From a Disciplinary to an Interdisciplinary Design Research: Developing an Integrative Approach for Design

As the new generation of designers face more complex design issues, the forms of design research start to shift towards a user‐centred approach to problem‐solving. The cooperation and communication among various fields and specialisations are becoming more complex; in many practical design cases, in particular, technology developers face challenges in deciphering the creative ideas of designers and the needs and restraints of users, society, law and science. The emergence of integrative design based on a wide range of disciplines has prompted discussion and exploration among various participants. The direction of contemporary design research has already transformed from one based on production of artefact to one focused on the integration of varied knowledge and fields at different stages. We examine such design research based on a problem‐driven approach in two case studies characterised by interdisciplinary collaboration for solving complex problems. We focus on the transformation and implementation of integrative design research methods and suggest a ‘reflection‐in‐action’ problem‐solving process for strengthening the capabilities of multidisciplinary design research.     

The influence of learning style and training method on self-efficacy and learning performance in WWW homepage design training

The present study compares the relative effects of two training methods on learner's computer self-efficacy and learning performance in WWW homepage design. A field experiment was conducted by employing two classes of 10th graders. Results indicated that the behavior modeling training method yielded consistently superior performance and higher computer self-efficacy as compared with the instruction-based approach. Subjects with various learning styles performed substantially different in some learning tasks. The significant two-way interaction indicates the critical roles that gender and learning style played in interacting with training method. For learning performance, male students benefited more from the instruction-based and female students learned better in the behavior modeling condition. Concerning computer self-efficacy, female students gained more from the instruction and male students benefited more from behavior modeling approaches. For different learning style students, there exists a best-fit training approach. In addition, the best-fit training approach is task dependent. These results suggest that each individual training method has its unique merit to meet designated training objectives for learners with specific traits. Future research directions conclude the paper.     

1998～2007年间Medline数据库收录中国作者论文统计分析

系统检索Medline数据库收录的1998-2007年间中国大陆作者发表的研究论文,并对其学科分布、期刊分布、增长情况等进行文献计量学研究,同时也对RCT、Meta分析等循证医学类文献作回顾分析,揭示我国医学科研论文总体发展的趋势以及在发表语种等方面存在的问题。     

沈阳市高校啦啦操运动员与普通女大学生自信水平的差异性分析

本文运用文献资料法、测量法、访谈法、数理统计法,通过对沈阳市高校啦啦操运动员和普通女大学生自信水平的差异性分析,以及啦啦操运动对女大学生自信水平影响的探讨,旨在为高校心理健康教育的发展,为大学生心理健康理论的进一步完善和发展提供有益的参考。     

Substitutive competition: Virtual pets as competitive buffers to alleviate possible negative influence on pupils

Although competition is regarded as a powerful motivator in game‐based learning, it might have a negative influence, such as damage to confidence, on students who lose the competition. In this paper, we propose an indirect approach, substitutive competition, to alleviate such negative influences. The approach is used to develop a My‐Pet v3 system, in which pupils master subject materials to make their pets stronger, and compete against each other. Specifically, pupils learn Chinese idioms in a pet‐training game scenario, and their mastery of the material is related to the pets' strength to win the competition. The result of the competition is influenced by whether pupils spend enough effort on the learning tasks. This intention is expected to alleviate the negative influence that results from direct competition. A within‐subject experiment was conducted to examine the influence of substitutive competition. The results indicated that substitutive competition seems a promising scheme to maximise the power of competition. However, there were no apparent evidences in this study to demonstrate its effect to alleviate pupils' sense of failure, as compared with other two direct competition conditions.     

The learning outcomes race: the value of self-reported gains in large research universities

This article explores the geographies of difference at LI-NSU, a Mexican university program where English is the predominant language of instruction. The interactions between LI-NSU students and students from other programs are marked by themes of national identity and symbolically charged views of English, creating a contested ‘poetics of space’ within the classroom and beyond. The article questions the impact that English-only classrooms may have on student identity in contexts where English is not the official or dominant language.     

The effects of appeal types and candidates' poll rankings in negative political advertising

This paper combines the persuasion knowledge model (PKM) and priming theory to investigate the effects of different appeal types in negative political ads on voters' cognitive responses and candidate responses, and explore the moderating effect of an important candidate-related variable: poll ranking. The results indicate that negative advertising based on rational appeals is more beneficial to candidates who lag in the polls. However, negative ads based on emotional appeals generate better responses from voters when used by poll leaders. These effects are observed regardless of whether the race is between an incumbent and a challenger or two challengers.     

Investigating use continuance of data mining tools

While improving decisional quality is important to businesses, continued use of DMTs is a critical issue for managerial personnel. This problem mainly concerns the willingness of an individual to participate in the behavior. It can be further defined in a routine-based working behavior. This problem essentially involves three key issues, task fit, technology use, and habit. This study therefore integrates task-technology fit (TTF) model, expectation–confirmation mode (ECM), and habit, to examine the determinants of continued use of DMTs. Prior studies have focused on intention to use DMTs in the first time and only considered part of the three issues for identifying the determinants. 285 respondents from managerial personnel were collected to empirically evaluate this research model. The three issues are all important in influencing continuance use intention of DMTs. In particular, the task-technology fit indicates a direct effect on two factors of the technology use issue, user satisfaction and perceived usefulness, and an indirect effect on continuance use intention. User satisfaction and perceived usefulness, and habit are the key predictors of continuance use intention.     

The Influence of Contexts on Vocabulary Testing

In vocabulary testing,whether to adopt context is a heat-debated topic.In the article,an experiment is designed to investigate what is the effect of zero context and sentence context on the vocabulary testing?And how do the different kinds of context in vocabulary affect the subjects’performance?The experimental result demonstrates that sentence do play an important role in helping text-takers to figure out the correct meaning or target words.