This study examined the difference in adults' pronunciation performance with peer feedback and individual practice when using an automatic speech recognition (ASR) system. The same ASR software was ...used in both the comparison (n = 31) and the experimental group (n = 33) for 12 weeks. The participants were working adults in Taiwan. During the weekly lesson, the participants dictated a text to the ASR software, Speechnotes, on its website and then practiced misidentified words by themselves (the comparison group) or with feedback from team members (the experimental group). Learners' pronunciation was measured in reading aloud and spontaneous conversation tasks before and after the treatment. Participants' satisfaction and perceptions of the ease of use of the software were also assessed at the end of the course. The results revealed a significant difference in the two groups' pronunciation post-tests, suggesting that peer feedback is more effective than individual practice for the correction of pronunciation. The experimental group was more satisfied than the comparison group with the software. However, no differences in accentedness or perception of ease of use were evident. The findings, ASR software implementation challenges, and implications for adult language learning are discussed.
Mind mapping is a powerful technique that is often used for teaching declarative knowledge, but seldom implemented to record procedural knowledge. The present study focused on the latter. During a ...12-week public presentation course, self-developed mind mapping software was utilized as a learning tool and an instrument to collect and analyze user behavior logs while summarizing and revising procedural knowledge. The participants were 53 working adults. They were divided into successful and unsuccessful mapping profiles based on their improvement. The pre- and post-tests on presentation skills, lag sequential analysis on log data, and interviews suggested that participants showing successful mapping behavior prioritized readability and ease of navigation of their maps. Their counterparts with unsuccessful mapping behavior tended to overload their maps and overuse highlighting. The discovery of actions and behavior patterns during the creation and revision of mind maps corresponding to successful/unsuccessful mind mapping profiles provides important suggestions to enhance existing digital mind mapping tools and to diagnose students who are falling behind. The implementation of mind mapping for procedural learning expands the area of mind mapping research and enlarges our understanding of teaching procedural knowledge.
This study investigated how learning styles (visual/verbal) and the use of Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR) software affect English as a Second Language adult learners’ improvement during a 12-week ...course focusing on pronunciation. In the control group (n = 28), the teacher corrected and gave feedback on the adult learners’ pronunciation; experimental group 1 (n = 33) used dictation ASR along with peers’ correction; and experimental group 2 (n = 31) used dictation ASR alone. Their pre- and post-tests on pronunciation in reading tasks and live conversation were analyzed with their learning styles taken into account, using 2-way ANCOVA. The results suggest that learning styles made a significant difference in the pronunciation performance of the reading task in all groups. Visual style learners outperformed verbal style learners in the reading task. The combination of ASR and peer correction yielded the highest improvement in both reading tasks and live conversation.
Many studies have measured the effects of separate scaffolding methods for online learning, but the various methods are seldom directly compared to provide concrete teaching suggestions. This study ...aims to investigate the effects of three popular scaffolding methods on students' ability to obtain resume standards, course satisfaction and engagement in an online resume writing course. Sixty-eight mixed-major undergraduate students in a private four-year college in Central Taiwan watched video lectures embedded in video-viewing Google forms before section writing. The comparison video (V) group did not receive extra support while three treatment groups (section quiz (SQ), writing rubric (WR) and peer-feedback (PF) groups) were offered scaffolding emphasizing resume genre features. The data derived from surveys and writing samples revealed that over the four-week treatment, the PF group was consistently more attentive to the organization genre standards than the other groups but performed similarly to the SQ group on grammar features. Although all groups expressed satisfaction with the course, they varied in engagement levels. The PF group reported considerably lower engagement than the SQ and V groups. The WR group was low in both writing and engagement. Therefore, the combination of scaffolding methods is recommended for implementation.
Previous studies have revealed the significant influence of electronic devices, especially social media use, on sleep difficulties among adolescents. In this study, disturbed sleep due to social ...media use (DSSM) was defined as reduced or troubled sleep caused by nighttime-specific behaviors such as waking to check updates, being notified by incoming messages, or postponed bedtime because of social media activities. Inadequate and disturbed sleep during youth interferes with daytime academic efficiency and may be associated with school burnout, which were examined in this study.
Using two data waves collected from questionnaires on school burnout and DSSM and school test scores of 2462 Taiwanese middle school students (52.5% males) from various school types with average ages of 13.9 (SD = 0.72) and 14.3 (SD = 0.66) at Time 1 and Time 2, we investigated the relationship between the variables across time.
DSSM, academic performance, and school burnout were significantly correlated. Cross-lagged analyses to the group of adolescents with higher than the average DSSM scores revealed that burnout predicted lower academic achievements through DSSM as a mediator. Burnout did not have a direct effect on school performance but influenced the latter through disturbed sleep. Poor academic achievement in its turn showed a feedback effect on higher levels of burnout.
This research reveals a vicious cycle of burnout, disturbed sleep, and academic achievement. During adolescence, school burnout through DSSM increase can lead to a lower academic performance that may later cause even higher burnout.
碩士
國立臺灣科技大學
數位學習與教育研究所
107
Previous studies have revealed the significant influence of electronic media and especially Social Media use on sleep difficulties among adolescents. In this study, ...problematic sleep due to Social Media and phone use is defined as reduced or disturbed sleep caused by nighttime-specific behaviors such as awakenings for checking updates, being notified by incoming messages, or post`1poned bedtime because of Social Media activities. Such inadequate sleep during youth interferes with daytime academic efficiency and may even lead to increased school burnout. Using two longitudinal data waves gathered among 2,462 Taiwanese middle school students (51.3% males for Time 1 and 50.2% males for Time 2), the cross-lagged paths between problematic sleep due to Social Media and phone use, academic performance, and school burnout were examined. After separating the group of adolescents with higher than the average problematic sleep scores, structural equation modeling revealed the negative influence of problematic sleep due to Social Media and phone use on adolescents’ academic achievement that negatively affects school burnout. Burnout in its turn found out to be a cause of later problematic sleep. The analysis also confirmed the predicted positive influences of burnout, academic achievement and problematic sleep due to excessive Social Media and phone use across time. Thus, the findings suggest that during adolescence, Social Media and phone use related sleep disturbances through academic performance decline can lead to higher levels of burnout that may later cause even higher sleep disturbance.
This paper reviews recent progress toward understanding the dynamics of the middle atmosphere in the framework of the Atmospheric Dynamics Research InfraStructure in Europe (ARISE) initiative. The ...middle atmosphere, integrating the stratosphere and mesosphere, is a crucial region which influences tropospheric weather and climate. Enhancing the understanding of middle atmosphere dynamics requires improved measurement of the propagation and breaking of planetary and gravity waves originating in the lowest levels of the atmosphere. Inter-comparison studies have shown large discrepancies between observations and models, especially during unresolved disturbances such as sudden stratospheric warmings for which model accuracy is poorer due to a lack of observational constraints. Correctly predicting the variability of the middle atmosphere can lead to improvements in tropospheric weather forecasts on timescales of weeks to season. The ARISE project integrates different station networks providing observations from ground to the lower thermosphere, including the infrasound system developed for the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty verification, the Lidar Network for the Detection of Atmospheric Composition Change, complementary meteor radars, wind radiometers, ionospheric sounders and satellites. This paper presents several examples which show how multi-instrument observations can provide a better description of the vertical dynamics structure of the middle atmosphere, especially during large disturbances such as gravity waves activity and stratospheric warming events. The paper then demonstrates the interest of ARISE data in data assimilation for weather forecasting and re-analyzes the determination of dynamics evolution with climate change and the monitoring of atmospheric extreme events which have an atmospheric signature, such as thunderstorms or volcanic eruptions.
Objective
To compare perinatal singleton and multiple outcomes in a large Dutch in vitro fertilization (IVF)/intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) population and within risk subgroups. Newborns ...were assigned to a risk category based on gestational age, birthweight, Apgar score and congenital malformation.
Design
Register‐based retrospective cohort study.
Setting
Netherlands Perinatal Registry data.
Sample
A total of 3041 singletons and 1788 multiple children born from IVF/ICSI in 2003–2005.
Methods
Student's t‐test or Mann–Whitney U‐test was used to analyze continuous data, chi‐squared analyses were used for categorical data. Multivariate logistic and linear regression analysis was performed to analyze whether the risk stratification criteria were associated with neonatal hospital admission and length of stay.
Main outcome measures
Start of labor, mode of delivery, gestational age, birthweight, 5‐min Apgar score, congenital malformation, neonatal hospital admission, neonatal intensive care unit admission and mortality.
Results
IVF/ICSI‐conceived multiples had considerably poorer outcomes than singletons in terms of cesarean section rate, preterm birth, birthweight, being small‐for‐gestational‐age, Apgar score, neonatal hospital admission, neonatal intensive care unit admission and neonatal mortality. As opposed to the results found in the total study population and the low‐risk and moderate‐risk populations, high‐risk multiples showed better outcomes than high‐risk singletons regarding cesarean section rate, birthweight and Apgar score. All risk stratification variables were associated with being hospitalized after birth. Length of stay was associated with all risk stratification criteria except Apgar score.
Conclusions
Perinatal outcomes in IVF/ICSI‐conceived multiples are considerably poorer than in singletons. This finding mainly pertains to low‐risk children. High‐risk multiples had significantly better perinatal outcomes than high‐risk singletons.
Pregnancies induced by in vitro fertilisation (IVF) often result in twin gestations, which are associated with both maternal and perinatal complications. An effective way to reduce the number of IVF ...twin pregnancies is to decrease the number of embryos transferred from two to one. The interpretation of current studies is limited because they used live birth as outcome measure and because they applied limited time horizons. So far, research on long-term outcomes of IVF twins and singletons is scarce and inconclusive. The objective of this study is to investigate the short (1-year) and long-term (5 and 18-year) costs and health outcomes of IVF singleton and twin children and to consider these in estimating the cost-effectiveness of single embryo transfer compared with double embryo transfer, from a societal and a healthcare perspective.
A multi-centre cohort study will be performed, in which IVF singletons and IVF twin children born between 2003 and 2005 of whom parents received IVF treatment in one of the five participating Dutch IVF centres, will be compared. Data collection will focus on children at risk of health problems and children in whom health problems actually occurred. First year of life data will be collected in approximately 1,278 children (619 singletons and 659 twin children). Data up to the fifth year of life will be collected in approximately 488 children (200 singletons and 288 twin children). Outcome measures are health status, health-related quality of life and costs. Data will be obtained from hospital information systems, a parent questionnaire and existing registries. Furthermore, a prognostic model will be developed that reflects the short and long-term costs and health outcomes of IVF singleton and twin children. This model will be linked to a Markov model of the short-term cost-effectiveness of single embryo transfer strategies versus double embryo transfer strategies to enable the calculation of the long-term cost-effectiveness.
This is, to our knowledge, the first study that investigates the long-term costs and health outcomes of IVF singleton and twin children and the long-term cost-effectiveness of single embryo transfer strategies versus double embryo transfer strategies.
In 2000, regulation on orphan medicinal products was adopted in the European Union with the aim of benefiting patients who suffer from serious, rare conditions for which there is currently no ...satisfactory treatment. Since then, more than 850 orphan drug designations have been granted by the European Commission based on a positive opinion from the Committee for Orphan Medicinal Products (COMP), and more than 60 orphan drugs have received marketing authorization in Europe. Here, stimulated by the tenth anniversary of the COMP, we reflect on the outcomes and experience gained in the past decade, and contemplate issues for the future, such as catalysing drug development for the large number of rare diseases that still lack effective treatments.
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