Students’ Perceptions of Teaching Styles and Use of Learning Strategies

The study was conducted to investigate Taiwanese junior high school students’ perceptions of their teachers’ teaching styles and the students’ own use of learning strategies and to determine if there was a significant relationship between perceived teaching style and learning strategy use. The data for this study were gathered from a sample of 95 junior high school students enrolled in four Chinese language classes at Yuanlin Junior high school. The students completed the Junior High School Teacher’s Teaching Style Questionnaire and the Taiwanese version of the Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire. The findings from this study led to the following conclusions: (1) the students preferred to use learning strategies that enabled them to use time well and choose environments conducive to learning. Moreover, they preferred to seek assistance from their teachers or classmates when encountering learning difficulties; (2) gender differences in learning strategy use were not significant. Among nine learning strategies, male and female students both exhibited more use of strategies for Effort Management, Help-seeking, and Time and Study Management; (3) the dominant teaching style, as perceived by the students, was indifference; (4) the results revealed that there were no significant relationships between students’ perceptions of teaching styles and learning strategy use

On demand-side sources of service innovation ideas

Abstract. Increasing degree of consensus has been made among academics and practitioners, that firms should pay special attention to the demand-side factors just to design and produce products/services that gain most loyalty. This article discusses further the specific demand-side sources of service innovation ideas in a multi-layer direct marketing context. Experience marketing, value perception, and re-purchasing process are proposed and articulated. Implications for research and practices are offered. Keywords. Demand-side drivers, Service innovation, Multi-layer direct marketing.JEL. M10, M11, M14

An Investigation Of GEPT Test Anxiety For Medical University Students In Taiwan

This study examines whether or not different medical university students experience different levels of anxiety in taking the General English Proficiency Test (GEPT), and whether or not there are differences in GEPT test anxiety levels among medical university students with different genders and from different departments. This study uses a GEPT test anxiety scale (GEPT-TAS) to explore the GEPT test anxiety levels of the students. The final questionnaire included 36 questions, covering the cognitive, emotional, and affective dimensions of test anxiety. Several conclusions can be made from the findings of this study. First, medical university students experience certain levels of GEPT test anxiety. Second, females experience more emotional anxiety than males. Third, nursing students experience more cognitive anxiety than students from other departments

What we need: Project managers` evaluation of top management actions required for software development projects

Web 2.0 is now an important internet application because of the integration of social interaction and web technologies. Previous information system studies usually specified their research context as a utilitarian system or hedonic system and the results were concluded within one specific system type. Web 2.0 application provides a flexible environment for different kinds of user motivations that can be used for utilitarian or hedonic purpose. This study extended the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) by introducing a moderating factor into the model, in order to study users’ behavioral intentions in a Web 2.0 environment. We designed two task types of user motivation and conducted our experiment on two Web 2.0 websites. According to the PLS (Partial Least Squares) analysis, this study demonstrated that utilitarian and hedonic purposes had a moderating effect on the relationship between perceived belief and user attitude as well as the relationship between perceived information quality and perceived belief in the Web 2.0 application. The relationship between perceived usefulness and attitude was stronger in the utilitarian user motivation; whereas the relationship between perceived ease of use and attitude was stronger when the user had hedonic motivation to use the Web 2.0 application. We also found that perceived information quality had significant impact on the perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use

Exploring An Individual’s Intention to Use Blogs: The Roles of Social, Motivational and Individual Factors

Blogs are a new type of media for social interaction; they have become very popular, and have shown their influence throughout our society. However, little is known about what motivates an individual to participate in blogging activities. This study aims to explore how an individual\u27s intention is influenced by social, motivational and individual factors. A survey, involving 283 subjects, was conducted to examine the proposed model. The results revealed that personal innovativeness in the domain of information technology (PIIT), perceived usefulness and perceived enjoyment have direct impacts on a persons\u27 intent to use blogs. On the other hand, factors such as subjective norms and blog self-efficacy influence an individual\u27s motivational factors; these factors, in turn, influence an individual\u27s behavioral intention in regard to blog usage. The findings of this study not only contribute to a theoretical building of those factors that effect blog usage, but also provide implications to practitioners for understanding and promoting blog usage

Effects of natto extract on endothelial injury in a rat model

Vascular endothelial damage has been found to be associated with thrombus formation, which is considered to be a risk factor for cardiovascular disease. A diet of natto leads to a low prevalence of cardiovascular disease. The aim of the present study was to investigate the effects of natto extract on vascular endothelia damage with exposure to laser irradiation. Endothelial damage both in vitro and in vivo was induced by irradiation of rose bengal using a DPSS green laser. Cell viability was determined by MTS assay, and the intimal thickening was verified by a histological approach. The antioxidant content of natto extract was determined for the free radical scavenging activity. Endothelial cells were injured in the presence of rose bengal irradiated in a dose-dependent manner. Natto extract exhibits high levels of antioxidant activity compared with purified natto kinase. Apoptosis of laser-injured endothelial cells was significantly reduced in the presence of natto extract. Both the natto extract and natto kinase suppressed intimal thickening in rats with endothelial injury. The present findings suggest that natto extract suppresses vessel thickening as a synergic effect attributed to its antioxidant and anti-apoptosis properties

Rapid detection of epidermal growth factor receptor mutations with multiplex PCR and primer extension in lung cancer

Epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) kinase domain mutations hyperactivate the kinase and confer kinase addiction of the non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) tumor cells. Almost all of these mutations are located within exons 18-21. The -216 single nucleotide polymorphism in the promoter region is associated with increased EGFR production. We present a method for detecting these common mutations in 81 cases of NSCLC. The protocol is based on the multiplex amplification of promoter region and exons 18-21 of the EGFR genes in a single tube, followed by primer extension of the PCR products using various sizes of primers to detect base changes at -216 promoter region and codons 719, 746-750, 790, 858 of the EGFR gene. We compared the results with that from direct sequencing for detecting EGFR mutations in 81 cases of NSCLC. The two methods identified the same 26 mutations, but our method is superior to direct sequencing in terms of the amount of work and time required. We presented a simple and fast method to detect mutations of EGFR genes in NSCLC

Alcohol Use, Abuse, and Dependency in Shanghai

The use of alcohol for social and ceremonial occasions was recorded in Chinese history as early as 1760 B.C. during the Yin Dynasty (Ci-Hai Encyclopedia, 1979:936). The cultural tradition of ancient China placed alcoholic beverages at the center of social occasions, which presumably was the origin of the adage: Without wine, there is no li (or etiquette). Thus, the use of alcoholic beverages has always been accompanied by the concept of propriety and the discharging of one\u27s role obligations m social functions, rather than that of personal indulgence