Service-Learning in Language for Specific Purposes: A Case of Korean Language Practicum

While service-learning has been greatly acknowledged as an effective instructional tool in education for the past two decades, it has not been extensively applied to the Korean classroom and Language for Specific Purposes (LSP) settings as of yet. The practical challenges of community-involved service-learning for the less commonly taught language (LCTL) programs such as Korean are discussed. Moreover, community engagement through the campus community combined with the language teaching practicum is suggested for service-learning as an alternative to address the challenges. This study explores the curriculum design of a service-learning for a small language group and offers practical ideas on how to expose the students to campus communities, thereby providing them with cross-cultural insights and language practicum competence that extend beyond classroom language learning. The outcome supports that the campus community engagement effectively provides a hands-on opportunity for the students to practice not only their academics but also their leadership skills through the experience of designing their own service details in collaboration with their campus community partners

Psychometric properties of an instrument 2: structural validity, internal consistency, and cross-cultural validity/measurement invariance

Structural validity, internal consistency, and cross-cultural validity/measurement invariance are psychometric properties of the internal structure of an instrument. In psychometric studies published in Korean nursing journals, structural validity has mainly been assessed using confirmatory factor analysis. Cross-cultural validity/measurement invariance has rarely been evaluated. It is recommended for Korean nursing researchers to evaluate the internal structure of instruments using a greater variety of methods, such as item response theory, Rasch analysis, multi-group confirmatory factor analysis, and differential item functioning

Psychometric properties of an instrument 3: convergent, discriminant, known-groups, and criterion validity

Before evaluating convergent, discriminant, and known-groups validity, it is suggested to design an instrument that reflects hypothetical relationships or differences with other comparator instruments or groups. For criterion validity, a gold-standard instrument measuring the same construct should be carefully selected

Psychometric property of an instrument 4: reliability and responsiveness

For test-retest reliability, it is important to consider whether the attributes of the construct being measured is temporally stable or not. For responsiveness, it needs a longitudinal study design including a treatment/intervention known to induce a change on the construct to be measured

Review of the Psychometric Evidence of the Perceived Stress Scale

Keywords: stress psychometrics questionnaire s u m m a r y Purpose: The purpose of this study was to review articles related to the psychometric properties of the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS). Methods: Systematic literature searches of computerized databases were performed to identify articles on psychometric evaluation of the PSS. Results: The search finally identified 19 articles. Internal consistency reliability, factorial validity, and hypothesis validity of the PSS were well reported. However, the test-retest reliability and criterion validity were relatively rarely evaluated. In general, the psychometric properties of the 10-item PSS were found to be superior to those of the 14-item PSS, while those of the 4-item scale fared the worst. The psychometric properties of the PSS have been evaluated empirically mostly using populations of college students or workers. Conclusion: Overall, the PSS is an easy-to-use questionnaire with established acceptable psychometric properties. However, future studies should evaluate these psychometric properties in greater depth, and validate the scale using diverse populations

Growth of superconducting MgB2 thin films via postannealing techniques

We report the effect of annealing on the superconductivity of MgB2 thin films as functions of the postannealing temperature in the range from 700 C to 950 C and of the postannealing time in the range from 30 min to 120 min. On annealing at 900 C for 30 min, we obtained the best-quality MgB2 films with a transition temperature of 39 K and a critical current density of ~ 10^7 A/cm^2. Using the scanning electron microscopy, we also investigated the film growth mechanism. The samples annealed at higher temperatures showed the larger grain sizes, well-aligned crystal structures with preferential orientations along the c-axis, and smooth surface morphologies. However, a longer annealing time prevented the alignment of grains and reduced the superconductivity, indicating a strong interfacial reaction between the substrate and the MgB2 film.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figures include