Does higher education foster critical and creative learners? An exploration of two universities in South Korea and the USA

This paper describes two studies that explore students' beliefs about critical and creative learning at two universities, and considers the implications of those beliefs in comparison to the universities' stated education goals. One is a mixed method study of students at a top university in Korea, and the second is a comparative study between the Korean university and a United States (US) university. The first study found that both high-achievers and the general population at a top Korean university perceived their critical and creative abilities as lower than their receptive learning abilities, and that higher achievers were neither more critical nor creative than lower achievers. The second study finds that the Korean university students, compared to US students, were more likely to rate their receptive learning ability as higher than their critical and creative learning abilities. Comparisons across year of higher education (HE) suggest that Korean students' perceptions did not significantly change with respect to year in school, while US students' perceptions of critical learning abilities significantly increased across school years. Results are discussed with respect to the impact of culture, epistemological beliefs, and HE instruction on critical and creative learning

What most Matters in Strengthening Educational Competitiveness?: An Application of FS/QCA Method

AbstractThis study was conducted in order to investigate the relationships between different factors affecting educational competitiveness, which is crucial to enhancing national competitiveness in every country, and to put forward policy implications whereby each country may raise the level of its educational competitiveness. PISA score was selected as an indicator representing the educational competitiveness of 22 OECD countries, and this included some independent variables, such as per capita GDP, total public expenditure on education as a percentage of GDP, and total per capita public expenditure on education (US dollars), affecting educational competitiveness. We employed the fuzzy set analysis method (FS/QCA) to analyze the complex causal relationships among the factors affecting educational competitiveness. The research results show that there are three significant combinations of variables affecting educational competitiveness (PISA score). Model 1 is a configuration of four variables (high total expenditure on education as a percentage of GDP, high total per capita expenditure on education, high ratio of private-source expenditure on education to GDP, and high GDP), and includes Netherlands, Finland, Australia, and Ireland. Model 2 is a configuration of five variables (low total expenditure on education, low total per capita expenditure on education, low ration of students to teaching staff, low private-source expenditure on education, and low GDP, and includes Poland. Model 3 is a configuration of five variables (low total expenditure on education, low total per capita expenditure on education, high private-source expenditure on education, high ratio of students to teaching staff, and high GDP), and includes Japan. Finally, the study suggests that each country should endeavour to enhance its own educational competitiveness, considering how the factors associated with this relate to each other

OPTIMAL REGRESSION MODEL FOR PREDICTING THE WINNING GAME AND CONTRIBUTING FACTORS IN ICE HOCKEY WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP

The purpose of this study was to present the statistical model to predict the winning of ice hockey game and determine the contributing factors for win in the world ice hockey championship. In order to find the optimal regression model for ice hockey, we compared two regression model (logistic and linear model) with the database of all games and the separate databases of top/bottom teams. The logistic regression model using the separate database was most accurately predicted the actual outcome of games. This model and database further revealed that goalkeeping and scoring efficiencies and the number of shots on goal were significantly contributing factors to win. In addition, the results for prediction analysis of winning rate for each team indicated that offensive skills were more important factors than defense power to increase winning rate for teams

Interference effects on the processing of Korean double relative clauses

The current investigates the parsing process and its utilization of various linguistic information to resolve dependencies in Korean double relative clauses. While previous research has revealed evidence of interference effects of a distractor during dependency formations, a distractor involving dependency formations by itself has not been thoroughly explored. In light of this, we aimed to explore how the grammatical-role parallelism of a distractor modulates multiple filler-gap dependencies and examine the role of case marking in the resolution of these dependencies. In a self-paced reading experiment, we discovered that the parallelism effects of both head nouns were instrumental in the resolution of longer dependencies of a higher head noun and its gap. The non-parallel role of a distractor (i.e., low head noun) was reanalyzed before the integration of higher head noun and its gap. This finding suggests that parallelism effects play a critical role in the resolution of complex dependency structures. Additionally, our experiments investigated the role of case marking as a morphosyntactic cue in predicting the syntactic encoding of upcoming noun phrases. Our results demonstrated the immediate processing difficulty of conditions with double nominative markers, suggesting that parsers are selectively sensitive to case marking. Overall, our study contributes to our understanding of the parsing process and the selective use of linguistic cues in the resolution of complex dependency structures

An Examination of Factors Affecting Japanese Tourism in Hawaii

The Japanese tourist market is a crucial component of the Hawaii tourism economy due to both market size and higher per capita expenditures in comparison with other key markets for the state. Over the past decade, annual Japanese tourist arrivals have decreased significantly off a peak in 1997. This study examines various supply and demand factors, which may be influencing Japanese tourist arrivals to Hawaii using regression analysis. Results show that five of eight variables significantly influence the monthly Japanese tourist numbers to Hawaii: monthly total Japanese overseas tourists, available air seats, average room rates, available room units, and change in security checking procedure. Meanwhile, three variables were not found to be significant influencers: mean monthly exchange rate ($/100 Yen), anti-smoking law, and airline fuel surcharges. These results do not support the anecdotes and conjectures about the decreasing number of Japanese tourists to Hawaii

An Examination of Factors Affecting Japanese Tourism in Hawaii

The Japanese tourist market is a crucial component of the Hawaii tourism economy due to both market size and higher per capita expenditures in comparison with other key markets for the state. Over the past decade, annual Japanese tourist arrivals have decreased significantly off a peak in 1997. This study examines various supply and demand factors, which may be influencing Japanese tourist arrivals to Hawaii using regression analysis. Results show that five of eight variables significantly influence the monthly Japanese tourist numbers to Hawaii: monthly total Japanese overseas tourists, available air seats, average room rates, available room units, and change in security checking procedure. Meanwhile, three variables were not found to be significant influencers: mean monthly exchange rate ($/100 Yen), anti-smoking law, and airline fuel surcharges. These results do not support the anecdotes and conjectures about the ecreasing number of Japanese tourists to Hawaii

Out of the Shadow of Korean Colonial Experience: An Interpretation of Chongmyo-cheryeak, the Royal Ancestral Shrine Ritual Music

This study concerns the significance of performing Chongmyo-cheryeak, the Korean Royal Ancestral Shrine Ritual Music, in Korea, past and present. Based on assumptions and methodology ranging from ethnomusicology and musicology to anthropology and cultural studies, it examines how the meaning and form of indigenous ritual music have changed over the course of Korean history. It especially considers how the significance of the music has been formulated, presented, and argued in a context of nationalism and postcolonialism. Focusing particularly on the current performance of Chongmyo-cheryeak, this study finds that 1) the ritual music survives for the cultural benefit of contemporary Koreans who participate in or come to witness the performance, 2) the Korean government presents the performance of Chongmyo-cherye, including its music and dance to proclaim a Korean identity constructed as the collectivity of historicity and unique characteristics that serve to differentiate what is Korean from all else, and 3) the performance of the music is situated in postcolonial irony. The study concludes that the restoration of Chongmyo-cheryeak exemplifies that Koreans are in the process of coming out of the shadow of their colonial experience

A study on the design development of gloves for fire investigations

The role of firefighters at the scene can be separated into various activities such as fire suppression, rescue, investigation, etc (Hine, 2004). A firefighter\u27s personal protective equipment has been regulated according to performance and design requirements that are standardized to protect body parts from potentially dangerous elements at the scene. In the case of fire investigations, since the administrative purposes for arranging fire prevention and countermeasures are emphasized, studies mostly focus on the schemes or operations while the importance of studies on the design of protective equipment has been largely overlooked(Kim & Park, 2014; Ko & Lee, 2009). Hence, the aim of this paper is to clarify fire investigators\u27 design needs for their fire investigation gloves and to determine key design elements which could provide the best compromise between protection and work efficiency. The study manages a living lab, which is a research concept of a user-centered, innovative co-operating system, often conducting wear trials and in-depth interviews with advisory groups (Bergvall-Kareborn & Stahlbrost, 2009). The study selects 6 types of popular fire investigation gloves from four nations (USA, Japan, Germany, and Korea). In order to examine differences between gloves in more detail, wearer trials and in-depth interviews were conducted with 3 fire investigators drawn from South Korean based fire stations on November 4th and December 17th 2015. Also, a survey was conducted on 313 fire investigators from November 29th to December 21th 2015, to analyze the design needs for their gloves. Finally, a prototype of the fire investigation gloves was developed and a wearability evaluation was carried out on 33 fire fighters to assess the satisfaction levels of the design and functions of the gloves. In general, protection and work efficiency issues were identified as a major concern regarding the fire investigation gloves. The gloves need to protect the hands in case of potential hazards from sharp objects found while filtering through ash and to still maintain the tactile senses of the fingertips to pick up tiny objects. Also, there were demands for a design to allow the gloves to be taken off and put on easily in cases where the investigator has to frequently report to base during identification activities. The study helped develop a design prototype that utilized an adjusting device onto a band long enough to cover the wrist area, included a weaved in dyneema knit with polyethylene thread which is light and strong, and applied a polyurethane coating on the palm area to create gloves for fire investigation specializing in identification through enhanced cut resistance and dexterity. As a result of conducting a user evaluation on the prototype through Living Lab, 50% of the respondents found the strength of the gloves to have increased compared to the existing ones and the inconveniences when wearing the gloves had improved overall

Tracing Messiaen in Naji Hakim's Le Tombeau d'Olivier Messiaen

Olivier Messiaen and Naji Hakim are both representative composers of the twentieth century. For the performer this "modern" music is difficult to analyze because of the increased complexities of its harmonic language. Therefore the purpose of this study is to demonstrate a way to approach Naji Hakim's Le Tombeau d'Olivier Messiaen through Messiaen's own musical language. This study examines how Hakim has borrowed Messiaen's theory and used it in his own piece. Chapter I outlines the purpose and motive of this study. Chapter II briefly outlines the piece, introduces the meaning of Tombeau in music history, and presents Messiaen's modes of limited transposition, one of the main sources used in the composition of Le Tombeau d'Olivier Messiaen. Chapter III details Messiaen's influence in Hakim's piece. This influence consists of four elements: melody, mode, harmony, and extra-musical ideas. This chapter is the primary portion of the document. After examining the influence of Messiaen, a conclusion of this study is offered in Chapter IV. Four appendixes are attached to this document: an interview with Naji Hakim about Le Tombeau d'Olivier Messiaen; the modes of limited transposition in Le Tombeau d'Olivier Messiaen; a biographical sketch of Naji Hakim; and program notes from Le Tombeau d'Olivier Messiaen