Designing Interdisciplinary Assessments in Sciences for College Students: An example on osmosis

College science education needs to foster students' habit of mind beyond disciplinary constraints. However, little research has been devoted to assessing students' interdisciplinary understanding. To address this problem, we formed a team of experts from different disciplines to develop interdisciplinary assessments that target introductory college-level science. We started our project by focusing on osmosis, a topic that involves knowledge from multiple science disciplines. We developed an instrument focusing on this topic and administered it to 3 classes of college students. A Rasch partial credit analysis showed that the items demonstrated satisfactory psychometric properties. The findings also revealed the differences between student's disciplinary and interdisciplinary understanding. The educational implications of the study were discussed.     

Gender differences in behavioral regulation in four societies: The United States,Taiwan, South Korea,and China

The current study investigates gender differences in behavioral regulation in four societies: the United States, Taiwan, South Korea, and China. Directly assessed individual behavioral regulation (Head–Toes–Knees–Shoulders, HTKS), teacher-rated classroom behavioral regulation (Child Behavior Rating Scale, CBRS) and a battery of school readiness assessments (mathematics, vocabulary, and early literacy) were used with 814 young children (ages 3–6 years). Results showed that girls in the United States had significantly higher individual behavioral regulation than boys, but there were no significant gender differences in any Asian societies. In contrast, teachers in Taiwan, South Korea, as well as the United States rated girls as significantly higher than boys on classroom behavioral regulation. In addition, for both genders, individual and classroom behavioral regulation were related to many aspects of school readiness in all societies for girls and boys. Universal and culturally specific findings and their implications are discussed.     

Teachers' beliefs and technology acceptance concerning smart mobile devices for SMART education in South Korea

Teachers' beliefs are a major factor in the effective use of new technology in teaching and learning. Recently, smart mobile devices (SMDs) such as smartphones, smart pads and tablet computers have been responsible for introducing broad innovations into the education field as Self-directed, Motivated, Adaptive, Resources-enriched, Technology embedded education in South Korea. Teachers' beliefs and technology acceptance concerning SMDs in South Korea can be either a facilitator or a barrier to the use of SMDs in the classroom. The purpose of this study is to investigate the factors of teachers' beliefs concerning SMDs, and to examine teachers' technology acceptance of SMDs in their lessons. To address these goals, 378 primary and 390 secondary teachers participated in a survey with a 25-item paired adjective questionnaire and a 12-item technology acceptance questionnaire. A series of exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses and multiple regressions were applied for the statistical analysis. The results indicate that teachers' beliefs were consistently revealed the five factors of immediacy, interest, interactivity, instability and inconvenience. Regarding the effect of the technology acceptance of SMDs on teachers' beliefs, the factors of instability, inconvenience and interactivity strongly related to the perceived usefulness and ease of use of SMDs. This finding indicates that teachers' beliefs that SMDs are unstable or uncomfortable can be the main barrier to the use of technology in the classroom.     

Why Do We Indulge? Exploring Motivations for Binge Watching

This study explored an expanded definition and motivations for binge-watching behavior. In addition to the number of episodes, the amount of time, frequency, and engagement in binge-watched programs were considered for the binge-watching definition. Study findings revealed that over half of the respondents of this study were light binge viewers. In addition, among a total of seven motivations identified in literature, only the entertainment motivation is a significant predictor of binge watching for those with a low level of binge watching, while both passing time and entertainment were found to be significant predictors for those with a high level of binge watching.     

University students' behavioral intention to use mobile learning: Evaluating the technology acceptance model

As many Korean universities have recommended the implementation of mobile learning (m‐learning) for various reasons, the number of such tertiary learning opportunities has steadily grown. However, little research has investigated the factors affecting university students' adoption and use of m‐learning. A sample of 288 Konkuk university students participated in the research. The process by which students adopt m‐learning was explained using structural equation modeling technique and the Linear Structural Relationship (LISREL) program. The general structural model based on the technology acceptance model included m‐learning self‐efficacy, relevance for students' major (MR), system accessibility, subjective norm (SN), perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, attitude (AT), and behavioral intention to use m‐learning. The study results confirmed the acceptability of the model to explain students' acceptance of m‐learning. M‐learning AT was the most important construct in explaining the causal process in the model, followed by students' MR and SN.     

Do Library Fines Work?: Analysis of the Effectiveness of Fines on Patron's Return Behavior at Two Mid-sized Academic Libraries

Data on library fines imposed at Eastern Illinois University and the University of Hawaii at Manoa was extracted and compared to determine whether fines had an impact on the patron's return behavior. The results indicated that fines as well as patron group status (undergraduate, graduate, faculty) have an impact on the patron's return behavior.     

Toward an Analytic Framework of Interdisciplinary Reasoning and Communication (IRC) Processes in Science

Students need to think and work across disciplinary boundaries in the twenty-first century. However, it is unclear what interdisciplinary thinking means and how to analyze interdisciplinary interactions in teamwork. In this paper, drawing on multiple theoretical perspectives and empirical analysis of discourse contents, we formulate a theoretical framework that helps analyze interdisciplinary reasoning and communication (IRC) processes in interdisciplinary collaboration. Specifically, we propose four interrelated IRC processes—integration, translation, transfer, and transformation, and develop a corresponding analytic framework. We apply the framework to analyze two meetings of a project that aims to develop interdisciplinary science assessment items. The results illustrate that the framework can help interpret the interdisciplinary meeting dynamics and patterns. Our coding process and results also suggest that these IRC processes can be further examined in terms of interconnected sub-processes. We also discuss the implications of using the framework in conceptualizing, practicing, and researching interdisciplinary learning and teaching in science education.     

Many Languages,Many Workflows: Mapping and Analyzing Technical Services Processes for East Asian and International Studies Materials

This case study addresses a workflow analysis project undertaken in the International Studies and Asia Library technical services areas of the University of Michigan Library. The analysis was an opportunity to document existing technical services practices in three primary workflow areas: acquisitions/receiving, cataloging, and cataloging maintenance. International Studies began the project independently, and subsequently consultants were hired to work with both International Studies and Asia Library to find efficiencies and barriers, identify solutions, and propose future changes in non-Roman-language cataloging workflows. This article provides an account outlining the project background, implementation, outcomes, challenges, and lessons learned.     

Measuring Multidimensional Subjective Well-Being with the I COPPE Scale in a Hispanic Sample

The purpose of this study was to provide initial validity evidence for measuring multidimensional subjective well-being in a Hispanic sample with the Interpersonal, Community, Occupational, Physical, Psychological, Economic (I COPPE) Scale. Participants were 641 English-speaking adults who self-identified as Hispanic. Bi-factor analyses were used to evaluate (a) the a priori measurement theory for responses to the I COPPE Scale and (b) convergent relationships of the seven I COPPE subjective well-being factors with scores from established comparison instruments. There was evidence that (a) the a priori hypothesized measurement theory for responses to the I COPPE Scale emerged in an exploratory bi-factor analysis and (b) the I COPPE subjective well-being factors exhibited convergent relationships with scores from comparison instruments. Use of the I COPPE Scale to derive multidimensional measures of subjective well-being may be of potential utility to future research in the interdisciplinary study of human movement and in a diversity of populations in which health disparities may exist.     

Facilitating effective digital game-based learning behaviors and learning performances of students based on a collaborative knowledge construction strategy

Researchers have recognized the potential of educational computer games in improving students’ learning engagement and outcomes; however, facilitating effective learning behaviors during the gaming process remains an important and challenging issue. In this paper, a collaborative knowledge construction strategy was incorporated into an educational computer game to facilitate students’ knowledge sharing and organizing during the game-based learning process. An experiment was conducted to examine the students’ learning behavioral patterns, group efficacy, and problem-solving awareness. The experimental results revealed that the proposed approach improved the students’ learning achievements and awareness of problem-solving. Moreover, from the analysis of the students’ behavior sequences, it was found that, with the collaborative knowledge construction mechanism, the students revealed significantly more aggressive learning behavioral patterns, such as “comparing and observing the learning targets” and “seeking clues and answers” during the gaming process. This implies that integrating the collaborative knowledge construction mechanism into the gaming process has great potential for helping students effectively learn and organize knowledge as well as fostering their awareness of applying the acquired knowledge to dealing with problems.