The Monster is Growing

Panel: America Abroa

Analysis of different class sizes on decision making processes and teaching behaviors of highly experienced teachers (HETs) and less experienced teachers (LETs)

Objectives. This study examined the decision making process employed by two highly experienced teachers (HETs) and two less experienced teachers (LETS) as they planned for and taught lessons with two different class sizes; n=15-16 and n=30-31. A secondary purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of class size on teaching behaviors and student learning. Finally, this study used in-depth interviews to describe concerns associated with teaching and preparing lessons for classes of different size.;Design and setting. This was a mixed-methods study that utilized both behavioral analysis and qualitative methods of investigation. Qualitative methods included think-aloud, stimulated-recall techniques and semi-structured, open-ended interviews which were used to describe participants teaching concerns when dealing with class size. Quantitative methods included the use of the West Virginia University Teaching Evaluation System (WVUTES; Hawkins & Wiegand, 1989), and Field System Analysis (FSA; Sharpe & Hawkins, 1992) which were used to examine the influence of class size on teaching and student learning behaviors.;Subjects. Two highly experienced physical education teachers (HET1 and HET2) and two less experienced physical education teachers (LET1 and LET2, student teachers) were involved in this study. Pseudonyms were used for all participants in this study including: Erick Sam (HET1), Erin Hong (HET2), Nancy Young (LET1) and Nathan Smith (LET2). A total of 184 student participants were recruited from the two different elementary schools along with their cooperating physical education teachers.;Results. WVUTES data showed that HETs used similar instructional behaviors in terms of the amount, duration and frequency of feedback given during both classes. FSA revealed that all teachers provided individual feedback more often in smaller classes. Experienced teachers provided more individual feedback in larger classes, whereas their less experienced counterparts provided individual feedback more frequently only in smaller classes.;Conclusions. Smaller classes are more beneficial especially for less experienced teachers, due to the increase in frequency of individual feedback. Class size was an important consideration for planning, specifically selecting content and the organizational structure. Experienced teachers used multiple formations to deal with variations in class size. Less experienced teachers tend to use the one teaching format (either station or cohort) they were most comfortable with for both classes regardless of size. In this study, station teaching: (1) allowed students to concentrate better on instructional tasks; (2) reduced managerial tasks; (3) aided in the prevention off-task behaviors. Another critical component was the frequency of individual feedback, which kept students more active and engaged in class activities. Smaller class sizes appear more beneficial especially for less experienced teachers, due to the increase in the delivery of individual feedback

Discomfort luminance level of head-mounted displays depending on the adapting luminance

The Images in an immersive head-mounted display (HMD) for virtual reality provide the sole source for visual adaptation. Thus, significant, near-instantaneous increases in luminance while viewing an HMD can result in visual discomfort. Therefore, the current study investigated the luminance change necessary to induce this discomfort. Based on the psychophysical experiment data collected from 10 subjects, a prediction model was derived using four complex images and one neutral image, with four to six levels of average scene luminance. Result showed that maximum area luminance has a significant correlation with the discomfort luminance level than average, median, or maximum pixel luminance. According to the prediction model, the discomfort luminance level of a head-mounted display was represented as a positive linear function in log(10) units using the previous adaptation luminance when luminance is calculated as maximum area luminance

Determination of Appropriate area University Labotatories In Consideration of Extinction Coefficient

This study calculated the appropriate area of university laboratories which shall allow 40 students to evacuate in the shortest time frame when they evacuate at the walking speed per extinction coefficient of smoke to be created upon outbreak of fire.In the case where the floor area was 600㎡, the required safe egress time (RSET) for the total 40 students was 48.3 seconds when extinction coefficient was 0.3m⁻¹, 52.6 sec when extinction coefficient was 0.5m⁻¹, and 54.3 sec when extinction coefficient was 1.0m⁻¹. In the case where the floor area was reduced to 300㎡, half of the first case, the RSET for the total 40 students was 50.0 sec when extinction coefficient was 0.3m⁻¹, 56.4 sec when extinction coefficient was 0.5m⁻¹, and 54.1 sec when extinction coefficient was 1.0m⁻¹, showing the result that RSET of all the students was rather elongated when extinction coefficient was 0.3m⁻¹ and 0.5m⁻¹ respectively due to bottleneck caused by increase in population density even though the exit distance was shortened. In the case where the floor area was increased to 1200㎡, twice of the first case, RSET of all the levels of extinction coefficient was elongated due to increase in exit distance. As result of the experiments with different size of floor areas, the shortest RSET of all the students was found with 540㎡ of floor area. In conclusion, it was found that the RSET for all the people in the lab shall be shortest when the floor area was appropriate

Evacuation Safety Evaluation in the Event of a Fire in a Shopping Center with a Connected Passageway in Korea

In this study, scenarios were developed to evaluate evacuation safety in the event of a fire in a shopping center with a connected passageway and to reduce Required Safe Egress Time (RSET). The RSET for all occupants by scenario is as follows: The first scenario which used the general evacuation route took 20 minutes and 7 seconds. The second scenario which used the third floor’s connected passageway for third and fourth floor, and using first floor entrance for first and second floor to evacuate took 14 minutes and 11 seconds. The evacuation time was 36 minutes and 52 seconds for scenario 3, which only used the fire escape stairs. The fourth scenario took 4 minutes and 19 seconds and used a connected passageway on every floor. Overall, this study shows that RSET for all occupants is reduced when a connected passageway is installed on every floor in shopping centers. Henceforth, more research is needed to determine whether connected passageway is a single firefighting object or a separate structure