Solving the problem of how medical students solve problems

Although gathering and processing information are essential to medical problem solving, little is known about what strategies students use to gather information or how they use their cognitive skills to solve problems. We have developed computer-based problem-solving exercises in immunology to determine how students gather and process information. Graphic representations of students' search paths through different problems were developed to visualize how organized and focused their knowledge was, how well their organization related to critical concepts in immunology, where serious misconceptions (confusion or erroneous models) occurred, and whether proper knowledge links between conceptual domains existed. With rapid generation and interpretation of information on patterns and difficulties in problem solving, it should become possible to develop a specific and personal approach to each student's educational needs.     

What does it mean? Students’ procedural and conceptual problem solving in a CSCL environment designed within the field of science education

This article discusses the relationship between procedural and conceptual problem solving in a computer-supported collaborative learning (CSCL) environment designed within the field of science education. The contribution of this article, and our understanding of this phenomenon, is anchored in our socio-cultural interpretation, and that implies distinctive inputs for the design and re-design of these kinds of learning environments. We discuss institutional aspects linked to the school as a curriculum deliverer, as well as to the presentation of the knowledge domain and the construction of the CSCL environment. The data is gathered from a design experiment in a science setting in a secondary school, and video data is used to perform an interaction analysis. More specifically, we follow a group of four secondary school students who solve a biological problem in a computer-based 3D model supported by a website. Our findings are clear in the sense that the procedural types of problem solving tend to dominate the students’ interactions, while conceptual knowledge construction is only present where it is strictly necessary to carry out the problem solving. Based on our analyses, we conclude that this can be explained partly by how the knowledge domain is presented and how the CSCL environment is designed, but that the main reason is linked to the institutional aspects related to the school as curriculum deliverer where its target is to secure that the students actually solve problems that are predefined in the syllabus list. We argue that this affords some particular challenges, linked to making conceptual knowledge constructions in science education explicit in the CSCL environment, and to encouraging the teachers and the school as a curriculum deliverer to give this kind of knowledge construction a prioritised value.     

The stability of analogically reconstructed probability knowledge among secondary mathematics students

Abstract:

The existence of probability misconceptions at various educational levels has been well documented. Furthermore, these misconceptions have been shown to be widespread and highly resistant to change. The author's previous research has shown considerable success in overcoming misconceptions in the short term by basing the knowledge reconstruction process on problems that draw out beliefs held by students that are in agreement with accepted theory and that are therefore expected to receive correct responses. Such problems are referred to as anchoring situations or anchors.

In this study, anchoring probability situations that are conceptually analogous to misconception‐prone target probability situations were generated and tested with secondary mathematics students. The testing showed that probability misconceptions were common but also that the generated anchors were effective in reconstructing misconception‐laden probability knowledge. A follow‐up test showed that 65% of the reconstructed knowledge was retained after six months.     

DIAG: a program to diagnose students' conceptual models in science

Abstract  In recent years, much research has been undertaken to investigate the difference between pupils' beliefs and accepted ideas about various scientific concepts, such as force, light, energy and electricity, and the implications of these findings for classroom practice have been considered. In solving scientific problems, many students share common misconceptions or 'models' of the behaviour of a system or the nature of a phenomenon. This article describes a computer program which uses questionnaires to try to diagnose these conceptual models and to provide feedback to students. The program is not domain-specific and questionnaires could be constructed for many topics, though work on the program so far has concentrated on diagnosing students' models of simple electrical circuits.     

Controlling Corruption in Hong Kong: From Colony to Special Administrative Region

Corruption has been a perennial problem in Hong Kong. The Hong Kong of the post‐war years represented what appeared to have become an intractable case of a society in which corruption was entrenched as part of political, economic and social life. This paper seeks to delineate the experience of Hong Kong’s fight against corruption in the midst of a rapidly changing political and social environment. After describing the context in which the Hong Kong anti‐corruption programme is set, this paper identifies the critical policy decisions that account for the programme’s success and the lessons Hong Kong has learned from the campaign. It ends by highlighting some of the current issues and problems that arise from the changing circumstances of Hong Kong’s development.     

Book Review

Musculoskeletal symptoms are one of the top ten health problems among schoolchildren in Hong Kong. Whether or not these symptoms are related to school furniture has yet to be determined and published data on furniture size are lacking. The purpose of the study was to determine whether the design of furniture in schools is appropriate for children's anthropometry. A total of 214 volunteer subjects were recruited. This constituted 90% of the total number of primary 5 and 6 students in the studied school (i.e. those aged 10 and 13 years). The data collected included demographic information, data on perceived health and posture and body and furniture measurements. The girls' BMI was lower than that of the boys. The girls had longer lower limbs and wider hip breadth measurements in the standing position. This was similar in the sitting position. Almost none of the subjects had a chair with an appropriate seat height. Seat depth was found appropriate for large groups of students whether or not a large or small chair was used. Recommendations on the sizes of chairs and desks for boys and girls are discussed.     

Anthropometric evaluation for primary school furniture design

Musculoskeletal symptoms are one of the top ten health problems among schoolchildren in Hong Kong. Whether or not these symptoms are related to school furniture has yet to be determined and published data on furniture size are lacking. The purpose of the study was to determine whether the design of furniture in schools is appropriate for children's anthropometry. A total of 214 volunteer subjects were recruited. This constituted 90% of the total number of primary 5 and 6 students in the studied school (i.e. those aged 10 and 13 years). The data collected included demographic information, data on perceived health and posture and body and furniture measurements. The girls' BMI was lower than that of the boys. The girls had longer lower limbs and wider hip breadth measurements in the standing position. This was similar in the sitting position. Almost none of the subjects had a chair with an appropriate seat height. Seat depth was found appropriate for large groups of students whether or not a large or small chair was used. Recommendations on the sizes of chairs and desks for boys and girls are discussed.     

Digging below the surface: Secondary analysis of TIMSS data for Hong Kong and its implications for educational reform

Abstract:

Hong Kong students outperform their counterparts in most other countries’ in mathematics in the Third International Mathematics and Science Study Repeat (TIMSS‐R) project, while their science performance is marginally above the international average. In order to probe below the surface of these achievement results, secondary analysis of the TIMSS‐R Hong Kong data was performed to identify factors that affect student achievement. Results of the secondary analysis relating to curriculum provision, teacher characteristics, and classroom conditions and climate are reported in this paper. Based on the results, some recommendations are proposed to meet the need for quality education in the new era.     

Two Machine Scheduling under Disruptions with Transportation Considerations

Effective logistics scheduling requires synchronization of manufacturing and delivery to optimize customer service at minimum total cost. In this paper, we study a new scheduling problem that arises in a disruption environment. Such a problem occurs when a disruption unexpectedly happens, and consequently, some machines become unavailable for certain periods. Jobs that are assigned to the disrupted machines and have not yet been processed can either be moved to other available machines for processing, which may involve additional transportation time and cost, or can be processed by the same machine after the disruption. Our goal is to reschedule jobs so that an objective function, including the original cost function, and possibly transportation costs and disruption cost caused by deviating from the originally planned completion times, is minimized. In this paper, we focus on the two-machine case to demonstrate some major properties, and hope that these properties can provide insights for solving other general problems, such as multiple (more than two) machine scheduling and machine scheduling in other configurations (job shop or flow shop) under disruption. We study problems with different related costs. In each problem, we either provide a polynomial algorithm to solve the problem optimally, or show its NP-hardness. If the problem is NP-hard in the ordinary sense, we also present a pseudo-polynomial algorithm to solve the problem optimally. This research is supported in part by Hong Kong RGC grant HKUST 6145/03E and in part by NSF Grant DMI-0300156.     

A reversed context analysis of software piracy issues in Singapore

The level of software piracy and reasons underlying the behavior among students in Singapore was investigated using the reversed context analysis previously used by Moores and Dhillon in a study of Hong Kong. This technique presented the respondents with a set of context statements that describe the buying and using of pirated software in terms of high availability, high cost, and low censure. The contexts were reversed (low availability, low cost, high censure) in order to determine whether targeting one or more of these reasons would lead the respondents to stop the behavior. The same instrument was used here with a sample of 462 students. The results showed general agreement with those of the Hong Kong study, although the level of pirating behavior was lower, with a weaker switch from agreement to disagreement when the context involved cost. A closer examination of the respondents revealed a set of respondents that frequently bought and used pirated software and seemed resistant to any of the reversed scenarios. This suggests that even in culturally similar markets different approaches may be required to combat software piracy.     

Visual search strategies and eye movements when searching Chinese character screens

Most visual search studies have been restricted to alphanumeric stimulus materials. Research related to scanning patterns of Chinese characters is sparse. This study is an attempt to understand the differences and similarities in visual search of Chinese characters having a varying degree of complexity among Hong Kong Chinese, Mainland Chinese and Chinese reading non-Chinese people. Eighteen participants were tested on Chinese character screens with three layouts (row, column, and uniform separation) and two word complexities (high and low). The 18 participants comprised six Hong Kong Chinese, six Mainland Chinese and six non-native Chinese readers. Performance data and eye movement data were recorded. The percent correct and search time were the two performance measures. A new measure, called HV-ratio was developed to characterize eye movements. The results show that Hong Kong Chinese use predominantly horizontal search patterns while the Mainland Chinese change their search pattern depending on the layout presented. Non-native Chinese readers, on the other hand, do not seem to show any preference on scanning strategy for a given layout. Word complexity did not show any significant effect on search time. Potential reasons for these differences and design implications are discussed.     

Procedural versus content‐related hints for word problem solving: an exploratory study

For primary school students, mathematical word problems are often more difficult to solve than straightforward number problems. Word problems require reading and analysis skills, and in order to explain their situational contexts, the proper mathematical knowledge and number operations have to be selected. To improve students' ability in solving word problems, the problem solving process could be supported by procedural and content specific guidance or with only procedural support.. This paper evaluates the effect of two types of hints, procedural only and content‐procedural, provided by a computer programme presented in two versions. Students of grade 6 were randomly assigned to these two versions, which offered five lesson units consisting of eight word problems each. The results indicate that on average the students in the procedural‐content hints group (n = 54) finished about just as many problems in the programme as their counterparts in the procedural‐only condition (n = 51). However, the participants in the first group solved more problems correctly and improved their problem‐solving skills more as indicated by the scores on the problem‐solving post‐test. Apart from presenting our analysis of the findings of this study, also its limitations and its possible implications for future research are discussed in this paper.     

The application of Simulation‐Assisted Learning Statistics (SALS) for correcting misconceptions and improving understanding of correlation

Simulation‐based computer assisted learning (CAL) is recommended to help students understand important statistical concepts, although the current systems are still far from ideal. Simulation‐Assisted Learning Statistics (SALS) is a simulation‐based CAL that is developed with a learning model that is based on cognitive conflict theory to correct misconceptions and enhance understanding of correlation. In this study, a mixed method (embedded experiment model) was utilized to examine the effects of SALS‐based learning compared with lecture‐based learning. The sample was composed of 72 grade‐12 students, who were randomly assigned to either the experimental group or the comparison group. The findings reveal that the SALS‐based learning approach is significantly more effective than lecture‐based learning, in terms of correcting students' misconceptions and improving their understanding of correlation. The study also uses quantitative and qualitative data to examine how the learning model of the SALS‐based learning approach contributes to the enhanced learning outcomes. Finally, practical suggestions were made with regard to directions for future studies.     

Hong Kong Chinese and Korean comprehension of American security safety symbols

This research evaluated Hong Kong Chinese and Korean comprehension of American security safety symbols, and how successfully they could guess the meaning of the symbols in relation to their ratings of the appropriateness of the design of each of the symbols. Symbol comprehension scores, symbol guessing scores, design appropriateness ratings, and demographic information were obtained for 81 Hong Kong Chinese and 60 Koreans. For all the symbols tested, comprehension scores for the Hong Kong Chinese and Koreans were much lower than for Americans. The finding that Americans were better at interpreting American symbols than Hong Kong Chinese and Koreans indicates that problems are likely to arise if such symbols are used by non-Americans. Gender did not affect guessing performance, and success at guessing symbols was not related to the subjective ratings of design appropriateness for the symbols. The findings here reveal the importance of developing security safety symbols with the end users in mind.

Relevance to industry

Designing effective pictorial security safety symbols to cover the many potential situations and scenarios for a specific population is a difficult business. The findings of this study underline the importance of developing security safety symbols with the end users in mind. The results provide useful information to assist in the design of more user-friendly security safety symbols.     

Operations research/management science in the Arab world: historical development

This study aims to review the related literature on operations research (OR)/management science (MS) in the Arab world published during the last three decades. Owing to the nature of this study, an extensive survey of the related literature was conducted and inferences were drawn. The inferences drawn from the literature survey on OR/MS in the Arab world were first, there is a paucity of published real‐world applications of OR/MS. Second, there is a lack of published survey‐type studies in most Arab countries, except in Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, Syria, and the United Arab Emirates. Third, the majority of published works on OR/MS were of a conceptual nature. A few papers concerned with OR/MS in the Arab world were published during the 1980s, with a special emphasis on conceptual issues rather than on applied or survey‐type studies. The 1990s witnessed an increased number of publications on both survey‐type and conceptual studies. Since 2000, the number of publications has increased substantially, mainly through conceptual studies. This study has a number of implications for both practitioners and researchers. Practitioners will be made aware of the applications of OR/MS in the Arab world and the type of problems that have been addressed. This, in turn, might motivate the decision makers and the managers to adopt OR/MS approaches in solving their organizations' problems. As a result, this might increase the usage of OR/MS in this part of the world. Researchers will be able to identify the OR/MS research areas that need more attention in the Arab world. The study mainly covers the studies that are written in English and indexed in non‐Arabic databases. Although the Arabic works were not surveyed exhaustively, the author reviewed and included some available OR/MS works written in Arabic. This study is considered as the first work of its type in surveying the scholarly publications pertaining to OR/MS in the Arab world since the 1980s.     

Students assessing their own collaborative knowledge building

We describe the design of a knowledge-building environment and examine the role of knowledge-building portfolios in characterizing and scaffolding collaborative inquiry. Our goal is to examine collaborative knowledge building in the context of exploring the alignment of learning, collaboration, and assessment in computer forums. The key design principle involved turning over epistemic agency to students; guided by several knowledge-building principles, they were asked to identify clusters of computer notes that indicated knowledge-building episodes in the computer discourse. Three classes of 9th grade students in Hong Kong used Knowledge Forum in several conditions: Knowledge Forum only, Knowledge Forum with portfolios, and Knowledge Forum with portfolios and principles. Results showed: (1) Students working on portfolios guided knowledge-building principles showed deeper inquiry and more conceptual understanding than their counterpart (2) Students' knowledge-building discourse, reflected in portfolio scores, contributed to their domain understanding; and (3) Knowledge-building portfolios helped to assess and foster collective knowledge advances: A portfolio with multiple contributions from students is a group accomplishment that captures the distributed and progressive nature of knowledge building. Students extended their collective understanding by analyzing the discourse, and the portfolio scaffolded the complex interactions between individual and collective knowledge advancements. An erratum to this article is available at .     

Saying the wrong thing: improving learning with multimedia by including misconceptions

Abstract   In this study, 364 first-year physics students were randomly assigned to one of four online multimedia treatments on Newton's First and Second Laws of Motion: (1) the 'Exposition', a concise lecture-style presentation; (2) the 'Extended Exposition', the Exposition with additional interesting information; (3) the 'Refutation', the Exposition with common misconceptions explicitly stated and refuted; or (4) the 'Dialogue', a student–tutor discussion of the same material as in the Refutation. Students were tested using questions from mechanics conceptual inventories before and after watching the multimedia treatments. Results show the Refutation and Dialogue produced the greatest learning gains, with effect sizes of 0.79 and 0.83, respectively, compared with the Exposition. Students with low prior knowledge benefited most, however high prior knowledge learners were not disadvantaged by the misconception-based approach. The findings suggest that online multimedia can be greatly improved, promoting conceptual change in students with all levels of experience, by including a discussion of misconceptions.     

Internet Retailing Adoption by Small-to-Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs): A Multiple-Case Study

Despite the proliferation of Internet retailing and the relative novelty and complexity of this phenomenon, very little theory-guided qualitative research has been conducted to improve our understanding of the adoption of Internet retailing project by SMEs. This study presents a theoretical framework for analyzing the adoption of Internet retailing for SMEs. Organizational readiness (IT sophistication, financial resources, and customer readiness), perceived benefits of Internet retailing, and environmental factors are proposed to be the key drivers of adoption of Internet retailing. This research was designed using a qualitative approach through in-depth case studies selected from firms in Hong Kong where there is a proliferation of SMEs. The contextual meaning and practical manifestation of the key adoption factors were captured through the case studies. Our findings provide preliminary support for the proposed research framework, and contribute towards a better conceptual and practical understanding of the main factors driving SMEs to adopt Internet retailing. Contrary to popular belief, customer readiness for Internet shopping was not found to be a significant factor influencing SMEs' decision to adopt Internet retailing.     

Reflective assessment for epistemic agency of academically low‐achieving students

This study aimed to examine the role and process of reflective assessment supported by the Knowledge Connections Analyzer in helping low academic achievers to develop epistemic agency in knowledge building. The participants were 33 ninth‐grade low achievers from a visual arts course in Hong Kong. A comparison class of 33 students, taught by the same teacher and studying the same topics in a regular knowledge‐building environment, also participated. Qualitative tracing of students' online discourse showed that reflective assessment can help low achievers develop high‐level epistemic agency. Qualitative analysis of the students' prompt sheets revealed that reflective assessment encouraged low achievers to set knowledge‐building goals, collectively and continuously analyse and reflect on their inquiry and ideas, and generate actions to address identified gaps, thus helping them engage in high‐level epistemic agency. The study results have important implications for designing technology‐rich environments that support learners and offer insights into how teachers can help learners develop epistemic agency.