Lessons Learned from Topic Modeling Analysis of COVID-19 News to Enrich Statistics Education in Korea

This study aimed to investigate how mass media in Korea dealt with various issues arising from COVID-19 and the implications of this on statistics education in South Korea during the recent pandemic. We extracted news articles with the keywords “Corona” and “Statistics” from 18 February to 20 May 2020. We employed word frequency analysis, topic modeling, semantic network analysis, hierarchical clustering, and simple linear regression analysis. The main results of this study are as follows. First, the topic modeling analysis revealed four topics, namely “macroeconomy”, “domestic outbreak”, “international outbreak”, and “real estate and stocks”. Second, a simple linear regression analysis displayed two rising topics, “macroeconomy” and “real estate and stocks” and two falling topics, “domestic outbreak” and “international outbreak” regarding the statistics related to COVID-19 as time passed. Based on these findings, we suggest that the high school mathematics curriculum of Korea should be revised to use real-life context to enable integrated education, social justice for statistics education, and simple linear regression analysis

Innovating with in-service mathematics teachers’ professional development: The intersection among mixed-reality simulations, approximation-of-practice, and technology-acceptance

In-service teachers must be provided with high-quality professional development (PD) opportunities that not only effectively improves and develops their skills, but also engage, and motivate them to continue growing. In this project, we studied in-service teachers’ perceptions, opinions, and mindset toward the use of mixed-reality simulations (MRS) as a potential tool for PD to advance and enhance their pedagogical knowledge for mathematics. We followed a convergent parallel mixed-method approach with 49 in-service teachers who were exposed to a series of simulations sessions. We found evidence that the use and integration of technologies like MRS as a tool for PD is considered to be an approximation of practice well accepted by the teachers. In addition, the majority of participants perceived the tool as an effective-unique strategy to develop skills related to questioning, eliciting and assessing student

Regional Disparity in the Educational Impact of COVID-19: A Spatial Difference-in-Difference Approach

The transmission of COVID-19 suddenly shifted most school classes to online lectures, and these unexpected changes often exacerbated existing imbalances by region and school. Our study used land price data as a proxy for regional wealth and empirically examined the inflation of education inequality between the areas with high and low land prices during the COVID-19 pandemic in South Korea. The gaps in the average high school Math and English scores between 2019 and 2020 (Y1 effect) and 2019 and 2021 (Y2 effect) are used as the main educational outcomes. We utilized the spatial difference-in-difference (DID) method to reflect the spatial autocorrelation on the school-level distribution of the score changes. The impact of the online class conversion on student performances was found to be significantly different between the regions with low and high land price and was more noticeable for the Math score during the first year of the pandemic. During the second year of the pandemic (2021), the scores increased in both regions, but the regional gap remained persistent. Evidence-based policies should be implemented to enhance regional educational conditions and resources, which, in turn, should prevent educational inequality across the regions stemming from the conversion to online classes

A longitudinal study of the effect of individual and socio-cultural factors on students’ creativity

This longitudinal study investigated how characteristics of individual and social relationships affect Korean students’ creativity development. Fifth graders (male: 3,623, female: 3,701) from 242 schools in Korea were followed annually from their 5th to 9th grades (indicating from the 5th elementary school grade to the 3rd middle school grade in the Korean school system). Exploratory factor analysis, internal consistency reliability (coefficient alpha), confirmatory factor analysis, and two-level growth model methods were performed. We investigated all nine constructs and their related items by checking metric and scalar invariance assumptions. When the measurement invariance assumptions were satisfied, we used the mean of items that constitute respective factors. We checked growth trajectories of creativity and tapped the possibility of the existence of subgroups based on the growth/change pattern using latent class growth modeling. The results showed that no subgroups existed. Thus, we constructed a two-level growth model to investigate the overall growth pattern of the students. Regarding level 1, we included time-varying variables such as peer attachment, self-regulation habits (self-management), parents’ academy-oriented involvement, parent affective support, individualized, interactive teaching methods, teachers’ academic pressure, and academic achievement. At level 2, we used gender and parenting style that was obtained at time point 1. The final combined model incorporating level 1 and 2 variables showed that students’ self-regulation had the most association with the student’s creativity followed by peer attachment, parents’ academic support, interaction with parents, interaction with teachers, academic pressure from teachers, and relationships with teachers. Methods for enhancing students’ creativity were discussed

The relationships among Taiwanese youth’s polychronicity, multitasking behavior and perceived learning performance in online learning

BackgroundThe advancement of digital technology implies the importance of polychronic learning. Since polychronicity is not equivalent to multitasking behavior, they need to be considered separately. However, less research has been explored on how polychronicity is related to multitasking behavior in the educational field.ObjectiveTo explore the relationships among polychronicity, multitasking behavior and learning performance (including knowledge acquisition and learning satisfaction) in an online learning environment.MethodsThe relationship among variables was analyzed from 865 responses obtained from a questionnaire survey, and independent sample t tests and SEM analysis were used to examine the research hypotheses.ResultsCollege students showed a higher frequency of multitasking behavior, time tangibility and scheduling preference, and learning satisfaction in multitasking online learning environments than high school students. Additionally, college students were different from high school students on the paths of involvement with people to multitasking behavior (Δ χ2= 5.42, p = 0.02) and scheduling preference to learning satisfaction (Δχ2 = 9.54, p = 0.002).ConclusionThe relationship among polychronicity, multitasking behavior and perceived learning performance in an online learning environment varies by student educational stage

Comparison of the number of live births, maternal age at childbirth, and weight of live births between Korean women and immigrant women in 2018

Purpose This study compared maternal age at childbirth, the number of live births, and the weight of live births between Korean women and immigrant women using statistical data from the Republic of Korea for the period of 2008-2018. Methods The analysis was conducted using data from the Microdata Integrated Service of Statistics Korea (https://mdis.kostat.go.kr/index.do). Results Korean women and immigrant women showed a higher age at childbirth in 2018 than in 2008. The percentage of newborns of Korean women with a birth weight of less than 2.5 kg increased slightly for 3 consecutive years from 2016 to 2018, whereas for immigrant women, this percentage increased in 2017 compared to 2016 and then decreased again in 2018. Very low birth weight (less than 1.5 kg) became more common among immigrant women from 2016 to 2018. Birth at a gestational age of fewer than 37 weeks increased both among Korean and immigrant women from 2016 to 2018. In both groups, the percentage of women who had their first child within their first 2 years of marriage decreased from 2008 to 2018. Conclusion Immigrant women had higher birth rates than Korean women, while both groups showed an increasing trend in preterm birth. Greater attention should be paid to the pregnancy and birth needs of immigrant women, and steps are needed to ensure health equity and access in order to prevent preterm births. It is also necessary to identify factors that affect preterm birth and birth of very low birth weight infants among immigrant women in the future

Do large thyroid nodules (≥4 cm) without suspicious cytology need surgery?

BackgroundFine-needle aspiration biopsy (FNAB) is a good diagnostic tool for thyroid nodules; however, its high false-negative rate for giant nodules remains controversial. Many clinicians recommend surgical resection for nodules >4 cm owing to an increased risk of malignancy and an increased false-negative rate. This study aimed to examine the feasibility of this approach and investigate the incidence of malignancy in thyroid nodules >4 cm without suspicious cytology based on medical records in our center.MethodsThis was a retrospective analysis of 453 patients that underwent preoperative FNAB for nodules measuring >4 cm between January 2017 and August 2022 at Severance Hospital, Seoul.ResultsAmong the 453 patients, 140 nodules were benign and 119 were indeterminate. Among 259 patients, the final pathology results were divided into benign (149) and cancerous (110) groups, and the prevalence of malignancy was 38.9% in the benign group and 55.5% in the indeterminate group. Among the malignancies, follicular carcinoma and follicular variants of papillary carcinoma were observed in 83% of the cytologically benign group and 62.8% of the indeterminate group.ConclusionPreoperative FNAB had high false-negative rates and low diagnostic accuracy in patients with thyroid nodules >4 cm without suspicious cytologic features; therefore, diagnostic surgery may be considered a treatment option

Tristetraprolin inhibits the growth of human glioma cells through downregulation of urokinase plasminogen activator/urokinase plasminogen activator receptor mRNAs

Urokinase plasminogen activator (uPA) and urokinase plasminogen activator receptor (uPAR) play a major role in the infiltrative growth of glioblastoma. Downregulatoion of the uPA and uPAR has been reported to inhibit the growth glioblastoma. Here, we demonstrate that tristetraprolin (TTP) inhibits the growth of U87MG human glioma cells through downregulation of uPA and uPAR. Our results show that expression level of TTP is inversely correlated with those of uPA and uPAR in human glioma cells and tissues. TTP binds to the AU-rich elements within the 3' untranslated regions of uPA and uPAR and overexpression of TTP decreased the expression of uPA and uPAR through enhancing the degradation of their mRNAs. In addition, overexpression of TTP inhibited the growth and invasion of U87MG cells. Our findings implicate that TTP can be used as a promising therapeutic target to treat human glioma

As I sow, so shall you reap: The different roles of different gestures in knowledge construction

Gesture researchers have focused on how gestures benefit learning. For example, data have shown that the usage of gestures during conversation can enhance concept acquisition and language learning in children. An instructor's gestures also benefit students' learning. For example, by providing gestures that contain semantic value, students remember more and attain deeper understanding of a concept. However, few studies have attempted to find out the function of gestures in learning: how information in a speaker's gestures is represented and constructed in a listener's mind. The present study targets learning of STEM concepts, especially the structure and the behavior of complex systems. It was expected that certain gestures prime a specific type of knowledge. For example, iconic gestures with structure knowledge of a concept facilitate learning of structures of a given concept and action gestures facilitate learning of movements, especially causal relation of the concept. This study also explored the relation between gestures delivered by a speaker and gestures constructed by a listener; in particular, if provided gestures contribute to constructing and representing a listener's knowledge and how it is manifested by learners' explanations. Participants were randomly assigned to either an action gesture group that watched an instructional video based on action gestures, or to a structure gesture group that watched an instructional video based on structure gestures. The instructional video was about how a four stroke engine works. Except for a type of gestures that a speaker used, both videos were identical in all conditions. Participants were told that after watching the video they would explain a concept in the video to a colleague coming later, therefore a video camera would record their explanation, and the colleague would learn the concept from watching the video that they created. The participants watched the instructional video, and then they were asked to answer questions that were created based on a speaker's verbal script. This was followed by a drawing test, which asked them to draw how a four stroke engine works based on the video that they watched. Findings showed that action gestures facilitated action knowledge of the concept and were more involved in creating a mental representation of the concept based on action. Also, the structure group represented the concept based on structure. The findings were confirmed by analyzing the participants' gestures and speech showing that the action group used more action gestures and action information units in their explanation and the structure group delivered reliably more structure gestures and structure information units. It was assumed that the mental model of the concept that the action group was harboring was based on action and the structure group was harboring was based on structure of the concept. The knowledge representations that the participants showed corresponded to the type of knowledge within the speaker's gestures in the instructional video that they watched. The results imply that listeners' knowledge is grounded in a speaker's gestures and this relationship depends on gesture type. More specifically, information in gestures is processed and becomes listeners' knowledge based on an attribute that the speaker's gesture has, and speech and gesture work together to manifest this phenomenon