Students’ characteristics,self-regulated learning,technology self-efficacy,and course outcomes in online learning

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship among students’ characteristics, self-regulated learning, technology self-efficacy, and course outcomes in online learning settings. Two hundred and fifty-six students participated in this study. All participants completed an online survey that included demographic information, the modified motivation strategies learning questionnaire, the online technology self-efficacy scale, the course satisfaction questionnaire, and the final grades. The researchers used structural equation modeling to examine relationships among student characteristics, self-regulated learning, technology self-efficacy, and course outcomes. Based on the results from the final model, students with previous online learning experiences tended to have more effective learning strategies when taking online courses, and hence, had higher levels of motivation in their online courses. In addition, when students had higher levels of motivation in their online courses, their levels of technology self-efficacy and course satisfaction increased. Finally, students with higher levels of technology self-efficacy and course satisfaction also earned better final grades. Based on the findings, we recommend that instructors design courses in a way that can promote students’ self-regulated learning behaviors in online learning settings and that students in online classes, as in traditional classes, set aside a regular time to concentrate on the course. Also, institutions should provide user-friendly online learning platforms and workshops for instructors and students to facilitate the teaching and learning experiences.     

Contested urban spaces: exploring the analytics of young persons’ experiences of living in Glasgow’s deprived zones

This paper reports findings from an exploratory study of mainly young people’s verbally articulated perceptions of urban life in Glasgow, Scotland. The focus is upon areas of deprivation where territory and social capital is contested and whose meanings are possibly only partially grasped by our informants. Their personal knowledge of violence and sense of oppression (fear of violence and constrained agency) are explored through qualitative data generated by means of semi‐structured interviews. Despite the qualified nature of our findings we believe they contribute to understanding a particular Scottish identity, one infused with notions of youth culture, community disorder and social exclusion. These results prompt us to highlight the need for more intense policy concern and interventions in order to address the mental health of young people whose lives are demonstrably blighted by poverty and its exclusionary material realities in a major twenty‐first‐century European city.     

END-OF-LIFE CARE FOR SENIORS: PUBLIC AND PROFESSIONAL AWARENESS

Seniors living with disease or dying should be able to receive competent, comprehensive, and compassionate end-of-life care that offers dignity, self-determination, and relief from pain and suffering. Such care is predicated on an informed public and health and social service providers who are in end-of-life issues and appropriate approaches. There is, however, little evidence that seniors and their families are about end-of-life issues or about their treatment and care options. Furthermore, health and social service providers do not predictably receive the education and training necessary to ensure a high quality of end-of-life care for seniors. This paper discusses public and professional awareness and offers strategies aimed at increasing awareness of end-of-life issues. These strategies also support the development of an approach to end-of-life care for seniors that is caring, compassionate, and ethically, spiritually, and culturally appropriate. The article contributes to an emerging agenda directed at ensuring that all seniors receive end-of-life care that allows a positive conclusion to their lives.     

The role of higher education institutions in national development

Abstract from the report of the International Conference on Education (33rd Session) of the International Bureau of Education. It deals with (i) the role of higher education institutions in national development, (ii) improving and sustaining the competence of educators and (iii) managing the system of education.     

Radiation reaction forces and the expanding universe

The expanding universe is described in terms of the known forces of classical physics. It is shown that great clouds of stars are non-conservative systems and that radiation reaction forces play a part in guiding stellar motions. The forces are of importance in unsymmetrical stars and evidence is collected to show that perhaps all stars are possessed of deep seated thermal asymmetries. The forces continually act to increase the mean velocity of the stars and the galaxy is calculated to expand at a rate which closely approximates the observed rate of expansion. From a relation connecting the mean velocity of the stars and their age, it is deduced from the observed motions that the age of the galaxy is about 10¹⁰ years. The deduced rate of expansion of the galaxy agrees well with the observational data and is identical in form and numerical constant with Hubble's relation connecting the velocity of recession and distances of nebulæ.Because of the relative size and spacing of the extra galactic nebulæ and the short time scale it is supposed that the nebulae were formed by fission from a parent-super nebula and this resulted in thermal asymmetries which brought the newly considered forces into action.The resulting expansion was produced by slow evolutionary radiation processes which bear no direct relation to the properties of space or atomic constants.The calculations suggest that in describing the motions of typical stars over long periods of time, radiation reaction forces are as important as the classical gravitational forces.