How do students process complex formative feedback in question-answering tasks? A think-aloud study

Metacognition and Learning - The goal of this study was to examine how students process formative feedback that included corrective and elaborative information in online question-answering tasks....     

A practical approach to making accurate 3D layouts of interesting cultural heritage sites through digital models

On many occasions, the graphic information handled by people working in the cultural heritage sector is still bidimensional. Layouts showing elevations and cross sections are the most widespread tools. However, there is an increased need for carefully detailing the complexity of valuable sites with an improved accuracy. This implies the measuring and handling of three-dimensional data, using both commercial and turn-key hardware and software solutions. Taking the usual traditional process as a reference, in the present paper a new effective methodology for carrying out computer assisted delineation of layouts from cultural heritage sites, using 3D digital models, is described. The proposed procedure has been tested in five intervention projects on representative churches within the “Merindad de Aguilar de Campoo” medieval area, in the north of Spain.¹ This area has the largest collection of Romanesque art in the world, and is currently under European Heritage Site and World Heritage Site declaration process by the UNESCO.     

A cognitive model of intra-organizational knowledge-sharing motivations in the view of cross-culture

This paper explores individual cognitive mechanisms of knowledge-sharing (KS) motivation and intends to provide more effective measures to judge and influence individual inclinations toward KS in a cross-cultural context. First, it investigates four cognitive processes based on an individual's commitment toward KS, and studies through these processes how an individual's intrinsic motivation derived from social norms and personal norms, and extrinsic motivation derived from reward and punishment make concerted efforts to shape the ultimate intention to KS. Then, Hofstede's cultural framework is integrated to theorize cross-cultural differences in these processes. Finally, through a survey conducted in China and the US, the aforementioned theoretical analysis is confirmed. The results indicate that intrinsic motivation operates through affective commitment: internalization, identification and conformity; rewards have little direct effects on final intentions but they will influence attitude indirectly via identification; punishment for not sharing splits on cultural lines: Chinese tend to comply to avoid opposing their group and Americans tend to follow a more individualistic path; Chinese have more tendencies to conform to teams’ opinions and tend to favor KS as a means of achieving harmonious relationships, while Americans engage in KS because self-worth is viewed as the manifestation of their individual determinations.     

Evaluation of a new equation for estimating low-density lipoprotein cholesterol through the comparison with various recommended methods

IntroductionThe accurate estimation of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL) is crucial for management of patients at risk of cardiovascular events due to dyslipidemia. The LDL is typically calculated using the Friedewald equation and/or direct homogeneous assays. However, both methods have their own limitations, so other equations have been proposed, including a new equation developed by Sampson. The aim of this study was to evaluate Sampson equation by comparing with the Friedewald and Martin-Hopkins equations, and with a direct LDL method.Materials and methodsResults of standard lipid profile (total cholesterol (CHOL), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL) and triglycerides (TG)) were obtained from two anonymized data sets collected at two laboratories, using assays from different manufacturers (Beckman Coulter and Roche Diagnostics). The second data set also included LDL results from a direct assay (Roche Diagnostics). Passing-Bablok and Bland-Altman analysis for method comparison was performed.ResultsA total of 64,345 and 37,783 results for CHOL, HDL and TG were used, including 3116 results from the direct LDL assay. The Sampson and Friedewald equations provided similar LDL results (difference ≤ 0.06 mmol/L, on average) at TG ≤ 2.0 mmol/L. At TG between 2.0 and 4.5 mmol/L, the Sampson-calculated LDL showed a constant bias (- 0.18 mmol/L) when compared with the Martin-Hopkins equation. Similarly, at TG between 4.5 and 9.0 mmol/L, the Sampson equation showed a negative bias when compared with the direct assay, which was proportional (- 16%) to the LDL concentration.ConclusionsThe Sampson equation may represent a cost-efficient alternative for calculating LDL in clinical laboratories.     

Intellectual autonomy and the future of the university

This essay was first drafted shortly before the civil war in Yugoslavia began, while Professor Radojkovic visited Purdue University on a Fulbright fellowship to study educational theory and method for teaching about the information age.     

A Lakatosian Framework to Analyze Situations of Cognitive Conflict and Controversy in Students' Understanding of Heat Energy and Temperature

The objective of this study is to analyze secondary school students' interactions (conflicts, controversies, and arguments) as they participate in an intact classroom activity designed to facilitate their understanding of heat energy and temperature. The study is based on 32 ninth-grade students in a public school in Londrina, Brazil. Results obtained show that the differentiation between heat energy and temperature constitutes considerable difficulties for the students, and can be considered as part of the hard-core of their understanding (Lakatos, 1970, Criticism and the Growth of Knowledge, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK, pp. 91–196). Student interactions (video taped) were classified into an Alternative Model, Transitional Model, and Scientific Model, depending on the degree to which they reflected a progressive transition in their hard-core. Students generally resisted a change in their conceptual understanding. Some students were able to question the hard-core of their beliefs and construct a Transitory Model. Some students experienced a further progressive transition by constructing a Scientific Model, based on the understanding that Temperature only measures the energy of agitation. Methodology used also provided a glimpse of how a particular student grappled with the conflicts in order to facilitate progressive transition in understanding. It is concluded that given the opportunity to discuss, reflect, consider alternative/conflicting situations, students can construct models that increase progressively in their heuristic/explanatory power.