An institutional analysis of an e-government system for anti-corruption: The case of OPEN

E-government is increasingly being used to improve transparency in the government sector and to combat corruption. Using institutional theory as an analytical perspective, this study documents and evaluates the development of an anti-corruption system called OPEN (Online Procedures ENhancement for civil application) in the Seoul Metropolitan Government. Incorporating three distinctive (yet interrelated) dimensions of institutionalization (regulatory/coercive, cognitive/mimetic, and normative), and four anti-corruption strategies embedded in the system, this study investigates how an e-government system for anti-corruption in a local government has evolved and become a prototype of a national system to be used for the same purpose. The findings show that in implementing OPEN, a system for anti-corruption, the regulatory dimension was most effective, and (as in many IS implementations) strong leadership was crucial to its success.     

Critical Perspectives on Colonisation of the Art Curriculum in Korea

This article examines some characteristics of art education in Korea. It takes the form of a historical overview using a postcolonial lens. The findings were that the predominant Western aesthetic concepts and theories as central culture embodied in Korean art education as local culture are: (i) ideas of art as self‐expression developed in Europe and the USA between the 1920s and 1950s; (ii) the concept of art in daily living in the USA in the 1930s; (iii) design elements and principles by Arthur Wesley Dow in the USA in the 1920s; (iv) Bauhaus design theory in Europe in the 1920s; and (v) the appreciation of nature beauty by John Ruskin in the late nineteenth century in England. These educational ideas have been influential on policy‐making in Korean art education, and therefore new concepts are integrated with these elements for curriculum changes. In this way, the characteristic of the colonised Korean art curriculum is so hybrid that it is difficult to understand the concepts and the practical implications of the various policies for art teaching. Consequently, it has not served the issues of cultural diversity and pluralism that are so problematic in twenty‐first century Korean society.     

Investigation of chemistry graduate teaching assistants' teacher knowledge and teacher identity

Graduate students play an integral role in undergraduate chemistry education at doctoral granting institutions where they routinely serve as instructors of laboratories and supplementary discussion sessions. Simultaneously, graduate teaching assistants (GTAs) balance major research and academic responsibilities. Although GTAs have substantial instructional facetime with large numbers of undergraduate students, little is known about their conceptions of teaching or their identities as teachers. To investigate the knowledge that GTAs have regarding teaching in this unique context, their teaching identities, and how these developed, we conducted 22 interviews with graduate students from several universities at various levels in their graduate school career using a modified Teacher Beliefs Interview. Interviews were analyzed for two overarching teacher learning constructs: teacher knowledge and teacher identity. We characterized chemistry GTAs' teacher knowledge and identity and determined major influencing factors. We found that chemistry GTAs often identified as a tutor or lab manager, which hindered their self-investment in developing as teachers. The results presented herein contribute to an understanding of GTAs' teacher knowledge, teacher identity, and their teaching context, from which training can be designed to best support GTA development.     

Validation of a model of personalised learning

This article focuses on a Personalised Learning model which has 19 scales that were used to evaluate regional students’ perceptions of their readiness to learn, assessment processes, engagement, extent to which their learning is personalised and their associations with academic efficacy, academic achievement and student well-being. The data came from an average of 2700 students during each year of a 3-year study in six schools in provincial Victoria. A previously reported instrument was developed to measure students’ and teachers’ perceptions of the above factors affecting the implementation of Personalised Learning Plans (PLPs). It employed the latest scales to assess a range of PLP indicator variables, with all scales modified for use in an Australian context and with the total number of items kept to a minimum. Only scales that were more sensitive to PLPs were used in order to minimise the length of the instrument. There were three outcome variables: academic efficacy, academic achievement and student well-being. The emergent model demonstrates that addressing personalisation of learning and well-being depends on a combination of factors rather than “just getting one factor right”. This implies that there is a need for a coherent and collaborative approach for addressing the needs of students of low socioeconomic status.     

Structured Constructs Models Based on Change‐Point Analysis

This study proposes a structured constructs model (SCM) to examine measurement in the context of a multidimensional learning progression (LP). The LP is assumed to have features that go beyond a typical multidimentional IRT model, in that there are hypothesized to be certain cross‐dimensional linkages that correspond to requirements between the levels of the different dimensions. The new model builds on multidimensional item response theory models and change‐point analysis to add cut‐score and discontinuity parameters that embody these substantive requirements. This modeling strategy allows us to place the examinees in the appropriate LP level and simultaneously to model the hypothesized requirement relations. Results from a simulation study indicate that the proposed change‐point SCM recovers the generating parameters well. When the hypothesized requirement relations are ignored, the model fit tends to become worse, and the model parameters appear to be more biased. Moreover, the proposed model can be used to find validity evidence to support or disprove initial theoretical hypothesized links in the LP through empirical data. We illustrate the technique with data from an assessment system designed to measure student progress in a middle‐school statistics and modeling curriculum.     

Rates and Predictors of Counseling Center Use Among College Students of Color

A comparison of institutional enrollment data and counseling center service utilization data at 66 universities showed that neither ethnic minority students nor European American students under‐ or overutilized counseling services (Study 1). Data from Study 2 examining students in the general campus bodies at 45 institutions indicated that utilization of counseling center services for students of various ethnicities was predicted by the ethnic composition of the counseling center staff. Among students of color, utilization of campus counseling services was predicted by greater psychological distress, less family support, and a history of previous psychological problems.     

Aging and Text Comprehension: Interpretation and Domain Knowledge Advantage

In this study, young, middle-aged, and elderly adults read two different history texts. In the knowledge advantage condition, readers read a history text about an event that was well-known to readers of all ages but most familiar to elderly adults. In the no advantage condition, readers read a history text about a political situation of a country that no age groups knew much about. After reading the text, readers recalled and interpreted the texts. Comparison of the recall and the interpretation performance showed that while recall was best in the young group and declined with age, interpretation did not. The middle-aged and elderly adults generated interpretations that were equally deep and more synthetic than those of the young adults. They also generated interpretations with more diverse rationale statements. As for the effect of knowledge advantage its effect on text recall was straightforward: although not significant, age-group differences in recall were smaller in the knowledge advantage condition than in the no advantage condition, suggesting that age-related decline in recall can be moderated by older adults' knowledge advantage. The effect of knowledge advantage on text interpretation was less clear-cut. While knowledge facilitated interpretations, the facilitation was not uniform across different measures of interpretations, suggesting a complex interaction between text interpretation and knowledge.     

＂I don＇t see color,I only see children!＂： A study of teachers＇ color-blindness for Asian students/family

The purpose of this study is to explore USA educators＇ resistance toward cultural awareness for Korean students and families in the New York metropolitan area. The authors aim to challenge teachers＇ color-blindness that is widely spread among USA educators. Guided by critical race theory, the authors show that the perceived fairness of color-blindness could cause struggles for Korean parents and students in American schools. The authors posit USA teachers need to thoroughly understand that if a teacher does not see color, then s/he does not really see children. This study, hopefully, will help educators recognize the necessity of understanding diverse ethnic parents＇ perspectives and needs. Also, this study will provide an opportunity for educators to rethink assumptions that are embedded in color-blindness, and advance muiticultural education that is more culturally relevant and responsive for different ethnic/racial groups＇ needs.