The use of media technology in foreign language teaching and learning at university level :a study of teachers' attitudes in Korea

PhD ThesisDespite the potential and increased availability of media technology, including advanced technologies such as computers and CD-ROM multimedia, teachers' actual use of technology, and particularly of the advanced technologies, in FLT/L in higher education in Korea still tends to be limited. The purposes of this study were, therefore: 1) to investigate the current patterns and contexts of teachers' (and for reference, students') use of media technology and their attitudes towards its use in FLT/L at university level in Korea; 2) to examine the cause of problems and the possibilities of improvement in its use in FLT/L; and 3) based on these findings, to suggest some solutions and strategies for applying them to the Korean context. Quantitative and qualitative research methods were adopted, i.e., questionnaires, interviews, and classroom observations were used to collect the data required for this study. The subjects consisted of forty-eight teachers who teach English (and 535 students) at twelve universities in the central districts in Korea. In addition, workshopbased experiments were carried out to gather additional data on teachers' opinions and to evaluate the implications of the study. This study shows that the majority of Korean teachers (and students) have positive attitudes towards the use of media technology in FLT/L, with generally no significant gender and years of teaching experience (and academic years) differences, although they make little use of it. The study suggests that the availability of media technology equipment and appropriate materials in particular, teachers' knowledge of it, and proper teacher training have a positive impact on teachers' attitudes towards its use, and are, in addition to their positive attitudes, the other main factors influencing its successful implementation in FLT/L. It is concluded that to provide the teachers with sufficient knowledge of the capabilities of media technology and to encourage wider use, more access to hardware and software is necessary, and training to familiarise teachers with the hardware and software and its potential for language teaching is essential. Therefore, suggestions are made for the effective use of existing facilities, and for a model that could be adopted for teacher training courses.Mrs. Barbara Wickham, British Council in Korea

6.4 GHz Acoustic Sensor for In-situ Monitoring of AFM Tip Wear

This paper demonstrates an acoustic sensor that can resolve atomic force microscopy (AFM) tip blunting with a frequency sensitivity of 0.007%. The AFM tip is fabricated on a thin film piezoelectric aluminum nitride (AlN) membrane that is excited as a film bulk acoustic resonator (FBAR). We demonstrate that cutting 0.98 μm off of the tip apex results in a resonance frequency change of 0.4MHz at 6.387GHz. This work demonstrates the potential for in-situ monitoring of AFM tip wear

A Suspended Nanogap Formed by Field-Induced Atomically Sharp Tips

A sub-nanometer scale suspended gap (nanogap) defined by electric field-induced atomically sharp metallic tips is presented. A strong local electric field (\u3e109 V=m) across micro/nanomachined tips facing each other causes the metal ion migration in the form of dendrite-like growth at the cathode. The nanogap is fully isolated from the substrate eliminating growth mechanisms that involve substrate interactions. The proposed mechanism of ion transportation is verified using real-time imaging of the metal ion transportation using an in situ biasing in transmission electron microscope (TEM). The configuration of the micro/nanomachined suspended tips allows nanostructure growth of a wide variety of materials including metals, metal-oxides, and polymers. VC 2012 American Institute of Physics

A Planetary lensing feature in caustic-crossing high-magnification microlensing events

Current microlensing follow-up observations focus on high-magnification events because of the high efficiency of planet detection. However, central perturbations of high-magnification events caused by a planet can also be produced by a very close or a very wide binary companion, and the two kinds of central perturbations are not generally distinguished without time consuming detailed modeling (a planet-binary degeneracy). Hence, it is important to resolve the planet-binary degeneracy that occurs in high-magnification events. In this paper, we investigate caustic-crossing high-magnification events caused by a planet and a wide binary companion. From this study, we find that because of the different magnification excess patterns inside the central caustics induced by the planet and the binary companion, the light curves of the caustic-crossing planetary-lensing events exhibit a feature that is discriminated from those of the caustic-crossing binary-lensing events, and the feature can be used to immediately distinguish between the planetary and binary companions. The planetary-lensing feature appears in the interpeak region between the two peaks of the caustic-crossings. The structure of the interpeak region for the planetary-lensing events is smooth and convex or boxy, whereas the structure for the binary-lensing events is smooth and concave. We also investigate the effect of a finite background source star on the planetary-lensing feature in the caustic-crossing high-magnification events. From this, we find that the convex-shaped interpeak structure appears in a certain range that changes with the mass ratio of the planet to the planet-hosting star.Comment: 14 pages, 4 figures. Accepted for publication in Ap

A Novel Batch-Processing Method for Accurate Crystallographic Axis Alignment

A new method for the accurate alignment of lithographically-defined patterns to the crystallographic axes of substrates is presented. We provide a lower (worst-case) limit of the achievable high aspect ratio using anisotropic wet chemical silicon etch for deep trenches. The method uses the fact that the intensity of light reflected from two sets of gratings, one on the photomask and the other on the substrate, is a sharp function of their relative angular misalignment. By using pre-etched gratings on the substrate formed by wet anisotropic etching, alignment accuracies better than 50 millidegrees with respect to silicon crystallographic axes have been demonstrated. Two types of microstructures—trenches with an aspect ratio \u3e90:1 and silicon nanowires with widthsfacets—have been fabricated using i-line lithography to illustrate some applications of this alignment method. This all-optical method is readily applicable to industry-standard optical lithography and avoids the need for any individualized process steps, enabling cost-effective micro/nanostructure manufacturing

Nano-electromechanical Zero-dimensional Freestanding Nanogap Actuator

Micromachined free standing nanogap with metal electrodes is presented. The gap size is as small as 17 nm, and can be reduced further with electrostatic or piezoelectric actuation. The nanoscale gap is fabricated by industrial standard optical lithography and anisotropic wet chemical Si etching. Electron transport between the metal electrodes with optical stimulus enhancing photon-electron coupling (plasmon) is presented

Tgif1 Counterbalances The Activity Of Core Pluripotency Factors In Mouse Embryonic Stem Cells

Core pluripotency factors, such as Oct4, Sox2, and Nanog, play important roles in maintaining embryonic stem cell (ESC) identity by autoregulatory feedforward loops. Nevertheless, the mechanism that provides precise control of the levels of the ESC core factors without indefinite amplification has remained elusive. Here, we report the direct repression of core pluripotency factors by Tgif1, a previously known terminal repressor of TGF beta/activin/nodal signaling. Overexpression of Tgif1 reduces the levels of ESC core factors, whereas its depletion leads to the induction of the pluripotency factors. We confirm the existence of physical associations between Tgif1 and Oct4, Nanog, and HDAC1/2 and further show the level of Tgif1 is not significantly altered by treatment with an activator/inhibitor of the TGF beta/activin/nodal signaling. Collectively, our findings establish Tgif1 as an integral member of the core regulatory circuitry of mouse ESCs that counterbalances the levels of the core pluripotency factors in a TGF beta/activin/nodal-independent manner.Cancer Prevention Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT) R1106Molecular Bioscience

A Comparative Analysis of Three Major Transfer Airports in Northeast Asia Focusing on Incheon International Airport Using a Conjoint Analysis

Due mainly to the privatization and commercialization of airline companies and deregulation of the aviation rules, the demand for air transport has continuously been increasing. Airport authorities state that transfer passengers, who contribute to the large portion of the airports’ profits, are gaining much more importance, particularly in the Northeast Asia region where the air transport industry is very vital. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the competitiveness of IIA (Incheon International Airport) with other major airports located in Northeast Asia in passenger transfers made between Southeast Asia and China to North America using Conjoint Analysis. Results have indicated that airport brand is the most important attribute for the competitiveness of airport, followed by cost, connectivity and duty free shops. In further analysis focusing on brand value of the three airports measured by the use of transfer passengers, it was revealed that IIA needs more effort in developing their brand identity to become the leading transfer hub airport. Based on the results, recommendations for increasing the brand value have also been suggested

DPRS transformer - Dynamic pressure resistant system - Part I

In general, a transformer is designed and manufactured to operate under normal conditions. However, unexpected fault events occur due to various reasons in real-life substations. When such events do occur, an electric arc inside a transformer vaporizes the insulating oil, leading to a generation of very high expansion pressure. Once this pressure exceeds the designed threshold, the tank is then compromised, and oil starts to leak, becoming a potential cause of fire or explosion. DPRS (Dynamic Pressure Resistant System) transformer has been developed to cope with such unexpected events. In general, a PRD (Pressure Relief Device) is installed on a transformer to stabilize the pressure inside the tank. However, it requires a certain amount of time for this device to operate. DPRS transformer is designed to withstand the immediate pressure increase without severely damaging the tank (severe enough to cause an oil leak) until the PRD starts operating. Although not as much as to cause a leak, the tank will still be deformed as a result of the pressure increase. Then, insulating oil expanded by the arc is emitted safely through a designated path as the PRD starts to operate. DPRS transformer does not require additional equipment to prevent damage to the tank and is also capable of preventing fire while maintaining a similar configuration to common transformers. Due to these merits, the global demand for DPRS transformers is steadily increasing. In this article, the DPRS transformer tank design procedure and tank deformation prediction technology are presented. Additionally, a brief introduction to the explosion-proof performance verification test is addressed