Modeling knowledge sharing among high-tech professionals in culturally diverse firms: mediating mechanisms of social capital

Drawing upon social capital theory, this research postulates cultural intelligence as a key driver of knowledge sharing through the mediation of social capital among employees from culturally diverse organizations. An empirical testing of the proposed model, by investigating Taiwanese professionals from high-tech foreign companies in Taiwan, reveals the applicability of social capital theory in understanding the relationship between cultural intelligence and knowledge sharing. The study’s test results show that cultural intelligence indirectly influences knowledge sharing through different dimensions of social capital. This research further provides managerial implications and limitations.     

Digital redesign of analog smith predictor for systems with long input time delays

The discretization of the analog Smith predictor by using the prediction-based state-matching digital redesign method for systems with various input time delays was recently investigated in the literature. This paper presents an alternative Chebyshev quadrature state-matching digital redesign method for discretization of the analog Smith predictor for systems with a long input time delay. In order to implement the digitally redesigned Smith predictor by utilizing the output-feedback of the plant, an ideal state reconstructor for the long input-delayed plant is established. The long dead time of interest is an integer plus a fractional input delay. An illustrative example is given to demonstrate the effective of the proposed approach.     

Emotional engagement,social interactions,and the development of an afterschool game design curriculum

This formative design study examines how a program curriculum and implementation was emergently (re)designed in dynamic relation to the expressed emotions of teachers and students. The context was a yearlong afterschool game design program for STEM learning at an urban and public all-girls middle school. Using Randall Collins’ (Interaction ritual chains, Princeton University Press, Princeton, 2004) sociology of emotions framework, our analysis of field notes and video data reveal how the original intended curriculum hindered the generation of positive emotions, mutual foci of attention, and feelings of group solidarity—factors important in the generation of successful group interactions. In response to teacher and student expressed emotions, we took these factors as a guide for redesigning the program curriculum and implementation in order to foster a more positive emotional climate and redirect students’ positive emotions toward engagement in learning goals. This study’s implications point to the possibilities for designing curricula and program implementations to engender more emotionally responsive environments for STEM learning.     

THE EFFECTS OF EPISTEMIC BELIEFS IN SCIENCE AND GENDER DIFFERENCE ON UNIVERSITY STUDENTS’ SCIENCE-TEXT READING: AN EYE-TRACKING STUDY

The primary purpose of this study was to explore not only the effects of epistemic beliefs in science on science-text reading but also the gender differences in epistemic beliefs and the reading process. The interactions between gender and epistemic beliefs during reading were also explored. A total of 25 university students, 13 male and 12 female, were paid to participate in the study. The scientific epistemological beliefs (SEBs) questionnaire was used to probe the subjects’ epistemic beliefs in science, while the eye-tracking method was employed to record their science-text reading process. It was demonstrated that the participants in the study had developed sophisticated SEBs. Complicated SEBs were associated with higher cognitive attention to the reading of data-related information but less mental effort to fact, scientific explanations, and the microview photos. As for the gender difference, female students displayed less mental effort in comprehending scientific explanations, but attended more to data and the microview graphic. It is argued that female learners are better at processing textual information. Interactions between SEBs and gender were found and discussed.     

Students’ conceptions of and approaches to knowledge building and its relationship to learning outcomes

The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationships among students’ conceptions of knowledge building, approaches to knowledge building, knowledge-building behaviors and learning outcomes. A total of 48 primary school students (from grades 3 and 4) who had experienced knowledge-building activities participated in the present study. After analyzing the students’ interview responses using the phenomenographic method, qualitatively different and hierarchically related conceptions and approaches were revealed. The results indicated that the students with fragmented conceptions tended to use surface approaches to knowledge building while those with cohesive conceptions tended to adopt deep approaches. The findings also indicate that the students with cohesive conceptions or deep approaches were more likely to have better learning outcomes than those with fragmented conceptions or surface approaches.     

Implementing interactive courseware into EFL business writing: computational assessment and learning satisfaction

The implementation of interactive courseware within a task-based learning (TBL) approach was conducted for English Writing for Business to Chinese students in an applied foreign languages department housed in a university of technology. The development of the interactive courseware is based on Mayer’s multimedia learning theory, which allows learners to construct verbal and visual cognitive representations and integrate them; its language learning focus is keyed to Chapelle’s suggested criteria for development of multimedia CALL (computer assisted language learning). According to the curriculum, students had to accomplish three tasks rooted in the real world workplace: inquiry, negotiation, and complaint. Evaluation of the interactive ESP courseware into TBL instruction was based upon data from students’ pre- and post-writing performance measured by three different types of online computational assessments. In addition, a questionnaire survey about learning satisfaction was administered. The results indicate that students had significantly better post-writing performance and showed greater satisfaction after self-studying with the courseware-implemented instruction, which effectively integrated content knowledge, integrative English skills and writing practices embedded in the courseware. This instruction could be a potentially useful for teaching business writing by providing both content knowledge and its related integrative language practice.     

The Intellectual Structure of Metacognitive Scaffolding in Science Education: A Co-citation Network Analysis

The issues of metacognitive scaffolding in science education (MSiSE) have become increasingly popular and important. Differing from previous content reviews, this study proposes a series of quantitative computer-based analyses by integrating document co-citation analysis, social network analysis, and exploratory factor analysis to explore the intellectual structure of the MSiSE literature (i.e. the relationships within and between subfields of MSiSE). Co-citation refers to any two articles that are jointly referenced in other articles. After the computation of co-citation analysis, 27 articles that have been co-cited at least once by follow-up studies as references were identified as the final set of core articles. The whole co-citation profile of 27 cores with the 434 links was then visualized in a network through social network analysis, representing an overview for the intellectual structure of core MSiSE studies. The most cross-referenced underpinnings in the network focused on adaptive scaffolding for self-regulated learning to enhance students’ conceptual understanding and on younger students’ metacognition in online science inquiry learning environments. Furthermore, two emerging topics in the network were identified through an exploratory factor analysis as “non-technological metacognitive scaffolding media,” and “behavior patterns & task analysis in technology-infused environments.” Overall, the study provides an innovative review method of scholarly communication in the MSiSE literature.     

Exploring the relationships between students' academic motivation and social ability in online learning environments

This research explicates the construct of social ability and describes the relationship between students' academic motivation and social ability in online learning environments. Findings reveal perceived peers social presence, perceived written communication skills, perceived instructor social presence, comfort with sharing personal information, and social navigation as the five factors that define social ability. In addition, the multivariate multiple regression analyses indicate that different motivational constructs vary in their relationships with the multiple social ability factors. Intrinsic goal orientation is related to perceived peers social presence. Self-efficacy explains the variance of perceived instructor social presence and comfort with sharing personal information. Task value is associated with social navigation and both perceived peers and instructor social presence. Additional studies are needed to replicate the current findings and further explicate social ability in online learning, to continue to improve the social ability instrument, and to examine the value of other academic motivation beliefs in predicting social ability as well as that of social ability in predicting learning outcomes.     

Taiwanese students’ science learning self-efficacy and teacher and student science hardiness: a multilevel model approach

This study aimed to investigate the factors accounting for science learning self-efficacy (the specific beliefs that people have in their ability to complete tasks in science learning) from both the teacher and the student levels. We thus propose a multilevel model to delineate its relationships with teacher and student science hardiness (i.e., the courage that is needed to turn stressful changes from burdens into advantageous growth in science education settings). The current research was conducted through collecting survey responses from both teachers (i.e., using the self-report teacher science hardiness questionnaire) and students (i.e., using the self-report student science hardiness and the self-report science learning self-efficacy questionnaires). A total of 45 Taiwanese science teachers were solicited from junior high schools. Also, we recruited students who were taught by these 45 teachers. In total, 1145 junior high school students whose ages ranged from 12 to 16, with a mean of 13.68 (SD?=?0.90), were invited to take part in the study. Of these students, 268 were in the seventh grade, 430 were in the eighth grade, and 447 were in the ninth grade. The results of hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) confirmed our hypothesis that teacher science hardiness fostered student science hardiness, which in turn contributed to the students’ science learning self-efficacy. The findings revealed that both teacher and student science hardiness play important roles in explaining the structure of science learning self-efficacy. To enhance science learning self-efficacy, educators should develop programs for teachers and students to increase their science hardiness.