Heterogeneous performances of conceptual dis/continuity: a dialectic reading of Brown and Kloser’s article

We review Brown and Kloser’s article, “Conceptual continuity and the science of baseball: using informal science literacy to promote students science learning” from a Vygotskian cultural-historical and dialectic perspective. Brown and Kloser interpret interview data with student baseball players and claim that students’ conceptual understanding articulated in vernacular genres involves continuities (similarities) with the canonical scientific explanations. In this commentary, we suggest that the authors’ approach presupposes the dichotomy of the formal and the informal, which brings the authors’ attention to continuity into the separation of cognition from language. We propose a Vygotskian approach that points out the problem of theorizing cognition (conceptual understanding) by depending on specific forms of representation (e.g., scientific terms). As alternative, we envision a Vygotskian cultural-historical approach to language, which considers different, irreducible modes of communication as an integrated whole and therefore allows theorizing cognition without dichotomizing it from the concrete ways by which human being communicates. We provide an exemplary analysis of a lecture talk in a university physics classroom and exemplify dialectic theories that explain the development of conceptual understanding. We discuss that this Vygotskian dialectic approach shows that people communicate scientific concepts through hybridization, which does not reproduce a genre self-identically; the continuity of conceptual understanding involves dis/continuity.     

Use of NSE/PS2m-transgenic mice in the study of the protective effect of exercise on Alzheimer's disease

In its late stage, Alzheimer's disease results in progressive muscle weakness in the arms and legs. The aim of this study was to determine whether mice expressing the skeletal muscle-specific mutant PS2 gene (a model of Alzheimer's disease) are a useful experimental system to study the protective effect of exercise on Aβ-42 reduction, improvement of behavioural function and changes in metabolic parameters. With this aim in mind, the transgenic mice were subjected to treadmill exercise for 3 months. The results showed that in transgenic mice, but not in normal mice, treadmill exercise resulted in a reduction of Aβ-42 deposits and an improvement in behavioural function, thereby restoring normal concentrations of total cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol and triglyceride. Thus, exercise may represent a practical therapeutic strategy for use with human patients with Alzheimer's disease.     

A study on the motivational aspects of information management practice

This research investigates the motivational aspects of information management practice by developing and performing an initial test of the theorization on the components and structural properties of a new variable, called information management motivation (IMM). Based on a synthesis of the motivation and information processing literature in the information systems, psychology, management, and information technology training fields, we theorize IMM as a second order construct composed of formative sub-constructs of proactiveness, sharing, transparency, and formality. New measures were developed for the constituent constructs of IMM and refined through two studies involving 120 knowledge workers. The model of IMM was tested, confirming the proposed structural relationships between the constituent constructs and IMM. The study findings provide important insights on understanding and improving individual knowledge workers’ information management activities.     

Crossing the Border: Religious Education of Coexistence with the Case of North Korean Refugees in the U.S

Abstract

When one decides to cross the border of a nation due to political oppression and poverty, it is a crucial decision for the whole world and time around them. Many people make the treacherous journey across economic systems and political and religious background to pursue human dignity and happiness. Among many refugee groups who cross such borders, my research pays attention to North Korean refugees in the United States and their settlement process. As North Korean refugees enter this land of freedom and prosperity, are they provided adequate aid and education to redirect their mindset from communism to capitalism, from oppression and trauma to living together? What is the role of the faith community and of religious education in it? Based on postcolonial feminist practical theology, this paper explores the journey together and offers a pedagogy of coexistence and mutual transformation.     

Investigating the effectiveness of a learning activity supported by a mobile multimedia learning system to enhance autonomous EFL learning in authentic contexts

A learning activity supported by a mobile multimedia learning system (MMLS) was designed in this study. We aimed to test the effectiveness of the learning activity to enhance autonomous language learning in quasi-experimental Study 1 using a pretest/posttest design. Two groups participated in the learning activity: the students in a control group (n = 27) completed the activity using traditional approach whereas the students in an experimental group (n = 26) completed the activity using MMLS. The results of Study 1 showed that the experimental students outperformed their counterparts on the post-test (F = 29.602, p < 0.005, partial eta-squared = 0.372). In a non-experimental Study 2, the experimental students (n = 26) were assigned two learning tasks, the first task was completed individually and the second task in collaboration. We aimed to investigate which learning approach to complete tasks (i.e. individual vs. collaborative) enhances learning performance better by comparing students’ scores on two tasks. In addition, we explored students’ perceptions towards MMLS. The results of Study 2 showed that the students had better learning performance when they completed tasks in collaboration than individually. The results also showed that the students had high perceptions towards MMLS. Based on our results, we make suggestions and provide directions for future research.     

亚里士多德实践哲学中的公民德育概念

在21世纪的今日,民主化成为世界潮流,尽管世界各国在民主化的实施方式、内容与进程上有很大的差异,但不可否认公民德育在推动并建构民主化社会的目标上有其关键的重要性。透过对亚里士多德伦理学与政治学文献的探讨,可以厘清原始公民德育的概念。亚里士多德在其所著《政治学》一书中对公民的定义与城邦的构成要素、公民教育与政体的关系、公民德育实践的必要性及其实施的内容与方法进行了阐述。尽管亚里士多德有关公民的概念与公民德育的理论太过粗略与朴素,还没有碰触到现代民主社会中复杂的权利与义务理念,但他把公民德育的培育当做政治哲学的理论核心却是充满超越时代的先知卓见。     

A Toy Clinic Shop: Innovation Management in a Shin-Tai Elementary School

In Taiwan there is a declining birth rate and a dramatic increase in the elderly population. There is also the trend of using school space that would otherwise be left unused. The experimental project “Toy Clinic Shop in Elementary School” offers an innovative management model for elementary schools to address these developments. The following are included in the project goals: lifelong learning, service learning, and intergenerational interaction. The Toy Clinic Shop is not only a place offering the opportunity for intergenerational contact, but also for sharing and learning from each other. When the elderly contribute to the shop, they enjoy being with children, and they can experience the so called Ta Tung world of utopia where they enjoy being with young people. Furthermore, schools can benefit from the project because it promotes a school's many functions, collects more resources, creates social value among retired people, and develops the human resource of the elderly.     

A study of race and gender bias in the punishment of handicapped school children

There is scant research concerned about punishment of handicapped, minority students in public schools. The purpose of this study was to investigate race and gender, types of rules violations, types of punishments, referral rates, referral frequencies, and follow-up activities to determine differences in treatment by race, sex, and handicapping condition. The sample consisted of 4,391 discipline files representing records from 9 schools in a district (K-12). All data were analyzed using the Chi Square statistic. It was demonstrated that racial bias existed in the administration of punishment, and that Black, male handicapped students were punished more severely than others for commission of the same offenses.     

A concept map approach to developing collaborative Mindtools for context‐aware ubiquitous learning

Recent advances in mobile and wireless communication technologies have enabled various new learning approaches which situate students in environments that combine real‐world and digital‐world learning resources; moreover, students are allowed to share knowledge or experiences with others during the learning process. Although such an approach seems to be promising and innovative, researchers have indicated several problems when applying it to practical applications, in particular, the lack of proper strategies or tools to assist the students to learn collaboratively in such a learning scenario with abundant content. Students might feel interested when using the mobile devices to learn; however, without proper assistance or guidance, their learning achievements are usually disappointing. To cope with this problem, this study proposes a concept map‐oriented Mindtool for collaborative ubiquitous learning. Experimental results from a natural science course in an elementary school show that this approach not only enhances learning motivation but also improves the learning achievements of the students.