Effects of conversational noise,locus of control,and field dependence/independence on the performance of academic tasks

To evaluate the effects of conversational noise on the comprehension/retention of 2000-word text excerpts, two groups were randomly formed. Group 1 (n = 20) studied under noise conditions and Group 2 (n = 24) studied under nonnoise conditions. In the analysis of the scores on tests over the material studied under noise and nonnoise conditions, overall ANCOVAs indicated no significant differences among the two groups in performance on the comprehension/retention tests. Further analyses, however, indicated significant differences between the performance of identifiable subgroups under noise and nonnoise study conditions. Internals on Rotter's I-E scale outperformed Externals under noise, whereas the reverse was true under nonnoise conditions.     

Using Efficient Model Based Sum-Scores for Conducting Skills Diagnoses

Consider test data, a specified set of dichotomous skills measured by the test, and an IRT cognitive diagnosis model (ICDM). Statistical estimation of the data set using the ICDM can provide examinee estimates of mastery for these skills, referred to generally as attributes. With such detailed information about each examinee, future instruction can be tailored specifically for each student, often referred to as formative assessment. However, use of such cognitive diagnosis models to estimate skills in classrooms can require computationally intensive and complicated statistical estimation algorithms, which can diminish the breadth of applications of attribute level diagnosis. We explore the use of sum-scores (each attribute measured by a sum-score) combined with estimated model-based sum-score mastery/nonmastery cutoffs as an easy-to-use and intuitive method to estimate attribute mastery in classrooms and other settings where simple skills diagnostic approaches are desirable. Using a simulation study of skills diagnosis test settings and assuming a test consisting of a model-based calibrated set of items, correct classification rates (CCRs) are compared among four model-based approaches for estimating attribute mastery, namely using full model-based estimation and three different methods of computing sum-scores (simple sum-scores, complex sum-scores, and weighted complex sum-scores) combined with model-based mastery sum-score cutoffs. In summary, the results suggest that model-based sum-scores and mastery cutoffs can be used to estimate examinee attribute mastery with only moderate reductions in CCRs in comparison with the full model-based estimation approach. Certain topics are mentioned that are currently being investigated, especially applications in classroom and textbook settings.     

Evaluation and simplification of risk factors in FIGO 2000 scoring system for gestational trophoblastic neoplasia: a 19-year retrospective analysis

Objective

The International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) 2000 scoring system classifies gestational trophoblastic neoplasia (GTN) patients into low- and high-risk groups, so that single- or multi-agent chemotherapy can be administered accordingly. However, a number of FIGO-defined low-risk patients still exhibit resistance to single-agent regimens, and the risk factors currently adopted in the FIGO scoring system possess inequable values for predicting single-agent chemoresistance. The purpose of this study is therefore to evaluate the efficacy of risk factors in predicting single-agent chemoresistance and explore the feasibility of simplifying the FIGO 2000 scoring system for GTN.

Methods

The clinical data of 578 GTN patients who received chemotherapy between January 2000 and December 2018 were retrospectively reviewed. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were carried out to identify risk factors associated with single-agent chemoresistance in low-risk GTN patients. Then, simplified models were built and compared with the original FIGO 2000 scoring system.

Results

Among the eight FIGO risk factors, the univariate and multivariate analyses identified that pretreatment serum human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) level and interval from antecedent pregnancy were consistently independent predictors for both first-line and subsequent single-agent chemoresistance. The simplified model with two independent factors showed a better performance in predicting single-agent chemoresistance than the model with the other four non-independent factors. However, the addition of other co-factors did improve the efficiency. Overall, simplified models can achieve favorable performance, but the original FIGO 2000 prognostic system still features the highest discrimination.

Conclusions

Pretreatment serum hCG level and interval from antecedent pregnancy were independent predictors for both first-line and subsequent single-agent chemoresistance, and they had greater weight than other non-independent factors in predicting single-agent chemoresistance. The simplified model composed of certain selected factors is a promising alternative to the original FIGO 2000 prognostic system, and it shows comparable performance.

     

Using action research to investigate the use of digital information resources in further education

Within the Third Annual Cycle of the Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC) User Behaviour Monitoring and Evaluation Framework, six small‐scale action research interventions were undertaken in further education (FE) institutions. The aims of these interventions were two‐fold: (i) to develop understanding of the facilitators and barriers to the use of digital information resources by students in FE; (ii) to test the value of the action research approach in facilitating change and developing transferable knowledge in this context. The objectives for each intervention were developed in collaboration with the FE college site staff and students. The process generally involved identification and elaboration of the problem situation, development of an intervention that might help to overcome some of the barriers to more effective use of electronic information services and evaluation of the outcomes of the intervention. Both practical–deliberative and participatory action research methods were used, with interviews and focus groups used to determine the problem and assess the effectiveness of interventions. Six interventions are reported. These included: a database implementation, the development of a subject guide, training sessions, a major change project and a web site. The main findings on the use of digital information resources in FE were: (i) interventions can make the students more aware of resources available, but the immediate impact may be low; (ii) FE students are often part‐time and work in subject/cohort groups in the FE college, therefore targeted initiatives which are aimed at ‘their’ group are likely to be most effective; (iii) incorporation of the use of specialized digital resources in assignments is constrained by student preference for books and/or the Internet, a lack of new products aimed at the FE student market and physical information technology (IT) problems or the perceived lack of IT support. The action research methodology offers benefits not available through survey‐based methodologies. The challenges that arise from the integration of learning from different action research projects need to be balanced against the benefits accruing from embedding learning and knowledge creation in innovation and using research to promote change, rather than simply to measure it.     

Problem-solving in collaborative game design practices: epistemic stance,affect, and engagement

ABSTRACT

This article explores children’s development of problem-solving practices through multimodal engagements in digital activities. The study is based on analyses of a video recorded peer group activity in which two children, within the context of a project on computational thinking using the software Scratch, collaboratively work to solve a coding problem. Drawing on work on epistemics-in-interaction and the cooperative and transformative organization of human action and knowledge, the analyses focus on the interactional strategies that the children use to establish, sustain, and develop knowledge within the peer group and the role of affect in the unfolding organization of actions. By analyzing the multimodal cultural production in children’s interaction with digital technologies, it is shown how children learn creative and artful skills, thus positioning them as consumers as well as producers of media.     

数码时装画与服装专业教学浅探

围绕数码时装画与服装专业教学,阐述了数码时装画的特点和优势。对数码时装画的发展作了较系统的回顾,比较了目前两类设计软件的性能和具体应用,并重点分析了数码时装画教学的自身特点和教学重点。     

When will the Internet be connected? Digital worlds and belonging in the lives of globally mobile children

Increasing numbers of children are caught up in global flows of moving peoples. This movement may be voluntary or forced and is experienced within a range of settings. Coming from diverse linguistic and cultural backgrounds, and moving around the world due to their parents' employment, the children found in traditional International Schools are a case in point. This paper focuses on the experiences of two sisters in the first year of their family's global relocation. In the midst of change, the digital world Club Penguin? offered these two globally mobile children a familiar and welcome site of continuity and belonging. This exploration of the role of digital worlds and digital literacies in these girls' experience contributes to an understanding of connections between global movement and digital literacy practices. Greater awareness of the significance of digital literacies in globally mobile children's lives provides fresh insights into how children participate in digital spaces and has implications for literacy educators supporting young people in contemporary times.     

Selfies,relfies and phallic tagging: posthuman part-icipations in teen digital sexuality assemblages

Abstract

Inspired by posthuman feminist theory, this paper explores young people’s entanglement with the bio-technological landscape of image creation and exchange in young networked peer cultures. We suggest that we are seeing new formations of sexual objectification when the more-than-human is foregrounded and the blurry ontological divide between human (flesh) and machine (digital) are enlivened through queer and feminist Materialist analyses. Drawing upon multimodal qualitative data generated with teen boys and girls living in urban inner London and semi-rural Wales (UK) we map how the digital affordances of Facebook ‘tagging’ can operate as a form of coercive ‘phallic touch’ in ways that shore up and transgress normative territories of dis/embodied gender, sexuality and age. We conclude by arguing that we need creative approaches that can open up spaces for a posthuman accounting of the material intra-actions through which phallic power relations part-icipate in predictable and unpredictable ways.     

Does Performance in Digital Reading Relate to Computer Game Playing? A Study of Factor Structure and Gender Patterns in 15-Year-Olds' Reading Literacy Performance

Data from a Swedish PISA-sample were used (1) to identify a digital reading factor, (2) to investigate gender differences in this factor (if found), and (3) to explore how computer game playing might relate to digital reading performance and gender. The analyses were conducted with structural equation modeling techniques. In addition to an overall reading factor, the hypothesized digital reading factor was identified. When the overall reading performance was taken into account, a relative difference in favor of the boys for digital reading was indicated. This effect was mediated by a game-playing factor comprising the amount of time spent on playing computer games. Thus, the boys' better performance in digital reading was explained by the computer game-playing factor.     

Teaching mathematics in/for new times: A poststructuralist analysis of the productive quality of the pedagogic process

Mathematics educators and researchers generally recognise the importance of students' active involvement in learning processes; this active engagement is positively thought of in relation to the development of understanding and the construction of mathematical knowledge. However, it is often not well understood, nor perhaps even considered, how engagement in these learning processes also produces the learner and his/her feelings of competence and confidence in/with mathematics. In this paper I undertake, from a post structuralist perspective, a meta-analysis of two short episodes from a paper by Manouchehri and Goodman (2000). I use these interactions to explore (a) how mathematical knowledge and identities are produced in teaching/learning interactions in the classroom and (b) the wider practical implications of this productive power ofprocess for mathematics education and research. Through analyses such as these it may be possible to breathe new life and purpose into mathematics education in the twenty-first century; not by negating what has come before, but in moving on to explore the exciting possibilities that present themselves when taken-for-granted assumptions of a rational, freely choosing proficient (NCTM, 2000) humanist subject are interrupted and revised.This revised version was published online in October 2005 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

基于DC与RDF的数字化地方文献资源描述

元数据是对数字化地方文献资源进行组织和检索的基本信息，本文叙述了都柏林核心元数据的概念、特征、作用，并详细介绍了在RDF／XML框架下使用DC元数据对数字化地方文献资源进行描述的具体实现。     

The influence of children's gender and age on children's use of digital media at home

This study is the first to systematically investigate the influence of child gender and age, on parents’ perceptions of UK children's digital media use at home. It provides an in‐depth exploration of how children's age and gender influence the balance between children's use of digital and non‐digital media at home. The data draw on 709 parents’ responses to an open‐ended question asked in the context of a national survey investigating the digital reading habits of children, conducted in 2015. Parents’ responses were analysed using content and thematic analysis, which yielded eight main categories, collapsed into three major themes: control, child's healthy development and diversity of experiences. Quantitative analyses evidenced that more parents of boys were concerned about the health implications of their children's digital media use and this was a concern especially for parents of the youngest (0–2‐year‐old) children. More parents of 6–8‐year olds cited the appeal of technology as the main reason for the perceived imbalance in their children's engagement with digital media. The study provides a more secure understanding of the factors that influence parental perceptions of their children's digital media use at home, which has implications for policy‐makers, digital designers and early years professionals.     

The associations between child and item characteristics,use of vocabulary scaffolds,and reading comprehension in a digital environment: Insights from a big data approach

Scaffolding features that provide multimodal support for the pronunciation and meaning of words are increasingly common in digital reading environments. These vocabulary scaffolds are intended to aid the accurate pronunciation and understanding of individual words in context, thus supporting both vocabulary development and comprehension of text. However, the evidence on their efficacy remains inconclusive. The present study adds to the evidence base by examining: 1) whether child characteristics predict the use of vocabulary scaffolds; 2) whether the use of vocabulary scaffolds is associated with reading comprehension performance; and 3) whether the association between the use of scaffolds and reading comprehension is modulated by child and/or item characteristics. A large cohort (N ∼ 120,000) of 5- to 8-year-old children in the United States interacted with a gamified digital reading environment with embedded vocabulary scaffolds, thereby generating a large observational dataset of user log files. Confirmatory analyses with Generalized Linear Mixed Models (GLMMs) indicated that children with lower literacy skills, beginning readers, girls, and bilingual students were more likely to use the scaffold. Overall, the use of scaffolds was associated with better reading comprehension performance. The association between the use of scaffolds and reading comprehension was modulated by both child and item characteristics. We conclude that vocabulary scaffolds may be promising tools to facilitate reading comprehension and reduce performance differences amongst diverse learners in digital reading environments. Educational implications and recommendations for future research are discussed.     

Combining Principal Component Regression and Artificial Neural Network to Predict Chlorophyll-a Concentration of Yuqiao Reservoir’s Outflow

In order to investigate the eutrophication degree of Yuqiao Reservoir, a hybrid method, combining principal component regression (PCR) and artificial neural network (ANN), was adopted to predict chlorophyll-a concentration of Yuqiao Reservoir’s outflow. The data were obtained from two sampling sites, site 1 in the reservoir, and site 2 near the dam. Seven water variables, namely chlorophyll-a concentration of site 2 at time t and that of both sites 10 days before t, total phosphorus(TP), total nitrogen(TN), dissolved oxygen(DO), and temperature from January 2000 to September 2002, were utilized to develop models. To remove the collinearity between the variables, principal components extracted by principal component analysis were employed as predictors for models. The performance of models was assessed by the square of correlation coefficient, mean absolute error (MAE), root mean square error (RMSE) and average absolute relative error (AARE). Results show that the hybrid method has achieved more accurate prediction than PCR or ANN model. Finally, the three models were applied to predicting the chlorophyll-a concentration in 2003. The predictions of the hybrid method were found to be consistent with the observed values all year round, while the results of PCR and ANN models did not fit quite well from July to October.     

Display,Identity and the Everyday: Self-presentation through online image sharing

Drawing on a study of a photo-sharing website (Flickr.com), this paper explores ways in which everyday life is reconfigured through an online photo-sharing space, where traditional boundaries between the public and private spheres are being extended, challenged or eroded. The paper reflects on the presentation and subjects of the images; the narratives within and around them, and the affordances and practices which impact on the ways in which many people review and represent their “everyday selves and lives” online. The interactions on Flickr are presented as instantiating both learning and literacy as a social practice (Barton & Hamilton, 1998; Lave & Wenger, 1991) within a context that can be conceptualised as simultaneously global and local. The paper further considers the relationship between digital and traditional domestic photography, drawing on analyses of photographic representation (Hirsh, 2002; Kuhn, 1995) and contrasts how digital practices affect meanings differently.     

Pädagogisch-psychologisches Wissen von Lehrkräften aus Schule und Erwachsenenbildung: Entwicklung und Erprobung eines Testinstruments

Teachers’ pedagogical/psychological knowledge (PPK) is an important aspect of teacher competence. All conceptualisations developed so far assume that PPK is general and not specific for subjects or educational contexts. The authors take up this assumption and examine empirically whether PPK of school teachers and adult education teachers is general, i.?e. generic for subjects and educational contexts. Based on a conceptualisation validated through an expert survey (N = 44) the development of a digital test instrument with text- and videobased items is described. The article reports on the results of the structure, reliability, and DIF analyses of two PPK-facets on a total of N = 212 school and adult education teachers; analyses showed that both facets can be measured reliably with only small DIF-effects. The results point to the fact that – largely in line with the results of a literature content analysis and the expert survey – PPK is general over educational contexts. Finally, results are discussed with regard to the potentials of videobased instruments to measure teachers’ professional competence.     

基于椭圆曲线的数字签名方案的研究

在分析椭圆曲线数字签名方案的基础上，提出了新的签名方程表达形式，并分析了如何在此基础上根据需要构造签名方程。最后给出了两种相对于现有的ECC数字签名算法ECDSA方案的改进方案。这些方案相对于ECDSA方案在运算速度上均有其优越性。     

Digital divide in the utilization of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in counsellor education in Nigerian Universities

Abstract

This study investigated digital divide in the utilization of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in counsellor education in Nigerian universities. It had two research questions and two hypotheses tested at .05 level of significance. It adopted a survey design and used ICT Utilization Questionnaire (IUQ) in gathering data from the entire population of 142 counsellor-educators and trainee-counsellors in the five universities in the South-South geopolitical zone of Nigeria who offered Guidance and Counselling as a course of study at the Master's degree level in the 2007/2008 session. This instrument was validated by five experts, and its reliability was established to be 0.9. A direct delivery technique was adopted for data collection. Data was analyzed using mean, standard deviation and t-test. Findings show that there is no digital divide based on gender but there is digital divide based on status of the population as counsellor educator or trainee-counsellors. Recommendations were made to different stakeholders on bridging this gap.     

Using Interactive Digital Television to Support Basic Skills Learners

This paper outlines why television, and especially interactive digital television, is an effective medium for reaching people with basic skill learning needs. It describes the Upgrade2000 project, which developed a series of interactive television programmes for use in the home, workplace and training environments, together with a supportive learning surround. The programmes are being broadcast under the series title Give It A Go! The paper particularly focuses on: emerging digital television technologies; the project's framework for structuring learning content; the potential for using digital interactive television in education, highlighting opportunities and constraints