The influence of framing on transfer: initial evidence from a tutoring experiment

This paper investigates the idea that the framing of learning and transfer contexts can influence students’ propensity to transfer what they have learned. We predicted that transfer would be promoted by framing contexts in an expansive manner in which students are positioned as having the opportunity to contribute to larger conversations that extend across time, places, people, and topics. A one-on-one tutoring experiment was conducted to test this hypothesis by manipulating framing as either expansive or its opposite (bounded) within a complex instructional learning ecology. We investigated the degree to which high school biology students transferred knowledge from a learning session about the cardiovascular system to a transfer-of-learning session about the respiratory system depending on framing condition. Consistent with the framing hypothesis, students in the expansive condition were generally more likely to transfer facts, a conceptual principle, and a learning strategy from one system to another.     

Students＇ Difficulties With Multiple Representations in Introductory Mechanics

Research in physics education indicates that the use of multiple representations in teaching and learning helps students become better problem-solvers. We report on a study to investigate students＇ difficulties in solving mechanics problems presented in multiple representations. We conducted teaching/learning interviews with 20 students in a first-semester calculus-based physics course which covered introductory classical mechanics. Each student was interviewed four times during the semester, each time after they had completed an exam in the course. During these interviews, students were asked to solve a problem they had seen in the exam, followed by problems that differed in the type of representation from the exam problems. Students were provided verbal hints to solve the new problems. We discuss the common difficulties students encountered when attempting to solve problems in different representations and some common themes in students＇ performance.     

Beyond the school setting: language teachers and tensions of everyday life

As an emergent theme in educational research, examination of the lives and careers of teachers reveals a wide range of educational factors occurring in many different contexts. Despite the relationship between teaching and life outside school, research studies have been inclined towards the working aspects of teachers’ lives. Rather than following the predominant model in the research literature, this study focused on teachers’ lives in the broader sense exploring the life tensions faced by teachers of English language in Vietnamese primary schools. Drawing on narrative inquiry as a research approach, data were collected from interviews conducted with six participating teachers. The findings indicated that the participants, similar to the majority of Vietnamese teachers, were involved in struggles over living conditions. As a result of the low pay they received for their teaching jobs, they engaged in private tutoring to bolster their income to adequately support themselves and their family. As language teachers, the participants used the English language for access to other cultures but they lived under pressures caused by cultural differences. Along with depicting the lives of Vietnamese teachers, the study offers suggestions to education leaders and educational researchers on how the situation might be alleviated.     

iPads in higher education—Hype and hope

This paper systematically reviews current research on using iPads in the higher education sector. Since the release of iPads by Apple in 2010, this new technology has been quickly adopted everywhere, especially by the younger generation and professionals. We were motivated to find out how iPads have been adopted for use in the higher education sector. We searched for and collected all the peer‐reviewed publications in conference proceedings and scholarly journals in EBSCOhost, Scopus, Informit A+ Education, ProQuest Academic Research Library and Google Scholar, and conducted a content analysis of the full‐text papers collected. The results show that the reported studies are at an early exploratory stage from both the student and staff perspectives. From the student perspective, the iPad was found to enhance the learning experience but not necessarily lead to better learning outcomes. From the staff perspective, the iPad was found to offer benefits associated with electronic information dissemination, academic administration and professional development support. A finding common to both perspectives is that while the iPad has the potential to offer benefits to the academics and students who were found to be eager adopters of this technology, it is not clear how best to align and integrate it within the academic programmes and workflows, and how best to manage it as a resource within a university's organisational setting.     

A cross-cultural study of possible iatrogenic effects of gifted education programs: tenth graders’ perceptions of academically high performing classmates

Previous empirical studies have yielded inconclusive results about peer perceptions of academically high performing students. The purpose of this study was to investigate students’ perceptions of the intellectual ability, positive social qualities, and popularity of a hypothetical new high performing classmate. Participants were 1060 Vietnamese, South Korean, British, Australian, Peruvian, and Spanish boys and girls in 10th grade. The results revealed that the perceptions of academically high performing classmates differed by country group. Positive perceptions of intellectual ability and social qualities were commonly found in all countries except the two Asian countries (Vietnam and South Korea), where the students reported more neutral views of high performers. In conclusion, it is argued that there is no evidence for possible iatrogenic effects of gifted education programs aiming at high achievements     

A simple and inexpensive enteric-coated capsule for delivery of acid-labile macromolecules to the small intestine

Understanding the ecology of the gastrointestinal tract and the impact of the contents on the host mucosa is emerging as an important area for defining both wellness and susceptibility to disease. Targeted delivery of drugs to treat specific small intestinal disorders such as small bowel bacterial overgrowth and targeting molecules to interrogate or to deliver vaccines to the remote regions of the small intestine has proven difficult. There is an unmet need for methodologies to release probes/drugs to remote regions of the gastrointestinal tract in furthering our understanding of gut health and pathogenesis. In order to address this concern, we need to know how the regional delivery of a surrogate labeled test compound is handled and in turn, if delivered locally as a liquid or powder, the dynamics of its subsequent handling and metabolism. In the studies we report on in this paper, we chose ¹³C sodium acetate (¹³C-acetate), which is a stable isotope probe that once absorbed in the small intestine can be readily measured non-invasively by collection and analysis of ¹³CO₂ in the breath. This would provide information of gastric emptying rates and an indication of the site of release and absorptive capacity. In a series of in vitro and in vivo pig experiments, we assessed the enteric-protective properties of a commercially available polymer EUDRAGIT®L100-55 on gelatin capsules and also on DRcaps®. Test results demonstrated that DRcaps®coated with EUDRAGIT®L100-55 possessed enhanced enteric-protective properties, particularly in vivo. These studies add to the body of knowledge regarding gastric emptying in pigs and also begin the process of gathering specifications for the design of a simple and cost-effective enteric-coated capsule for delivery of acid-labile macromolecules to the small intestine.     

Agreement on Childhood Disability between Parents and Teachers in Vietnam

The purpose of the present study was to examine agreement on childhood disability among the teachers and parents of children with cognitive delays in Vietnam. The participants were 57 teachers in kindergarten programmes (for children 2 to 6 years of age), and 106 mothers and 93 fathers of the children attending these kindergarten programmes. The data were collected using the ABILITIES Index and a demographic information form. The results indicated that teachers rated the children’s level of functioning more severely, especially in the areas of intellectual disabilities and behaviour problems, than mothers and fathers. Logistic regression that examined the factors that predicted the agreement and disagreement among parents and teachers revealed that teachers and parents were more likely to agree when the child’s disability was genetically related or physical. Screening, diagnosis and treatment issues can become more challenging for children with intellectual disabilities who do not have such physical and genetic conditions, especially when the agreement between parents and professionals on the conditions of the children is low.     

Participatory agricultural research and decentralisation in Vietnam

Abstract

Based on a conceptual framework, that describes the relationship between the effectiveness of up-scaling participation and implementing decentralisation, the objective of this paper is to analyse the effectiveness of decentralisation measures in the Agricultural Technology System (ATS) of Vietnam. It discusses whether the decentralisation efforts so far have enabled the rural population to express their options and take joint decisions in the sense of participation. The paper uses primary and secondary data, collected between November 2000 and June 2001. The paper first discusses the theoretical literature on up-scaling participation and decentralisation. Emphasis is given to highlight the links between the concepts of good governance in decentralisation and its effects on people's participation in the decision making process. Thereafter, the Vietnamese decentralisation measures are reviewed and it is assessed to which extent the agricultural sector and its relevant state agencies have benefited from these efforts. The experiences from the decentralisation activities is summarised. Whether decentralisation opened space for the rural people to express their opinions and to ensure that their preferences are incorporated in the ATS is specially considered. The paper closes with recommendations.