Student plagiarism in higher education in Vietnam: an empirical study

This paper assesses and compares the prevalence of plagiarism across different student and assignment characteristics at a university in Vietnam, using the similarity index reported by the text-matching software Turnitin as a proxy measure of plagiarism on a sample of 681 student papers. The findings present a level of match higher than reported in earlier studies at universities outside of Vietnam, with an average similarity index of 29.06%. Controlling for the gender and major of the students, the extent of plagiarism is implied to be negatively correlated with the students’ academic performances and with the likelihood of being caught, and positively correlated with the length of the assignments. Thus, this study, relying on actual text-matching data rather than self-reported surveys, provides the first empirical test of two theoretical plagiarism models proposed in the literature. The explanatory factors confirmed by this study illustrate the potential benefits of the use of software tools to detect plagiarism and can help refine academic integrity policy formulations for universities.     

Using phenomenography to investigate the enacted object of learning in teaching activities: the case of teaching Chinese characters in Hong Kong preschools

This study set out to use phenomenography as a theoretical framework to investigate teaching in classrooms, focusing on how the same content is enacted differently in different teaching activities. We observed teaching activities intended to teach children to recognize Chinese characters in preschools and collected data about the delivery of the teaching activities. A total of 3 categories of teaching activities were identified from the data, which correspondingly reflected 3 ways of seeing the recognition of characters: (A) recognition as matching items, (B) recognition as imitating behaviors, and (C) recognition as constructing meanings. Our results were useful for fostering the professional learning of teachers in practical ways as well as holding the potential to further advance the methodology of phenomenography.     

Probing the allocation of attention in implicit (motor) learning

We investigated the attention demands associated with implicit and explicit (motor) learning and performance using a probe reaction time paradigm. Two groups of participants learned a golf putting task over eight blocks of 50 trials performed from different distances. One group (errorless learning) began putting from the shortest distance (25 cm) and moved progressively back to the furthest distance (200 cm). A second group (errorful learning) began putting from the furthest distance (200 cm) and moved progressively closer (25 cm). Retention tests were used to assess learning in the two conditions, followed by transfer tests in which participants used either an unusual putter or a very unusual putter. Transfer to the unusual putters had an equivalent effect on the performance of both errorless and errorful learners, but probe reaction times were unaffected in the errorless learners, suggesting that execution of their movements was associated with reduced attention demands. Reducing errors during initial learning trials may encourage an implicit mode of learning and lower the demand for cognitive resources in subsequent performance.     

Robust stabilization of uncertain time-delay systems containing nonlinear saturating actuators

The robust stabilization problem for a class of uncertain linear time-delay systems containing sector saturating actuator is considered in this paper. The uncertain time-delay systems under consideration are described by state differential equations with time-varying unknown-but-bounded uncertain parameters and delayed state. The delay is assumed to be constant bounded but unknown. The new criterion of delay-dependent robust stabilizability for uncertain time-delay systems is presented and the corresponding robust memoryless state feedback controller is derived in terms of the solutions of several linear matrix inequalities (LMIs). Numerical example is presented to illustrate the obtained results. Project supported by the Natural Science Key Foundation of China (NSFC: 69934030) and the Excellent (Youth) Teacher for Teaching and Research Award Foundation in Institutions of China.     

Open attitudes,attribution beliefs,and knowledge of Hong Kong teacher interns in an era of education reform

We have investigated how open attitudes, attribution beliefs, pedagogical knowledge, and pedagogical content knowledge were related to teaching performance among teacher interns. The participants were 72 teacher interns in Hong Kong, where large-scale education reform has been launched since 2000. Multiple methods (self-report, academic grades, and ratings from mentors and supervisors) were used to measure the interns' attribution beliefs, open attitudes, pedagogical knowledge, pedagogical content knowledge, and teaching performance. It was found that their openness to advice and challenges, effort attribution for failure, and pedagogical content knowledge were positively associated with their teaching performance in an era of education reform.     

FROM “EXPLORING THE MIDDLE ZONE” TO “CONSTRUCTING A BRIDGE”: EXPERIMENTING IN THE SPIRAL BIANSHI MATHEMATICS CURRICULUM

The spiral bianshi curriculum, an improvement on bianshi teaching developed by Gu (2000) and in line with Marton’s theory of variation (Marton & Booth, 1997), was tried out in a primary school in Hong Kong. This improved theoretical framework for the spiral bianshi curriculum comprises four types of bianshi problems—the inductive bianshi, the broadening bianshi, the deepening bianshi, and the applicative bianshi. Based on this framework, the research team developed a set of teaching materials on the three topics of division of fraction, speed, and volume. The materials were tried out in 21 Primary 6 classes (a total of 686 students) in a school. The effect was compared with a reference group using standard textbook materials in Hong Kong. A series of instruments, pre-tests, and post-tests were administered to gauge the effects on students’ performance in solving routine and non-routine problems, as well as the affective outcomes including self-concept, attitude towards learning mathematics, approaches to learning, and conceptions of mathematics. The intervention effects of the experimental design were examined by hierarchical regression analysis. The research reveals that students using spiral bianshi teaching materials performed significantly better than their counterparts using standard textbook materials. However, no significant differences were identified among affective learning outcome variables despite the positive results on cognitive learning outcomes. The findings indicate that spiral bianshi curriculum has high potential in enhancing students’ learning effectiveness. However, further studies are needed to map its strengths in detail.