Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) programs serving students from low socioeconomic areas are understudied in the literature. More research studies need to be conducted to make informed instructional decisions for students who may be at a disadvantage compared to their peers from higher socioeconomic areas. The purpose of this research study was to determine the effects of traditional science instruction and blended learning on STEM achievement of elementary school students from low socioeconomic areas. Third, fourth and fifth grade students (N = 129) from a low-socioeconomic school were randomly assigned to receive traditional science instruction or a blended learning science curriculum approach. The science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) achievement scores were analyzed by conducting a one-way two-group Multiple Analysis of Variance (MANOVA) implemented in R statistical computing platform (R Core Team, 2018). The results indicated that the teaching method had a statistically significant effect on the linear combination of the science, technology, mathematics and engineering scores (F(4,124) = 80.27, p < .0001, Pillai’s Trace = .721, partial η2 = .721), in favor of the blended learning approach.

The study aims to examine the mediation effects of physical literacy and physical activity behavior in a relationship between psychological distress and life satisfaction among Chinese college students during the real-life Coronavirus disease pandemic (COVID-19) circumstance. This study implemented a cross-sectional design, and 1,516 participants from 12 universities participated in this study. Structural equation modeling was used to examine a hypothesized model. The findings indicated an acceptable model fit ( X2[61] = 508.2, Comparative Fit Index [CFI] = 0.958, Tucker Lewis Index [TLI] = 0.946, Root Mean Square Error of Approximation [RMSEA] = 0.076, 90% CI [0.070, 0.082], Standardized Root Mean Square Residual [SRMR] = 0.047). The results indicated that college students with low participation in physical activity could experience less than healthy living conditions. The findings offered empirical support to the theory that physical literacy could advance individuals’ healthy living by promoting physical activity participation. The study suggested that educational institutions and physical activity programs should cultivate individuals’ physical literacy in order to promote lifelong healthy living.

This study focuses on the development of an instrument that measures and evaluates the Attitudes of Children towards Values in Physical Education (ACHV-PE) class. This research is a collection of four phases. The first phase focused on content validity and item construction of the questionnaire. The second phase was a pilot-testing of the instrument to a group of students. Lastly, (n = 449) students from seven International Schools located in Tirana, Albania, and Rome, Italy were recruited for the third and the fourth phases. These two phases were based on Exploratory Factor Analysis and Confirmatory Factor Analysis, to assess and confirm the factor structure. From our data, Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin value was .870, and Bartlett's test of sphericity was significant (p < .001). The CFA demonstrated a good model fit index. From the results obtained in each phase, we established the content validity and reliability of the ACHV-PE questionnaire with 17 items.

Values are responsible for our attitudes, behaviours, and beliefs. They guide our thoughts and define who we are. The main purpose of this study was to establish the validity and reliability of the questionnaire "Attitudes of Children towards Values in Physical Education (ACHV-PE)" into the Spanish language. A total of eight hundred and two (N= 802) student, age 10-15 years old, between the 6th and 8th grade, participated in this study. The process of validity was based on translation and back-translation of the questionnaire, pilottesting it to a group of students and the Factor Analysis. The Exploratory Factor Analysis showed five factors with the Eigenvalues of 6.24 and 1.06, accounting for 60.28 % of the variance. Confirmatory Factor Analysis demonstrated a good fit for the five-factor solution. Regarding the results obtained, we can conclude that the questionnaire ACHV-PE can be considered valid and reliable for measuring and evaluating the attitudes of children towards values in Physical Education classes in Spanish speaking countries.

Many faculty members, as well as students, in the area of educational research methodology, sometimes have a need for generating data to use for simulation and computation purposes, demonstration of multivariate analysis techniques, or construction of student projects or assignments. As a great teaching tool, using simulated data helps us understand the intricacies of statistical concepts and techniques. The process of generating multivariate normal data is a nontrivial process and practical guides without dense mathematics are limited in the literature (Nissen and Saft, 2014). Hence, the purpose of this paper is to offer researchers a practical guide for and a quick access to generating multivariate random data with a given mean and variance-covariance structure. A detailed outline of simulating multivariate normal data with a given mean and variancecovariance matrix using Eigen (or spectral) and Cholesky decompositions is presented and implemented in statistical computing platform R version 3.4.4 (R Core Team, 2018).