The Influence of Video Format on Engagement and Performance in Online Learning.

Millions of students follow online classes which are delivered in video format. Several studies examine the impact of these video formats on engagement and learning using explicit measures and outline the need to also investigate the implicit cognitive and emotional states of online learners. Our study compared two video formats in terms of engagement (over time) and learning in a between-subject experiment. Engagement was operationalized using explicit and implicit neurophysiological measures. Twenty-six (26) subjects participated in the study and were randomly assigned to one of two conditions based on the video shown: infographic video or lecture capture. The infographic video showed animated graphics, images, and text. The lecture capture showed a professor, providing a lecture, filmed in a classroom setting. Results suggest that lecture capture triggers greater emotional engagement over a shorter period, whereas the infographic video maintains higher emotional and cognitive engagement over longer periods of time. Regarding student learning, the infographic video contributes to significantly improved performance in matters of difficult questions. Additionally, our results suggest a significant relationship between engagement and student performance. In general, the higher the engagement, the better the student performance, although, in the case of cognitive engagement, the link is quadratic (inverted U shaped).

Citizen science evidence from the past century shows that Scottish rivers are warming.

Salmonid species are highly sensitive to river water temperature. Although long-term river temperature monitoring is essential for assessing drivers of change in ecological systems, these data are rarely available from statutory monitoring. We utilized a 105-year citizen science data set of river water temperature from the River Spey, North-East Scotland, gathered during the fishing season (April-October) between 1912 and 2016. As there were gaps in the records we applied generalised additive models to reconstruct long-term daily river temperature in the fishing season from air temperature, cumulative air temperature, day length and runoff. For that, continuous hydrometeorological data have been obtained from statutory monitoring and process-based models. Long-term warming trends of river temperature, namely an increase of 0.2 K per decade after 1961, have been mostly related to increasing air temperature of the same magnitude. Indirect impacts of rising air temperatures include less snow accumulation and snow melt as well as earlier snow melt. The snow free period starts around 2 days earlier per decade throughout the study period and 7 days earlier per decade after 1965. Consequently, the contribution of snow melt and its cooling properties to river temperature in spring are declining. Citizen science delivered a data set that filled a vital knowledge gap in the long-term historical assessment of river temperatures. Such information provides a robust basis for future assessments of global change and can help inform decision-makers about the potential importance of enhancing the resilience of rivers and aquatic ecology to climate change.

Flow experience in teams: The role of shared leadership.

The present study tests a multilevel mediation model concerning the effect of shared leadership on team members' flow experience. Specifically, we investigate the mediating role of teamwork behaviors in the relationships between 2 complementary indicators of shared leadership (i.e., density and centralization) and flow. Based on a multisource approach, we collected data through observation and survey of 111 project teams (521 individuals) made up of university students participating in a project management simulation. The results show that density and centralization have both an additive effect and an interaction effect on teamwork behaviors, such that the relationship between density and teamwork behaviors is stronger when centralization is low. In addition, teamwork behaviors play a mediating role in the relationship between shared leadership and flow. Overall, the findings highlight the importance of promoting team-based shared leadership in organizations to favor the flow experience. (PsycINFO Database Record

Perceived shared understanding in teams: The motivational effect of being 'on the same page'.

This study examines the role of perceived shared understanding with regard to team performance, taking into account the motivational mechanisms (i.e., group potency and team effort) involved in this relationship and the moderating role of task routineness. Using a multisource approach and a team-level design, we collected data from 101 teams (i.e., 381 members and their 101 immediate superiors) working in a Canadian public safety organization. The results support the mediating role of group potency and team effort in the relationship between perceived shared understanding and team performance. Moreover, the results show that the relationship between team effort and team performance is moderated by task routineness, such that this relationship is stronger when task routineness is high. On the whole, the findings of this study help to better understand why and under what circumstances perceived shared understanding may enhance team performance.

Collective autonomy and absenteeism within work teams: a team motivation approach.

This study investigates the role of collective autonomy in regard to team absenteeism by considering team potency as a motivational mediator and task routineness as a moderator. The sample consists of 90 work teams (327 members and 90 immediate superiors) drawn from a public safety organization. Results of structural equation modeling indicate that the relationships between collective autonomy and two indicators of team absenteeism (i.e., absence frequency and time lost) are mediated by team potency. Specifically, collective autonomy is positively related to team potency which in turn is negatively related to team absenteeism. Furthermore, results of hierarchical regression analyses show that task routineness moderates the relationships between collective autonomy and the two indicators of team absenteeism such that these relationships are stronger when the level of task routineness is low. On the whole, this study points out that collective autonomy may exercise a motivational effect on attendance at work within teams, but this effect is contingent on task routineness.

Social support at work and affective commitment to the organization: the moderating effect of job resource adequacy and ambient conditions.

This study investigated whether both supervisor and coworker support may be positively related to affective commitment to the organization on one hand; and on the other hand, it examined the moderating effect of job resource adequacy and ambient conditions on these relationships. The sample included 215 participants working within a health care organization. Results of regression analysis showed that supervisor and coworker support have an additive effect on affective commitment. Hierarchical regression analyses indicated that supervisor and coworker support are more strongly related to affective commitment when job resource adequacy is high. Furthermore, ambient conditions moderate the relationship between supervisor support and affective commitment in such a way that favorable ambient conditions strengthen this relationship. Overall, these findings reinforce the importance of taking into account contingent factors in the study of antecedents of affective commitment to the organization.

Lymphoma cells contribute to the augmentation of plasma sL-selectins in the serum of lymphoma-bearing mice.

Like many integral membrane glycoproteins, the extracellular domain of L-selectin undergoes rapid shedding, which occurs on both resting and activated host leucocytes. Incubating normal or transformed leukocytes with phorbol esters can also artificially induce shedding of L-selectin, providing multiple possibilities for the source of soluble forms of L-selectin found in the serum of patients with hematological malignancies. Here, using genetically engineered L-selectin-deficient mouse models, we have measured the release of soluble circulating forms of L-selectin in the serum of lymphoma-bearing mice. We found that L-selectin-deficient lymphoma cells could not induce an elevation of circulating soluble forms of L-selectin in normal mice, as compared to lymphoma cells expressing L-selectin. Moreover, soluble forms of L-selectin were detected in the serum in mice bearing lymphoma induced by injection of T lymphoma cells expressing L-selectins. Interestingly, we also found that lymphoma cells that are unable to shed L-selectin in vitro following exposure to phorbol ester can generate soluble forms of serum L-selectin in vivo. Taken together, these results indicate that lymphoma cells are the major contributors to levels of soluble forms of L-selectins in lymphoma-bearing mice.

Distributive justice, procedural justice, and psychological distress: the moderating effect of coworker support and work autonomy.

Recent research has demonstrated that the perception of injustice at work may increase psychological health-related problems. The purpose of this study is to examine the moderating effect of coworker support and work autonomy on the relationships between both distributive and procedural justice and psychological distress. Results, on the basis of responses to questionnaires given to 248 prison employees, show that coworker support moderates the relationships between both forms of justice and psychological distress. Specifically, these relationships are weakened when employees benefit from a high level of coworker support. Furthermore, work autonomy moderates the relationship between procedural justice and psychological distress but not the relationship between distributive justice and psychological distress. Thus, procedural injustice is less likely to increase psychological distress when the level of work autonomy is high.