Vietnamese Immigrant Women's Learning in Taiwanese Higher Education

AbstractAccording to a sociocultural approach to adult learning, this study aims to explore the learning experiences of Vietnamese immigrant women in Taiwanese higher education. Based on the interviews of 11 married Vietnamese immigrant brides, it was found that all of the immigrant women emphasized the importance of pursuing higher education in Taiwan. With permission from their husbands, these immigrant women participated in higher education to develop the human and cultural capital to fulfill their expected responsibilities both in their homeland and in their host societies and to combat discrimination from Taiwanese. In the Taiwanese-centered higher education, immigrant wives continuously worked hard to prove themselves competent and negotiate their voice and cultural identity. Participating in higher education and even obtaining a Taiwanese master's degree empowered most of these women, gaining self-confidence and a voice in the family and facilitating their settlement into Taiwanese society. For these female immigrants, both their culture and early socialization in Vietnam and sociocultural life experiences in Taiwan affected their learning in their pursuit of Taiwanese higher education

The Applicability of the Consumer Protection Law in Medical Malpractice Disputes in Taiwan

The issue of whether or not no-fault liability under the Consumer Protection Law (“CPL”) applies in medical malpractice disputes has been a contentious battle in Taiwan. In Bo-Li Li v. Mackay Memorial Hospital, the Taipei District Court interpreted medical care as “services” under Article 7 of the CPL. Under this interpretation, patient services must meet “reasonably expected safety standards,” while health care providers are subject to no-fault liability. This interpretation was strenuously opposed by the medical profession and invoked much debate over its validity in the legal field. After the Bo-Li case, the lower courts expressed different views on this issue. The Taiwan Supreme Court was also silent for seven years until recent decisions where the Court refused to apply the CPL to medical malpractice. Despite this, it is still unclear whether the interpretation will be codified, as the Legislature was reluctant to exclude medical care from the reach of consumer protection. The Bo-Li case reveals current policy and practicability concerns in Taiwan. Under the current scheme, it is difficult to prove the culpability of doctors in medical injury cases. Thus, no-fault liability under the CPL may serve as an alternative avenue to compensate victims. However, Taiwan does not have an insurance network and social welfare system that is favorable to this possibility. Under the current arrangement in Taiwan, instituting no-fault liability would eventually force health care providers to practice defensive medicine. Weighing all these factors, this Comment proposes that no-fault medical liability is currently impractical. Instead, Taiwan should aim to resolve issues under the current scheme to improve the litigation process, strengthen the duty of informed consent, and increase the use of malpractice insurance

Using E-learning to enhance the learning of graph transformations

Graphical representation of functions give more meaning to algebraic expressions and is suited to a particular mathematical task. Most of the distance students in Open University Malaysia (OUM) are unable to graph functions and cannot sufficiently understand graph transformations when taught through printed learning materials. Therefore, e-learning is recommended as an aid to enhance the learning of graph transformations for various types of functions. The objectives of the e-learning are to enable students to: 1) visualize graph transformations, 2) simulate graphical representations and 3) sketch functions with guidance. The e-learning develops in a natural progression from an animated presentation to guided and advanced level exercises. The elements of animation and interactivity create an educationally stimulating environment that can enhance the learning of mathematical issues and discovery of mathematical principles. This e-learning will be tested with the students in OUM to verify its effectiveness in the learning of functions and graph transformations. (Author's abstract

PERCEIVED QUALITY OF LIFE OF CLEAR CREEK TRAIL USERS IN BLOOMINGTON, INDIANA

Multi-use trails can contribute to mobility and access, reliability, social equity, the environment and ultimately to quality of life in a community (Shafer, Lee, & Turner, 2000). A study has found that community trails facilitate physical activities and frequent trail use is significantly related to an activity-friendly neighborhood. Furthermore, physical activities benefits are an indirect to trial users, enhancing quality of life and psychological well-being (Librett et al., 2006). The goal of this study is to investigate to what extent demographic characteristics and present user patterns affect the quality of life (QOL) of trial users in Bloomington, Indiana. The participants (n=134) in this study were intercepted on the three trail entrances- Tapp Road, That Road and Church Lane during September and October 2009. Participants were asked to complete two questionnaires- Clear Creek Trail User Survey (Eppley Institute, 2007)and World Health Organization Quality of life brief version (WHOQOL-BREF) (Bonomi & Patrick, 1997). Trail users’ demographic characteristics and time duration spend on the trail were main independent variables in this study. The data were analyzed by using Pearson r test, ANOVA and independent t-test. There was no correlation found between time duration users spend on the trail and their quality of life. However, gender and house income correlated with the users’ overall quality of life.Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Master of Science in Recreation in the School of Health, Physical Education and Recreation Indiana Universit

Forecasting the demand for health tourism in Asian countries using a GM(1,1)-alpha model

The purpose – Accurately forecasting the demand for international health tourism is important to newly-emerging markets in the world. The aim of this study was presents a more suitable and accurate model for forecasting the demand for health tourism that should be more theoretically useful. Design – Applying GM(1,1) with adaptive levels of α (hereafter GM(1,1)-α model) to provide a concise prediction model that will improve the ability to forecast the demand for health tourism in Asian countries. Methodology – In order to verify the feasibility of the proposed approach, using available secondary and primary data covering the period from 2002 through 2009 obtained from the RNCOS “Opportunities in Asian Health tourism” report. Based on a unique and characteristics database for the health tourism industry, this study applies the adaptive α in a Grey forecasting model (GM(1,1)-α) to predict the demand for health tourism in Asian countries. Approach – Implementation of demand forecasting in health tourism is examined on the short-term and limited dataset, due to importance of a minimum the predicated error on underlying basis for the econometric model for health tourism markets. Findings – Key findings present that the optimal value of α in GM(1,1) can minimize the predicted error. Finally, in the case of the demand for health tourism in Asian countries, using GM(1,1)-α to predict error is clearly better than the use of the original GM(1,1) and time series models. The originality of this research – The originality comes from the analysis of the demand forecasting in health tourism of Asian countries, which provides an easy and accurate method to predict the demand for health medical tourism and ideas for further improvements in the sector of health tourism