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Teachers' behavior is a key factor that influences students' motivation. Many theoretical models have tried to explain this influence, with one of the most thoroughly researched being self-determination theory (SDT). We used a Delphi method to create a classification of teacher behaviors consistent with SDT. This is useful because SDT-based interventions have been widely used to improve educational outcomes. However, these interventions contain many components. Reliably classifying and labeling those components is essential for implementation, reproducibility, and evidence synthesis. We used an international expert panel (N = 34) to develop this classification system. We started by identifying behaviors from existing literature, then refined labels, descriptions, and examples using the Delphi panel's input. Next, the panel of experts iteratively rated the relevance of each behavior to SDT, the psychological need that each behavior influenced, and its likely effect on motivation. To create a mutually exclusive and collectively exhaustive list of behaviors, experts nominated overlapping behaviors that were redundant, and suggested new ones missing from the classification. After three rounds, the expert panel agreed upon 57 teacher motivational behaviors (TMBs) that were consistent with SDT. For most behaviors (77%), experts reached consensus on both the most relevant psychological need and influence on motivation. Our classification system provides a comprehensive list of TMBs and consistent terminology in how those behaviors are labeled. Researchers and practitioners designing interventions could use these behaviors to design interventions, to reproduce interventions, to assess whether these behaviors moderate intervention effects, and could focus new research on areas where experts disagreed.

How does the education sector recover following the disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic? Much enthusiasm exists to imagine how teaching practices can be enriched within the so-called 'new normal.' The physical and mental health benefits associated with school physical education have attracted considerable attention during the pandemic. Capitalizing on the raised awareness of the many positive contributions of school physical education, a pressing priority is to now reengage children with physical activity in a manner that promotes enjoyable experiences and adaptive engagement with movement. In this paper, we draw from self-determination theory, physical literacy theory and socioecological perspectives to present the case for blended-gamified approaches as a means of reimagining physical education in a post-pandemic world. To support all young people to lead healthy and active lifestyles, we propose the use of a systematic and evidence-based approach to programme development, evaluation and implementation. Such an approach will aid in establishing what works, when, for whom and in which context.

Burnout is understood to have many adverse consequences for students. However, several equivocal findings in the literature mean that it is currently unclear to what extent burnout affects academic achievement. To address this lack of clarity, the aim of the present study was to provide a first meta-analysis of the relationship between burnout and academic achievement. A literature search returned 29 studies (N = 109,396) and 89 effect sizes. Robust variance meta-analyses indicated that total burnout had a significant negative relationship with academic achievement (r[subscript c]+ = - 0.24). A similar pattern of relationships was found for each of the three symptoms of burnout (exhaustion [r[subscript c]+ = - 0.15], cynicism [r[subscript c]+ = - 0.24], and reduced efficacy [r[subscript c]+ = - 0.39]). There was some evidence that the instrument used to measure burnout moderated the relationship between reduced efficacy and achievement. Taken together, the findings suggest that burnout leads to worse academic achievement in school, college, and university.

Purpose: Physical literacy is understood to be important for adolescents' behavioral and psychological wellness. Yet, to date, limited empirical data exist to support such reasoning. Addressing this gap, the present study examined relationships between physical literacy and early adolescents' physical education engagement, leisure-time exercise behavior, and psychological well-being. Methods: The physical literacy level of 187 early adolescents (M[subscript age] = 12.84, SD = 0.55, girls = 99) was measured using the Canadian Assessment for Physical Literacy. One week later, data pertaining to standardized measures of engagement in physical education, leisure-time exercise behavior, and psychological well-being were collected. Results: Structural equation modeling revealed that physical literacy was positively correlated with physical education engagement, leisure-time exercise, positive affect, and vitality, whereas it was negatively correlated with negative affect. Conclusion: The findings from this work substantiate the contention that physical literacy has manifold benefits for early adolescents' behavioral and psychological wellness.

It is challenging to apply the tenets of individuality to filamentous fungi: a fungal mycelium can contain millions of genetically diverse but totipotent nuclei, each capable of founding new mycelia. Moreover, a single mycelium can potentially stretch over kilometres, and it is unlikely that its distant parts share resources or have the same fitness. Here, we directly measure how a single mycelium of the model ascomycete Neurospora crassa is patterned into reproductive units (RUs), meaning subpopulations of nuclei that propagate together as spores, and function as reproductive individuals. The density of RUs is sensitive to the geometry of growth; we detected 50-fold smaller RUs when mycelia had expanding frontiers than when they were constrained to grow in one direction only. RUs fragmented further when the mycelial network was perturbed. In mycelia with expanding frontiers, RU composition was strongly influenced by the distribution of genotypes early in development. Our results provide a concept of fungal individuality that is directly connected to reproductive potential, and therefore to theories of how fungal individuals adapt and evolve over time. Our data show that the size of reproductive individuals is a dynamic and environment-dependent property, even within apparently totally connected fungal mycelia.

Motivation research is central to understanding why certain students exhibit high levels of behavioral, cognitive, and emotional engagement with learning, and why others lack interest, display boredom, and withdraw effort (i.e., are disaffected). In this review, tenets within self-determination theory (SDT) are used to provide a theoretically-informed account of student engagement and disaffection in the context of school physical education (PE). Our review centers on the proposition within SDT that the satisfaction of basic psychological needs (i.e., for autonomy, competence, and relatedness) provide the energizing basis for optimal motivational functioning and wellness. Teacher strategies and class structures are reviewed in the context of whether they satisfy or frustrate these psychological needs. To amalgamate the reviewed literature, a mediated model depicting a "student-teacher dialectical" framework is presented. Several practitioner recommendations for supporting student engagement in PE are then offered. Lastly, findings of past interventions within the school context are presented and discussed.

As the production of single use plastic packaging materials is increasing rapidly, the resultant generation of waste material is quickly becoming one of the world’s major environmental issues. These plastic materials are highly stable, with excellent material properties which can allow them to be used beyond their intended single use. To effectively utilize these recovered plastic materials, an understanding of their mechanical properties is required. The aim of this study was to assess the mechanical properties of recovered plastic bottles to prove the feasibility of utilisation for additional uses in non-shredding based recycling systems with lower energy requirements. This system would conserve the physical integrity of the bottles, using them as a raw material for new direct reuse and repurposing applications. Tensile tests were conducted on samples cut from polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles considering different sets of variables: cutting method, orientation of the samples and degradation method. The results clearly demonstrate the superior strength characteristics, and minimal effect of degradation, showing the potential for a whole new field of applications where these recovered materials could be used. However, successful adoption of this new concept relies on structural changes to the operations of recycling and manufacturing companies as well as legislators, regulators and the general public.

In response to an essay by Prof Wu Zongjie that was published in the "Journal of Curriculum Studies" [43(5), (2011), 569-590], I argue that, despite dramatic changes that have taken place in the language of Chinese academic discourse and pedagogy, evidence derived from the fields of psychology and the history of Chinese educational reform suggest that patterns of Chinese thought and culture have proven resistant to change. Not only have deeply rooted tendencies to perceive the world in ways that may be distinguished from Western analogues persisted but, not unlike contemporary school reformers, educators in the early twentieth century typically found that their efforts to borrow Western models were frustrated by the alien nature of those models and the need to adapt them to Chinese realities; ultimately, the reformers had to accommodate their plans to the wishes of local patrons and the expectations of Chinese families. Thus, the lesson that contemporary Chinese educators may take from a study of the past is that, since elements borrowed from the West may have limited viability in China, they need not be excessively concerned that reforms will transform key elements of Chinese culture.

Abstract Background The c-fos gene was originally identified as the cellular homolog of the oncogene v-fos carried by the Finkel-Biskis-Jenkins and Finkel-Biskis-Reilly murine osteogenic sarcoma retroviruses. Sustained expression of fos is sufficient to induce cellular transformation in vitro and tumorigenesis in vivo. Fos functions as a component of the AP-1 transcription factor complex to regulate gene transcription and several differentially expressed genes have been identified in cells transformed by fos. We have extended these studies by constructing a cellular system for conditional transformation by v-fos. Using Affymetrix-based DNA microarray technology, we analyzed transcriptional changes over the course of transformation and reversion in an inducible v-fos system. Results Microarray analyses of temporal gene expression during the process of v-fos mediated cellular transformation and morphological reversion revealed a remarkably dynamic transcriptome. Of the more than 8000 genes analyzed in this study, 3766 genes were categorized into 18 gene-expression patterns by using self-organizing map analysis. By combining the analysis of gene expression profiles in stably transformed cells with the analysis of sequential expression patterns during conditional transformation, we identified a relatively small cohort of genes implicated in v-fos mediated cellular transformation. Conclusion This approach defines a general conditional cell transformation system that can be used to study the endogenous transcription regulatory mechanisms involved in transformation and tumorigenesis. In addition, this study is the first reported analysis of dynamic changes in gene expression throughout experimentally controlled morphological transformation mediated by v-fos.