Creating survival strategies: what can be learned from a science class?

Elementary science teaching has been considered by recent researchers as a process in which students should be engaged in a variety of activities to develop science concepts, science process skills and scientific attitudes. From this perspective, hands-on activities are prominent in this approach because it leads the students to both reflect on the natural and physical world, and understand the social role of science in society. In Upadhyay’s article we follow an elementary teacher who struggles to implement a participatory method of science teaching in an environment that prioritizes high-stakes tests as the benchmarks for teachers’ and students’ success. In so doing, the teacher negotiates her identities in order to engage the students in the process of learning science even though the environment requires a teaching methodology that is against her beliefs. In our commentary on Upadhyay’s article we argue that (a) the tensions experienced by teachers create the core of the process of fluidity identity; (b) the different forms of external control over the teaching are inherent in educational systems and also a demand of parents and society; and (c) the possibility for social mobility of minority students is a complex process that goes beyond the dichotomy identified in Upadhyay’s article, namely that either the students learn to think scientifically, or the students learn tricks that enable them to succeed in the tests.

Early event‐related potentials differences in orthographic processing of native and non‐native Chinese readers

Efficient Chinese character reading requires rapid access to orthographic representations of radical form and position. This study identified the temporal sequence of radical form, radical position and lexicality processing in adult first language (L1) and intermediate second language (L2) Chinese readers. Event‐related potential responses in a one‐back repetition detection task were submitted to linear mixed‐effects models. Violation of radical position produced P100 effects that were left‐lateralized for L1 readers and right‐lateralized for L2 readers. When controlling for P100 activation, radical position produced a left‐lateralized effect at the N170 for L2 readers but no additional activities for L1 readers. Radical form effects were found at the N270 for L1 readers, where radical form violation produced larger N270. Results suggested that radical representations are position‐specific in initial orthographic processing for both groups. However, different temporal dynamics and topographic distributions suggested divergent radical processing for native versus non‐native readers from the beginning.     

The motivation to study: an analysis of undergraduate engineering students at a Caribbean university

The link between motivation and success is well documented; however, there is still room to problematise motivation in regards to the individual and contextual levels. This study looks at motivation in relation to students studying undergraduate engineering courses at a Caribbean university and seeks to discover the factors that motivate them to study and the factors that keep them motivated. An online questionnaire was constructed using 19 Likert-type questions and 5 questions that allowed for open-ended qualitative responses. The findings reveal that participants tended to be motivated by the increased possibility of desired future careers and tended to stay motivated by a combination of goal-orientation and family support. It is recommended that departments, faculties and institutions deliberate on shared and contextually constructed understandings of why students choose to enrol in particular university courses.     

Determinants of adolescents’ career development competencies in junior secondary schools of South Korea

More attention is needed on the career development of adolescents, specifically disadvantaged students deemed at risk of school failure. We investigated the determinants on career development competencies of 9th graders in secondary school in South Korea. The data in this study included 394 principals, 6635 students, and the students’ parents. Our research confirmed that students with low academic achievement, less parental support, and low family income are relatively disadvantaged in their school-based career development. We suggest that schools provide more preferential attention and care, as well as special career interventions for these disadvantaged students.     

Plug-in nanoliter pneumatic liquid dispenser with nozzle design flexibility

This paper presents a novel plug-in nanoliter liquid dispensing system with a plug-and-play interface for simple and reversible, yet robust integration of the dispenser. A plug-in type dispenser was developed to facilitate assembly and disassembly with an actuating part through efficient modularization. The entire process for assembly and operation of the plug-in dispenser is performed via the plug-and-play interface in less than a minute without loss of dispensing quality. The minimum volume of droplets pneumatically dispensed using the plug-in dispenser was 124 nl with a coefficient of variation of 1.6%. The dispensed volume increased linearly with the nozzle size. Utilizing this linear relationship, two types of multinozzle dispensers consisting of six parallel channels (emerging from an inlet) and six nozzles were developed to demonstrate a novel strategy for volume gradient dispensing at a single operating condition. The droplet volume dispensed from each nozzle also increased linearly with nozzle size, demonstrating that nozzle size is a dominant factor on dispensed volume, even for multinozzle dispensing. Therefore, the proposed plug-in dispenser enables flexible design of nozzles and reversible integration to dispense droplets with different volumes, depending on the application. Furthermore, to demonstrate the practicality of the proposed dispensing system, we developed a pencil-type dispensing system as an alternative to a conventional pipette for rapid and reliable dispensing of minute volume droplets.     

Tablets as an educational tool for enhancing preschool science

Information communication technologies (ICT) is increasingly being introduced in the preschool level, but questions have been raised regarding its potential to develop content knowledge or specific skills. This quasi-experimental study looked into the impact that hand-held tablets can have on science learning outcomes in five-year-olds. Four classes from two preschool institutions in Buenos Aires, Argentina, were selected for a six-week intervention. All four classes received training and an inquiry-based science teaching sequence, with one group from each institution also receiving tablets and specific guidance on how to incorporate them into their science lessons. Post-intervention test results showed significant improvements in science outcomes for all students, but no significant difference between the tablet-enhanced classrooms and those taught without ICT. Challenges and opportunities are discussed with regard to including tablets for teaching science at the preschool level.     

Understanding customer satisfaction and loyalty: An empirical study of mobile instant messages in China

With the rapid development of mobile technology and large usage rates of mobile phones, mobile instant message (MIM) services have been widely adopted in China. Although previous studies on the adoption of mobile services are quite extensive, few focus on customer satisfaction and loyalty to MIM in China. In this study, we examine the determinants of customer satisfaction and loyalty. The findings confirm that trust, perceived service quality, perceived customer value, including functional value and emotional value, contribute to generating customer satisfaction with MIM. The results also show that trust, customer satisfaction and switching cost directly enhance customer loyalty. Additionally, this study finds that age, gender, and usage time have moderating effects. Finally, implications for the marketing of MIM are discussed.     

常利率下的一类索赔相依的风险模型探讨

讨论了常利率下一类索赔到达过程相依同时保费收入为复合Poisson过程的风险模型,先将两个相依索赔总额转化为相互独立的索赔总额,然后利用鞅方法给出相应的Lundberg不等式。