Water Quality Assessment of Han River Using Diatoms as Bioindicators

Diatoms are single celled algae characterized by distinctive cell walls composed of silicon dioxide. These cell walls can be permanently preserved with a proper treatment with lugol's solution. Being producers within the food web, they play important roles in aquatic ecosystems, freshwaters and oceans alike. They are highly diverse, and particular species live in specific habitats. These factors together make diatoms ideal bioindicators to perform an environmental assessement. I analyzed the twelve diatom samples of the upper and lower Han River, S. Korea, collected in December 2015. Species composition was determined, in which the total of thirteen genera were identified and the species count of each genus was made. Each species was classified into eutrophic, mesotrophic, and oligotrophic based on TP-TN tolerance matrix established by Potapova and Charles. No significant difference of species composition betwen the upper and the lower regions of the river was found. Along with the observed clear mesotrophyte dominance, my result indicates the mesotrophic condition of the both regions of the river and the ecosystems thereof.Integrative Biolog

The Moderating Role of Service Design Attributes in Females’ Fear of Crime in the Underground

This thesis was submitted for the award of Doctor of Philosophy and was awarded by Brunel University LondonA great number of female passengers appear to feel fear of crime in underground railways and appear to be affected by the problem in terms of their frequency of use of the underground service, compared to males. However, although it has been dealt with as a problem to be ameliorated in the underground by Transport for London (TFL), how the service is designed to affect their fear and what factors should be taken into account in underground service design to alleviate fear of crime have not been fully answered to date. This research, therefore, aims to identify the influential factors of service design of the underground on female users’ fear of crime by investigating the features and their configurations of the London Underground service, which mediate the user groups’ fear. In order to identify the influential design attributes of the London Underground, which mediate female users’ fear of crime in situations, first, literature on emotion and fear, gender and sex, and service design and the elements of service are reviewed to find the intersection among the research domains. Based on the theoretical foundation, two user studies are designed to identify the role of female users’ gender in the underground and the influential factors of the underground service on the groups’ fear. Thirty one female user interviews are accordingly conducted and analysed in an ‘abductive’ manner. As a result, the mechanisms of female users’ fear of crime in the underground are revealed and the service design attributes in the mechanism are identified. Consequently, a conceptual model of the influential factors of service design on female users’ fear of crime is developed

Online Social Relations and Country Reputation

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Early Childhood Preservice Teachers’ Passion, Beliefs, and Their Sense of Teacher Efficacy

This study examined whether passion for teaching and teaching beliefs predicts preservice teachers’ sense of teacher efficacy. A total of 212 pre-service teachers enrolled in early childhood teacher education programs in the Seoul metro area of South Korea participated in this study. The results of multiple hierarchical regression analyses revealed that across all sub-areas of teacher efficacy and overall teacher efficacy, preservice teachers’ constructivist teaching belief was the most significant predictor, followed by harmonious passion. Obsessive passion was a significant predictor of preservice teachers’ sense of teacher efficacy except for efficacy in instructional strategies. Traditional belief was not a positive predictor of preservice teachers’ adaptive outcome, teacher efficacy. This study discussed educational implications for cultivating preservice teachers’ harmonious passion for teaching and the teaching profession, along with the benefits of constructivist teaching belief and practice for preservice teachers with a high level of obsessive passion in order to enhance early childhood preservice teachers’ sense of teacher efficacy and reduce the possible negative interaction effects of traditional teaching belief

Passion on Teaching Beliefs and Efficacy

Despite the positive impact of passion on teaching related activities and perspectives, a limited number of theoretical and empirical studies have been done on the role of passion in early childhood preservice teachers’ beliefs and their teacher efficacy. Therefore, this study was to review the theoretical framework of passion for teaching and to examine early childhood preservice teachers’ passion for teaching children and its impact on their constructivist teaching beliefs and teacher efficacy

Collective Action in Digital Age: A Multilevel Approach

This theory paper proposes a multilevel model for analyzing collective actions for social change in the networked information age. The model includes four levels of agency (individual, group, organizational, and bot) and three levels of affordance (application, network infrastructure, and socio-political system) to help analyze social change dynamics which have become more decentralized. Mechanisms and outcomes of interactions between factors in the model should be considered to offer a more complete picture of social change facilitated by digital communication technologies. Empirical studies based on this model will help illuminate the evolution of communication structures as well as the affordances that evolution provides for social change. Moreover, speedy disintermediation in networked spaces and interactions between the levels in this process provides an opportunity for better understanding information generation and mediation in this rapidly changing media environment