High-performance FAQ retrieval using an automatic clustering method of query logs

To resolve some of lexical disagreement problems between queries and FAQs, we propose a reliable FAQ retrieval system using query log clustering. On indexing time, the proposed system clusters the logs of users’ queries into predefined FAQ categories. To increase the precision and the recall rate of clustering, the proposed system adopts a new similarity measure using a machine readable dictionary. On searching time, the proposed system calculates the similarities between users’ queries and each cluster in order to smooth FAQs. By virtue of the cluster-based retrieval technique, the proposed system could partially bridge lexical chasms between queries and FAQs. In addition, the proposed system outperforms the traditional information retrieval systems in FAQ retrieval.     

High-speed video image analysis of ski jumping flight posture

Ski jumping flight posture was analyzed for achieving large flight distance on the basis of high-speed video images of the initial 40 m part of 120-m ski jumping flight. The time variations of the forward leaning angle and the ski angle of attack were measured from the video images, and the aerodynamic forces were calculated from the kinematic data derived from the images. Some correlations were investigated between the initial-speed corrected flight distance and such parameters as the angles of jumper, the initial transition time and the aerodynamic force coefficients. The result indicated that small body angle of attack was a key for large flight distance in the initial phase of flight because of small drag force, and that the most distinctive fault of beginners was too large body angle of attack and ski angle of attack leading to aerodynamic stall. Too small drag force does not give an optimal condition for large flight distance because the lift force is also too small. The ratio of the lift to the drag was larger than 0.95 for advanced jumpers.     

A Cross‐Cultural and Interdisciplinary Collaboration in a Joint Design Studio

A design studio is a critical venue for design students, as they are educated to develop design thinking and other skills through studio courses. This article introduces a design studio project in which Korean and Malaysian students worked jointly for one semester to design affordable urban housing. The Korean students were interior design majors and the Malaysian students were architecture majors; thus it was thought that the students' areas of expertise were likely to differ. It was also anticipated that the students would display cultural differences in terms of housing and planning practices. The motive for starting the joint design studio was the idea that a cross‐cultural collaborative working setting could redefine students' thinking styles and stimulate students to obtain non‐routine perspectives on the design of buildings and spaces. Through observation and interviews, we explored how students tackled affordable housing problems within the context of cross‐cultural and interdisciplinary design education. Collaborative learning in a joint studio situation supplemented students' expertise, re‐orienting approaches to design and opening up a holistic approach to the design issues of affordability, sustainability and community. Overall, the practical learning in the joint studio project validated the importance of exploring alternative solutions based on varied levels of information, and input of those from different educational and cultural backgrounds. The cross‐cultural and interdisciplinary collaboration allowed for a previously unavailable enhancement of design education by encouraging students to obtain divergent thinking for innovative design ideas.     

A comparative study of teaching efficacy in pre-service and in-service teachers in Korean early childhood education and care (ECEC)

The main purpose of this study was to investigate the differences between pre-service and in-service teachers in terms of their levels of teaching efficacy and teaching professionalism. In addition, the patterns in predictors of teachers’ teaching efficacy were compared between the two subgroups of this study. Five hundred and seventy-three teachers completed self-administered questionnaires. The in-service teachers were found to have higher efficacy than their counterparts in only one of the six subscales of teaching efficacy, the subscale “Teaching Strategies”. Additionally, the college major specialisation and some domains of professionalism were found to be predictive to both groups. Along with the main results of this study, implications for research and practice are discussed.     

Triple-Play Competition in the U.S. Telecommunications Industry: Exploring Cable Operators' Adoption Pattern of Triple-Bundled Services

The innovations of new digital technology as well as the changes in communications policies have made cable operators' triple-play services for consumers possible. In the face of the new type of competition, this study estimates the adoption pattern of triple-play services by cable operators in U.S. local telecommunications markets and discovers factors associated with cable operators' adoptions of triple-play strategies in markets. Probit regression analyses reveal that cable operators having a large video subscriber base are more likely to adopt triple-play strategies in local markets. Apparently, a large video subscriber base provides cable operators with motivation for the adoption of a triple-play strategy in order to hinder video customers' churn to other competitors and to generate additional revenue per customer.     

Expanding “within context” to “across contexts” learning: a case study of informal and formal activities

Learning happens not only in schools, but also in every context that affords new experiences and opportunities for metacognition. We aim to maximize the different activity-milieux in which learners are engaged in developing their life-long learning dispositions to learn within and across contexts. This paper is a follow up of an earlier published paper in which a framework on interpreting learning as how the self interacts with phenomena and reifications was proposed. Grounded in this learning framework, our research seeks to expand the “within context” learning to “across contexts” learning with evidence from a case study examining a 10-year-old boy's learning process. Through the case study, we will describe the interplay between bowling and schooling and how strategies learned from one context is situated into another drawing upon Ito et al.'s (2010 Ito, M., Baumer, S., Bittanti, M, boyd, d., Cody, R., Herr-Stephenson, B., Horst, … Pascoe, C.J., Perkel, D., Robinson, L., Sims, C., Tripp, L. (2010). Hanging out, messing around, and geeking out: Kids living and learning with new media. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press [Google Scholar]) developmental trajectory of “hanging out-messing around-geeking out” perspectives. The findings show that for learning to be meaningful and authentic for the twenty-first century, it is essential for the learner(s) to be in constant dialectical interactions and relationship with oneself, others, and with the social-cultural artifacts that afford the learning. We conclude with practical implications derived from the study.     

The Role of Student Growth Percentiles in Monitoring Learning and Predicting Learning Outcomes

Most formative assessments rely on the performance status of a student at a particular time point. However, such a method does not provide any information on the propensity of the student to achieve a predetermined target score or whether the student is performing as per the expectations from identical students with the same history of academic achievement. Although such a trend has been proposed via the use of the student growth percentiles (SGPs), most of the work associated with SGPs has focused mainly on teacher and school accountability. In this article, however, we illustrate examples in the use of SGPs and entry growth percentile scores to monitor students' learning progress. Monitoring students' learning trends, evaluated in the context of their SGPs and their propensity to achieve the target score, would likely yield meaningful differential information even for students with the same score at a particular point in time.     

The Effects of Message Framing and Visual Image on Persuasion

This study examined the joint effects of message framing (gain vs. loss) and visual image (image vs. no image) on persuasion as it related to the use of dental floss and the use of sunscreen (N = 252). For both topics, the results revealed a Frame × Image interaction effect on fear. The interaction was such that the presence (vs. absence) of an image produced more fear in the loss-framed conditions. The corresponding results for gain-framed messages were inconsistent. Covariance analyses showed that fear mediated the effect of the interaction on persuasion, whereas dominant cognitive response did not.

[Supplementary materials are available for this article. Go to the publisher's online edition of Communication Quarterly for the following free supplemental resources: sunscreen and flossing messages of gain-visual and loss-visual.]     

Prevention of Potential Falls of Elderly Healthy Women: Gait Asymmetry

The study attempted to see if exercise training would alleviate gait asymmetry between nondominant and dominant legs, thus, eliminate the likelihood of slips. The present study provided 18 older adults exercise training for eight weeks and evaluated kinematics and ground reaction forces (GRFs) in both legs. Participants were randomly assigned to balance, weight, or control group. Each group met three times a week for eight weeks. Their pretraining and posttraining kinematic and GRFs data were taken while walking. Data analyses were performed in 2 (Time; pre and post) × 3 (Group; weight, balance, and control) × 2 (Leg; dominant and nondominant) mixed factor repeated measure ANOVA. The results indicated that nondominant legs' heel contact velocity decreased more in comparison to dominant legs' as the knee strength improved. Additionally, factors (PFz and RCOF) contributing to the likelihood of slips were improved after training in nondominant legs. The present study suggested that, after the training, asymmetrical gait or limb patterns could be alleviated, and this outcome may contribute to reductions in the likelihood of slips.     

The social practice of learning: a craft for the 21st century

This article argues that the social practice of learning (SPL), involving life-long learning, meta-learning, deep reflection, and dialogue in a community, should be the distinguishing knowledge base of schools in the twenty-first century. This article also analyses the strategies and challenges of the recent education reforms in Singapore through the lens of an SPL education paradigm. Although the Singapore government has done much to train teachers, trim syllabi and introduce new ways of teaching and learning, such as project work, the real challenge is to go beyond the provision of structural changes to the substance of the epistemological reform.