Design and Evaluation of a Socially Enhanced Classroom Blog to Promote Student Learning in Higher Education

As college students today become savvy users of social networks like Facebook, Twitter and Google +1, teachers are taking this opportunity to motivate learning and foster engagement through the use of Web 2.0 software such as classroom blogs. This study discusses why social learning matters in education, and how can social technology help promote student learning. The study demonstrates how to design, implement and evaluate a socially enhanced classroom blog for higher education through a case study. The evaluation result shows significant, positive correlations between the use of socially enhanced blogs and student learning, which were measured in aspects of student perceived learning, social interaction, satisfaction, community of practice, and actual learning results

Establishment of the liquid fluorometric method for determination of alkylresorcinols in whole wheat

Objective To determine the quality of whole wheat products, it is necessary to establish a method for determination of alkylresorcinols(ars) which are the markers of whole wheat, black wheat and other cereal products. Methods Taking wheat and black wheat as main research2o2bjects, factorial design was used to investigate the effect of extraction reagents(acetone, alcohol, and ethyl acetate), extraction methods(ultrasound for 30 min, 60 min, shaking at room temperature overnight), and sample status(granule, flour) on the determination of ars. And ars detection conditions was established by comparing chromatographic conditions and scanning fluorescence wavelengths. The ars content in some commercially available cereals were determined based on the methodological evaluation. Results Taking into account the toxicity of the reagents and efficiency, it was better that the comminuted sample was ultrasonically extracted with ethanol for 30 min before loading on the Waters CORTES-C18 column with ethanol: acetonitrile(30: 70, v: v). The fluorescence detector was set at a wavelength of 272 nm for excitation and 296 nm for emission to detect ars. The linear range was 0.050-10.0g/mL and the coefficient R2≥0.9999. RSD of precision experiment was less than 5% and the spiked recovery rates of three levels were 94.5%-104%. The total amount of ars was 47.9-54.3 mg/100g in commercially available wheat and 53.6-60.9 mg/100g in black wheat. Conclusion The liquid-fluorescence method established in this study can effectively and rapidly separate ars from wheat and black wheat and has the advantages of simple operation, high sensitivity and accuracy

A review of dynamics design methods for high-speed and high-precision CNC machine tool feed systems

With the development of CNC machine tools toward high speed and high precision, the traditional static design methods can hardly meet the demand. Hence, in this paper, the dynamics matching design methods of existing CNC machine tool feed systems were investigated and analyzed. Further, sub-system coupling mechanisms and optimization design studies were carried out for each sub-system. First, the required kinematic indexes must be achieved when designing the feed system dynamics of high-speed, high-precision CNC machine tools. Second, the CNC machine tool feed systems generally have four sub-systems: motion process, control system, motor, and mechanical structure. The coupling effect between the sub-systems should also be considered in the design. Based on the dynamics design, each sub-system should be optimized to maximize the system dynamic performance with minimum resource allocation. Finally, based on the review, future research directions within the field were detected

Using Blogs to Support Constructivist and Social Learning – a Case Study in a University Setting

Recent studies have shown that using social media such as blogs and wikis in classroom can enhance student learning. In this paper, we briefly introduce constructivist and social learning theories, blog technology and the use of blogs in education, and different design architecture of educational blogs. We then present a case study of using blogs in an undergrad level management information systems course in a university setting. The study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of blogmediated learning, knowledge discovery and creation within the scope of information systems education. The study also aims to investigate the design and usability issues of classroom blogs. Relevant data collected over the course of a semester include students\u27 blog posts, classroom presentations and interactions, survey questionnaires (including five-Liker scale and open-ended questions), and instructional materials. Analysis of the data examines student goals, motivations, system usage, and perceived effectiveness and value of using blogs in classroom