Faculty Publications
It's not about reading the news, it's about making news.
Publications submitted by members of the faculty of the College of Education & Human Development.
CEHD Publications and Research
Temporal trends in the physical fitness of Hong Kong adolescents between 1998 and 2015
Poon ETC, Tomkinson GR, Huang WY, Wong SHS. Temporal trends in the physical fitness of Hong Kong adolescents between 1998 and 2015. Int J Sports Med. 2022 Jan 12. DOI:
Low physical fitness in adolescence is linked with increased cardiometabolic risk and early all-cause mortality. Using five population-representative surveys of 28,059 Hong Kong secondary school students aged 12–17 years between 1998 and 2015, we found small declines in distance running and sit-ups performance, and negligible changes in push-ups and sit-and-reach performance. There were small increases in body size and a negligible increase in fatness. Increased national health promotion strategies are required to improve existing fitness trends.
Read full article "Temporal trends in the physical fitness of Hong Kong Adolescents
How Should Adult Handgrip Strength Be Normalized? Allometry Reveals New Insights and Associated Reference Curves.
A study co-authored by A.M. Nevill, Grant R. Tomkinson, JJ Lang, W Wutz, TD Myers. Using handgrip strength to accurately measure muscle strength is an important challenge for health and fitness professionals. This is because handgrip strength is strongly associated with body size, suggesting that handgrip strength should be corrected (or 'normalized') for differences in body size to obtain a more sensitive measure of muscle strength. Using a nationally-representative sample of 8690 American adults aged 20 years and older, we found that height was the best single measure of body size associated with andgrip strength. We, therefore, recommended that handgrip strength be divided by height2 (i.e., HGS/height2) to best normalize handgrip strength. The research was published January of 2022 in Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise as well as highlighted in the American College of Sports Medicine's weekly blog Active Voice in December of 2021
Read the full research article "How Should Adult Handgrip..."
The Associations between Asymmetric Handgrip Strength and Chronic Disease Status in American Adults - Results from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey
Using a nationally-representative sample of U.S. adults aged 40 years and older, we found that asymmetric strength - another indicator of diminished muscle function - was linked to chronic morbidity status. We recommend that healthcare providers promote healthy behaviors for reducing asymmetries to improve muscle function and reduce morbidity risk.
How Social Studies Teachers Choose News Resources for Current Events Instruction
A study co-authored by Christopher Clark, Assistant Professor, found social studies teachers across the country are bringing more bias into the classroom than they might realize, was published in the Spring 2021 issue of Harvard Educational Review.
06/08/21 UNIVERSITY LETTER ARTICLE
Accuracy of measurements from a 3D whole body scan vs. Measurements using girth tapes and calipers
This research could beused to help develop a fully automatic sizing system for military clothing. Stephven Kolose, Tom Stewart, Patria Hume, Grant R. Tomkinson.
Prediction of Military Combat Clothing Size Using Decision Trees and 3D Body Scan Data
Series three of Papers on Standing Broad Jump Performance
Examines how the muscular fitness of kids has changed over the past half a century. Grant R. Tomkinson, Tori Kaster, Faith L. Dooley, John S. Fitzgerald, Madison Annadale, Katia Ferrar, Justin J. Lang, Jordan J. Smith
Temporal Trends in the Standing Broad Jump Performance of 10,940,801 Children and Adolescent...
Three research studies on handgrip strength/weakness lead to interesting conclusions for aging Americans: co-written by Grant R. Tomkinson
Muscle Strength is important for good health. This research shows that people with strong muscles and people with even strength (i.e., similar strength between the sides of their body) are more likely to live longer.
Handgrip Strength Asymmetry and Weakness May Accelerate Time to Mortality in Aging Americans published in JAMDA (2020)
Handgrip Weakness and Asymmetry Independently Predict the Development of New Activity Limitations published in JAMDA (2020) 1-6
Handgrip Strength Asymmetry and Weakness Together Are Associated with Functional Disability in Aging Americans published in The Gerontological Society of America, April 22, 2020
Diversifying the Teaching Profession Requires Confronting History: by Diana D'Amico Pawlewicz
For policymakers around the country, the lack of diversity in the teacher workforce is a supply problem.
Hot Off The Press: New Publications by Hyonsuk Cho
Cho, H., Christ, T., & Liu, Y. (2022). Recognizing emergent bilingual parent-child dyads’ funds of identity through their discussions about culturally relevant text. Journal of Language, Identity & Education.
First published online. https://doi.org/10.1080/15348458.2021.2004893
Cho, H., & Christ, T. (2021). How two emergent bilingual students from refugee families make inferences with more and less culturally relevant texts during read-alouds. TESOL Quarterly. First published online. https://doi.org/10.1002/tesq.3094
Cho, H., & Votava, K. (2021). Family engagement of Nepali parents of dual language learners at Head Start. SN Social Sciences, 125. https://doi.org/10.1007/s43545-021-00108-7
Christ, T., & Cho, H. (2021). Sharing power in read-alouds with emergent bilingual students. The Reading Teacher, 75(3), 269–278. https://doi.org/10.1002/trtr.2021
Sagini Keengwe's Research Leads to New Book Publishing
Professor of Education Sagini Keengwe has been busy researching and writing, publishing a series of research handbooks on pedagogical models for next-generation teaching, research on global competencies, and virtual training and mentoring of online instructors.
Joint Post-doc between Engineering and Education
Julie Robinson is collaborating with Drs. Bowman, Robinson, Klemetsrud, Rachel Navarro and Ryan Summers in the development and implementation to build research partnerships among CEHD and CEM faculty, particularly focused on effective and culturally relevant K-12 teacher professional development strategies, teaching strategies, and engineering-related outcomes for K-12 teachers and students.
2/4/21 Update: NSF Engineering/Education grant will pair school teachers and UND Researchers to design engineering tasks UND Today article
3/12/21 The k-12 classroom is the natural place to integrate engineering tasks, not only in the areas of Math and Sciences, but across all subject areas. Valley News Live show, North Dakota Today, showcases "Engineering is for Everyone"
4/23/21 Video showcase for the Education & Engineering collaboration - ExCEED Final Submission
Clinton Works on Reading Comprehension Assessment
Virginia Clinton, Assistant Professor of Educational Foundations and Research, is a Co-Principal Investigator on a funded grant through the U.S. Department of Education’s Institute of Education Sciences. The grant will support research to develop, refine, and validate a reading comprehension assessment originally designed for use with late-elementary school. Students for use with postsecondary students. The $1.4 million, three-year grant is headed by her colleague Ben Seipel at California State University, Chico, and includes collaboration with the University of Oregon, University of Minnesota, and Georgia State University.
Tomkinson Study Finds American Children Among Least Fit in the World
An international research team co-led from the University of North Dakota and the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO) studied the aerobic fitness levels of children and youth across 50 countries. The results were just published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine.
“If all the kids in the world were to line up for a race, the average American child would finish at the foot of the field,” said Grant Tomkinson, associate professor of kinesiology in the UND College of Education & Human Development and senior author of the study. “Canada, on the other hand, fared moderately well placing just above middle of the pack. This study is the largest of its kind so it’s exciting to have this evidence at hand.”
Handgrip Strength Asymmetry and Weakness May Accelerate Time to Mortality in Aging Americans
Ryan McGrath PhD, Grant R. Tomkinson PhD, Dain P. LaRoache PhD, Brenda M. Vincent MS, Colin W. Bond MS, Kyle J. Hackney PhD
This research published in the Journal of the American Medical Directors Association, shows muscle strength is important for good health. We have long known that people with strong muscles are more likely to live longer. Our research shows that people with even strength (i.e., similar strength between the sides of their body) are also more likely to live longer. We recommend that strength assessments include measures of both maximal capacity and asymmetry to improve the ability to predict future health.
Psychology of Sport & Exercise: Factors Associated with Adherence to the Muscle-strengthening Activity Guideline Among Adolescents
Jordan J. Smith, Thierno M.O. Diallo, Jason A. Bennie, Grant Tomkinson, David R. Lubans
Muscle-strengthening physical activity (MSA), including formal resistance training (RT) and certain leisure-time activities (e.g., climbing on playground equipment), contribute to the health and well-being of school-aged youth.
Sports Medicine: Developing a New Model to Improve... the Fit and Validity of the
20‑m Shuttle Run Test
Alan M. Nevell1, Roger Ramsbottom2, Gavin Sandercock3, Carlos Eduardo Bocachica-Gonzalez4, Robinson Ramirez-Velez5, Grant Tomkinson 6, 7
Doubts have been raised concerning the validity of the 20-m shuttle-run test (20 mSRT) as a predictor of cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) in youth based on Leger's equation/model.
Read the full study in Sports Medicine
Oxford Academic: Temporal trends in handgrip strength for older Japanese adults between 1998 and 2017
Tomkinson, G.R., Kidokoro, T., Dufner, T., Noi, S., Fitzgerald, J.S., McGrath, R.P.
Handgrip strength is a very important measure of your overall strength capacity and your current/future health. Unlike in many countries around where muscular fitness appears to be declining, handgrip strength appears to be on the rise in Japan in a segment of the population (older adults) known to have low strength levels. Perhaps we in the US could learn some lessons from our neighbors across the pond.
Read the full study in the Oxford Academic on Age and Ageing
San Francisco Chronicle: Diversifying the Teaching Profession Requires Confronting History
Diana D'Amico Pawlewicz
For policymakers around the country, the lack of diversity in the teacher workforce is a supply problem.
Read the article in the San Francisco Chronicle
Fluid Identity Play: A Case Study of a Bilingual Child's Ethnic Identity Construction Across Multiple Contexts
Cho, H., & Wang, X. C. (2019)
Informed by positioning theory as well as a nexus of multi-membership, the year-long case study examined how a 7-year-old Korean American bilingual child, Meeso, constructed her ethnic identity across different educational contexts.
Read the study in the Journal of Early Childhood Research
The Relationship Between Self-efficacy and the Quality of Classroom Interactions of EFL Teachers in Niger
Jang, B., Cho, H., & Wiens, P. (2019)
This study explores the relationships between self-efficacy and observed quality of classroom interactions of EFL teachers in Niger and how they compare to their American counterparts. International Education Journal: Comparative Perspectives, 18 (3), 57-73
Research Leads to New Book Publishing
Professor of Education Sagini Keengwe has been busy researching and writing, publishing a series of research handbooks on pedagogical models for next-generation teaching, research on global competencies, and virtual training and mentoring of online instructors.
Read the complete story from UND Today
How Readability Factors Are Differentially Associated With Performance for Students of Different Backgrounds When Solving Mathematics Word Problems
By Candace Walkington, Virginia Clinton, Pooja Shivraj. American Educational Research Journal. Vol 55, Issue 2, 2018
The link between reading and mathematics achievement is well known, and an important question is whether readability factors in mathematics problems are differentially impacting student groups.
Read the complete article in American Education Research Journal
What Motivates Good Teaching?
Reported by Colleen Flaherty based on the study of Associate Professor Robert Stupnisky
New study of faculty motivation for teaching says certain kinds of motivation -- intrinsic and believing that teaching is important -- are linked to use of best teaching practices, across institution types. Rewards and guilt appear to have no bearing on best practices.
Read the complete story from Inside Higher Ed
Digit Ratio (2D:4D) and Muscular Strength in Adolescent Boys
By Professor Grant R. Tomkinson and Jordan Tomkinson
Using a cross-sectional design, this study quantified the relationship between the digit ratio (2D:4D) and muscular strength in 57 adolescent boys. 2D:4D was very likely a moderate negative correlate of handgrip strength, even after adjustment for age and body size. This result may reflect the organizational benefits of prenatal testosterone.