Social Networks among Students, Peer TAs, and Instructors and Their Impacts on Student Learning in the Blended Environment: A Model Development and Testing

Due to its flexibility and effectiveness, blended learning has become popular in higher education. Previous studies have discussed and presented various methods and cases that one can use and leverage in blended courses. Other studies have described and examined the technology and/or systems that support blended learning. However, no research has examined student learning from the social network perspective. Compared with traditional face-to-face instruction, blended learning incorporates a great portion of online activities. Thus, blended learning typically features fewer interactions among students, teaching assistants (if any), and instructors. Therefore, we need to examine whether and how (if any) social networks among students, peer teaching assistants, and instructors could influence student learning in the blended environment. To do so, we developed and tested a research model with a large sample size of 699 students who took a blended class. The results indicated that all three types of networks (including student-student networks, student-peer TA networks, and student-instructor networks) significantly influenced both social presence and interaction, which, in turn, had significant impacts on learning climate and perceived academic performance

Virtual worlds: a reflection beyond the digital

El desarrollo tecnológico ha posibilitado que la Internet sea un espacio que alberga nuevas realidades conocidas como mundos virtuales, los cuales se caracterizan por ser entornos simbólicos, en donde los usuarios pueden interactuar por medio de autorrepresentaciones digitales conocidas como avatares. Algunos ejemplos de estos mundos son Minecraft, Second Life, Garena Free Fire o World of Warcraft, en los que millones de personas interactúan simultáneamente gracias a las potencialidades de las tecnologías que subyacen. Pese a lo que se podría pensar, estos mundos virtuales existen desde antes de la aparición de la Internet y se articulan en diferentes juegos de rol, historias, mitos, leyendas y creencias que forman parte del acervo cultural, los cuales se caracterizaban por promover procesos de socialización y aculturación, fomentar la identidad social y la cohesión, etcétera. Al tratarse de espacios simbólicos, estos escenarios precisan de distintos artefactos culturales que permiten la interacción con ellos. En este sentido, es posible pensar que los mundos virtuales pueden prescindir de la infraestructura tecnológica, pero no de una infraestructura simbólica. De aquí que el objetivo de esta disertación teórica es analizar aquellos artefactos culturales que dan sustento y cabida a los mundos virtuales. Para ello, se plantean tres ejes analíticos: los fenómenos relacionados a la creación de nuevos mundos, los mecanismos que posibilitan la habitabilidad de mundos intangibles y finalmente, los instrumentos de comunicación subyacentes.Technological development has enabled the Internet to be a space that contains new realities known as virtual worlds, which are characterized by being symbolic environments, where users can interact through digital self-representations known as avatars. Some examples of these worlds are Minecraft, Second Life, Garena Free Fire, or World of Warcraft, where millions of people interact simultaneously thanks to the potential of the underlying technologies. Despite what one might think, these virtual worlds have existed since before the appearance of the Internet and are articulated in different role-playing games, stories, myths, legends, and beliefs that are part of the cultural heritage, which were characterized by promoting processes of socialization and acculturation, promoting social identity and cohesion, and so on. As they are symbolic spaces, these settings require different cultural artifacts that allow interaction with them. In this sense, it is possible to think that virtual worlds can do without technological infrastructure, but not a symbolic infrastructure. Hence, the objective of this theoretical dissertation is to analyze those cultural artifacts that support virtual worlds. For this, three analytical axes are proposed: the phenomena related to the creation of new worlds, the mechanisms that enable the habitability of intangible worlds, and finally the underlying communication instruments

Multisensory Analysis of Consumer-Product Interaction During Ceramic Tile Shopping Experiences

[EN] The need to design products that engage several senses has being increasingly recognised by design and marketing professionals. Many works analyse the impact of sensory stimuli on the hedonic, cognitive, and emotional responses of consumers, as well as on their satisfaction and intention to purchase. However, there is much less information about the utilitarian dimension related to a sensory non-reflective analysis of the tangible elements of the experience, the sequential role played by different senses, and their relative importance. This work analyses the sensorial dimension of consumer interactions in shops. Consumers were filmed in two ceramic tile shops and their behaviour was analysed according to a previously validated checklist. Sequence of actions, their frequency of occurrence, and the duration of inspections were recorded, and consumers were classified according to their sensory exploration strategies. Results show that inspection patterns are intentional but shifting throughout the interaction. Considering the whole sequence, vision is the dominant sense followed by touch. However, sensory dominance varies throughout the sequence. The dominance differences appear between all senses and within the senses of vision, touch and audition. Cluster analysis classified consumers into two groups, those who were more interactive and those who were visual and passive evaluators. These results are very important for understanding consumer interaction patterns, which senses are involved (including their importance and hierarchy), and which sensory properties of tiles are evaluated during the shopping experience. Moreover, this information is crucial for setting design guidelines to improve sensory interactions and bridge sensory demands with product features.The Spanish Ministry of Culture and Education funded this research with Grant No. PSE-020400-2007-1.Artacho Ramírez, MÁ.; Alcantara Alcover, E.; Martínez, N. (2020). Multisensory Analysis of Consumer-Product Interaction During Ceramic Tile Shopping Experiences. Multisensory Research. 33(2):213-249. https://doi.org/10.1163/22134808-20191391S21324933