A Global Epidemic of Creative Education: Shaping and Implementing Creative Eduction in Primary Education in Taiwan

This thesis identifies and analyses the limitations and effects of the implementation of creative education in primary schools within the Taiwanese context. It explores how the new government formulated and delivered the policy, and how the teachers put creative education into classroom practice. The analysis presented here consists of a critical analysis of the creative education policy agenda, a survey of how three types of respondents (teachers, students, and parents) perceive creativity, and an investigation of the dilemmas faced by teachers and students in developing creativity in the classroom. A number of arguments are presented. Firstly, this thesis highlights that creativity has been redefined as a crucial element for education reform in response to the rise of the knowledge economy in Taiwan. I suggest that this economic-led discourse and the short sighted plan have led to misunderstandings of what creativity means. Regarding strategies for policy delivery, I suggest that the role given to policy-makers and their limited experience in developing proper methods has led to more confusion for the teachers. I also suggest that the development of a more liberal and creative education environment has been constrained by entrenched institutional and socio-cultural limitations. I then indicate how these limitations and school cultures have influenced the respondents‟ perceptions of creativity and of teaching and learning in the classroom. Finally, I suggest that creativity in the classroom involves multiple ways of interaction between all participants. This research makes three contributions. Conceptually, I combine various psychological, educational, and sociological approaches to discussions of creativity. Methodologically, I develop multilayered methods and visual analytical frameworks for researching creative education. Empirically, I provide dynamic stories about the practice of creativity in the classroom within the Taiwanese context. This thesis provides a political and socio-cultural angle from which see the limitations on developing creative education in Taiwan

A global epidemic of creative education : shaping and implementing creative education in primary education in Taiwan

This thesis identifies and analyses the limitations and effects of the implementation of creative education in primary schools within the Taiwanese context. It explores how the new government formulated and delivered the policy, and how the teachers put creative education into classroom practice. The analysis presented here consists of a critical analysis of the creative education policy agenda, a survey of how three types of respondents (teachers, students, and parents) perceive creativity, and an investigation of the dilemmas faced by teachers and students in developing creativity in the classroom. A number of arguments are presented. Firstly, this thesis highlights that creativity has been redefined as a crucial element for education reform in response to the rise of the knowledge economy in Taiwan. I suggest that this economic-led discourse and the short sighted plan have led to misunderstandings of what creativity means. Regarding strategies for policy delivery, I suggest that the role given to policy-makers and their limited experience in developing proper methods has led to more confusion for the teachers. I also suggest that the development of a more liberal and creative education environment has been constrained by entrenched institutional and socio-cultural limitations. I then indicate how these limitations and school cultures have influenced the respondents‟ perceptions of creativity and of teaching and learning in the classroom. Finally, I suggest that creativity in the classroom involves multiple ways of interaction between all participants. This research makes three contributions. Conceptually, I combine various psychological, educational, and sociological approaches to discussions of creativity. Methodologically, I develop multilayered methods and visual analytical frameworks for researching creative education. Empirically, I provide dynamic stories about the practice of creativity in the classroom within the Taiwanese context. This thesis provides a political and socio-cultural angle from which see the limitations on developing creative education in Taiwan.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

Building Ubiquitous Computing Environment by Using RFID in Aircraft MRO Process

The implementation of RFID had aroused discussion in every area. Experts believe that the emergence of RFID will cause another business revolution. Many industries had deployed RFID, like aviation industry, in which RFID is used in maintenance materials and baggage management. This paper discusses the implementation of RFID in MRO process and the building of a ubiquitous computing environment. We believe that our proposal has three merits to MRO (1) anti-counterfeit parts (2) MRO liability (3) efficient and effective inspection. The architecture can address the competition pressure that aviation industry faces and consequently enhance competition advantages

A study on Impressiveness Management of Internet Celebrities

The issue of social media has attracted much attention in the fields of information management and marketing. Recently, the live webcast service newly introduced on social media has renewed the issues. With the increasing popularity of social media, the live webcast service provides more opportunities of higher interactivity to Internet celebrities to communicate with Internet users. With frequent interaction with Internet users, the Internet celebrities construct their self-images and build a long-term personal reputation. Therefore, how Internet celebrities enhance their self-image and personal reputation is an interesting research issue. Specifically, this study intends to investigate how Internet celebrities employ personal impressiveness management to improve their personal image and branding. The corporate reputation formation framework was employed as the theoretical perspective to investigate Internet celebrities’ personal impressiveness management through social media

EXPLORING E-LEARNING BEHAVIOR THROUGH LEARNING DISCOURSES

As many studies predict e-learning behaviors through intention, few of them investigate user’s learning behaviors directly. In addition to intention, individual’s e-learning behaviors may be influenced by technology readiness and group influences, such as social identity and social bond. This research-in-progress study explores how e-learning behaviors vary with intention, technology readiness, social identity and social bond. Our investigation was based on analyzing the speech acts embedded in fourteen learners’ online discourses in an eighteen-week e-learning course. We then compared how speech acts varied among groups with different degree of intention, technology readiness, social identity, and social bond. Our findings contribute e-learning research by clarifying how intention, technology readiness, social identity, and social bond influence learning behaviors in e-learning context

S-allylcysteine Improves Blood Flow Recovery and Prevents Ischemic Injury by Augmenting Neovasculogenesis.

Studies suggest that a low level of circulating human endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) is a risk factor for ischemic injury and coronary artery disease (CAD). Consumption of S-allylcysteine (SAC) is known to prevent CAD. However, the protective effects of SAC on the ischemic injury are not yet clear. In this study, we examined whether SAC could improve blood flow recovery in ischemic tissues through EPC-mediated neovasculogenesis. The results demonstrate that SAC significantly enhances the neovasculogenesis of EPCs in vitro. The molecular mechanisms for SAC enhancement of neovasculogenesis include the activation of Akt/endothelial nitric oxide synthase signaling cascades. SAC increased the expression of c-kit, β-catenin, cyclin D1, and Cyclin-dependent kinase 4 (CDK4) proteins in EPCs. Daily intake of SAC at dosages of 0.2 and 2 mg/kg body weight significantly enhanced c-kit protein levels in vivo. We conclude that dietary consumption of SAC improves blood flow recovery and prevents ischemic injury by inducing neovasculogenesis in experimental models

AGROBEST: an efficient Agrobacterium-mediated transient expression method for versatile gene function analyses in Arabidopsis seedlings

Background: Transient gene expression via Agrobacterium-mediated DNA transfer offers a simple and fast method to analyze transgene functions. Although Arabidopsis is the most-studied model plant with powerful genetic and genomic resources, achieving highly efficient and consistent transient expression for gene function analysis in Arabidopsis remains challenging. Results: We developed a highly efficient and robust Agrobacterium-mediated transient expression system, named AGROBEST (Agrobacterium-mediated enhanced seedling transformation), which achieves versatile analysis of diverse gene functions in intact Arabidopsis seedlings. Using β-glucuronidase (GUS) as a reporter for Agrobacterium-mediated transformation assay, we show that the use of a specific disarmed Agrobacterium strain with vir gene pre-induction resulted in homogenous GUS staining in cotyledons of young Arabidopsis seedlings. Optimization with AB salts in plant culture medium buffered with acidic pH 5.5 during Agrobacterium infection greatly enhanced the transient expression levels, which were significantly higher than with two existing methods. Importantly, the optimized method conferred 100% infected seedlings with highly increased transient expression in shoots and also transformation events in roots of ~70% infected seedlings in both the immune receptor mutant efr-1 and wild-type Col-0 seedlings. Finally, we demonstrated the versatile applicability of the method for examining transcription factor action and circadian reporter-gene regulation as well as protein subcellular localization and protein–protein interactions in physiological contexts. Conclusions: AGROBEST is a simple, fast, reliable, and robust transient expression system enabling high transient expression and transformation efficiency in Arabidopsis seedlings. Demonstration of the proof-of-concept experiments elevates the transient expression technology to the level of functional studies in Arabidopsis seedlings in addition to previous applications in fluorescent protein localization and protein–protein interaction studies. In addition, AGROBEST offers a new way to dissect the molecular mechanisms involved in Agrobacterium-mediated DNA transfer

Repeated Small Perturbation Approach Reveals Transcriptomic Steady States

The study of biological systems dynamics requires elucidation of the transitions of steady states. A “small perturbation” approach can provide important information on the “steady state” of a biological system. In our experiments, small perturbations were generated by applying a series of repeating small doses of ultraviolet radiation to a human keratinocyte cell line, HaCaT. The biological response was assessed by monitoring the gene expression profiles using cDNA microarrays. Repeated small doses (10 J/m2) of ultraviolet B (UVB) exposure modulated the expression profiles of two groups of genes in opposite directions. The genes that were up-regulated have functions mainly associated with anti-proliferation/anti-mitogenesis/apoptosis, and the genes that were down-regulated were mainly related to proliferation/mitogenesis/anti-apoptosis. For both groups of genes, repetition of the small doses of UVB caused an immediate response followed by relaxation between successive small perturbations. This cyclic pattern was suppressed when large doses (233 or 582.5 J/m2) of UVB were applied. Our method and results contribute to a foundation for computational systems biology, which implicitly uses the concept of steady state

Study on the Stability of DeoxyArbutin in an Anhydrous Emulsion System

The skin-whitening agent, deoxyArbutin, is a potent tyrosinase inhibitor that is safer than hydroquinone and arbutin. However, it is thermolabile in aqueous solutions, where it decomposes to hydroquinone. Pharmaceutical and cosmetic emulsions are normally oil-in-water (o/w) or water-in-oil (w/o) systems; however, emulsions can be formulated with no aqueous phase to produce an anhydrous emulsion system. An anhydrous emulsion system could offer a stable vehicle for compounds that are sensitive to hydrolysis or oxidation. Therefore, to enhance the stability of deoxyArbutin in formulations, we chose the polyol-in-silicone, anhydrous emulsion system as the basic formulation for investigation. The quantity of deoxyArbutin and the accumulation of hydroquinone in both hydrous and anhydrous emulsions at various temperatures were analyzed through an established high performance liquid chromatographic (HPLC) method. The results indicated that water increased the decomposition of deoxyArbutin in the formulations and that the polyol-in-silicone, oil-based, anhydrous emulsion system provided a relatively stable surrounding for the deoxyArbutin that delayed its degradation at 25 °C and 45 °C. Moreover, the composition of the inner hydrophilic phase, containing different amounts of glycerin and propylene glycol, affected the stability of deoxyArbutin. Thus, these results will be beneficial when using deoxyArbutin in cosmetics and medicines in the future