Comparisons of two statistical approaches to study growth curves: The multilevel model and the latent curve analysis

This article compares two statistical approaches for modeling growth across time. The two statistical approaches are the multilevel model (MLM) and latent curve analysis (LCA), which have been proposed to depict change or growth adequately. These two approaches were compared in terms of the estimation of growth profiles represented by the parameters of initial status and the rate of growth. A longitudinal data set obtained from a school‐based substance‐use prevention trial for adolescents was used to illustrate the similarities and differences between the two approaches. The results indicated that the two approaches yielded very compatible results. The parameter estimates associated with regression weights are the same, whereas those associated with variances and covariances are similar. The MLM approach is easier for model specification and is more efficient computationally in yielding results. The LCA approach, however, has the advantage of providing model evaluation, that is, an overall test of goodness of fit, and is more flexible in modeling and hypothesis testing as demonstrated in this study.     

The impact of SSCI and SCI on Taiwan’s academy: an outcry for fair play

The increasing importance of the competition in global university ranking has resulted in a paradigm shift in academic governance in East Asia. Many governments have introduced different strategies for benchmarking their leading universities to facilitate global competitiveness and international visibility. A major trend in the changing university governance is the emergence of a regulatory evaluation scheme for faculty research productivity, reflected by the striking features of the recent changing academic profile of publication norms and forms that go beyond the territories of nation-states in the East and West. With the expansion of the Taiwanese higher education system in the last two decades, the maintenance of quality to meet the requirements for international competitiveness has become a key concern for policy makers. Since 2005, the Ministry of Education has introduced a series of university governance policies to enhance academic excellence in universities and established a formal university evaluation policy to improve the competitiveness and international visibility of Taiwanese universities. In so doing, the government has legalized a clear link between evaluation results and public funding allocation. Research performance is assessed in terms of the number of articles published in journals indexed by the Science Citation Index (SCI), the Social Science Citation Index (SSCI), and the Arts and Humanities Citation Index and in terms of citation rates and associated factors. Therefore, evaluation has taken on a highly quantitative dimension. Despite the efforts of concerned parties to encourage academic excellence, the abovementioned quantitative evaluation indicators have resulted in bitter complaints from the humanities and social sciences, whose research accomplishments are devalued and ignored by the current quantitative indicators. In this paper, the authors describe the recent petition for collective action initiated by university faculty to protest the privileging of SSCI and SCI publications as critical indicators for academic performance regardless of faculty discipline and specialization. The article concludes its argument with a group petition calling for more diverse and reliable indicators in recognizing the research of different natures and disciplines while creating culturally responsive evaluation criteria for social sciences and humanities in the Taiwanese academe. The article not only sheds light on academic evaluation literature, especially on the uncertain paradox of globalization and market economy, but also proposes alternatives to the evaluation system for humanities and social sciences in higher education.     

可视化在实验教学中的应用初探

针对传统的工程流体力学实验教学模式存在的弊端,提出了可视化这一实验教学的新模式,并进一步阐述了其具体内容和应用,确认了这种实验教学模式的科学性、实用性。     

The Effect of Metacognitive Scaffolds on Low Achievers’ Laboratory Learning

This study explored the influence of experimental goal setting and planning on the attitudes toward science, self-efficacy, inquiry performance, and achievement of students with low academic performance. A total of 71 students aged 16–18 were randomly divided into a treatment group (with goal setting and planning) and a control group (without goal setting and planning). A microcomputer-based laboratory focused on Boyle’s Law, coupled with an inquiry worksheet, was assigned. Based on Winne and Hadwin’s model of self-regulated learning, scaffolding was offered to the treatment group to promote goal setting and planning. Data were collected from the worksheet, the Attitudes toward Science Scale, the Self-efficacy of Scientific Inquiry scale, and the Boyle’s Law Conceptual Test. The results showed that both the treatment and control groups improved significantly from the pre- to post-conceptual tests. In the treatment group, the male students gained significantly more conceptual knowledge than the female students. Regarding attitudes toward science, the male students’ scores on the post-test were higher than those of the females. It is concluded that the male students were more positive regarding goal setting and planning in the inquiry activity, whereas the female students did not benefit as much.     

Fitzgerald和她的悲剧人生哲学

Fitzgerald was one of the great stylists in American literature.This essay discussed how he formed a tragic philosophy of life from his life experience and how can he reflect this kind of philosophy of life in his masterpiece,.     

对足球锋线运动员能力的剖析

本文运用心理学方法和运动训练学原理，结合比赛实践，从两个方面对足球锋线运动员的能力进行了理论剖析：物质性（身体素质）和意识性（心智特征），从而逐步去认识足球运动的本质规律，为丰富我国的足球理论水平提供参考。     

Predicting self-efficacy in test preparation: Gender,value, anxiety,test performance,and strategies

Considerable evidence indicates that self-efficacy, task value, anxiety, and the use of language learning strategies are related. However, there is currently an insufficient understanding about their relations in high-stakes testing contexts. The author aimed to investigate how well social factors, test value, anxiety, test performance, and learning strategies predict high school students' self-efficacy in preparing for the English listening test as part of the University Entrance Examination in Taiwan. This research involved a large-scale questionnaire survey and a collection of students' English test scores. The participants were 636 students in Grade 12 of high school in Taiwan. A quantitative analysis of the questionnaire was conducted via hierarchical regression analysis. The results show that students' recent English test performance and test anxiety were two strong predictors of self-efficacy in preparing for the high-stakes test. In addition, resource management and metacognitive listening strategies had better predictive power over prior English level and test value.     

稻纵卷叶螟自然种群平均生命表

1977至1982年在广东四会大沙区大田试验获得的27个生命表资料,按各年同一世代进行统计,平均得出:第2—6代由卵至成虫的存活率分别为9.07,1.39,0.02,0.48,0.17(%):死亡主要出现在卵和1,2龄幼虫阶段,死亡率达72～98%;种群增长指数(I)值2—6代分别为5.1705,0.8859,0.0129,0.2804和0.0845,第2代最高. 关键因素分析表明:1—2龄幼虫期,3—5龄幼虫期和蛹期的失踪对总K值的波动影响较大.相关回归分析回归系数1—2龄失踪为0.3450.3—5龄为0.3331,蛹为0.2602.因此,1—2龄和3—5龄失踪为关键因素,其次为蛹期失踪.     

Interactivity and interactive functions in web-based learning systems: a technical framework for designers

The concept of interactivity and its implications for Web-based learning system design is re-examined. The author reviews the literature on the interactivity concept from the perspectives of communication, computer-assisted instruction, distance education, and interactive dimensions and functions for Web systems. A proposal is then made for a technical framework for including such dimensions and functions in Web-based learning systems. To enhance the framework's ease-of-use and overall effectiveness, each interactive function was submitted to two panels of experts for assessment and evaluation in terms of instructional necessity and programming difficulty. A discussion of the panels’ feedback and the potential for future research concludes the article.     

四大媒体特征论

报纸、广播、电视、网络等四大媒体有着各自的传播特质和文化意蕴。报纸是“读”文化的象征媒介；广播是“听”文化的典型媒介；电视是“看”文化的代表媒介；网络是“新视听”文化的先锋媒介。每一种新媒介的出现都是对已有媒介的整合和延伸。大众传媒的每一次革新，都伴随着人类思维的变化和社会文化的发展。