Utilizing Peer Moderating in Online Discussions: Addressing the Controversy between Teacher Moderation and Nonmoderation

This study focused on the effects of peer moderation on meaningful interactions in online discussions. A meaningful interaction was defined as a message relating to a discussion topic, responding to a previous message, and adding substance to the discussion. A randomized-subject, posttest-only control group design was used to test the first hypothesis, that a peer-moderated online discussion forum would contain more posts responding to previous comments than a nonmoderated forum, and the second hypothesis, that a peer-moderated online discussion forum would contain more substantive responses enriching the conversation than a nonmoderated forum. Both hypotheses were supported. Results showed that students responded to messages more actively and engaged in more in-depth discussions when discussions were moderated by a peer.     

Audio Engagement and Learning

ABSTRACT

Sound effects and music can be used to complement instructional narrations in recorded media presentations. College students (n = 143) participated in a study examining the effects of music and sound effects on learning outcomes when compared to voice-only narration. Four groups of participants listened to a recorded short story and answered questions about the story. The control group’s story was a voice-only narration. The three treatment groups’ story was enhanced with one of the following: sound effects, music, or a combination of sound effects and music. Means for each group were not significantly different, and the difference of means between and within each of the groups was also found not to be significant. The results indicated that the presence of sound effects and music in an audio-only presentation did not significantly increase or decrease learning.     

Multi-optimisation of the screw kick in rugby by using a genetic algorithm

This paper describes the use of Pareto-optimal solutions for the screw kick in rugby. We attempted to optimise the initial conditions for a screw kick. The optimisation was carried out using an elitist non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm. Distance achieved in flight is considered as an objective function, as well as the lateral deviation between the ball and the touchline, or the flight time. Six initial conditions were defined as control parameters: the magnitude of the velocity vector, the flight path angle, the azimuth angle, the spin rate, the pitch angle and the yaw angle. The results are summarised as follows: it is impossible for both objective functions to be satisfied simultaneously, although the greatest distance achieved in flight and the smallest value of the lateral deviation between the ball and the touchline, or the least flight time, is the ideal situation. This kind of conflicting solution is called a ‘Pareto-optimal solution’. The optimal kick in Pareto-optimal solutions made by the leg nearest the touchline produces a greater flight distance than the optimal kick in Pareto-optimal solutions made using the leg furthest from the touchline. The initial pitch angle, which is the angle between the longitudinal axis of the ball and the horizontal plane, should be comparable to or slightly greater than the initial flight path angle in order to satisfy the Pareto-optimal solutions.     

Fundamental aerodynamics of the soccer ball

When the boundary layer of a sports ball undergoes the transition from laminar to turbulent flow, a drag crisis occurs whereby the drag coefficient (C _d) rapidly decreases. However, the aerodynamic properties and boundary-layer dynamics of a soccer ball are not yet well understood. In this study we showed that the critical Reynolds number (Re _crit) of soccer balls ranged from 2.2 × 10⁵ to 3.0 × 10⁵. Wind-tunnel testing, along with visualisation of the dynamics of the boundary layer and the trailing vortex of a ball in flight, demonstrated that both non-spinning and spinning (curved) balls had lowC _d values in the super-critical region. In addition, theRe _crit values of the soccer balls were lower than those of smooth spheres, ranging from ∼ 3.5 × 10⁵ to 4.0 × 10⁵, due to the effects of their panels. This indicated that the aerodynamic properties of a soccer ball were intermediate between those of a smooth ball and a golf ball. In a flow visualisation experiment, the separation point retreated and theC _d decreased in a super-critical regime compared with those in a sub-critical regime, suggesting a phenomenon similar to that observed in other sports balls. With some non-spinning and spinning soccer balls, the wake varied over time. In general, the high-frequency component of an eddy dissipated, while the low-frequency component increased as the downstream vortex increased. The causes of the large-scale fluctuations in the vortex observed in the present study were unclear; however, it is possible that a ‘knuckle-ball effect’ of the non-rotating ball played a role in this phenomenon.     

A review of human competence in educational research: Levels of K- 12, College, Adult, and Business Education

The purpose of this study is to review the main perspectives or issues dealt with in the research on considered to be key competences, in order to develop a fuller understanding of how human competence functions. As a result of this review, two themes considered as having important implications for the actual practices can be identified: that there exists an holistic nature with different aspects of a given competence and that influences of a contextual and cultural nature are factors which affect the operation of human competence. By incorporating four characteristics and three domains of competence with the review conducted in this study, we began to appreciate what the research on human characteristics related to key competences has achieved and what is needed for future research.     

Anatomy comic strips

Comics are powerful visual messages that convey immediate visceral meaning in ways that conventional texts often cannot. This article's authors created comic strips to teach anatomy more interestingly and effectively. Four-frame comic strips were conceptualized from a set of anatomy-related humorous stories gathered from the authors' collective imagination. The comics were drawn on paper and then recreated with digital graphics software. More than 500 comic strips have been drawn and labeled in Korean language, and some of them have been translated into English. All comic strips can be viewed on the Department of Anatomy homepage at the Ajou University School of Medicine, Suwon, Republic of Korea. The comic strips were written and drawn by experienced anatomists, and responses from viewers have generally been favorable. These anatomy comic strips, designed to help students learn the complexities of anatomy in a straightforward and humorous way, are expected to be improved further by the authors and other interested anatomists.     

Text classification from unlabeled documents with bootstrapping and feature projection techniques

Many machine learning algorithms have been applied to text classification tasks. In the machine learning paradigm, a general inductive process automatically builds a text classifier by learning, generally known as supervised learning. However, the supervised learning approaches have some problems. The most notable problem is that they require a large number of labeled training documents for accurate learning. While unlabeled documents are easily collected and plentiful, labeled documents are difficultly generated because a labeling task must be done by human developers. In this paper, we propose a new text classification method based on unsupervised or semi-supervised learning. The proposed method launches text classification tasks with only unlabeled documents and the title word of each category for learning, and then it automatically learns text classifier by using bootstrapping and feature projection techniques. The results of experiments showed that the proposed method achieved reasonably useful performance compared to a supervised method. If the proposed method is used in a text classification task, building text classification systems will become significantly faster and less expensive.     

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 A beta-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 A beta-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.     

Social constructivism, projective identity, and learning: case study of nathan

In this paper we consider the significant issue of identity and how it relates to learning. Importantly, we narrow down the study in terms of how projective identity interplays with learning from the point of view of the learner and his/her social community. Self and community cannot be divorced. In order to illustrate this concept, we describe a case study involving an 11 years old boy in a learning context commonly referred to as an informal learning environment. This environment would include the community in which projective identity evolves. The trajectory of identity projection can be conceived in Ricoeurian terms of a plot where actors perform actions in role playing situations. This plot metaphor is consistent to the many interactions within MMPOGs and fictional worlds currently in existence. We conceive of an identity projection framework as our contributions to knowledge.     

Visual Propaganda in the Age of Social Media: An Empirical Analysis of Twitter Images During the 2012 Israeli–Hamas Conflict

This study analyzed images posted to Twitter by the Israel Defense Forces and Hamas' Alqassam Brigades during the November 2012 Gaza conflict to understand aspects of visual propaganda in the age of social media and online social networking. Content analysis was conducted to identify themes and frames prominently appearing in a total of 243 Twitter images posted by the two sides during a two-month period. Resistance and unity were the most prominent themes in the images posted by Israel and causalities of civilians and resistance were most prominent in Hamas-posted images. The majority of the Israeli images featured the analytical propaganda frame whereas the emotional propaganda frame was dominant in Hamas images.