“Sense of place” and college placement

It is generally assumed that young people with lower socioeconomic status (SES) face restricted access to higher education institutions, and particularly to those which are considered to be more prestigious. Differences in student placement in higher education institutions by place of residence are usually explained by their SES. We argue that place of residence is not only a geographical attribute, but also a social factor that influences self-identity and plays a significant role in student placement regardless of their SES. The study was conducted in Israel among first year undergraduate students, and analyzed the effect of living in four residential locality types (cities, small towns, Jewish and Arab villages) on institutional placement. The study focused on the patterns of student placement in institutions, controlling for individual SES and previous academic ability. Findings indicate that place of residence has a net effect on student placement, and it interacts with SES and with previous academic achievements. Less “successful” students, regardless of their SES, are less influenced by their residential locality. These differences in college placement are explained in part by the place of residence, which represents a way of life that creates a shared “sense of place” or “habitus” based on locality.     

A simple model for the hysteretic elastic shear modulus of unsaturated soils

Considering the great importance of the elastic shear modulus G₀ of unsaturated soils to the serviceability of many geo-structures in geo-energy and geo-environmental engineering, some semi-empirical models have been reported for the G₀ of unsaturated soils. Existing models require at least three parameters and the calibration of the model parameters requires extensive time-consuming unsaturated soil tests. In this study, a simple semi-empirical model is proposed for the hysteretic G₀ of unsaturated soils, requiring only two parameters. The constitutive variables of the mean Bishop’s stress and a bonding variable are adopted for considering the average stress between soil particles and the additional normal forces between soil particles provided by water menisci. The derived equation is applied to simulate the G₀ of unsaturated silts and sands. Comparisons between the measured and calculated results demonstrate that the proposed equation is able to describe the influences of various factors on G₀, including mean net stress, suction, wetting-drying, and void ratio.     

Development of reflection through learning activity

What kind of developmental potential is present in elementary schoolchildren but hindered by the traditional type of education? Half a century ago Daniel El’konin and Vasili Davydov, the leaders of Russian Vygotskian educational psychology started answering this question. They suggested thatreflection is a basic human ability and it can be developed in younger students. Reflection includes thinking about one’s own actions and thoughts, taking other people’s point of view, and understanding oneself. In this paper I present results of the design experiments conducted in Russian schools that deliberately promote students’ reflection. In these schools the majority of children achieve high levels of reflection previously attributed only to the gifted students. One aspect of reflection will be given special attention, the ability of the student to take the perspective of another person. The comparative microanalysis of learning discourse in the first and the fourth grades demonstrated a significant growth of this ability through the first three years of schooling and made evident limitations imposed by the existing structure of the classroom cooperation. The long-term effects of education based on the principles of learning activity are demonstrated on the basis of the recent PISA study data.     

Investigation on Crystallization Kinetics of Zr-AI-Based Bulk Amorphous Alloys

Zr65Al10Ni10Cu15, Zr52.5Al10Ni10Cu15Be12.5 and Zr52.5Al10Ni14.6 Cu17.9Ti5bulk amorphous alloys were prepared by copper mould casting. The crystallization kinetics was measured by differential scanning calorimeter(DSC) with different heating rates, and the activation energy was calculated using Kissinger equation. The relationship between thermal stability and rate constant of crystallization reaction is discussed on the view of crystallization kinetics, and the effect of small atom Beryllium on thermal stability of bulk amorphous alloys is also studied.     

The Intellectual Structure of Research on Educational Technology in Science Education (ETiSE): A Co-citation Network Analysis of Publications in Selected Journals (2008–2013)

The main purpose of this paper is to investigate the intellectual structure of the research on educational technology in science education (ETiSE) within the most recent years (2008–2013). Based on the criteria for educational technology research and the citation threshold for educational co-citation analysis, a total of 137 relevant ETiSE papers were identified from the International Journal of Science Education, the Journal of Research in Science Teaching, Science Education, and the Journal of Science Education and Technology. Then, a series of methodologies were performed to analyze all 137 source documents, including document co-citation analysis, social network analysis, and exploratory factor analysis. As a result, 454 co-citation ties were obtained and then graphically visualized with an undirected network, presenting a global structure of the current ETiSE research network. In addition, four major underlying intellectual subfields within the main component of the ETiSE network were extracted and named as: (1) technology-enhanced science inquiry, (2) simulation and visualization for understanding, (3) technology-enhanced chemistry learning, and (4) game-based science learning. The most influential co-citation pairs and cross-boundary phenomena were then analyzed and visualized in a co-citation network. This is the very first attempt to illuminate the core ideas underlying ETiSE research by integrating the co-citation method, factor analysis, and the networking visualization technique. The findings of this study provide a platform for scholarly discussion of the dissemination and research trends within the current ETiSE literature.