Instructional design using an in-house built teaching assistant robot to enhance elementary school English-as-a-foreign-language learning

This paper presents a design for a cutting-edge English program in which elementary school learners of English as a foreign language in Taiwan had lively interactions with a teaching assistant robot. Three dimensions involved in the design included (1) a pleasant and interactive classroom environment as the learning context, (2) a teaching assistant robot designed and built by the researchers as instructional technology (instructional tool/medium), and (3) the need for improved motivation and learning outcomes and positive learning experiences of the students as the core research problem. This Human–Robot Interaction (HRI) led to better pedagogical effects on learning and teaching by (1) employing a vivid, enjoyable teaching approach; (2) adopting practical, interesting learning materials; and (3) creating a natural, enjoyable learning context. Both quantitative and qualitative findings of this study indicate that the students' English learning experiences were enhanced, as were their motivation and learning outcomes as a result of this HRI. This paper, instead of merely suggesting design criteria for robots, provides a set of instructional design guidelines that other researchers can follow to create an innovative and enjoyable English classroom that employs an interactive robot as an assistant for enhancing English acquisition while simultaneously reducing the pressure and teaching load of the English instructors.     

Ethics courses: Their impact on the values and ethical decisions of criminal justice students

Numerous articles and books advocate the importance of ethics as an essential component of a criminal justice curriculum. While there are several approaches suggested, one of the most popular methods of assuring coverage of this important topic is to add an ethics course to the curriculum either as a required or an elective course. Teaching students ethical theories, principles and providing them with the opportunity to discuss discipline specific ethics problems is thought to help contribute to the establishment of ethical practitioners.

The purpose of this research is to examine the impact of a semester long criminal justice ethics course on the students' value orientations, and their perceptions of both the seriousness of ethical violations and their likelihood of engaging in such behaviors. Our findings are consistent with the results of researchers evaluating ethics courses in other disciplines. Implications for criminal justice ethics education are discussed.     

尴尬新专业培养的菜鸟买手

正高考后,出于对地域、学校和分数等等的综合考量,我在志愿表上白纸黑字填上了H大学"文化产业管理"专业。班里50来个学生,有七成是女生。同学中一半来自上海本地,另一半来自全国各地。当然那时的我们,并不知道它具体会提供什么课程,更不知道我们会是该校"文化产业管理"专业培养的第一批"试验生"。我是一个理科生,稀里糊涂选择了"文化产业管理"专业。大学毕业后,我成为艺术品投资行业菜鸟一枚,在不断的学习和尝试中,缓慢而快乐地成长,用艺术照亮自己的未来。     

The spiral of silence: examining how cultural predispositions,news attention,and opinion congruency relate to opinion expression

This study examines new explanatory predictors behind the spiral of silence theory, using the issue of legalization of same-sex marriage in Singapore as the context of study. Our results show that fear of isolation and saving face were negatively associated with individuals' willingness to express their opinion on the issue, whereas news attention and issue salience were positively associated. Also, fear of isolation was negatively associated with individuals' willingness to offer a rationale for their opinion, whereas news attention and issue salience were positively associated. Power distance had no effects on outspokenness. Notably, news attention moderated the influence of fear of isolation and saving face on public outspokenness.     

Diversity and Social Justice Implications for Outcome Approaches to Evaluation

It is important that counsellors provide evidence regarding the efficacy of their services. Although there has been an increased focus on generic outcome measurement of counselling programs and services, little attention has been paid to accountability issues for meeting the needs of diverse populations. This article highlights the increasing relevance of cultural diversity for evaluation practices, using examples from the Canadian context. An overview is provided of the key issues for evaluation of programs and services involving culturally diverse individuals and how evaluation must incorporate social justice issues within service provision. Evaluation strategies are elaborated along with suggestions for enhancing the intercultural competence of evaluation personnel.     

Participation in organized sports,physical education,therapeutic exercises,and non-organized leisure-time physical activity: how does participation differ between childhood cancer outpatients and healthy peers?

Most childhood cancer survivors are insufficiently active. Researchers are focusing on strategies to increase physical activity (PA). However, a detailed understanding of participation in specific types of PA is missing, meaning current strategies may lack relevant information. Thus, our study sought to analyze participation in different types of PA commonly engaged in by children: organized sports, physical education in school (PES), therapeutic exercise, and non-organized leisure-time PA. Thirty-eight childhood cancer outpatients and 51 healthy children completed questionnaires. Compared to healthy children, childhood cancer outpatients, especially those who are shortly after cessation of inpatient treatment, participated significantly less often in organized sports and PES and significantly more often in therapeutic exercise compared to the healthy children. Considering organized sports and PES afford children unique social benefits and provide the potential to motivate lifelong activity, future efforts should be placed on ensuring children with cancer can access these types of PA. Educating parents, teachers, and coaches, exploring referral pathways to exercise professionals and providing individual support may enhance participation rates in organized PA and should be investigated.     

Promoting toddlers' self-regulation and healthy eating habits among families living in poverty: A randomized controlled trial of Recipe 4 Success

The Recipe 4 Success preventive intervention targeted multiple factors critical to the health and well-being of toddlers living in poverty. This randomized controlled trial, which was embedded within Early Head Start home visits for 12 weeks, included 242 racially and ethnically diverse families (51% girls; toddler mean age = 2.58 years; data collected 2016–2019). Compared to parents in usual practice home visits, parents in Recipe 4 Success displayed greater sensitive scaffolding of toddlers' learning and more responsive food parenting practices (Cohen's d = .21–.30). Toddlers in Recipe 4 Success exhibited greater self-regulation and had healthier eating habits (Cohen's d = |.16–.35|). Results highlight the value of Recipe 4 Success in promoting parent and toddler behavior change that could have life-long benefits.     

Can a dog be used as a motivator to develop social interaction and engagement with teachers for students with autism?

Research into children with autism indicates that therapeutic sessions with dogs might provide a way of encouraging social interaction and reducing solitary or repetitive behaviours. With recent educational ASD interventions aimed at providing ways of encouraging intrinsic motivation to socially engage, it is possible that sessions with dogs could be used in a similar way. The present study involved three students with ASD who were given five sessions with a dog and their teacher. Sessions followed a semi‐standardised approach and were recorded and coded on social behaviours, with qualitative observations made. Pre and post measures entailed ADOS‐2 assessments and teacher questionnaires. Results suggest that students' responses in sessions were highly individual; all showed an increase in meaningful social interactions with dog and teacher, reduction in solitary or repetitive behaviours within the sessions and reported generalisation effects in some areas. The study lends support to the research base on the beneficial impact of dogs for children with autism and suggests that sessions with dogs in school could act as a way to strengthen interactions and engagement with teachers.     

Validating the Digital Games Motivation Scale for Comparative Research Between Countries

Researchers interested in motives for playing digital games can draw on a variety of measurement instruments. When the aim is to compare between groups, however, instruments need to show certain psychometric properties. Specifically, an instrument needs to be invariant. Without such properties, comparisons between groups run the danger of yielding invalid results. The current study investigates to what extent the Digital Games Motivation Scale (DGMS) can be used to compare motivations between cultures by testing it in four different countries. Results indicate configural, metric, and partial scalar invariance for the cross-cultural comparisons. In conclusion, this study presents a psychometrically sound measurement instrument that can be used in cross-cultural settings.