Environmental education in primary schools: a case study with plastic resources and recycling

This paper aims to examine teachers’ use of strategies and approaches in integrating Plastic Resources Education (PRE) into primary school life in order to overcome the challenges encountered during implementation to promote environmentally friendly practices. Case studies with eight Hong Kong teachers from PRE-participating primary schools were invited to take part in focus group interviews, to explicate their personal stories and experiences associated with the PRE implementation in primary schools. Based on the data collected from the teachers’ sharing, several challenges which are commonly reported in the previous literature, including lack of time, shortage of manpower, and insufficient pupil engagement were found. The teachers tackled the barriers by using different strategies to improve pupils’ involvement as well as getting support from the relevant stakeholders of school management and parents. The case studies provide crucial and relevant information which can be used as a reference for other schools to integrate PRE more efficiently to facilitate learning.     

Designing a Responsive e-Learning Infrastructure: Systemic Change in Higher Education

As university administrators respond to increasing demands of the educational market to offer greater opportunities for online learning, their capacity to create an economically stable, sustainable, yet rich teaching and learning environment deserves immediate and continued attention. A university-wide study involving 130 participants examined the e-learning perceptions and needs of faculty, students, and staff as part of a needs assessment of the e-learning unit. Results suggest that faculty recognize the importance of e-learning, that students covet it for its convenience, and that real-time technology support was the top priority. Both the school and university resources, however, are not well aligned to meet these needs and remain largely separate and unintegrated. Implications suggest a need to increase the overall ease of use for the adoption of e-learning as a new technology for teaching and learning of both faculty and students and more closely aligned department and university resources.     

Methodological Approaches to Comparing Pedagogical Innovations Using Technology

The study of educational innovations has become increasingly important in education research as many countries around the world have embarked on education reforms that aim to change both the goals and practices in education. There is also a general expectation that such innovations can be leveraged or supported by the use of information and communication technology (ICT) in the learning and teaching process. However, comparative studies of innovations are relatively rare. SITES M2, as an international comparative study of innovative pedagogical practices involving 28 participating systems, thus faced important methodological challenges the solution of which was no less an innovation in itself. This paper examines the methods of analysis used and the kind of research findings that resulted from the work of three research teams that had conducted comparisons of the case studies of innovation collected, including the work of the SITES M2 International Coordinating Centre (ICC). Even though all three studies attempted to examine similarities and differences across multiple case studies, the analysis conducted by the ICC looked for characterizations of the innovations while the other two studies developed meaningful ways to compare the cases in terms of levels of innovation across a number of dimensions. In discussing the methodological differences across these studies, this paper pays special attention to how one could compare different innovations in terms of their levels or extents of innovation and what such comparisons may contribute to our learning from technology-supported education innovations.     

An Analogy‐Based Computer Tutor for Remediating Physics Misconceptions

We describe a computer tutor designed to help students understand physics concepts. The tutor uses a teaching strategy called “bridging analogies” that previous research has demonstrated to be successful in one‐on‐one tutoring. The strategy is designed to remedy misconceptions by appealing to existing correct intuitions, and extending these intuitions by encouraging analogical thinking. Students were videotaped while using the program and were encouraged to think aloud. The strategy was successful in changing beliefs for some students. We outline suggestions for improving the tutor using artificial intelligence technology.     

Image Capital,Field, and the Economies of Signs and Space

Drawing upon the concept of cultural capital, this article develops image as a form of Bourdieusean capital to examine what Lash and Urry identify as the economies of signs and space. Image capital refers to the accumulated labor of visual resources that allows agents possessing it to yield power. The concept of image capital will differentiate the power of images from the power of linguistic signs in the age of mediation.     

Combining Cultural Analytics and Networks Analysis: Studying a Social Network Site with User-Generated Content

Humanities and social sciences require new research approaches to deal with and to benefit from the explosion of digital media. Thanks to large scale data storage and processing, close reading of individual items can be supplemented with analysis of broader trends from massive amounts of data. Cultural Analytics (CA) is a recently developed methodology for the exploration of content and visual form in large image and video collections. It has already been applied to a variety of media types, including TV programs, feature films, newspapers, and video games. However, until now these applications did not take into account the social context of media. In many cases, media artifacts under scrutiny are generated or used by people in a social setting, either in forms of (digital) communities, or in terms of social relations, which can be also analyzed as a valuable source of information. Social network analysis (SNA) is a set of methods for the analysis of human networks, including massive online social networks. In this article, we argue that CA and SNA can be combined synergistically, using data and images from deviantArt, the leading online network of user-created art, as a case study.     

Kinematic analysis of shot-putting performed by wheelchair athletes of different medical classes

The aim of this study was to identify those kinematic characteristics that are most closely related to an athlete's medical classification and measured distance of a put. Two S-VHS camcorders (60 fields per second) were used to record the performance of 17 males of different classes. Each participant performed six trials and the best trial for each was selected for analysis. Three-dimensional kinematics of the shot and upper body segments at the instant of release and during the forward thrust (delivery) were determined. The average speeds and angles of the shot at release for different classes (5.3-7.8 ms -1 and 21.2 to 34.4°, respectively) were smaller than those exhibited by elite male able-bodied throwers. The height of the shot at release, the angular speed of the upper arm at release, the range of motion of the shoulder girdle during the delivery, and the average angular speeds of the trunk, shoulder girdle and upper arm during the delivery, were all significantly correlated with both the classification and measured distance ( P ? 0.05). The results indicate the importance of achieving a high average angular speed for each upper body segment during the delivery.     

Aging in Suburbia: An Assessment of Senior Needs

To date, there have been no surveys focusing on older adults living in suburban communities. As the majority of American seniors reside in suburbia, it is important to understand factors that impede successful aging in these settings. This study surveyed 1,151 seniors to examine the needs of seniors living in a large suburban community across two counties in the northeastern United States. Specific areas of query included the following: transportation, health status, social support, self-sufficiency, and economic factors. Findings revealed that seniors over 85, minorities, those reporting poor health, and those who do not drive were at especially high risk of service access problems and social isolation.