Missouri Southern State University

College student food insecurity is highly prevalent, yet qualitative analyses of this problem and potential campus solutions are scarce in the literature. The purpose of this online focus group study was to examine college students' knowledge of food insecurity, including barriers and facilitators of accessing federal food assistance programmes. Students from 13 colleges, universities and tech schools in one Midwestern state were recruited to participate using convenience sampling. Any enrolled student was eligible. A total of 26 students from 9 universities participated in 4 total focus groups (6-8 students per group) which all lasted between 45 and 55 min. The primary outcome was knowledge and use of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). Focus groups were held online via Zoom, recorded, then transcribed, reviewed and discussed by all authors until data saturation was achieved. Data were coded based on agreed-upon themes. Participants included 35% males; the average age was 22.9 years, and 13 were from public institutions. Main themes included: challenges of applying for SNAP, including determining eligibility and difficulty applying; a lack of knowledge related to food insecurity and SNAP; the role of campuses in assisting food insecure students; and stigma associated with being food insecure, which was considered part of the college experience. College food insecurity should be addressed, particularly by targeting campus resources, and campus policies could be targeted to reduce food insecurity among students. Potential suggestions include campus administrators assisting in determining eligibility and applying for SNAP. Future work is needed to reduce stigma surrounding food insecurity and SNAP use.

The authors declared no competing interests for this work.

Higher education institutions often stress extracurricular programs enhance the moral development experienced within college. Within athletics, athlete's morality is tied to their actions, which are frequently recognized as either sportspersonlike or unsportspersonlike. Instances of unsportspersonlike behaviors are often covered across the media, enhancing the belief that athletes need to act out to gain recognition. This study assesses the impact that coaching behaviors have on the development of sportspersonship behaviors in college athletes and evaluates the impact that those coaching behaviors have on students’ intent to return to the institution. The results of the study indicate that within college athletics, athletes perceive five coaching behaviors ( emphasizes, instructs, models, rewards, and punishes) that directly relate to the development of sportspersonship and that those behaviors do impact students intent to return to the institution.

BackgroundCOVID-19 is a respiratory disease caused by SARS-CoV-2, a coronavirus discovered in 2019. Its impact on the world continues to be studied due to the significant death toll of the disease. As the COVID-19 pandemic remains ongoing, examining the association of COVID-19 with comorbidities and resulting mortality is necessary. This study focuses on population health outcomes with COVID-19 infection and hyperlipidemia (total cholesterol greater than or equal to 200 mg/dL) as a comorbidity, including potential associations with age and sex.MethodsAs a retrospective analytical study, patients were divided into three populations based on COVID-19 and/or hyperlipidemia based on the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Edition (ICD-10) codes reported in the electronic medical record system at Freeman Health System (FHS) in Southwest Missouri from April 1, 2020, to December 31, 2021. Wald’s methods and two sample proportion summary hypotheses with confidence intervals (CIs) were used for comparison. The populations were subdivided and analyzed for age and sex differences.ResultsPatients with both COVID-19 and hyperlipidemia had a higher mortality rate than patients with COVID-19 and without hyperlipidemia and patients with hyperlipidemia and without COVID-19; patients with COVID-19 and without hyperlipidemia had a higher mortality rate than patients with hyperlipidemia and without COVID-19. All comparisons across these populations were statistically significant (p-value < 0.05). While increased age was associated with increased mortality in all groups, sex was not predictive in this regard.ConclusionOur study provides insights into variables affecting COVID-19 outcomes in a rural Midwestern population by showing how the comorbidity hyperlipidemia contributes to increased mortality.

College student participation in extracurricular activities is recognized as a contributing factor to an increase in academic cheating behaviors. National Intramural and Recreational Sport Association (NIRSA)-sponsored sports emphasize that all participants demonstrate appropriate ethical behaviors (i.e., sportsmanship) throughout competition. This study explores the impact that participation in recreational sports programs in college has on the frequency of self-reported instances of academic cheating. Specifically, we assess whether participation in NIRSA-sponsored activities which focus on the development of ethical behaviors in sports (i.e., sportsmanship), translates into ethical behaviors in the classroom, as measured through self-reported instances of academic dishonesty. Results show that participation in NIRSA-sponsored programs is directly related to an increase in self-reported instances of academic cheating.

The focus of this review paper is on the assessment of English Language Learners (ELLs) and the ways in which the language gap negatively influences ELLs in classroom assessments. The research body provides an outline of differentiated instruction and assessment highlighting the primary obstacles that hinder ELLs from achieving success in various classroom assessments. It explains the importance of addressing the language gap due to its wide-reaching impact. Additionally, it underscores the significance of differentiating instruction and scaffolding assessment to accommodate language, culture, and previous educational experience. This consideration is especially crucial as assessment results may be biased or inaccurate if these factors are not taken into account. Finally, the paper discusses several strategies that teachers can implement to enhance their instruction and assessment methods.

Neuromotor dysfunction after a concussion is common, but balance tests used to assess neuromotor dysfunction are typically subjective. Current objective balance tests are either cost- or space-prohibitive, or utilize a static balance protocol, which may mask neuromotor dysfunction due to the simplicity of the task. To address this gap, our team developed an Android-based smartphone app (portable and cost-effective) that uses the sensors in the device (objective) to record movement profiles during a stepping-in-place task (dynamic movement). The purpose of this study was to examine the extent to which our custom smartphone app and protocol could discriminate neuromotor behavior between concussed and non-concussed participants. Data were collected at two university laboratories and two military sites. Participants included civilians and Service Members (N = 216) with and without a clinically diagnosed concussion. Kinematic and variability metrics were derived from a thigh angle time series while the participants completed a series of stepping-in-place tasks in three conditions: eyes open, eyes closed, and head shake. We observed that the standard deviation of the mean maximum angular velocity of the thigh was higher in the participants with a concussion history in the eyes closed and head shake conditions of the stepping-in-place task. Consistent with the optimal movement variability hypothesis, we showed that increased movement variability occurs in participants with a concussion history, for which our smartphone app and protocol were sensitive enough to capture.