Evaluating taught postgraduate awards from the student’s perspective

There is a need for a questionnaire designed specifically to evaluate taught postgraduate (TPg) awards for quality assurance or enhancement purposes. Comparison of undergraduate and TPg awards suggests that as the former have broadened their ambit to better nurture generic graduate attributes, TPg awards have concentrated on advanced specialised knowledge and skills. Those enrolling in TPg programmes are often mature part-time students working in a field associated with the subject studied. A set of interviews with TPg students revealed that they had clear expectations of the knowledge and skills they were expected to acquire from their studies and were able to comment critically on curriculum design. This made it clear that instruments designed for undergraduate degrees would not be suitable. Therefore, a TPg questionnaire was designed based on a model derived from a qualitative study, which adopted a grounded theory approach to collect views from 21 part-time TPg students from seven programmes offered by six institutions in Hong Kong. The conceptual model underpinning the questionnaire design was tested using structural equation modelling. As the results showed a good fit to the data, the validity of the questionnaire was confirmed. Use of the instrument in a routine quality assurance exercise across a university revealed that results from the questionnaire were highly diagnostic, so providing constructive feedback for curriculum reform.     

个案研究方法在教育游戏研究中的应用

个案研究是以一个人或一个团体为研究对象,广泛搜集各种资料,综合运用各种方法,对复杂情境中的现象进行深入探究的研究策略。在我们开展的VISOLE(Virtual Interactive Student-Oriented Learning Environment)研究项目中,就采用个案研究方法来深入研究同学的动机、行为和学习成效,并取得了良好的效果。文章仔细讲解了采用该方法的动机、本个案研究的特点以及具体的研究过程。     

A hidden cost of strategic alliances under Schumpeterian dynamics

Recently, proponents of interfirm R&D collaboration have emphasized its benefits. We develop a dynamic model of Schumpeterian competition to examine whether such collaboration is indeed beneficial in the long run. We find that interfirm R&D collaboration is more likely to be a losing strategy when partners form alliances mainly to reduce R&D costs. On the other hand, partners collaborating to seek synergy by accessing each other's complementary assets/capabilities are more likely to be successful. Our study suggests that firms should not use strategic alliances merely to reduce R&D costs in a catch-up situation or to avoid head-on competition with rivals.     

Rapid separation of bacteriorhodopsin using a laminar-flow extraction system in a microfluidic device

A protein separation technology using the microfluidic device was developed for the more rapid and effective analysis of target protein. This microfluidic separation system was carried out using the aqueous two-phase system (ATPS) and the ionic liquid two-phase system (ILTPS) for purification method of the protein sample, and the three-flow desalting system was used for the removal of salts from the sucrose-rich sample. Partitioning of the protein sample was observed in ATPS or ILTPS with the various pHs. The microdialysis system was applied to remove small molecules, such as sucrose and salts in the microfluidic channel with the different flow rates of buffer phase. A complex purification method, which combines microdialysis and ATPS or ILTPS, was carried out for the effective purification of bacteriorhodopsin (BR) from the purple membrane of Halobacterium salinarium, which was then analyzed by sodium dodecyl sulfatepolyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and matrix-assisted laser desorption∕ionization time-of-flight. Furthermore, we were able to make a stable three-phase flow controlling the flow rate in the microfluidic channel. Our complex purification methods were successful in purifying and recovering the BR to its required value.     

Combining the evidence of different relevance feedback methods for information retrieval

It has been known that retrieval effectiveness can be significantly improved by combining multiple evidence from different query or document representations, or multiple retrieval techniques. In this paper, we combine multiple evidence from different relevance feedback methods, and investigate various aspects of the combination. We first generate multiple query vectors for a given information problem in a fully automatic way by expanding an initial query vector with various relevance feedback methods. We then perform retrieval runs for the multiple query vectors, and combine the retrieval results. Experimental results show that combining the evidence of different relevance feedback methods can lead to substantial improvements of retrieval effectiveness.     

西安住宅室内空气中醛酮类污染物特征

采用主动式气体采样、2,4-DNPH二硝基苯肼吸收、高效液相色谱（HPLC）分析研究了西安市冬、夏两季三所普通居民住宅室内、外空气中13种醛酮类化合物。结果表明：冬、夏两季西安地区住宅室内空气中醛酮类污染物浓度水平均较高。其中,夏季室内、外空气中13种醛酮类化合物总质量浓度为85.86±30.33 µg•m-3和78.86±31.40 µg•m-3,冬季为85.40±28.50 µg•m-3和53.77±16.39 µg•m-3;室内均高于室外;甲醛、乙醛、丙酮为最高组分,三者为总质量的75~80%;三所住宅中,2号住宅（H2）醛类污染物严重,表明装修材料（木地板）与吸烟均有一定程度贡献。     

The Roles of Group Status and Group Membership in the Practice of Hypodescent

Hypodescent emerged in U.S. history to reinforce racial hierarchy. Research suggests that among contemporary U.S. adults, hypodescent continues to shape social perception. Among U.S. children, however, hypodescent is less likely to be endorsed. Here, we tested for hypodescent by introducing U.S. children (ages 4–9) and adults (N = 273) to hierarchically ordered novel groups (one was high status and another was low status) and then to a child who had one parent from each group. In Study 1, we presented the groups in a third-party context. In Study 2, we randomly assigned participants to the high-status or the low-status group. Across both studies, participants did not reliably endorse hypodescent, raising questions as to what elicits this practice.     

From Learning Beliefs to Achievement Among Chinese Immigrant and European American Preschool Children

Little research exists on how immigrant children develop their beliefs about school learning (BASLs) in their home and host cultures. We examined the BASLs and achievement children of Chinese immigrants’ (CCI) and European American (EA) children. We followed longitudinally 120 middle-class children from age 4 to 5, balanced for gender. Children heard two story beginnings depicting a child eager to attend school and another not. Children completed the stories and were tested for math and literacy achievement. We found seven BASLs. CCIs and EAs showed similar BASLs. Awareness of parental involvement and intellectual benefit consistently explained their achievement, with CCIs showing greater achievement. CCIs’ (but not EAs’) valuation of learning explained their net academic growth. Implications on CCIs’ development are discussed.     

Variations in Practice Reading Aloud: Ten Versus Twenty Minutes

In this study we compared effects of practice time reading aloud to an adult on improvement in reading rate and comprehension. Eighty-one poor readers in 2nd and 4th grade, including 38 English Learner students (ELs), served as their own controls by participating in two practice conditions, each 3 times per week for 7 weeks: (a) 10 min reading aloud one-to-one to an adult listener and (b) 20 min reading aloud one-to-one. Repeated measures analysis of variance showed that 20 min of practice was better than 10 min for 4th graders, but not for 2nd graders, and gains in rate accelerated across the 14 weeks of practice. We found no differences in rate gains across conditions between ELs and native English speakers. After controlling for pretests, reading rate at posttest, along with vocabulary, contributed significant variance to reading comprehension outcomes.