Multi-cultural, multi-course collaborative project: Learning outcomes and project impact

A multi-course collaborative project is an effective way to enhance student learning because it not only facilitates the development of social skills, but also provides students an opportunity to understand the importance of collaboration with people in diverse areas in the industry (Kim, LaFleur, & Schaeffer, 2008). A collaborative project in a multi-cultural setting enhances student learning by exposing students to other cultures and broadening their scope of knowledge and applications (Chen, Hsu, & Caropreso, 2006)

Normal stress difference-driven particle focusing in nanoparticle colloidal dispersion

Colloidal dispersion has elastic properties due to Brownian relaxation process. However, experimental evidence for the elastic properties, characterized with normal stress differences, is elusive in shearing colloidal dispersion, particularly at low Peclet numbers (Pe < 1). Here, we report that single micrometer-sized polystyrene (PS) beads, suspended in silica nanoparticle dispersion (8 nm radius; 22%, v/v), laterally migrate and form a tightly focused stream by the normal stress differences, generated in pressure-driven microtube flow at low Pe. The nanoparticle dispersion was expected to behave as a Newtonian fluid because of its ultrashort relaxation time (2 mu s), but large shear strain experienced by the PS beads causes the notable non-Newtonian behavior. We demonstrate that the unique rheological properties of the nanoparticle dispersion generate the secondary flow in perpendicular to mainstream in a noncircular conduit, and the elastic properties of blood plasma-constituting protein solutions are elucidated by the colloidal dynamics of protein molecules

Multi-cultural, multi-course collaborative project: Learning outcomes and project impact

A multi-course collaborative project is an effective way to enhance student learning because it not only facilitates the development of social skills, but also provides students an opportunity to understand the importance of collaboration with people in diverse areas in the industry (Kim, LaFleur, & Schaeffer, 2008). A collaborative project in a multi-cultural setting enhances student learning by exposing students to other cultures and broadening their scope of knowledge and applications (Chen, Hsu, & Caropreso, 2006).</p

Understanding Students' Perceived Benefits of International Multicourse Collaborative Projects

The purpose of this study is to examine students' perceptions of the benefits of the international multicourse collaborative projects (IMCP) using Facebook as a communication tool. The IMCP involved students in two retailing courses and two merchandising courses in the U.S. and S. Korea. In each course, four groups were created and each group worked on a different retailer. In each group, students' task was to develop business plans and merchandising strategies to expand their assigned business into the U.S. or S. Korea. Students created an audio-recorded PowerPoint presentation, converted it into a video, and uploaded it to the project Facebook. This study identified students' perceived benefits of IMCP using Facebook: (1) understanding different cultures, (2) understanding the fashion industry in different countries, (3) communicating and interacting with students in different cultures, and (4) using Facebook as communication tool.</p