Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Door: Timing Effects of Fourth Wall Breaks on Immersion and Game Experience in an Adventure Game

Fourth wall breaks in video games can affect the players’ game experience. Although breaking the fourth wall is a well-known stylistic element, it is still unclear how to utilize it to enhance the game experience. Researchers assume that the effects of fourth wall breaks on players depend on the situation they occur. Therefore, we investigated whether the timing of fourth wall breaks affects players’ immersion and game experience. In our game called ”The Door”, 24 participants either experienced a fourth wall break in the beginning, the middle or at the end of the game. We found that the timing of a fourth wall break had a significant effect on players’ immersion and perceived competence. We discuss potential explanations for the effects referring to games known for their fourth wall breaks.
“Everybody Grieves, but Still Nobody Sees”: Toward a Praxis of Recognition for Latina/o Students in U.S. Schools

Background/Context The academic success and failure of low-income youth, and Black and Latina/o youth in particular, has received significant attention in the educational literature, particularly in relation to school dropout. Over the last decade, several studies have demonstrated that student–teacher relationships, committed teachers, and notions of caring are critical to the success of Latina/o youth. However, high-poverty urban schools are graduating fewer than half of their students, in comparison with about 70% at the national level. There remains a scant body of research, policy, and conceptual frameworks to help address the crisis, popularly deemed the “dropout crisis,” particularly among Latinas/os, the youngest, fastest growing, and lowest educated group in the United States. Purpose/Objective/Research Question/Focus of Study In what ways can and should researchers, practitioners, and policy makers recognize the existence of Latina/o youth? The purpose of the article, contextualized in the theoretical and empirical literature, is to problematize the concept of recognition, particularly for Latina/o youth, and introduce a conceptual framework to understand, examine, and help rectify the crisis facing this population. Research Design In this conceptual paper, I argue that key stakeholders must recognize the existence of the Latina/o youth by acknowledging their human existence through legitimizing the unequal conditions and struggles they face in school. Educators much engage youth in curricular and pedagogical experiences that seek to raise students’ consciousness through critical thinking and dialogue. This article is focused on the human and interpersonal actions and processes that are necessary to facilitate agency and change among students. Theoretical origins informing recognition are discussed, followed by a contextualized analysis of recognition within the present-day conditions of U.S. schools, particularly for Latina/o youth. I then propose five pedagogies of recognition: relational recognition, curricular recognition, pedagogical recognition, contextualizing recognition, and transformative recognition. Each form of recognition is situated in the relevant literature. Conclusions/Recommendations This article argues that the proposed pedagogies of recognition need to be enacted to foster the intellectual, academic, and political development of youth, particularly Latina/o youth. Recognition can help educators and scholars understand how the social, political, and economic conditions impact Latina/o youth and helps educators reframe the conceptual bases of their work by challenging them to interrogate the (in)effectiveness of institutional and classroom-level practices. The ultimate goal is to help educators and researchers reconstruct and redefine the purpose of education for Latina/o youth in U.S. schools.
Collective Pedagogical Teacher Culture and Teacher Satisfaction

Background/Context Teacher job satisfaction is critical to schools’ success. As organizations, schools need teachers who are satisfied with their jobs and who work with one another to build school community and increase student achievement. School organizational culture shapes teacher job satisfaction in many ways, but it is still unclear which facets of organizational culture have the greatest influence on teacher job satisfaction and whether some of these facets may have moderating effects on others. Purpose of Study This study investigates the association among two aspects of organizational culture (professional community and teacher collaboration), teacher control over school and classroom policy, and teacher job satisfaction. We use the term Collective Pedagogical Teacher Culture to refer to those schools with strong norms of professional community and teacher collaboration. Research Design We use a nationally representative sample of U.S. kindergarten teachers from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Survey in 1998–1999 and hierarchical linear modeling to examine the association between aspects of school organizational culture and teacher job satisfaction. Findings We find that professional community, collaboration, and teacher control are predictive of satisfaction and they also have interactive influences. The association between teacher collaboration and job satisfaction, as well as that between control over classroom policy and job satisfaction, is most pronounced in schools with weaker professional communities. Recommendations Future reform efforts that foster greater professional communities, teacher collaboration, and control over classrooms can exist alongside more conventional reforms such as raising curricular standards and instituting greater accountability. Fostering a strong teacher pedagogical culture will help to bolster teacher job satisfaction.
An Accident of Geography? Assessing the Gerrymandering of School Attendance Zones

Context Despite the recent emphasis on public school choice, more than four-fifths of public school students still attend the traditional school to which they are assigned (NCES CCD, 2013), making attendance zone boundaries critical and fercely contested determinants of educational opportunity. Historical and anecdotal evidence suggests that attendance zone boundaries are not “accidents of geography,” but have been “gerrymandered” into irregular shapes in ways that alter patterns of student attendance. However, no empirical evidence has directly examined the issue of attendance zone gerrymandering. Purpose of Study Drawing on the literature on electoral gerrymandering, we outline a framework for conceptualizing and measuring educational gerrymandering. Using geospatial techniques, we then provide initial empirical evidence on the gerrymandering of school attendance zones and the variation in gerrymandering across geographic and demographic contexts. Research Design We analyze the boundaries of a large national sample of 23,945 school attendance zones obtained from the School Attendance Boundary Information System (SABINS). For each attendance zone, we compute complementary measures assessing two dimensions of gerrymandering: (1) dispersion, or the elongation of the area of a boundary; and (2) indentation, or the irregularity of the perimeter of a boundary. Results Overall, we find that attendance zones are highly gerrymandered—nearly as much as legislative districts—and are becoming more gerrymandered over time. Findings underscore the racial and, to a lesser extent, socioeconomic character of gerrymandering, which is particularly acute in Whiter and more affluent schools and in areas experiencing rapid racial change. Conclusions The gerrymandering of school attendance zones has significant implications for students and schools. Gerrymandering alters patterns of attendance and, thereby, student access to educational opportunity and resources, by “zoning out” certain students living closer to schools while “zoning in” others living farther away. Gerrymandered boundaries also hold the potential to significantly alter the racial and ethnic composition of schools and may serve as a mechanism of segregation. In addition, gerrymandered attendance zones are inherently inefficient and may impose additional transportation costs on students and districts. We conclude with implications for state and federal policy.
How Do 2-Year College Students Beginning in STEM View Themselves as Learners?

Background Two-year colleges are uniquely positioned to diversify science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education. Yet limited existing scholarship sheds light on how 2-year college students view themselves as learners as they experience STEM courses and programs. An in-depth and nuanced understanding of 2-year college STEM students’ self-perceptions as learners presents a powerful vehicle for identifying venues of interventions aimed at cultivating and supporting the STEM talent pool toward success through and beyond the 2-year college sector. Purpose of the Study We address the following research question: How do 2-year college students participating in STEM classes and programs perceive themselves as learners? Our inquiry is aimed at revealing the fundamental structure underlying these students’ experiences as their self-perceptions as STEM learners are formed and transformed. Study Setting and Participants We collected the data for this study as part of an ongoing longitudinal mixed methods study of students beginning in STEM programs or courses in Fall 2014 at three large 2-year institutions in a Midwestern state. The sample selection of the present qualitative study drew on maximum variation sampling, yielding a final sample size of 31. Research Design We adopted descriptive phenomenology to answer our research question. In-person interviews were conducted with each participant. Data were transcribed verbatim and analyzed using the procedures aligned with the descriptive phenomenological method proposed by Colaizzi. In addition, we adopted analytical techniques from grounded theory in order to effectively organize our process of documenting, describing, and making sense of the data. Findings Our findings show that self-perceptions as 2-year college STEM learners are deeply intertwined with self-perceptions as mathematics learners, constantly evaluated and reevaluated in relation to others, driven by an internal process of recognizing the rewards and negotiating the challenges of studying STEM, and shaped by an external process of validation. While these themes stand on their own as prominent defining elements of the phenomenon of our interest, they are also inherently interwoven pieces of a cohesive, complex whole. Conclusions Our study captures how students’ self-perceptions as learners are formed and transformed, and illustrates how their prior and current learning experiences, self-perceptions as mathematics learners, background characteristics, and relationships with others interweave to shape and reshape how they view themselves as learners. Future work should further determine what specific measures and venues 2-year colleges can capitalize upon to develop confident and collaborative learners who embrace the rewards and challenges of studying STEM.
Connecting Math Attitudes with STEM Career Attainment: A Latent Class Analysis Approach

Background For many years now, there have been many job vacancies in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), but not enough workers to fill these vacancies. Much attention has been given to understanding and changing this situation in our country. Purpose The purpose of this study is to address this dilemma by understanding what may be gained by investigating student's attitudes towards STEM in high school. Specifically, we study the relationship between students’ math attitudes and math self-efficacy beliefs and their career outcomes in STEM. Further, we do this across different English proficiency levels to see if any understanding may be gained by studying these groups differently. Research Design This study implemented secondary analysis by using a nationally representative sample of U.S. 10th graders from the Education Longitudinal Study. A latent class analysis was used to classify students’ math attitudes and self-efficacy. Results The results from this study provide empirical support suggesting that across all three English proficiency groups, students with high math attitudes and high math self-efficacy were more likely to have a career in STEM. When examining demographic characteristics, female students were more likely to have lower math attitude and lower math self-efficacy, which helps to explain why there is an underrepresentation of female students in STEM fields. We also found that race/ethnicity and socioeconomic status operated differently for each of the English proficiency groups. Conclusions/Recommendations This study directly links student math attitudes and self-efficacy to later career choice. This study has implications for researchers and policymakers who are developing interventions, suggesting that fostering positive math attitudes and self-efficacy would help encourage more students to pursue careers in STEM, particularly for non-native English speakers and female students.
Capital Market Liberalization and Investment Efficiency: Evidence from China

For this study, we adopted a recent financial reform in China and used a difference-in-difference model to investigate its impact on corporate investment efficiency. The results indicate that stock market liberalization has significantly improved corporate investment efficiency, primarily by restraining overinvestment. This effect exists chiefly in enterprises without former foreign ownership, those with low analyst coverage, and those that are privately owned. Further analysis reveals that improvements in corporate information disclosure and the corporate governance level are important transmission channels for improved efficiency. This study enriches research on the economic consequences of capital market liberalization and foreign investors’ governance channels, thereby providing implications for governments.
Emergent themes and pragmatic research methods for meaningful cultural representation of Blacks in multimedia products for the science classroom

ABSTRACT Going beyond ceremony to meaningfully integrate the lived experiences and narratives of Blacks particularly African Americans in the science curriculum, requires pragmatic research methodologies. K-12 science curriculum development neither considered the needs of African Americans nor were developed with Blacks in mind. Many questions arise related to what might be considered important for Blacks to know and moreover, who should make this determination, and from whose perspectives. This research used a multifaceted approach that was interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary in content and methodology. Considerations were given to social, cultural, historical, political, cognitive, and scientific lenses. This particular study explored considerations that led to the creation of two kinds of multimedia products – video clips and an animation. This research explores how the lived experiences and narratives of African American Gullah Geechee of the southern Coasts of the United States might be integrated into the science curriculum using video clips. This research also investigates the creation of a culturally representative animation to explicate considerations that were made when using the social, cultural, and historical underpinnings of Blacks in America. The research highlights the research methodologies and the meaning of representation, that have important implications for meaningful Black cultural representation in the science curriculum.
Microencapsulated Lemongrass (Cymbopogon flexuosus) Essential Oil Supplementation on Quality and Stability of Silver Catfish Fillets during Frozen Storage

ABSTRACT There is growing interest for using essential oils (EOs) in fish feed as they can improve fish health, growth, and productive yield. But, there is little information concerning their effects on fish flesh quality and whether EO residues can be found in flesh. The EO of lemongrass was recently demonstrated to increase the productive yield of silver catfish. Thus, the aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of lemongrass EO supplementation on physico-chemical properties, sensory acceptance, and stability during frozen storage of fish fillets. Silver catfish (Rhamdia quelen) were fed diets containing 0, 1, or 3 mL/kg of EO for 20 days. Fish were slaughtered, and fillets were stored at −20°C for 12 months and evaluated every 90 days. Dietary supplementation with EO did not affect proximate composition, fatty acid composition, or sensory acceptance of fish fillets. EO constituents (especially citral) were not detected in fish fillets. EO supplementation at 1 mL/kg appears to be more suitable to maintain physico-chemical changes similar to control during frozen storage. These data support the safety of lemongrass EO for use in aquaculture for human consumption purposes.
Enzymatic Hydrolysis Optimization for Preparation of Tuna Dark Meat Hydrolysate with Antioxidant and Angiotensin I-Converting Enzyme (ACE) Inhibitory Activities

ABSTRACT The hydrolysates of tuna dark meat with high angiotensin I-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitory and antioxidant activities were prepared using three enzymes. The effect of concentration (0.5–3.0%, w/w) and hydrolysis time (30–180 min) on yield, degree of hydrolysis (DH), ACE inhibitory activities, and antioxidant capacity was determined. The optimum conditions were the same: 180 min extraction while the concentration of alcalase, neutrase, and flavourzyme were 2.43, 2.62, and 2.62% (w/w), respectively. The hydrolysate resulted in the range of 36.5–50.0% for DH, 5.79–7.71% for yield, 0.29–1.11, 0.28–0.53, and 0.24–0.31 mg/mL IC50 values with 2,2-diphenyi-l-picrylhydrazyl radical (DPPH), 2,2′-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) diammonium salt (ABTS), and ACE inhibitory activity, respectively, and 0.41–1.35 FeSO4/g for ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP). The hydrolysates showed high solubility. Emulsion stability and emulsifying activity index decreased, while foam stability and expansion increased with increasing concentration. Hydrolysates using flavourzyme were fractioned using ultrafiltration membranes. The <1 kDa fraction had significantly higher ACE inhibitory and antioxidant activities.
Toward Teacher Preparation 3.0

Background/Context The literature review (Phelps, this issue) outlines tensions that can come about in partnerships and collaborations between P–12 schools and teacher education. With these challenges as part of the context, the authors of this article describe the particular moves that school-based and community partners working with four teacher education programs made to prepare preservice teachers who are better oriented toward students, their families, and communities as part of a legislative initiative. Purpose/Objective/Research Question/Focus of Study This article presents three cases of how four teacher education programs, in collaboration with partners, moved toward a more democratic model of teacher education as part of a legislative initiative in Washington state. Aspects of community teaching were central in each of the collaborations. Teacher education programs included in this article saw the moves they were making as working toward what Zeichner refers to as Teacher Preparation 3.0. Research Design This article employed qualitative methods. Conclusions/Recommendations In summary, all three cases included in this article imply that the development of community teachers actively engaged in community schools is as important to teacher preparation as it is to the success and well-being of the students, teachers, and families they serve. Therefore, the authors believe that further quantitative and qualitative exploration of the intersection between these two concepts, community schools and community teachers, is critical to the field of preservice teacher education. If universities wish to establish an equity-pedagogy characteristic of Teacher Preparation 3.0, they need to authentically partner with schools and communities to engage in contextually meaningful practices. By making long-term commitments to working respectfully, responsively, and in mutually beneficial ways with communities, families, schools, and districts, university teacher preparation programs can help make high-quality community schools available for all children.
Tomorrow's EdTech Today: Establishing a Learning Platform as a Collaborative Research Tool for Sound Science

Background/Context Large-scale randomized controlled experiments conducted in authentic learning environments are commonly high stakes, carrying extensive costs and requiring lengthy commitments for all-or-nothing results amidst many potential obstacles. Educational technologies harbor an untapped potential to provide researchers with access to extensive and diverse subject pools of students interacting with educational materials in authentic ways. These systems log extensive data on student performance that can be used to identify and leverage best practices in education and guide systemic policy change. Tomorrow's educational technologies should be built upon rigorous standards set forth by the research revolution budding today. Purpose/Objective/Research Question/Focus of Study The present work serves as a call to the community to infuse popular learning platforms with the capacity to support collaborative research at scale. Research Design This article defines how educational technologies can be leveraged for use in collaborative research environments by highlighting the research revolution of ASSISTments (www.ASSISTments.org), a popular online learning platform with a focus on mathematics education. A framework described as the cycle of perpetual evolution is presented, and research exemplifying progression through this framework is discussed in support of the many benefits that stem from infusing EdTech with collaborative research. Through a recent NSF grant (SI2-SSE&SSI: 1440753), researchers from around the world can leverage ASSISTments’ content and user population by designing and implementing randomized controlled experiments within the ASSISTments TestBed (www.ASSISTmentsTestBed.org). Findings from these studies help to define best practices within technology-driven learning, while simultaneously allowing for augmentation of the system's content, delivery, and infrastructure. Conclusions/Recommendations Supplementing educational technologies with environments for sound, collaborative science can result in a broad range of benefits for students, researchers, platforms, and educational practice and policy. This article outlines the successful uptake of research efforts by ASSISTments in hopes of advocating a research revolution for other educational technologies.