1 mm) fossils are poorly resolved in μCT when scanning at lower resolutions (~30 µm), underestimating abundance of taxa including ostracods and bryozoans. Acid maceration, meanwhile, fails to recover poorly silicified fossils prone to disarticulation and/or fragmentation during digestion. Tests for patterns of breakage, however, indicate no significant size or taxonomic bias during extraction. Comparisons of individual fossils from 3-D fossil renders and maceration residues reveal patterns of fragmentation that are taxon-specific and allow the differentiation of biostratinomic and preparational breakage. Multivariate ordinations and cluster analyses of μCT and residue data in general produce concordant results but indicate that the variation in taxonomic composition of our samples is compromised by the resolvability of small size classes in μCT imaging, limiting the utility of this method for addressing paleoecological questions in these specific samples. We suggest that comparability of results will depend strongly on the sample size, taphonomic history, textural, and compositional characteristics of the samples in question, as well as μCT scan parameters. Additionally, applying these methods to different deposits will test the general applicability of the conclusions drawn on the relative strengths and weaknesses of the methods.

Research on the Cultivation Strategy of Children's Life Routine in Kindergarten Life Activities

Kindergarten life activities are a part of daily life in kindergarten, and the routine training of kindergarten life is to conduct scientific and reasonable norms for children's various habits and form good behavioral habits in each stage of daily life. Through literature, observation and other methods, combined with the actual situation of kindergartens, this paper discusses the routine training of small class life in Kunming M Kindergarten, analyzes the existing problems and causes of the problems, and explores reasonable and effective strategies.

메타버스 연계 진로교과목 운영에 관한 대학생의 인식 분석

The purpose of this study is to identify university students' perceptions and needs regarding the operation of metaverse-linked career courses and generate basic data for improving and upgrading the operation of university career courses. For this purpose, this study conducted a survey targeting 176 university students. The research results are as follows. First, university students expressed a relatively positive perception of metaverse-linked career courses, and their experience in taking related courses had a positive effect on their preference for the course and their intention to take it. Second, university students preferred small group classes for class support for operating metaverse-linked career courses and highly recognized the need for the basic functions and information functions of cyber lectures. Third, as a result of comparing the importance recognition of learner usage ability and instructor usage ability for operating metaverse-linked career courses, university students perceived the importance of instructor usage ability to be higher than learner usage ability.

Impact of a nanofiltration system on microplastic contamination in Geneva groundwater (Switzerland)

Microplastics (MPs) have been observed in the oceans, fresh waters, karstic water and remote water bodies. However, little is known on groundwater contamination, which is a natural resource of utmost importance for millions of people and is often perceived as a reliable source of water. Moreover, nanofiltration is perceived as a reliable technology to remove contaminants from water. In this study, large sample volumes of a silty-sandy gravel aquifer and the corresponding nanofiltered water were analysed for the presence of MPs (> 20 µm) using Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) microscopy. Concentration in ground water was 8 ± 7 MPs/m3 and increased to 36 ± 11 MPs/m3 in nanofiltered water. All MPs had a maximum Ferret diameter lower than 500 µm. Size distribution of MPs was towards the small size class (20–50 µm). In groundwater, 33% of MPs were detected in the smallest size class (20–50 µm) and 67% in the 50–100-µm-size class. In comparison, around 52% of MPs in nanofiltered water were observed in the 20–50 µm size class. Moreover, 33% of the MPs observed in nanofiltered water were in the 50–100 µm size class and 15% in the 100–500-µm-size class. From a chemical point of view, different plastic polymers were identified in groundwater and in nanofiltered water, such as polypropylene (PP), polyvinyl chloride (PVC), ethylene (vinyl acetate) copolymer (EVA), polyethylene (PE), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) and other polymer materials (such as polystyrene-based copolymers, vinyl-based copolymers). Fibres were observed in all samples, but only a small number of fibres (near 1%) were identified as PP synthetic fibres in nanofiltered water. Furthermore, no clear difference of fibre concentrations was observed between groundwater (232 ± 127 fibres/m3) and nanofiltered water (247 ± 118 fibres/m3). Groundwater had extremely low levels of microplastics, and although the nanofiltration effectively removes suspended particulate matter, it slightly contaminates the filtered water with MPs.

On-the-fly image-level oversampling for imbalanced datasets of manufacturing defects

Visual defect recognition and its manufacturing applications have been an upcoming topic in recent AI research. Defect datasets are often severely imbalanced and can be additionally burdened with separating classes of high visual similarity. Although various methods of data augmentation have been proposed to mitigate the class imbalance, they often fail to cope with tinier minority classes or have fidelity issues with smaller defects while, at the same time, needing significant computational resources to train. Also, augmentation based on vector-based oversampling struggles to produce high-fidelity inputs and is hard to apply on custom CNN architectures, which often perform better for this type of problem. Our work presents an image-level oversampling method based on an instance-based image generator that can be applied to any CNN directly during the training process without increasing the order of training time required. It is based on identifying a small number of the most uncertain base samples close to the estimated class boundaries and using them as seeds for augmentation. The resulting images are of high visual quality preserving small class differences, and they also improve the classifier boundary leading to higher recall scores than other state-of-the-art approaches.

A Study on Student’s Learning Achievement with Traditional Assessment and Portfolio Assessment.

Abstack:The purposes of this research are to describe the student’s learning achievement with traditional assessment and portfolio assessment, and then find out the difference between the student’s learning achievement with traditional assessment and portfolio assessment. The design of this research is ex post facto. The population is the 1st class of students of MTs Muamalah Jurang Jaler. In selecting the sample is used clustered random sampling. The students of class 1A and 1B of MTs Putri Al- Islahuddiny Kediri are chosen as the sample. The data collection is done by observation and collecting the documentation. T-test is used to analysis the difference between the students’ learning achievement with traditional assessment and portfolio assessment. Based on the analysis, the researcher finds that mean of the class with traditional assessment is 60.00 and mean of the class with portfolio assessment is 70.31. By using t-test at the level of significance (a) 0.05, is got tratio is bigger than ttable, that is tratio = 2.833 &gt; ttable = 1.992, it shows that there is a significant difference between the students’ learning achievement with traditional assessment and portfolio assessment.&#x0D; It can be concluded that the student learning achievement with portfolio assessment is better than the student learning achievement with traditional assessment at the level of believe 95%. But portfolio assessment is better implemented in small class because teacher will be easier in managing the class.&#x0D; &#x0D; Key term: Traditional Assessment and Portfolio Assessment.

Tailoring a One Health course for an established non-One Health graduate program in Brazil

We present a study of the tailoring of a One Health (OH) course for its integration into an established non-OH graduate program at a large public university in Brazil. The graduate program focuses on topics such as environmental resource management, impacts on ecosystems, precariousness of the work environment and relationships, workers’ health, social determinants of health, and public policies. Tailoring the OH syllabus involved addressing broader OH concepts, condensing or adapting aspects of infectious diseases, covering non-infectious disease OH topics, and linking OH aspects to ongoing projects in the program. Despite the small class size, students brought diverse backgrounds, significantly enriching discussions. The course was offered in a longer (51 contact hours) and a shorter format (34 contact hours), both of which worked well within a lecture- and discussion-based structure. The extended format allowed more time for student activities and in-depth discussions. The multisectoral and transdisciplinary nature of lectures played a critical role in the course’s success. This information may prove valuable for those designing OH courses for implementation in diverse settings, with the ultimate goal of disseminating OH concepts, fostering discussions, and facilitating the development and implementation of OH approaches in groups not typically exposed to this concept.

The effect of smaller classes on infection-related school absence: evidence from the Project STAR randomized controlled trial

BackgroundIn an effort to reduce viral transmission, many schools reduced class sizes during the recent pandemic. Yet the effect of class size on transmission is unknown.MethodsWe used data from Project STAR, a randomized controlled trial in which 10,816 Tennessee elementary students were assigned at random to smaller classes (13 to 17 students) or larger classes (22 to 26 students) in 1985-89. We merged Project STAR schools with data on local deaths from pneumonia and influenza in the 122 Cities Mortality Report System. Using mixed effects linear, Poisson, and negative binomial regression, we estimated the main effect of smaller classes on absence. We used an interaction to test whether the effect of small classes on absence was larger when and where community pneumonia and influenza prevalence was high.ResultsSmall classes reduced absence by 0.43 days/year (95% CI -0.06 to -0.80, p < 0.05), but small classes had no significant interaction with community pneumonia and influenza mortality (95% CI -0.27 to + 0.30, p > 0.90), indicating that the reduction in absence due to small classes was not larger when community disease prevalence was high.ConclusionSmall classes reduced absence, but the reduction was not larger when disease prevalence was high, so the reduction in absence was not necessarily achieved by reducing infection. Small classes, by themselves, may not suffice to reduce the spread of respiratory viruses.

Digital visualization in graduate transport phenomena

AbstractThe use of contour flood plots and color digital movies is investigated for teaching fluid mechanics, heat transfer, and mass transfer at the first‐year graduate student level. The color visualizations are intended to not only stimulate curiosity but also encourage enthusiasm and determination in learning difficult material. Although there is a significant amount of finite‐difference material, the focus is on analytical solutions. In particular, the mathematical problems involve error functions and Fourier series, which generally prove uninteresting and unpopular. Students are encouraged to produce the visualizations themselves, in addition to being provided with digital results in various forms. Excel can be used to generate both the analytical and finite difference calculations, but Python or another computer language can be employed. While software, such as Matplotlib with Python, Gnuplot, or Tecplot, can create excellent contour flood plots, results from Excel are also good, and Powerpoint will produce movies from individual frames. Student response is positive, although quantifying their reaction is difficult based on the small class sizes. Not surprisingly, the use of color appeals to students and adds to their interest. In addition, students claim increased understanding with contour plots and movies, but the visualizations should be used in conjunction with more traditional graphs, perhaps augmented with consistent use of color. However, the impact on motivation due to color presentation is harder to establish. Interestingly, both graduate and senior undergraduate students showed about equal preference for the rainbow and viridis color palettes.

A132: The Impact of Baby Swimming on Motor Development of Toddlers

Purpose: Infancy and early childhood are important stages of basic motor skills formation. Baby swimming provides a unique opportunity for toddlers aged 2–3 to develop motor skills. The literature documents that baby swimming can promote physical growth in toddlers, but how it affects motor development remains unclear. Therefore, the present study aims to address this gap. Methods: Using interviews, field investigations, assessment tools, this study was conducted in two stages. Stage 1 focused on the instructional information about baby swimming courses, and Stage 2 examined the difference in body indices and motor competencies between two groups of toddlers recruited through convenient sampling. The experiment group included 28 toddlers enrolled in a baby swimming course, while 28 in the control group did not participate in any sports. Motor competencies were assessed using the Peabody Sports Development Scale, including gross motor, fine motor, and overall motor development. T test and Mann Whitney U nonparametric test were used to compare the two sets of data. Results: Stage 1 of the study found: Baby swimming courses for 2-3 years old toddlers focused on safe adaptation in water, mainly developing gross muscle movements and then fine movements. Courses were taught in small classes, with each lasting 35-40 minutes. Stage 2 findings included: (1) The experiment group had no significant different body shape but were higher in height and longer in arm span than the control group. (2) The experiment group differed from the control group in terms of overall motor development and gross motor, but not fine motor. Conclusion: In baby swimming institutions, water safety is the main learning objective for toddlers. The courses had no obvious effect on promoting physical growth development of toddlers aged 2-3. Baby swimming promoted toddlers’ gross muscle movements, especially their body control and coordination. However, it did not have significant positive effects on fine motor development in this age group.

Phylogenetic diversity patterns of woody species across different tree sizes and spatial scales in a tropical forest community on Con Dao Islands

Understanding the maintenance of diversity and the assembly of communities is a primary concern in community ecology. This study explored the phylogenetic structure of an evergreen broadleaved tree community in Con Dao National Park, Vietnam. The survey, conducted in December 2023, encompassed all tree individuals with a diameter at breast height (DBH) ≥ 2.5 cm within a 4-ha study plot. These individuals were identified by species name, and their DBH was measured. Subsequently, a community phylogenetic tree was constructed using the Phylomatic online platform. The 4-ha study plot was subdivided into there different subplots based on three spatial scales (25 m × 25 m, 50 m × 50 m, and 100 m × 100 m) and all trees were classified into three different DBH classes (2.5 cm ≤ DBH &lt; 10 cm representing small trees; 10 cm ≤ DBH &lt; 20 cm as medium trees; and DBH ≥ 20 cm as large trees). The net relatedness index (NRI) and net nearest taxon index (NTI) were utilized to evaluate the phylogenetic structure and infer ecological processes. Our findings revealed a consistent decrease in both NRI and NTI with increasing spatial scales and tree sizes. These results suggest an overdispersed phylogenetic structure within the community across different spatial scales and tree sizes. Additionally, negative density dependence was found to have a pronounced effect on the phylogenetic structure, with a more significant impact on tree individuals from small and medium DBH classes than large ones. This study underscores the significance of phylogenetic density dependence as a primary mechanism governing species diversity and shaping the community structure of evergreen broadleaved forests in Vietnam.

Karawa Media (Karambol Aksara Jawa) Assisted by Reading Cards to Improve Reading Skills in Nglegena Javanese Script

The content of Javanese lessons still needs to be more exciting, plus the teacher's method of delivering the material is using the lecture method. This has an impact on student learning outcomes. This research aims to create Karawa media (Karambol Aksara Jawa) for the content of Javanese language learning for class III elementary school students to improve their reading skills in the Javanese Nglegena script. This research is development research using the ADDIE model. The subjects of this research were 32 class III students, class III teachers, and a team of experts (media and materials). Data collection methods use observation, tests, questionnaires and interviews. Data analysis techniques use quantitative descriptive, qualitative descriptive and inferential statistics. The research results showed that the material expert trial, media expert trial, small group trial and class teacher trial were feasible. The results of the effectiveness test using the paired t-test show that the results of the pre-test and post-test both have an increase, so it can be concluded that there is a significant difference between the results of the large and small groups. Therefore, Karawa media using Javanese Nglegena script material is very effective, efficient, and suitable for use in the educational process because it can improve the reading skills of Javanese Nglegena script for third-grade elementary school students. This research implies that it can help teachers deliver Javanese Nglegena script material for Javanese language learning content for Class III Elementary School.

ВЫБОР ТЕХНОЛОГИИ ПОВЫШЕНИЯ ГИДРОФОБНОСТИ И ИЗВЛЕКАЕМОСТИ АЛМАЗОВ ТРУБКИ "БОТУОБИНСКАЯ"

A promising direction for solving the problem of producing small diamonds is to expand the range of enriched classes and reduce diamond losses through the use of modern technologies. The article presents the results of research on the causes of reduced hydrophobicity of Botuobinskaya tube diamonds and the choice of parameters for preparing the feedstock for the processes of sticky and foam separation, ensuring the restoration of surface properties and extraction of hydrophilized diamonds into concentrate. Studies have shown that the mineral coatings on the surface of diamonds are fragments of primary or modified kimberlites, as well as slurries and films, firmly connected to the surface of diamond crystals. Diamonds from hypergenically altered kimberlites are characterized by the predominance of carbonate and aluminosilicate minerals. It has been shown by the method of unrestricted flotation of diamond-kimberlite samples that the use of mechanical scrubbing is effective enough to remove slurry coatings, but does not provide complete removal of car bonate-aluminosilicate microbreccias firmly bound to the surface of diamonds. As a result of the conducted research, it is shown that for a more complete recovery of small diamonds from kimberlites enriched at the Nyurbinsky GOK, it is advisable to use the processes of mechanical stripping and thermal cleaning of diamonds from hydrophilizing coatings to restore their hydrophobicity. It is shown that the use of a combination of these methods provides an increase in diamond recovery during sticky separation by 14.1 % and during foam separation by 20.4 %. The level of recovery of hydrophilic diamonds (more than 82 %) achieved using foam separation technology allows us to recommend this process for use in improving the technology of enrichment of small classes of diamonds.

A study of the current status of the quality of teacher-child interactions in preschools based on mathematical statistics multiple regression modeling

Abstract In group teaching activities, teacher-child interaction occupies a dominant position, and its quality has a significant impact on children’s interpersonal communication, language expression, and problem-handling. This study first designed a relevant questionnaire to assess the current quality of teacher-child interactions in preschools and then developed a stepwise regression algorithm based on decision trees to investigate the factors that influence the quality of these interactions. Firstly, we remove a certain number of irrelevant variables from all the input variables to reduce interference. Next, we establish stepwise regression equations between the input variables and output variables selected by decision tree pruning. Finally, we eliminate the variables with covariance. The study found that the average score of the quality of teacher-child interactions in preschools is 4.2381, which is relatively low, and the highest score in the dimension of “classroom organization” is only 4.8908. The highest score in the dimension of “classroom organization” was only 4.8908. The average scores of “emotional support”, “classroom management,” and “educational support” in the dimensions of small class and life activities were 4.76746, 4.10562, 2.8455, and 5.562, respectively, 2.8455) and (5.01564, 4.99567, 3.75402) respectively. Teacher-child interaction quality = 4.012 + 0.145 × emotional expression, i.e., emotional expression has a significant positive effect on the quality of teacher-student interaction, and the independent variable, emotional expression, can significantly and positively predict the dependent variable teacher-child interaction quality. This paper provides a useful exploration for improving the professional abilities level of kindergarten teachers and the quality of their interactions with children.