Preservice teachers’ attitudes toward Web 2.0 personal learning environments (PLEs): Considering the impact of self-regulation and digital literacy

Education and Information Technologies - Web 2.0 Personal Learning Environments (PLEs) have been proposed as a new method to promote the use of Web 2.0 tools for learner-centered personal learning....     

马来西亚开放大学开展移动学习的成效研究

远程学习者经常面临地理、时间、心理、沟通空间等方面的交互距离(Moore,1997).相对于全职学生来说,这些有着全职工作、家庭责任的成人学生,在平衡学业、工作和家庭方面往往面临艰巨任务.他们经常需要努力寻找额外的时间和空间进行学习,经常需要付出额外的努力以确保他们与大学、辅导教师、同学保持联系.本文介绍了马来西亚开放大学通过利用文本信息这一最简单、广泛应用的技术,积极支持学生完成学业的探索,展示了如何利用移动技术促进混合教学方法,并为学习过程提供更多的灵活性和普遍性.文章利用定量研究和定性研究方法,探索了这一创新在帮助学习者更容易地回顾/定位/记忆课程内容、在线讨论、管理学习、坚持学习、记住与课程相关的重要日期和活动等方面的有效性.

Abstract：

Distance learners often face what is known as "transactional distances" in terms of geographical,time,psychological and communication spaces(Moore,1997).Comparing to full-time campus students,these adult learners who mostly hold full-time jobs and have family commitments face a daunting task in juggling study,work and family.They often struggle to find extra time and space to fit in their studies and frequently need to exert extra effort to ensure that they remain connected to the university,their tutors and their peers.This paper describes the efforts of Open University Malaysia in actively supporting learners in their studies through the use of text messaging technology,the simplest and most widely used of all mobile technology applications available.Further,it illustrates how mobile technology enhances the blended approach to instruction and lends more flexibility and ubiquity to the learning process.It also examines the effectiveness of the initiative in terms of helping learners to review/locate/remember course facts easily,discuss online,manage their learning,persevere in their studies,andremember important dates and actions to be taken related to the course.Both quantitative and qualitative data are presented.     

The effect of caffeine ingestion on human neutrophil oxidative burst responses following time-trial cycling

Following fixed-duration exercise of submaximal intensity, caffeine ingestion is associated with an attenuation of the exercise-induced decline in N-formyl-methionyl-phenyl-alanine (f-MLP) stimulated neutrophil oxidative burst. However, the response following high-intensity exhaustive exercise is unknown. Nine endurance-trained male cyclists ingested 6 mg caffeine or placebo per kilogram of body mass 60 min before cycling for 90 min at 70% of maximal oxygen consumption (VO2max) and then performing a time-trial requiring an energy expenditure equivalent to 30 min cycling at 70% maximum power output. Time-trial performance was 4% faster in the caffeine than in the placebo trial (P = 0.043). Caffeine was associated with an increased plasma adrenaline concentration after 90 min of exercise (P = 0.046) and immediately after the time-trial (P = 0.02). Caffeine was also associated with an increased serum caffeine concentration (P < 0.01) after 90 min of exercise and immediately after the time-trial, as well as 1 h after the time-trial. However, the f-MLP-stimulated neutrophil oxidative burst response fell after exercise in both trials (P = 0.002). There was no effect of caffeine on circulating leukocyte or neutrophil counts, but the lymphocyte count was significantly lower on caffeine (20%) after the time-trial (P = 0.003). Our results suggest that high-intensity exhaustive exercise negates the attenuation of the exercise-induced decrease in neutrophil oxidative burst responses previously observed when caffeine is ingested before exercise of fixed duration and intensity. This may be associated with the greater increase in adrenaline concentration observed in the present study.     

Scan and Learn: Quick Response Code Enabled Museum for Mobile Learning of Anatomy and Pathology

In the past, medical museums played a significant role in anatomy and pathology training. The attraction of medical museums has declined recently due to the emergence of information technology and innovative medical curricula. An innovative mobile learning platform has been developed using quick response (QR) codes for the museum specimens at the Lee Kong Chain School of Medicine, Singapore. High-quality images of the potted specimens were captured and combined into an album and a video using Adobe Acrobat Pro 9 and Windows Movie Maker, respectively. Subsequently, QR codes were generated linking to PDF documents with annotations, pathology, and clinical history concerning the specimens. Quick response codes were piloted in gastrointestinal teaching module for Year 2 medical students. Survey responses were obtained from students to verify the efficacy of QR as a learning tool. The majority of students either agreed or strongly agreed that it was easy to access the information about the specimen with QR codes (4.47 ± 0.84), while 96% of students agreed that they are able to correlate the specimen with the annotated images (4.56 ± 0.56). The majority of students (78%) agreed that QR codes are useful for their learning (4.22 ± 0.87), while 75% of students felt QR codes motivate them to visit Anatomy Resource Centre. Most of the students agreed that QR codes are useful for revision of materials (4.13 ± 1.07) and independent learning (4.38 ± 0.87). These findings suggest that QR codes are not only effective for students learning but also enhance their exploration experience with the museum specimens.     

Free vibration of pre-tensioned nanobeams based on nonlocal stress theory

The transverse free vibration of nanobeams subjected to an initial axial tension based on nonlocal stress theory is presented. It considers the effects of nonlocal stress field on the natural frequencies and vibration modes. The effects of a small scale parameter at molecular level unavailable in classical macro-beams are investigated for three different types of boundary conditions： simple supports, clamped supports and elastically-constrained supports. Analytical solutions for transverse deforma- tion and vibration modes are derived. Through numerical examples, effects of the dimensionless nanoscale parameter and pre-tension on natural frequencies are presented and discussed.     

Relationships among organizational commitment, job satisfaction, and learning organization culture in one Korean private organization

The purpose of this study is to identify dynamic relationships among organizational commitment, job satisfaction, and learning organization culture in a Korean private company. Using a sample of 669 employees from five subsidiaries of a Korean conglomerate, this research found that learning organization culture is moderately and positively related to job satisfaction. In addition, organizational commitment, except for continuance commitment, was found to be moderately and positively related to learning organization culture and job satisfaction. This research enables CEOs and HR practitioners to view organizational commitment, learning organization culture, and job satisfaction as important variables that can be applied in their management, interventions, and practices.     

A microfluidics approach towards high-throughput pathogen removal from blood using margination

Sepsis is an adverse systemic inflammatory response caused by microbial infection in blood. This paper reports a simple microfluidic approach for intrinsic, non-specific removal of both microbes and inflammatory cellular components (platelets and leukocytes) from whole blood, inspired by the invivo phenomenon of leukocyte margination. As blood flows through a narrow microchannel (20 × 20 µm), deformable red blood cells (RBCs) migrate axially to the channel centre, resulting in margination of other cell types (bacteria, platelets, and leukocytes) towards the channel sides. By using a simple cascaded channel design, the blood samples undergo a 2-stage bacteria removal in a single pass through the device, thereby allowing higher bacterial removal efficiency. As an application for sepsis treatment, we demonstrated separation of Escherichia coli and Saccharomyces cerevisiae spiked into whole blood, achieving high removal efficiencies of ∼80% and ∼90%, respectively. Inflammatory cellular components were also depleted by >80% in the filtered blood samples which could help to modulate the host inflammatory response and potentially serve as a blood cleansing method for sepsis treatment. The developed technique offers significant advantages including high throughput (∼1 ml/h per channel) and label-free separation which allows non-specific removal of any blood-borne pathogens (bacteria and fungi). The continuous processing and collection mode could potentially enable the return of filtered blood back to the patient directly, similar to a simple and complete dialysis circuit setup. Lastly, we designed and tested a larger filtration device consisting of 6 channels in parallel (∼6 ml/h) and obtained similar filtration performances. Further multiplexing is possible by increasing channel parallelization or device stacking to achieve higher throughput comparable to convectional blood dialysis systems used in clinical settings.     

通过数学任务提高美国职前教师的数学成熟性

在美国,大多数学校讲授的数学是学校"数学",它与数学家所从事的数学有着本质的不同.为此要区分以下4种差异:(1)约定俗成的数学与学校数学之间的差异;(2)理解方式与思维方式之间的差异;(3)成熟的学习者与被动的学习者之间的差异;(4)知识传授与知识参与这两种教学模式之间的差异.根据Harcl的对偶原则来设计一个数学任务时,应该考虑学生已有的思维方式和理解方式,如激发学生学习某一特定概念的需要,促进理想的思维方式,阻止不合适的思维方式以及评估学生的概念性理解.     

Historical consideration of place: inviting multiple histories and narratives in place-based education

Drawing upon van Eijck and Roth’s notion of “place as chronotope,” this review paper discusses historical consideration of place as it assists us to conceptualize place in its collective, political, and dialogical nature. In a place, we are positioned amidst of the multiplicity of histories and narratives within ever shifting various contexts of place. Historical consideration acknowledges multiplicity and marginalization in a place, thus, legitimizes multiple place histories and invites multiple narratives to engage in dialogical process of place. With historical consideration, place identity can be approached and framed in its collective, dialogical nature within larger social, political contexts of place. The paper further suggests that place based education should be able to acknowledge and invite multiple histories and marginalized voices of students into creating a place to dwell together.     

集自然历史、世界文化于一身的皇家安大略博物馆

皇家安大略博物馆融合自然历史和世界文化于一身,藏品超过1250万件,大量开展国际范围的研究。2017年参观人数超过130万人次。该馆设有27个永久的世界文化和自然历史展厅、2个儿童动手实践探索展厅和4个用于临时展览的展区。该馆收集了两只鲸鱼的骨架,将其中一只鲸鱼的心脏做塑化处理后在主展厅展出,将在加拿大各地和其他国家和地区进行巡回展出。