Exploring the alleged effect of lower academic achievement after the free semester in Korean Middle Schools

Asia Pacific Education Review - The Enforcement Decree of the Elementary and Secondary School Act (2015) mandates that from 2016 all middle schools in Korea must administer one semester as a free...     

Primacy of Broadcast News: A Mediation Analysis of Recall,Attitudes, and Voting Intentions

This study examines how the order and proportion of scene valence within a television news story influence viewers' processing of political information. The results of the study, based on structural equation modeling and Sobel's mediation analysis, suggest that, in a news story about a political candidate, positive information on the candidate is recalled better if he or she is praised at the beginning of the story and then criticized at the end than if he or she is criticized first and praised later. In addition, there was a strong proportion effect. Stories with a high proportion of positive scenes were more likely to increase the participant's recall of positive information and induce his or her favorable attitudes and voting intentions than those with a low proportion of positive scenes.     

Assimilation or Contrast? Evaluation of New Shows in Lead-In–Lead-Out Scheduling

The basis of this study was an experiment conducted, incorporating lead-in and lead-out scheduling techniques, to explore the impact of context effects on the evaluation of a new show. Results indicate that contrast effect or assimilation effect occurred, dependent on whether the show adjacent to the show targeted for evaluation was of the same or a different genre. That is, viewers tended to evaluate the target program more favorably when they watched it in conjunction with a program of a different genre (i.e., assimilation occurs). Conversely, audiences gave a lower evaluation to the target show when the adjacent program was of the same genre (i.e., contrast occurs). This pattern of context effects occurred regardless of whether viewers watched the target show prior to (i.e., lead-out), or after (i.e., lead-in), the context show. This study also found that the assimilation effect was greater in the lead-out and different-genre condition, and contrast effect was enhanced in the lead-in and same-genre condition. Implications concerning context effects on scheduling strategies for the introduction of a new series are presented.     

The Influence of Thinking Styles on Responses to Supportive Messages

Cognitive-experiential self-theory suggests that individuals with different thinking styles may respond differently to various forms of support during times of stress or difficulty. This possibility was examined in an experiment in which 365 participants read a hypothetical scenario in which they were experiencing a problematic situation, and a friend offered one of three forms of support (advice, emotional support, or emotional support plus advice). The results of the study indicated that highly rational participants tended to respond to advice more positively than less rational participants. In addition, highly experiential participants tended to rate emotional support as higher in quality than less experiential participants.     

Predictors of Localism in Public Television Scheduling in the United States

In the United States, public television claims itself a champion of localism. A prime-time schedule analysis of the Public Broadcasting Service's (PBS) member stations establishes localism scores, and discriminant analysis finds variables that predict differences among stations. Market level variables (income, education, ethnic diversity, geographic component) and organizational level variables (Community Service Grants, membership funding, overall revenue) affect localization of member stations' schedules. This is the first empirical study utilizing a structural operationalization of localism, inclusive of all programming genres, applied to PBS member stations.     

An effect of a mandatory counseling program for college students on academic probation: a preliminary study

This longitudinal study examined the effects of a mandatory counseling program for students placed on academic probation at a university in South Korea. The study compared longitudinal changes over three semesters in the grade point average (GPA) of students who were on academic probation. Two groups, 46 students with mandatory counseling and 49 students without, were used as comparison groups for testing the effects of counseling intervention on GPA improvement. The result suggested that the students who attended five or more counseling sessions beyond two mandatory sessions showed a significantly greater GPA improvement over three semesters in comparison with the students who did not receive the mandatory counseling sessions. Implications for counseling and suggestions for institutional action are discussed.     

Family functioning and early learning practices in immigrant homes

Poverty‐related developmental‐risk theories dominate accounts of uneven levels of household functioning and effects on children. But immigrant parents may sustain norms and practices—stemming from heritage culture, selective migration, and social support—that buffer economic exigencies. Comparable levels of social‐emotional functioning in homes of foreign‐born Latino mothers were observed relative to native‐born Whites, despite sharp social‐class disparities, but learning activities were much weaker, drawing on a national sample of mothers with children aging from 9 to 48 months (n = 5,300). Asian‐heritage mothers reported weaker social functioning—greater martial conflict and depression—yet stronger learning practices. Mothers’ migration history, ethnicity, and social support helped to explain levels of functioning, after taking into account multiple indicators of class and poverty.     

Higher education development in Korea: western university ideas,Confucian tradition,and economic development

The features of Korean higher education development are related to sociocultural tradition (Confucian tradition), the model university ideas, and economic development in Korea. The modern university ideas adopted in Korean are based on the German model which was established by the Japanese colonial government and drawing on the US university model after the World War II. However, the modern university ideas are intertwined with socio-cultural factors and have been embedded in current Korean universities. As well as the western ideas and the Confucian tradition, the growth of Korean higher education has relied upon the rapid growth of the Korean economy. Education development is well aligned with economic development in Korea thanks to government policy initiatives. This framework can be applied in the analysis of higher education development in other countries. Higher education development cannot be solely explained by individual cultural, historical or economic factor. These three factors are interlinked and influence the development of Korean higher education.     

Tiny noise,big mistakes: adversarial perturbations induce errors in brain–computer interface spellers

An electroencephalogram (EEG)-based brain–computer interface (BCI) speller allows a user to input text to a computer by thought. It is particularly useful to severely disabled individuals, e.g. amyotrophic lateral sclerosis patients, who have no other effective means of communication with another person or a computer. Most studies so far focused on making EEG-based BCI spellers faster and more reliable; however, few have considered their security. This study, for the first time, shows that P300 and steady-state visual evoked potential BCI spellers are very vulnerable, i.e. they can be severely attacked by adversarial perturbations, which are too tiny to be noticed when added to EEG signals, but can mislead the spellers to spell anything the attacker wants. The consequence could range from merely user frustration to severe misdiagnosis in clinical applications. We hope our research can attract more attention to the security of EEG-based BCI spellers, and more broadly, EEG-based BCIs, which has received little attention before.     

Horizons,not Boundaries,are the Language of Retirement: Sense of Fulfillment,Fears, and Life Trajectories of Faculty Extendees in the Philippines

This qualitative study probed into (a) the sense of fulfillment, (b) fears and anxieties, and (c) life trajectories of aged working professors recruited from one comprehensive university in the Philippines. Interestingly, findings of the study reveal that respondents were fulfilled and felt successful through the life outputs of their students; their self-worth was witnessed through continued employment and communication to students of ideas, work ethic, and values. Fears and anxieties were rarely felt because of religious commitments and prayers to God. Sense of delight was manifested through the satisfactory academic environment; the possession of supportive systems, including family, friends and community, and their plans of spending their remaining years with the family in leisure activities; and in joining religious organizations.