Benesse Educational Research and Development Institute

Background/Objectives: Irregular lifestyles, such as sleep deprivation and disordered eating, disrupt the circadian clock and are linked to health issues. This study investigates the relationship among chronotypes, social jet lag, night-snacking habits, and screen time in toddlers. Methods: A survey of 6177 mothers of children aged 3–8 years was conducted in June 2022. Means comparison and multiple regression analyses were used to analyze the data. Results: Toddlers who consumed night snacks were more likely to be evening types and experienced longer social jet lag. Longer screen time during night snacking correlated with evening-type tendencies. Juice and ice cream were identified as evening-type snacks. Conclusions: We suggest that stopping snacks after dinner is crucial to prevent evening-type eating. Especially, high-sugar and high-fat night snacks like juice and ice cream may contribute to nocturnal habits and disrupt circadian rhythms in children.

This study reviewed articles on process data (logfiles) in educational assessment, especially computer-based testing, from the following perspectives: (1) the definitions of and differences between process data and logfiles, and the types of process data used in practice; (2) the main objectives of process data studies; (3) statistical analysis and modeling for process data; and (4) the validity of process data based on an evidence-centered design. Finally, we proposed avenues for future research on process data from an academic perspective and from the standpoint of ethical issues. The study found that, despite the many issues currently faced while conducting research using process data, research findings should be accumulated to support the ongoing development of computer-based testing.

Study ObjectivesSleep problems, such as accumulated sleep loss and social jetlag (SJL), which is characterized by a discrepancy in a person’s sleep pattern between the weekday and the weekend, are associated with physical and mental health problems, and academic performance in young ages. However, sex differences in these associations are not fully understood. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of sex on sleep-related factors, mental health (negative mood), and academic performance in Japanese children and adolescents.MethodsA cross-sectional online survey was conducted with 9270 students (boys: N = 4635, girls: N = 4635) ranging from the fourth grade of elementary school to the third grade of high school, which typically includes ages 9–18 years in Japan. Participants completed the Munich ChronoType Questionnaire, the Athens Insomnia Scale, self-reported academic performance, and negative mood-related questions.ResultsSchool grade-related changes in sleep behavior (e.g. delayed bedtime, shortened sleep duration, and increased SJL) were detected. Girls had greater sleep loss on weekdays and SJL on weekends than boys. Multiple regression analysis revealed that sleep loss and SJL were more associated with negative mood and higher insomnia scores in girls than in boys, but not with academic performance.ConclusionsSleep loss and SJL in Japanese girls had a higher correlation to their negative mood and tendency to insomnia than in boys. These results suggest the importance of sex-dependent sleep maintenance for children and adolescents.

In 2020, because of the COVID-19 crisis, remote teaching/learning (RTA) has been implemented simultaneously in higher education institutions across Japan. At that time, there were many faculty members belonging to these institutions who were using RTA for the first time. The majority of faculty members noticed the advantages or disadvantages of RTA from their own experiences; and from student opinions who have experienced RTA, we find insights to successfully implement RTA. Efforts to improve the quality of RTA was the main focus of our response to the recent situation; the new status quo will continue until a vaccine is widely available. However, once the situation turns around and classes return to normal, we believe that we will see a search for more effective teaching practices that take advantage of the characteristics of both face-to-face classes and RTA. It would be effective to set up a one-stop contact point for student support (naming OSCPSS) for a certain period of time until the students become familiar with the new method. This is one of the easiest ways for universities to keep students motivated to learn and get the most out of the new educational methods.

Contemporary learning theories and their implementations associated with information and communication technologies increasingly integrate social constructivist approaches in order to assist and facilitate the construction of knowledge. Social constructivism also highlights the important role of culture, learning attitude and behavior in the cognitive process. Modern e-learning systems need to include these psychological aspects in addition to knowledge construction in order to connect with long-standing pedagogical issues such as the decrease and lack of motivation for education. Current Social Networking Services (SNS) provide a platform where peers can express their passion, emotion, and motivation toward learning. Therefore, this research utilizes this platform to recommend motivational contents from peers for learning motivation enhancement (i.e., learners’ perception of their goal and purpose for learning). The proposed system consists of an SNS platform for learners to (1) express and evaluate their own goals for learning, (2) observe motivational messages from peers recommended from an LDA-based (latent Dirichlet allocation) model, and (3) evaluate their perceptions on motivational and psychological attributes. The LDA-based model recommends messages expressing diverse purposes for a shared goal by maximizing the topic divergence of Twitter messages. Learners’ self-evaluations show the positive and significant impact of observing diverse learning purposes from peers on intrinsic motivational attributes such as goal specificity, attainability, and on the confidence to achieve the desired outcome.