Understanding MOOCs as an Emerging Online Learning Tool: Perspectives From the Students

This study examined participants’ learning experiences in the context of a six-week massive open online course (MOOC) in journalism with five thousand students from 137 countries. Three research questions were asked: (1) Who are the students and why are they enrolled in this MOOC?, (2) How much time have the students spent in taking this MOOC and have they completed all the assignments?, and, (3) What have they learned and what aspects of this MOOC do the students find most helpful? Four hundred and nine students responded to a survey and forty-four responded to interview questions. The main findings showed 84% of the participants were working professionals and only 28.9% were from a journalism background. Of those who did not complete the course, lack of time was the top reason. Most participants reported a positive learning experience, but lack of feedback and/or poor quality were reported as negative experiences. The discussion forum was the least liked aspect of the course.     

Collaborative handheld gaming in education

This project describes the trialling of a new form of cooperative learning strategy, in the form of a game known as EcoRangers. EcoRangers is a multi‐player game designed to run on mobile phones, written specifically for education. EcoRangers is one of the first, if not the world's first, instances of this totally new genre of pedagogical tools (i.e. collaborative handheld educational games). In its current iteration EcoRangers is designed to help students practise skills of relevance to the social studies syllabus for Grades 9 and 10 in Singapore's education system, specifically through the pedagogical strategy known as the ‘structured academic controversy’, in which learners debate an open‐ended problem from a variety of perspectives. The trialling was done in three secondary schools, among 50 Grade 9 students. These students were taken through two distinct fieldwork tasks in March–July 2004, with the game being introduced as part of a post‐fieldwork activity.

Jeux collaboratifs sur portables en éducation

Ce projet décrit l'expérimentation d'une nouvelle forme de stratégie d'apprentissage coopératif sous la forme d'un jeu connu sous le nom d'EcoRangers.EcoRangers se joue à plusieurs.Il a été conçu pour fonctionner sur les téléphones portables et composé spécialement pour L'éducation. EcoRangers est un des premiers sinon le premier exemple au monde de cette catégorie d'outils pédagogiques (celle des jeux éducatifs collaboratifs portables) totalement nouvelle. Sous sa forme actuelle EcoRangers a été conçu pour aider les élèves à pratiquer des savoir faire correspondant au cursus de sciences sociales pour les classes 9 et 10 du système Singapourien(13‐14 ans) et plus particulièrement la stratégie connue sous le nom de « controverse académique structurée » au cours de laquelle les apprenants débatent d'un problème ouvert en partant de perspectives différentes.L'expérience a été menée dans trois écoles secondaires avec 50 élèves de 9^e.Ces élèves ont participé à deux tâches « de terrain » distinctes entre mars et juillet 2004,le jeu étant présenté comme faisant partie d'une activité « d'après‐terrain ».

Gemeinschafliches Spielen auf Handhelds oder Handys als Unterricht

Das Projekt beschreibt den Versuch, eine neue Art von Gruppenlernen zu testen, die auf ein Spiel zurück greift, das EcoRangers genannt wird. Dies ist ein Spiel für mehrere Spieler, das auf Handys abläuft und ein Lernspiel ist. EcoRangers ist eines der ersten, wenn nicht sogar das erste Spiel in der Welt, dieser Art. In seiner gegenwärtigen Fassung hilft EcoRangers den Schuelern, Fertigkeiten im Bereich der Social Studies (Gemeinschaftskunde) einzuueben (Lehrplan für Stufe 9 und 10 in Singapur), insbesondere dadurch, dass die Strategie der ‘strukturierten, akademischen Diskussion’ angewendet wird, bei der die Schueler ein offenes Problem aus sehr unterschiedlichen Perspektiven besprechen. Der Versuch wurde in drei Schulen (Sek.II) durchgeführt, wobei 50 Schueler aus Stufe 9 waren. Diese wurden im Rahmen eines Aufenthalts im Gelaende (Maerz–Juli 2004) mit dem Spiel konfrontiert, das als eine Tätigkeit nach dem Arbeiten im Gelände eingefuehrt wurde.     

Effective Internet Research

For many reasons, students with disabilities are not as thoroughly represented in science careers as are their nondisabled peers. In this case study, the authors explore the effects an informal education program focused on environmental science and delivered to college-bound students with disabilities had on comfort level with science and interest in science careers. Results indicate that the informal nature of the program was well-received and increased individuals' confidence in their science ability. The authors present suggestions for translating this experience into a traditional classroom setting.     

Making Space for Place: Mapping Tools and Practices to Teach for Spatial Justice

This article presents a set of spatial tools for classroom learning about spatial justice. As part of a larger team, we designed a curriculum that engaged 10 learners with 3 spatial tools: (a) an oversized floor map, (b) interactive geographic information systems (GIS) maps, and (c) participatory mapping. We analyze how these tools supported learning using notions of politicization. The floor map fed conceptual understandings of the map as a representational text and served as the terrain for an embodied activity to support proportional reasoning about inequitable distributions of resources. The data-rich GIS maps and their zoomability allowed for coordinating across multiple variables to connect patterns in inequities to other social processes. The participatory mapping enabled learners to make discoveries about, connect, and share beyond the individual classroom counterstories from people in the lived streets of their neighborhood. In aggregate, this set of spatial tools produced a complex, hybrid view of the city’s space, which contributed to learners’ political formation.     

Multicultural early childhood education: practices and challenges in Malaysia

Multicultural early childhood education is necessary in a culturally diverse country like Malaysia. Preschool teachers play an important role in implementing multicultural education in the classroom. This paper reports the findings of a self-report questionnaire involving 854 preschool teachers in Malaysia. The preschool teachers disclosed their current multicultural education practices as well as the challenges they encountered when implementing multicultural education. While the majority of teachers claimed that they implemented multicultural education, a closer examination revealed that most of them used the tourist or contribution approach which focuses on only the outward manifestations of a culture when dealing with multicultural education. The transformation or anti-bias approach was used by only a small number of teachers. The teachers identified some challenges in multicultural education implementation, such as lack of instructional resources and the lack of stakeholder support. Thus, it is important to ensure teachers develop more critical understandings of multicultural education through teacher education training and programs. Other efforts to help teachers overcome challenges in implementing multicultural education include producing and developing more instructional materials and learning aids, which are suitable for young children and appropriate for the local context. Preschool teachers also need stakeholders to give more support and to acknowledge the importance of implementing multicultural early childhood education.     

提心吊胆的华尔街

The war in Iraq, terrorism, rising oil prices-and now the threat of higher interest rates-are all preying on the market. There comes a point in virtually every bull market when     

An Automated Item Pool Assembly Framework for Maximizing Item Utilization for CAT

Computerized adaptive testing (CAT) has gained deserved popularity in the administration of educational and professional assessments, but continues to face test security challenges. To ensure sustained quality assurance and testing integrity, it is imperative to establish and maintain multiple stable item pools that are consistent in terms of psychometric characteristics and content specifications. This study introduces the Honeycomb Pool Assembly (HPA) framework, an innovative solution for the construction of multiple parallel item pools for CAT that maximizes item utilization in the item bank. The HPA framework comprises two stages—cell assembly and pool assembly—and uses a mixed integer programming modeling approach. An empirical study demonstrated HPA's effectiveness in creating a large number of parallel pools using a real-world high-stakes CAT assessment item bank. The HPA framework offers several advantages, including (a) simultaneous creation of multiple parallel pools, (b) simplification of item pool maintenance, and (c) flexibility in establishing statistical and operational constraints. Moreover, it can help testing organizations efficiently manage and monitor the health of their item banks. Thus, the HPA framework is expected to be a valuable tool for testing professionals and organizations to address test security challenges and maintain the integrity of high-stakes CAT assessments.     

Cell separation and transportation between two miscible fluid streams using ultrasound

This paper presents a two-stream microfluidic system for transporting cells or micro-sized particles from one fluid stream to another by acoustophoresis. The two fluid streams, one being the original suspension and the other being the destination fluid, flow parallel to each other in a microchannel. Using a half-wave acoustic standing wave across the channel width, cells or particles with positive acoustic contrast factors are moved to the destination fluid where the pressure nodal line lies. By controlling the relative flow rate of the two fluid streams, the pressure nodal line can be maintained at a specific offset from the fluid interface within the destination fluid. Using this transportation method, particles or cells of different sizes and mechanical properties can be separated. The cells experiencing a larger acoustic radiation force are separated and transported from the original suspension to the destination fluid stream. The other particles or cells experiencing a smaller acoustic radiation force continue flowing in the original solution. Experiments were conducted to demonstrate the effective separation of polystyrene microbeads of different sizes (3 μm and 10 μm) and waterborne parasites (Giardia lamblia and Cryptosporidium parvum). Diffusion occurs between the two miscible fluids, but it was found to have little effects on the transport and separation process, even when the two fluids have different density and speed of sound.     

The Political Transformation of Golf in Modern South Korea

Abstract

Since golf was introduced to South Korea in the early 1900s, it has been strongly influenced by the politics that reflects socio-political contexts. Therefore, it is important to explore the political influences of golf on the context of its socio-political transformation. In this study, we explored how social and political backgrounds under each of the political administrations have affected the development of golf in South Korea. For this purpose, we utilized the socio-historical approach through document analysis to summarize the golf-related policy stances of nine presidential administrations from the Syngman Rhee government (1948–1960) to Park Geun-hye government (2013–2017). As a result, the Syngman Rhee administration pursued the construction of golf courses to bolster national security. The military regimes of Park Chung-hee and Chun Doo-hwan constructed golf courses as a means of cementing support among military circles to establish political legitimacy, and also as a means of diplomacy. The Roh Tae-woo administration initiated a construction boom in golf courses to promote sports for all. The Kim Young-sam administration announced a ‘no golf’ stance, while Kim Dae-jung and Roh Moo-hyun-both of whom had roots in the opposition-strove to encourage golf as a means of embracing their conservative counterparts while also diluting their progressive and contrarian image. Lee Myung-bak included golf among the core strategic tourist industries, while his successor, Park Geun-hye, first prohibited public officers from playing golf before pivoting to a supportive stance later on in her administration.     

Electroosmotic flow hysteresis for dissimilar ionic solutions

Electroosmotic flow (EOF) with two or more fluids is commonly encountered in various microfluidics applications. However, no investigation has hitherto been conducted to investigate the hysteretic or flow direction-dependent behavior during the displacement flow of solutions with dissimilar ionic species. In this investigation, electroosmotic displacement flow involving dissimilar ionic solutions was studied experimentally through a current monitoring method and numerically through finite element simulations. The flow hysteresis can be characterized by the turning and displacement times; turning time refers to the abrupt gradient change of current-time curve while displacement time is the time for one solution to completely displace the other solution. Both experimental and simulation results illustrate that the turning and displacement times for a particular solution pair can be directional-dependent, indicating that the flow conditions in the microchannel are not the same in the two different flow directions. The mechanics of EOF hysteresis was elucidated through the theoretical model which includes the ionic mobility of each species, a major governing parameter. Two distinct mechanics have been identified as the causes for the EOF hysteresis involving dissimilar ionic solutions: the widening/sharpening effect of interfacial region between the two solutions and the difference in ion concentration distributions (and thus average zeta potentials) in different flow directions. The outcome of this investigation contributes to the fundamental understanding of flow behavior in microfluidic systems involving solution pair with dissimilar ionic species.