Understanding the In-class Behavior Patterns of Japanese University Students in EFL Classes: A Foreign English Teacher’s Perspective

This article identifies and examines the in-class behavior patterns of Japanese university students in English as a foreign language (EFL) classes at the tertiary level. In any classroom setting, teachers may feel dissatisfaction when their expectations of learners’ in-class behaviors are incongruent with those actually displayed by the learners. For foreign EFL teachers teaching in Japanese universities, this incongruency can reveal itself in the form of a teacher-perceived lack of activity and initiative demonstrated by their learners. In order to overcome these feelings of dissatisfaction with Japanese university learners’ behaviors in university EFL settings, it is necessary to identify what these in-class behavior patterns are and understand why they exist. Upon recognizing and understanding the type of in-class behavior patterns and the related attitudes brought forth by learners into the Japanese university EFL classroom, teachers can then formulate and implement more learner-inclusive expectations and pedagogical practices that are more suitable for their teaching environment

An examination of stock market performance in China using accounting information

This study aims to examine the usefulness of China accounting information in reflecting the stock returns in China stock markets and to recognize the significant factors that are possibly related to the stock returns in A shares and B shares respectively.Peoples’ Republic of China accounting standard (PRC accounting standard) is used for A shares whereas International Accounting Standard (IAS) is used for B shares. By comparing the two accounting standards, we found that the definition of some items and concepts of the financial statements are different. Consequently, the values of the financial ratios are varied. In order to recognize the significant factors in A shares and B shares, the means of factor analysis was adopted to sort out important factors from a large number of financial ratios. For A shares, profitability, interest efficiency, liquidity, asset efficiency and earning power are found to be significant factors. While for B shares, the significant factors are profitability, asset efficiency, liquidity, operating efficiency and earning on interest expense. After running the regression with A shares daily returns and B shares daily returns to their respective significant factors, profitability, asset efficiency and earning power are found to be significant at 5% level in A shares and only profitability is found to be significant at 1% level for B shares

Teacher-orientated Pedagogical Practices for Reducing Demotivation in English Language Learning Contexts in Japan

　Teachers often contemplate and ask questions about what they can do to motivate learners. Their primary focus may be on matters related to lesson design, teaching methods and styles, or motivational strategies. It is also necessary and of considerable value to consider what should not be done or avoided in learning contexts, hence research studies on learner demotivation examine such an issue. An analysis and review of existing studies on demotivational factors among L2 learners in Japan reveal a range of pedagogical practices that demotivate learners. Awareness of these demotivational factors and influences can significantly assist educators in knowing what they can change within themselves and their classrooms to foster a better, more enriching educational experience for their learners. By following the pareto principle, educators can quickly identify teacher-orientated causes of demotivation in learners and effectively apply practical pedagogical solutions to improve upon these factors

Social-Psychological Interventions in Education

One of the primary objectives of educators at all levels is to facilitate the personal and academic development of learners in a successful manner. Helping students achieve positive experiences and outcomes as a result of their own effort and decision making can lead to the development of independent, knowledgeable, and skilled members of society. Educators possess a powerful platform in which they are able to communicate influential ideas and messages to their students, some of which could be lifelong-lasting and determine the trajectory of where one is headed towards in life.Therefore, the direct and indirect messages conveyed by educators to their students can significantly impact their students’ futures, regardless of whether one is fully cognizant of the message at the time of delivery. A good teacher wants their students to achieve the greatest heights possible, within their own self-determination, and this paper describes how the use of social-psychological interventions in education can aid in raising student development and achievement in educational settings

Workplace Learning Strategies and Professional Competencies in Innovation Contexts in Brazilian Hospitals

Competencies mobilized by service providers form an element of hospital services insofar as scientific and technological procedures that are part of the service become tangible. In view of the fact that hospitals have adopted Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), it would be logical to assume that learning contributes towards acquiring competencies related to changes in hospitals resulting from the adoption of new technologies. This paper aims to analyze relationships between workplace learning strategies and professional competencies after the adoption of innovations supported ICT in hospitals. Eleven interviews were carried out with professionals from three different hospitals and identifying the professional competencies resulting from innovations supported by ICT. This was followed by a cross-sectional survey involving 425 employees at the hospitals surveyed. The data analysis was undertaken by means of structural equation modeling (SEM). The results confirm the hypothesis and indicate that the performance of professional competences based on new ICT is determined by the way the respondents think, change and apply their knowledge, skills and attitudes in the workplace by use of new information and communication technologies

Implementation of semi-autonomous vehicle for environmental feedback

In a world marked by war and terrorism, the Department of Defense has found an increasing need for the use of unmanned ground vehicles (UGV) to facilitate the safety of its soldiers in the battlefield. UGVs can be used for scouting and surveying enemy territory instead of placing soldiers at risk. In response to this matter, the objective of this report is to propose a design for a microcontroller based vehicle that can give the user feedback on the environment. We propose to implement a camera sensor on a vehicle that will be used to track and follow a marked line on the ground. Additional information including direction and speed of the vehicle will be recorded using magnetometer and accelerometer sensors, respectively. The direction information is needed to give the user an idea of the vehicle’s orientation. The speed information is needed to control the response of the motors based upon the type of ground topography (e.g. sloped surface vs. flat surface). The goal of the project is to implement the combination of these three sensors (camera, magnetometer, and accelerometer) for better control of the vehicle in its environment. The intended deliverable will be a small vehicle powered by a rechargeable battery and controlled by the ATMega16 microcontroller. The vehicle will also contain the accelerometer, magnetometer, and camera sensors

Decision support system in a patient-centered medical home

Lack of sufficient primary care to manage chronic diseases has been quoted as a major drawback of the healthcare system within the United States. Patient-Centered Medical Home is a care delivery model to transform how primary care is delivered. The information technology revolution has brought about several advancements and solutions for medicine and care delivery, and medical homes are no exception to this. However, it is only through a robust decision support system that these medical homes can in fact provide truly coordinated and patient-centered care. The paper describes preliminary work that has been completed at the University of Missouri Health System and next steps in achieving high quality care delivery through a decision support system implementation. Originally presented at the IEEE HealthCon Medial Home conference in June 2011