Incremental beliefs of ability,achievement emotions and learning of Singapore students

This study investigated the relationships of students’ incremental beliefs of math ability to their achievement emotions, classroom engagement and math achievement. A sample of 273 secondary students in Singapore were administered measures of incremental beliefs of math ability, math enjoyment, pride, boredom and anxiety, as well as math classroom attention and disruption. In addition, students’ end-of-year math achievement scores were collected from school records. The hypothesised mediation model was supported in structural equation modelling analysis. Incremental beliefs of math ability were associated positively with math enjoyment and pride, and negatively with math boredom and anxiety. Achievement emotions fully mediated the relationships of incremental beliefs of math ability to classroom engagement and math achievement. Incremental beliefs of math ability were associated positively with classroom attention through math enjoyment and pride, negatively with classroom disruption through math anxiety and positively with math achievement through the two outcome-related emotions, math pride and anxiety. The findings and implications are discussed in the academic context of Singapore.     

Exploring the potential common psychotherapeutic factors: use of cognitive behavioural therapy,mindful yoga and positive psychology in enhancing the well-being of students with SENs in Hong Kong

This study examined the effects of cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), mindful yoga and positive psychology interventions and identified common psychotherapeutic elements that exert critical treatment effects on Hong Kong Chinese students with special educational needs (SENs). Forty-seven participants received CBT intervention while 42 and 41 participants received mindful yoga and positive psychology interventions, respectively (N = 130). Mixed ANOVAs revealed no significant interaction effect between time and intervention condition on any outcome variables. However, within-subjects ANOVA revealed significant improvements in some dimensions within each intervention, including areas of behavioural problems, positive feelings and positive relationships. Changes in negative automatic thoughts were also found to lessen negative emotions in all three interventions. This study ascertained the differential effects of the selected approaches in ameliorating negative emotion, reducing behavioural problems and enhancing positive relationships among students with SENs in various treatment approaches. In addition, this study highlighted several common psychotherapeutic elements, which could potentially serve as important factors and constitute the formulation of an integrative psychotherapeutic framework for enhancing the well-being of students with SENs in Hong Kong. Finally, implications for practice and the possible development of an integrative intervention model were discussed.     

An Ontology-Based Binary-Categorization Approach for Recognizing Multiple-Record Web Documents Using a Probabilistic Retrieval Model

The Web contains a tremendous amount of information. It is challenging to determine which Web documents are relevant to a user query, and even more challenging to rank them according to their degrees of relevance. In this paper, we propose a probabilistic retrieval model using logistic regression for recognizing multiple-record Web documents against an application ontology, a simple conceptual modeling approach. We notice that many Web documents contain a sequence of chunks of textual information, each of which constitutes a record. This type of documents is referred to as multiple-record documents. In our categorization approach, a document is represented by a set of term frequencies of index terms, a density heuristic value, and a grouping heuristic value. We first apply the logistic regression analysis on relevant probabilities using the (i) index terms, (ii) density value, and (iii) grouping value of each training document. Hereafter, the relevant probability of each test document is interpolated from the fitting curves. Contrary to other probabilistic retrieval models, our model makes only a weak independent assumption and is capable of handling any important dependent relationships among index terms. In addition, we use logistic regression, instead of linear regression analysis, because the relevance probabilities of training documents are discrete. Using a test set of car-ads and another one for obituary Web documents, our probabilistic model achieves the averaged recall ratio of 100%, precision ratio of 83.3%, and accuracy ratio of 92.5%.     

Characterization and separation of Cryptosporidium and Giardia cells using on-chip dielectrophoresis

Dielectrophoresis (DEP) has been shown to have significant potential for the characterization of cells and could become an efficient tool for rapid identification and assessment of microorganisms. The present work is focused on the trapping, characterization, and separation of two species of Cryptosporidium (C. parvum and C. muris) and Giardia lambia (G. lambia) using a microfluidic experimental setup. Cryptosporidium oocysts, which are 2-4 μm in size and nearly spherical in shape, are used for the preliminary stage of prototype development and testing. G. lambia cysts are 8–12 μm in size. In order to facilitate effective trapping, simulations were performed to study the effects of buffer conductivity and applied voltage on the flow and cell transport inside the DEP chip. Microscopic experiments were performed using the fabricated device and the real part of Clausius—Mossotti factor of the cells was estimated from critical voltages for particle trapping at the electrodes under steady fluid flow. The dielectric properties of the cell compartments (cytoplasm and membrane) were calculated based on a single shell model of the cells. The separation of C. muris and G. lambia is achieved successfully at a frequency of 10 MHz and a voltage of 3 Vpp (peak to peak voltage).     

JointZone: users' views of an adaptive online learning resource for rheumatology

This paper describes an online learning resource for rheumatology that was designed for a wide constituency of users including primarily undergraduate medical students and health professionals. Although the online resources afford an informal learning environment, the site was pedagogically designed to comply with the general recommendations of the Standing Committee on Training and Education of EULAR (European League Against Rheumatism) for a rheumatology core curriculum. Any Internet user may freely browse the site content with optional registration providing access to adaptive features that personalize the user's view, for example, providing a reading history and targeted support based on scores from completed case studies. The site has now been available since early 2003, and an online survey of site registrants indicates that well structured pedagogical materials that reflect a learners' dominant ‘community of practice’ appear to be a successful aid to informal learning.     

Asian Secondary School Students' Help-Seeking Behaviour and Preferences for Counsellor Characteristics

This study examines general help-seeking behaviours and preferences for the counsellor, characteristics of gender and ethnicity specifically, in a sample of 448 secondary school students in Singapore. The relationship between the age of the student and his/her preference for the gender and ethnicity of a counsellor was also examined. Findings indicated significant differences in preferences for the gender of the counsellor, with most females preferring a same sex counsellor and most males preferring an opposite sex counsellor. Male and female students did not differ in responses regarding preference for ethnicity of counsellor. The findings also indicated a developmental shift in perspective regarding preference for gender and for ethnicity of counsellor. Neither gender nor ethnicity of counsellor mattered to the oldest group of students. In comparison, the younger students either reported a distinct preference for gender and ethnicity of counsellor or stated they were unsure of their response. Findings from the present study that are helpful to counsellors working with an Asian secondary school population will be discussed in the light of previous research.     

“Standing in Terri Schiavo's Shoes”: The Role of Genre in End-of-Life Decision Making

This article reports the findings from analysis of end-of-life court cases and case files from one state public guardianship administrator as well as interviews with guardians or surrogates to identify how language and principles of the courts are operationalized in end-of-life decisions for those who are unable to make decisions for themselves. We found that physicians and guardians worked well within the requirements of the genre to ensure the best interests for those whom they represent.     

An examination of the influences on ‘green’ mobile phone purchases among young business students: an empirical analysis

This article examines the determinants of eco-friendly electronic good consumption among students at a large Australian university who have been exposed to a marketing campaign, Mobile Muster. Empirical research generally shows younger consumers to be less concerned about the environment. Similar studies demonstrate that peer pressure has a large role to play. Accordingly, using the theories of reasoned action and planned behavior, this study examines subjective norms, attitudes, perceived control, environmental concern, altruism, risk aversion, price consciousness, involvement, branding, environmental knowledge, and their relationship with purchase intentions. It is the first study to examine these effects on the purchase of eco-friendly phones, a product of high personal relevance to these consumers. Mediation effects were also assessed. Results showed that subjective norms (friends/experts) can increase intentions and mediate the relationship between information and intentions. Involvement emerged as a significant influencer on intentions, presenting new findings for the literature. Moreover, higher levels of objective knowledge increased intentions. This supported the significant role of the Mobile Muster scheme in dispersing knowledge. These findings are of practical value to educators, allowing them to determine factors that influence consumer knowledge and norms with the aim of enabling students to form more ecological relevant purchase intentions.     

Effects of a feint on reactive agility performance

Abstract

This study compared reactive agility between higher-standard (n = 14) and lower-standard (n = 14) Australian footballers using a reactive agility test incorporating a life-size video image of another player changing direction, including and excluding a feint. Mean agility time in the feint trials was 34% (509 ± 243 ms; p < 0.001; effect size 3.06) longer than non-feint trials. In higher-standard players, agility time was shorter than for lower-standard players in both feint (114 ± 140 ms; p = 0.18; effect size 0.52; likely beneficial) and non-feint (32 ± 44 ms; p = 0.22; effect size 0.47; possibly beneficial) trials. Additionally, the inclusion of a feint resulted in movement time increasing over three times more in the lower-standard group (197 ± 91 ms; p = 0.001; effect size 1.07; almost certainly detrimental) than the higher-standard group (62 ± 86 ms; p = 0.23; effect size 0.66; likely detrimental). There were weak correlations between the feint and non-feint trials (r = ?0.13–0.14; p > 0.05), suggesting that reactive agility involving a feint is a unique skill. Also, higher-standard players are more agile than their lower-standard peers, whose movement speed deteriorates more as task complexity increases with the inclusion of a feint. These results support the need for specific training in multi-turn reactive agility tasks.