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The macroscopic pancake bounce

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We demonstrate that the so-called pancake bounce of millimetric water droplets on surfaces patterned
with hydrophobic posts (Liu et al 2014 Nat. Phys. 10 [http://https://doi.org/10.1038/nphys2980] 515
) can be reproduced on larger scales. In our expe…

The macroscopic pancake bounce

by

We demonstrate that the so-called pancake bounce of millimetric water droplets on surfaces patterned
with hydrophobic posts (Liu et al 2014 Nat. Phys. 10 [http://https://doi.org/10.1038/nphys2980] 515
) can be reproduced on larger scales. In our expe…

Dusting off the Lecher lines

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Experiments with Lecher Lines have always been important in the physics curriculum for demonstrating
standing waves and the important concept that waves can be guided as well as being emitted into
space. A system operating at low power (less than 10 …

Dusting off the Lecher lines

by

Experiments with Lecher Lines have always been important in the physics curriculum for demonstrating
standing waves and the important concept that waves can be guided as well as being emitted into
space. A system operating at low power (less than 10 …

Ramp it up and down

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We describe a simple experiment about sliding friction of an object moving with non-constant speed
along an inclined plane. This experiment can be used to study the entire dynamical process of force
and motion in various ways, depending on the mathem…

How to delude your senses

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There are many video recordings of experiments available on the web that look like magic tricks.
These experiments can be very attractive for pupils. However, their explanation can be missing,
wrong or may lead to misconceptions. One of these is a vi…

Ramp it up and down

by

We describe a simple experiment about sliding friction of an object moving with non-constant speed
along an inclined plane. This experiment can be used to study the entire dynamical process of force
and motion in various ways, depending on the mathem…

How to delude your senses

by

There are many video recordings of experiments available on the web that look like magic tricks.
These experiments can be very attractive for pupils. However, their explanation can be missing,
wrong or may lead to misconceptions. One of these is a vi…

Assuring Quality in E-Learning Course Design: The Roadmap

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Quality Assurance (QA) concepts and applications in Higher Education (HE) emerge from evolving meanings related to HE’s dynamic relationship with social, economic, cultural, and technological developments.  The latter has been redefined by the growth spurred by the forms distance and online education acquired during the last decades.  Creating a roadmap with clearly articulated meanings of quality and consistent key actions fills a need for the involved communities to reground the research, policy-making, and the related discourse.  Our current work consists of a thorough meta-analysis on all available research in every identified pertinent field. It is a qualitative review of the concepts, definitions, and approaches about quality in general, but also specifically, in e-learning in HE, as they have globally appeared in peer-reviewed journals, government reports, and web pages.  As we left no stone unturned in enquiring regarding the meanings, uses, evolution, and applicability of the revealed variables it is our hope that the roadmap we provide here will guide future research and support policy-making in the field. The present study is part of the research project e-learning Quality Assurance Design Standards in Higher Education (e-QADeSHE), which was funded by Laureate International Universities as the winning research project for the International David Wilson Award for Excellence in Teaching and Learning (2015 edition).

Reading Online in Foreign Languages: A Study of Strategy Use

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Scores of studies have established that when learning online, students must be equipped with different sets of strategies and skills than in a physical classroom setting (Anderson, 2003; Broadbent & Poon, 2015; Coiro, 2007; Leu et al., 2007; Michinov, Brunot, Le Bohec, Juhel, & Delaval, 2011; Salmon, 2013).  The present study, by virtue of exploring foreign language learners’ online reading experience, aimed to identify the reading strategies that learners would use when engaged in online reading activities in the target foreign languages.  Thirty-two foreign language learners whose native language was English participated in the study.  The Online Survey of Reading Strategies (OSORS) designed by Anderson (2003) was administered to investigate the following four research questions: (1) What are the strategies that language learners would or would not use when reading online in foreign languages? (2) Would foreign language learners use some of the online reading strategies more frequently than other strategies? (3) Would different levels of foreign language proficiencies influence language learners’ use of the strategies?  (4) What could foreign language teachers do in their instruction to help students acquire and broaden their repertoire of online reading strategies?  Data analysis demonstrated the most and least frequently used strategies of the foreign language learners and uncovered a significant difference in the frequency of use among the strategies.  However, there was no significant difference found between the use of online reading strategies and learners’ foreign language proficiencies.  Implications and suggestions for future research and practice were proposed accordingly.      

Tele-proximity: Tele-community of Inquiry Model. Facial Cues for Social, Cognitive, and Teacher Presence in Distance Education

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Distance education is expanding in all continents, and the use of video has dominated internet. Synchronous Video Communication (SVC) has not been an option thoroughly investigated and practitioners, who use and design synchronous learning scenarios, are in urgent need of guidance. Distant learners face many barriers, and as a result, they drop out more frequently than on-campus students. Educators seem to be equally affected by the “transactional distance” and the new digital literacies needed for facilitating online learning. This study explores the educators’ perspective on how SVC could offer alternative educational forms and possibilities for distance learning. Findings had indicated that the use of visual communication and human to human contact (prosopogonosia: seeing faces) could have a strong impact on learning and teaching, therefore, a theory called Tele-proximity was formulated. Tele-proximity is defined as online embodiment that explains how instructors and students are connected in synchronous networked environment via tele-operations. SVC creates a sense of place or a stage where online identities perform and highlights recent research on audio-visual signals in communication and team work (Pentland, 2012, 2008).  The theory can be seen as an extension of the Community of Inquiry Model (Garrison, Anderson & Archer, 2000) and a theoretical framework according to which learning objectives could be designed. Transactional distance could be minimized and may be implemented to facilitate more synchronous, visual, and humane options in distance education.

Online Instructors’ Use of Scaffolding Strategies to Promote Interactions: A Scale Development Study

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A great deal of research has documented that interactions among students or between students and instructors are key to student success in an online learning setting. However, very little research has been statistically and systematically conducted to examine online instructors’ conscious and effortful use of scaffolding strategies to promote interactions in online courses. The purpose of this research was to develop a scale assessing online instructors’ use of scaffolding strategies to promote interactions. We employed a scale development method for the study. Exploratory factor analysis revealed one factor structure associated with instructors’ use of scaffolding strategies to promote interactions in online settings. Confirmatory factor analysis conducted with a different group of online students indicated that the one-factor model fits the data well. In addition, significant correlations with social presence and classroom learning community scales further demonstrated convergent validity. The new scale of online instructors’ use of scaffolding strategies to promote interactions demonstrated psychometrically sound validity and reliability.

Faculty Members’ Instructional Priorities for Adopting OER

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This study aimed to investigate and classify faculty members’ instructional priorities for adopting OER. In-depth interview data were collected from 10 faculty members from different regions and analyzed with NVivo 10. The original supposition was that the well-established instructional priorities, effectiveness, efficiency, and appeal would apply. However, it was found that in adopting OER, these faculty members had four instructional priorities: effectiveness, efficiency, appeal, and extension. Effectiveness was the most important consideration, followed by extension, appeal, and efficiency. Regional differences were also apparent. These findings were drawn upon to propose an elaborated model of instructional priorities for adopting OER.

Coordinated Implicitly? An Empirical Study on the Role of Social Media in Collaborative Learning

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As social media is widely adopted in collaborative learning, which places teams in a virtual environment, it is critical for teams to identify and leverage the knowledge of their members. Yet little is known about how social media influences teams to coordinate their knowledge and collaborate effectively. In this research, we explore the roles of two kinds of social media activity – information processing and social connection in teamwork – by applying communication and transactive memory systems (TMSs) as the mechanisms of explicit and implicit coordination respectively. We test this model using partial least squares (PLS) method by treating team as the unit of analysis. Drawing on the data from a study that involves 40 teams of graduate students performing a complex research report over eight weeks, we find that both TMSs and communication can significantly improve teamwork outcomes, and communication can help teams to better coordinate implicitly. With regard to social media activities, the results reveal that both information processing and social connection can enhance the level of TMSs; however, only social connection is positively related to communication. Unfortunately, information processing cannot significantly strengthen communication quality. The possible reasons are discussed and some theoretical and practical implications are also put forward.