A long-term experiment to investigate the relationships between high school students’ perceptions of mobile learning and peer interaction and higher-order thinking tendencies

In this study, a one-year program was conducted to investigate the relationships between students’ perceptions of mobile learning and their tendencies of peer interaction and higher-order thinking in issue-based mobile learning activities. To achieve the research objective, a survey consisting of eight scales, namely, usability, continuity, adaptive content, collaboration, communication, problem-solving, critical thinking and creativity, was developed. A total of 658 students from 38 high schools in Taiwan filled in the questionnaire after experiencing issue-based mobile learning activities. From the exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses, it was found that the questionnaire had high reliability and validity. The structural equation model further revealed that the provision of adaptive content in the mobile learning had positive impacts on the students’ tendency to interact with peers (i.e., collaboration and communication), which further affected their tendency to engage in higher-order thinking (i.e., problem-solving, critical thinking, and creativity). The findings of this study provide a good reference for researchers and school teachers who intend to promote mobile learning in school settings.     

A quasi-experimental research on the educational value of performance assessment

The purpose of this study is to demonstrate that performance assessment increases educational value in teachinglearning activities using a quasi-experimental research design. In this research, the three measurement criteria of educational value are suggested as ‘improvement & advancement,’ ‘sincerity & enthusiasm,’ and ‘individuality & wholeness.’ A pre-test was administered to 4 classes (156 students) in 7th grade. Classes were divided into an experimental group (2 classes, 79 students) and a control group (2 classes, 77 students), according to the pre-test results. Only the experimental group was involved in the performance assessment for 9 weeks. The results of this study show that performance assessment has a positive effect on the educational value of teaching-learning activities in schools.     

Structural design of a double-layered porous hydrogel for effective mass transport

Mass transport in porous materials is universal in nature, and its worth attracts great attention in many engineering applications. Plant leaves, which work as natural hydraulic pumps for water uptake, have evolved to have the morphological structure for fast water transport to compensate large water loss by leaf transpiration. In this study, we tried to deduce the advantageous structural features of plant leaves for practical applications. Inspired by the tissue organization of the hydraulic pathways in plant leaves, analogous double-layered porous models were fabricated using agarose hydrogel. Solute transport through the hydrogel models with different thickness ratios of the two layers was experimentally observed. In addition, numerical simulation and theoretical analysis were carried out with varying porosity and thickness ratio to investigate the effect of structural factors on mass transport ability. A simple parametric study was also conducted to examine unveiled relations between structural factors. As a result, the porosity and thickness ratio of the two layers are found to govern the mass transport ability in double-layered porous materials. The hydrogel models with widely dispersed pores at a fixed porosity, i.e., close to a homogeneously porous structure, are mostly turned out to exhibit fast mass transport. The present results would provide a new framework for fundamental design of various porous structures for effective mass transport.     

Core-shell hydrogel beads with extracellular matrix for tumor spheroid formation

Creating multicellular tumor spheroids is critical for characterizing anticancer treatments since they may provide a better model of the tumor than conventional monolayer culture. Moreover, tumor cell interaction with the extracellular matrix can determine cell organization and behavior. In this work, a microfluidic system was used to form cell-laden core-shell beads which incorporate elements of the extracellular matrix and support the formation of multicellular spheroids. The bead core (comprising a mixture of alginate, collagen, and reconstituted basement membrane, with gelation by temperature control) and shell (comprising alginate hydrogel, with gelation by ionic crosslinking) were simultaneously formed through flow focusing using a cooled flow path into the microfluidic chip. During droplet gelation, the alginate acts as a fast-gelling shell which aids in preventing droplet coalescence and in maintaining spherical droplet geometry during the slower gelation of the collagen and reconstituted basement membrane components as the beads warm up. After droplet gelation, the encapsulated MCF-7 cells proliferated to form uniform spheroids when the beads contained all three components: alginate, collagen, and reconstituted basement membrane. The dose-dependent response of the MCF-7 cell tumor spheroids to two anticancer drugs, docetaxel and tamoxifen, was compared to conventional monolayer culture.     

Child and Adolescent Predictors of Personality in Early Adulthood

This study investigated development of the Big Five personality traits from early childhood into adulthood. An initial group of 137 Swedish children were assessed eight times between ages 2 and 29 years. Initial decreases in extraversion leveled off in early adulthood; agreeableness and conscientiousness increased from ages 2 to 29; neuroticism initially increased, leveled off in later childhood and adolescence, and decreased throughout early adulthood; while openness to experience showed an initial increase, then decreased and leveled off in early adulthood. Individual developmental trajectories varied significantly, particularly in relation to gender. Personality traits became increasingly stable, and the fact that childhood scores predicted scores in adulthood indicated that personalities are fairly stable across this portion of the life span.     

A study on the application of laozi ’s thoughts on educational leadership and management

This paper attempts to apply historical methods to help understand the relationship between the philosophy espoused in the works of Laozi or Tao De Ching and educational leadership. The objective is to study the thought of Laozi regarding leadership, to identify ideas and solutions that can be applied in modern educational management, as well as to provide a new definition and values to the ideas of Laozi. Laozi lived in ancient times, meaning that the works describing his thought are difficult to understand. The present study is primarily based on English sources written on Laozi by Ju-Chou Yang and on the commentary on Laozi by Bi Wang. Additionally, this article also refers to and compares other comments on the ideas of Laozi regarding management. This study finds that Laozi had varied ideas on management and philosophy. Laozi ’s views regarding organization are still relevant today. He stressed flexibility and the importance of adapting to the environment. As regards leadership, Laozi emphasized non-action, softness, humility, calmness and the elimination of desire. Furthermore, in his art of employment, Laozi insisted that leaders must overcome their personal likes and dislikes in relation to individuals to ensure the full utilization of their potential.