Routed through Canada: a roundtable discussion on Inter-Asia and transnational research

ABSTRACT

The series of reflections are based on a roundtable discussion amongst Canada-based scholars with research interest in transnational, postcolonial, migration and diaspora studies. Their reflections engage with key ideas from Inter-Asia Cultural Studies through the lens of their research practices and personal histories. Y-Dang Troeung revisits generational memories that are shaped by the “Cold War fraternity” of China, Cambodia, and North Korea through the perspective of Critical Refugee Studies and her personal transits between Asia and Canada. Robert Diaz traces shifts in migratory routes by attending to diasporic returns to the Philippines under complex conditions of globalization that shape and constrain mobility between North America and Asia. Lara Campbell examines overlooked moments of transpacific connections in Canadian women’s history to show how Inter-Asia encounters complicated the racial dynamics of the suffrage movement in early twentieth century British Columbia. The roundtable discussion demonstrates the potential for ongoing dialogues on Inter-Asia issues among scholars in Canada and beyond.     

Clay-Based Modeling in the Anatomist's Toolkit: A Systematic Review

Anatomical education has suffered from reduced teaching time and poor availability of staff and resources over the past thirty years. Clay-based modeling (CBM) is an alternative technique for teaching anatomy that can improve student knowledge and experience. This systematic review aimed to summarize and appraise the quality of the literature describing the uses, advantages, and limitations of CBM compared to alternative methods of teaching human gross anatomy to students or qualified healthcare professionals. A systematic search of Embase, MEDLINE, Scopus, and Web of Science databases was conducted, and the Medical Education Research Quality Instrument (MERSQI) was used to assess study quality. Out of the 829 studies identified, 12 papers met the inclusion criteria and were eligible for this review. The studies were of high quality, with a mean MERSQI score of 11.50/18. Clay-based modeling can be used to teach all gross anatomical regions, and 11 studies demonstrated a significant improvement in short-term knowledge gain in students who used CBM in comparison to other methods of learning anatomy. Eight studies that included subjective assessment showed that CBM is rated highly. However, some studies showed that students viewed CBM as juvenile and experienced difficulty making the models. Additionally, there is no evidence to suggest that CBM improves long-term knowledge. Clay-based modeling is an effective learning method for human gross anatomy and should be incorporated into the anatomists' toolkit. In the future, more randomized controlled studies with transparent study designs investigating the long-term impact of CBM are needed.     

Effects of video-based flipped class instruction on subject reading motivation

Video-based flipped class instruction can strengthen the learning motivation of students. The effectiveness of flipped class instruction on teaching effectiveness and subject satisfaction has been evaluated previously. The present study aims to examine the impact of two aspects of subject reading motivation. A total of 100 secondary school students were recruited from 4 classes of 25 students (ie, video-based flipped Mathematics class, traditional Mathematics class, video-based flipped Liberal Studies (LS) class and traditional LS class) in two local secondary schools. The same teachers taught both the traditional and video-based flipped classes in their subject. The students filled in questionnaires which measured: motivation for general reading; motivation for subject reading; academic subject satisfaction and perceived teaching effectiveness of the teachers. Analysis of covariance controlling for motivation for general reading revealed that students in the flipped classes reported significantly lower motivation for subject reading including reading curiosity, reading importance and reading compliance (t (1,98) = 10.52, p < 0.001; t (1,98) = 7.68, p < 0.001; t (1,98) = 20.39, p < 0.001, respectively). However, students in the flipped classes reported significantly higher satisfaction and teaching effectiveness than those in the traditional classes (t (1,98) = −15.61. p < 0.001; t (1,98) = −11.98, p <0.001, respectively). A partial correlation controlling for motivation for general reading indicated that motivation for subject reading was negatively associated with academic subject satisfaction and perceived teaching effectiveness of teachers (rs ranged from −0.51 to −0.62, p < 0.001). Video-based flipped class instruction was not only related to increased academic subject satisfaction and teaching effectiveness but also associated with lower motivation for subject reading. These findings suggest that video-based flipped class instruction had limited capability to strengthen the learning motivation of students.     

Computational fluid dynamics simulation of the wind flow over an airport terminal building

Turbulence in the wake generated by wind flow over buildings or obstacles may produce complex flow patterns in downstream areas. Examples include the recirculating flow and wind deficit areas behind an airport terminal building and their potential impacts on the aircraft landing on nearby runways. A computational fluid dynamics （CFD） simulation of the wind flow over an airport terminal building was performed in this study of the effect of the building wake on landing aircraft. Under normal meteorological conditions, the studied airport terminal building causes limited effects on landing aircraft because most of the aircraft have already landed before entering the turbulent wake region. By simulating the approach of a tropical cyclone, additional CFD sensitivity tests were performed to study the impacts of building wake under extreme meteorological conditions. It was found that, in a narrow range of prevalent wind directions with wind speeds larger than a certain threshold value, a substantial drop in wind speed （〉3.6 m/s） along the glide path of aircraft was observed in the building wake. Our CFD results also showed that under the most critical situation, a drop in wind speed as large as 6.4 m/s occurred right at the touchdown point of landing aircraft on the runway, an effect which may have a significant impact on aircraft operations. This study indicated that a comprehensive analysis of the potential impacts of building wake on aircraft operations should be carried out for airport terminals and associated buildings in airfields to ensure safe aviation operation under all meteorological conditions and to facilitate implementation of precautionary measures.     

Culture,motivation, and reading achievement: High school students in 41 countries

This study examined how cultural values and family cultural capital were linked to adolescents' motivation and reading achievement using multilevel analyses on reading tests and questionnaire responses of 193,841 fifteen-year-olds in 41 countries. In countries that valued more rigid gender roles, girls had lower reading achievement than girls in other countries. Also, the link between extrinsic motivation and achievement was weaker for both boys and girls in more masculine countries than those in other countries, supporting the view that discouraging students from their preferred non-traditional career tracks reduces competition for the remaining students. This reduces the impact of extrinsic motivation on reading achievement for both types of students. Students with more family cultural capital (cultural possessions and cultural communication) had higher interest in reading, extrinsic motivation, effort and perseverance, and higher reading achievement than other students. These findings can inform education policy to improve students' reading achievement.     

Publishing trends in Chinese medicine and related subjects documented in WorldCat

BACKGROUND: Chinese medicine (CM) has been the subject of increasing interest in the past 30 years, both as a discipline and in the larger context of alternative medicine. It has steadily been accepted by and integrated into the medical and health-care fields in many countries. OBJECTIVE: This study aims to gain an overview of how CM has been interpreted and presented to the world outside China and to identify emerging trends. METHODS: This study is designed to analyse the publishing trends of CM and related subjects in all languages except Chinese, ranging from books and serials to audio-visual and electronic resources found in WorldCat, the world's largest bibliographic database produced by OnLine Computer Library Center (OCLC). RESULTS: The findings showed a flourishing growth of publications in CM and related subjects beginning in the 1970s with greater coverage on acupuncture. The materials in English language constitute the major portion of total output. CONCLUSION: We conclude that Chinese medicine has steadily gained recognition in the world based on the analysis of publication records. The translation of original works and analysis of journal literature and conference proceedings on Chinese medicine merit further study.     

Transformation of students into active and participatory citizens: an exploratory study in Hong Kong

Based on the data collected from focus groups and individual interviews with secondary school students and civic education teachers, this article explores how young people are transformed to become active and participatory citizens. The findings show that the roles and personal beliefs of civic education teachers are of critical significance at the very first stage whereas their teaching methods help enable students to construct the notion of active and participatory citizenship at the second stage. Eventually students gradually develop a strong sense of civic responsibility and competence through social inquiry and political action in the transformation process.     

New assessment process in an introductory undergraduate physics laboratory: an exploration on collaborative learning

A new team learning assessment process was designed and tested in a first-year university physics laboratory class. The assessment process was designed to provide a strong incentive for students to cooperate and feel responsible for each other’s learning and fostering a sense of collaboration rather than competition. Specifically, the new assessment process involves randomly dividing students into teams of four to work on a physics experiment and, at the end of the laboratory session, randomly selecting only one team member to carry out a post-laboratory session performance task. The results indicate that learning outcomes were not compromised in the new assessment process and that peer instruction was employed to a greater extent compared to our standard process. Student responses from a post-assessment survey revealed that 76% of students considered our new assessment process to be fair, whereas 57% of students felt our standard process was fair. The new assessment process used in this study led to a 75% reduction in grading duties – an advantage for large class management.     

Lifelong learning and learning to learn: An enabler of new voices for the new times

Over the last two decades, there have been numerous attempts to review and re-examine whether conventional learning and teaching approaches are still useful or relevant. Lifelong learning institutions have grown in number and scope, and now fulfil a significant function in bridging the gap between what traditional formal education systems provide and what the rapidly changing labour market requires. Lifelong learning is a mode of seamless learning, whereby informal and experiential learning acquired in various settings can be converted to recognised learning, thereby helping to systematise the various learning experiences into knowledge formation, knowledge building and knowledge creation. This paper analyses certain features of the 21st century such as the knowledge economy, diversity and plurality, and equity. Communities now need to provide more opportunities for everyone to learn for their individual needs, especially when societal changes are happening at a fast pace and in an unpredictable manner. Anticipatory learning for the unknown will become a significant agenda of teaching and learning in the new times, and thus, the availability of lifelong learning opportunities will be essential for preparing citizens of the new times to meet the changing needs that confront them.