Improving cognitive certitude with calibration mediated by cognitive anxiety,online learning self-efficacy and interest in learning Chinese pronunciation

Educational technology research and development - Calibration between judged and actual performance related to cognitive certitude is known as “cognitive certitude of calibration”...     

From designing artifacts to learning science: A dialectical perspective

How students come to know phenomena in terms of abstract concepts and theories through hands-on activities remains one of the open problems in science education. In this study, we develop a theory of learning science through design activities by employing a dialectical view of human activity that explicitly combines the mental and material in the same, irreducible unit of analysis. Dialectical contradictions embodied by this unit, here conceptualized as resistance experienced from a first-person perspective, constitute the inner forces that drive designing. Drawing on a large database of artifact designing constituted during a four-month unit on simple machines, we examine how resistance, in its dialectical relation to contradiction contributes to the unfolding design process and to the learning of scientific concepts and manual process skills during design. First, an inner contradiction emerges in the designers' lifeworlds as an unintended outcome or a breakdown and thereby changes the perceived world of a designer collective. Second, the dialectic of contradiction and resistance realized in this manner constitutes a moment unfolding culture of science in its concrete form embodied in individual designers and therefore contributes to the production and reproduction of culture. We conclude with a reflection on the implications our study makes to a non-dualist view of knowing and learning. SungWon Hwang is a research fellow of Science Education Research Center at Hanyang University in Korea. She received her Ph.D. from Seoul National University in 2002 and conducted her postdoctoral research at the University of Victoria. Her research projects are focused on the dialectical, embodied nature of human practice, learning, and identity in science activities, recently in the situation of crossing the boundaries of culture and language. She is a co-author of the book, Participation, Learning, and Identity: Dialectical perspectives (Lehmanns, 2005) with Wolff-Michael Roth, Yew Jin Lee, and Maria Ines M. Goulart. Wolff-Michael Roth is Lansdowne Professor of Applied Cognitive Science at the University of Victoria. His research focuses on knowing and learning science and mathematics across the lifespan and from kindergarten to professional practice. His recent publications include Toward an Anthropology of Graphing: Semiotic and Activity Theoretical Perspectives (Kluwer, 2003), Talking Science: Language and Learning in Science Laboratories (Rowman & Littlefield, 2005), Doing Qualitative Research: Praxis of Method (SensePublishers, 2005), Learning Science: A Singular Plural Perspective (SensePublishers, 2006), and, with A. C. Barton, Rethinking Scientific Literacy (Routledge, 2004).     

Defying expectations: Vocabulary growth trajectories of high performing language minority students

We investigated general vocabulary and academic vocabulary growth trajectories of adolescent language minority students using an individual growth modeling approach. Our analytical sample included 3161 sixth- to eighth-grade students from an urban school district in California. The language minority students in our sample were classified as initially fluent English proficient (IFEP), redesignated fluent English proficient (RFEP), or limited English proficient (LEP) students. The analytical sample was not a nationally representative sample and included a great number of Asian students and students who receive gifted and talented education. Students were assessed at four time points on a standardized measure of general vocabulary and a researcher-developed academic vocabulary test. On both vocabulary measures, IFEP students slightly outperformed English-only (EO) students on average, and EO students scored higher than RFEP and LEP students at baseline. RFEP and LEP students showed slower rate of growth than their EO peers in general vocabulary. While both EO and language minority students showed summer setback with general vocabulary knowledge on average, the magnitude of summer setback was not as great for LEP students. In academic vocabulary, all subgroups of language minority students showed more rapid rate of growth than their EO peers. Only the REP students experienced a change in the learning trajectory during the summer months. We discuss the implications of these findings for all language groups.     

Monotone routing in multirate rearrangeable logd（N,m，p） network

The construction of multirate rearrangeable network has long been an interesting problem. Of many results published, all were achieved on 3-stage Clos network. The monotone routing algorithm proposed by Huet al. (2001) was also first applied to 3-stage Clos network. In this work, we adopt this algorithm and apply it to log _d (N,m,p) networks. We first analyze the properties of log _d (N,m,p) networks. Then we use monotone algorithm in log _d (N,0,p) network. Furthermore we extend the result to construct multirate rearrangeable networks based on log _d (N,m,p) network (1≤m≤n−1). Project (No. 10371028) supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China     

Widening Our Global View: The Development of Career Counseling Services for International Students

The increased number of international students in United States universities and colleges have created the need for the development of services that appropriately reflect their needs and characteristics. The Career Center at the University of Missouri, Columbia reacted to this phenomenon by developing career services exclusively for international students. Career services are provided as individual services and online services, and consist of information on graduate schools and entrance examination practices, information on available employment opportunities and work permit policies, career assessments, and information about specific skills for obtaining a job in the United States. Several marketing strategies were used to ensure international students' use of services. Important points in developing career services for international students are presented.