Distance Education And Learning Styles: Some Interesting Results

The rush to offer web courses has left many questions as to what makes them effective and satisfactory. Important issues are: the perceived advantages of web-based courses; appropriate pedagogical tools (e.g., streaming media, PowerPoint presentations) to facilitate student-content interaction, media richness, and the influence of antecedent characteristics, such as gender, experience, motivation, and learning styles. Research here indicates support for media richness, web-based course advantages, some pedagogies, and minimal support for learning styles, at least Gardner’s multiple intelligences and Keirsey’s personality styles

Investigating the psychological and emotional dimensions in instructed language learning: obstacles and possibilities

In this article I put forth the core argument that Second Language Acquisition (SLA) needs to account for the psychological and emotional dimensions of second language (L2) learning, but that a number of epistemological and methodological difficulties must be surmounted before this new research program can be a reality. To illustrate my arguments, I examine in depth 2 research programs developed by my colleagues and me over the last decade: research on extraversion as a psychological variable investigated within the tradition of individual differences in SLA, and research on the expression of emotion in the L2. Throughout the article, I argue against research isolationism and for more interdisciplinarity in the field of instructed SLA. I contend that research on instructed SLA would benefit from an increased methodological and epistemological diversity and that a focus on affect and emotion among researchers might inspire authors of teaching materials and foreign language teachers to pay increased attention to the communication of emotion and the development of sociocultural competence in a L2

Preferred social support roles and methods of communication in college students when presented with potentially anxiety-inducing interpersonal situations

Person by situation, or interactional, psychology predicts that an individual\u27s anxiety will vary across situations. Past studies noted that anxiety increased the likelihood that an individual sought others for social support. Anxiety also affected the method of communication used by individuals. According to the richness model of anxiety, higher anxiety scores are associated with indirect or low richness methods of communication and lower anxiety scores are associated with direct or high richness methods of communication. This study used a person by situation approach to examine both whom participants sought and the method of communication used when presented with potentially anxiety-inducing interpersonal situations. Participants took part in a survey that consisted of a revised Taylor\u27s Manifest Anxiety Scale, Stimulus-Response Anxiety Inventory, and questions that required participants to report the role of the primary social support provider the participant would seek and the method of communication they would use to communicate with the primary social support provider. Anxiety scores associated with seeking primary social support providers were not significantly different within any situation nor did anxiety scores follow the richness model of anxiety. Regardless of the situation or anxiety, participants frequently sought friends and parents. Participants preferred high richness methods of communication regardless of situation or anxiety, which did not support the richness model of anxiety

Konceptualni model, potencijalni prediktori i dimenzije sklonosti prema uporabi Interneta

Numerous Internet related activities are rewarding and beneficial for private and professional life. Motivation for the use of the Internet is an important research topic in relation to populations and special groups who show a low level of Internet use despite the availability of a telecommunication infrastructure and satisfactory financial potential for the use of this medium. This paper presents a conceptual model of affinity for the use of the Internet, and also the results of empirical research of the potential predictors and factors of motivation for the use of the Internet. A survey was performed on 435 college students and the data were analyzed by regression analyses and factor analysis. The revealed potential predictors of frequency of Internet use and of the desire to use the Internet are discussed, as well as the dimensions of motivation for the use of the Internet that were uncovered by factor analysis.Brojne aktivnosti koje su povezane s uporabom Interneta mogu biti korisne za privatni život i profesionalne aktivnosti pojedinca. Motivacija za uporabu Interneta je važna istraživačka tema imajući u vidu populacije osoba i posebne skupine koje pokazuju nisku razinu korištenja Interneta i pored dostupne telekomunikacijske infrastrukture te zadovoljavajućih financijskih mogućnosti za korištenje tog medija. U ovom je članku prikazan konceptualni model sklonosti prema uporabi Interneta, a izloženi su i rezultati empirijskog istraživanja potencijalnih prediktora i faktora koji utječu na motivaciju za korištenje Interneta. Provedena je anketa na 435 sveučilišnih studenata i podaci su analizirani postupcima regresijske i faktorske analize. U radu je raspravljeno o utvrđenim potencijalnim prediktorima frekvencije uporabe Interneta, kao i želje za korištenjem Interneta, a također i o dimenzijama motivacije za uporabu Interneta koje su dobivene postupkom faktorske analize

Communication Channels, Social Support and Satisfaction in Long Distance Romantic Relationships

Based on uses and gratification theory, media richness theory, and social presence theory, the present study explores the role of different communication channels and social support in relationship maintenance among long distance dating partners. Specifically, how social support is related to relational uncertainty, how the use of different communication channels is related to social support variables, and what are main factors of relationship satisfaction are examined in this study. A total of 311 respondents participated in the study. All of four social support variables,emotional support, socializing, advice/guidance and support appraisals were found to be negatively related to relational uncertainty. In addition, both phone call and webcam use were positively related to all support behaviors and support appraisals, while email use was positively related to advice/guidance and support appraisals. Finally, the regression results suggested that emotional support, socializing, support appraisals, phone call, and webcam use were positive predictors of relationship satisfaction, whereas text messaging negatively predicted relationship satisfaction

Instagram addiction in teenagers: The role of type D personality, self-esteem, and fear of missing out

Instagram addiction is a social phenomenon among teenagers that has been little studied. This study aims to empirically examine the effect of type D personality (social disinhibition and negative affectivity), self-esteem, and fear of missing out (FoMO) on Instagram addiction among adolescents. A total of 259 participants living in Greater Jakarta, Indonesia, with type D personalities with mild to severe addiction were identified through screening results (based on total score). Snowball sampling and regression were used to collect and process the data. The results of the analysis show that together, all the independent variables have an effect of 56.9% (p.01) on Instagram addiction. Partially, only negative affectivity (a type D personality factor) does not affect Instagram addiction (β=0.078, p.05), which means that such addiction is strongly influenced by a combination of external and internal factors. The study illustrates that individuals who have difficulty building social relationships in the real world due to negative self-esteem try to connect with others through social media such as Instagram

Instagram addiction in teenagers: The role of type D personality, self-esteem, and fear of missing out

Instagram addiction is a social phenomenon among adolescents that has been scantily researched. This study aims to empirically examine the effect of type D personality (social disinhibition and negative affectivity), self-esteem, and fear of missing out (FoMO) on Instagram addiction among teenagers. A total of 259 participants, type D personalities with severe Instagram addiction who live in Jakarta Greater Area obtained through screening results (based on their total scores). This research used snowball sampling dan regression techniques for data collection and analysis. Data analysis showed that all predictors affected 56.9% of Instagram addiction cases. Partially, it is known that only negative affectivity (one of type D personality factors) has no influence on Instagram addiction, which means that, the role of pure internal factors such as personality type D is not as significant as the combination of both external and internal factors such as fear of missing out and self-esteem in influencing Instagram addiction

Modelling human factors in perceptual multimedia quality: On the role of personality and culture

Perception of multimedia quality is shaped by a rich interplay between system, context, and human factors. While system and context factors are widely researched, few studies in this area consider human factors as sources of systematic variance. This paper presents an analysis on the influence of personality (Five-Factor Model) and cultural traits (Hofstede Model) on the perception of multimedia quality. A set of 144 video sequences (from 12 short movie excerpts) were rated by 114 participants from a cross-cultural population, producing 1232 ratings. On this data, three models are compared: a baseline model that only considers system factors; an extended model that includes personality and culture as human factors; and an optimistic model in which each participant is modeled as a random effect. An analysis shows that personality and cultural traits represent 9.3% of the variance attributable to human factors while human factors overall predict an equal or higher proportion of variance compared to system factors. In addition, the quality-enjoyment correlation varied across the movie excerpts. This suggests that human factors play an important role in perceptual multimedia quality, but further research to explore moderation effects and a broader range of human factors is warranted