Online Social Network Adoption: A Cross-Cultural Study

This research explores the extent to which users across cultures adopt the technology of online social networks (OSNs) in order to promote or support a social cause. By surveying graduate-level university students at institutions in the United States, China and India, this research builds on prior work in technology acceptance to model and explain how three elements of the task domain – the cultural aspects of the user, the social nature of the technology, and the social nature of the task – combine to influence the constructs and relationships within a modified Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) framework as well as the behavior that flows from it. This study contributes to our understanding of technology adoption by showing how OSNs are adopted by users across cultures in promoting and supporting social causes.     

A cross‐cultural study of the effect of a graph‐oriented computer‐assisted project‐based learning environment on middle school students' science knowledge and argumentation skills

The purpose of this mixed‐methods study was to explore how seventh graders in a suburban school in the United States and sixth graders in an urban school in Taiwan developed argumentation skills and science knowledge in a project‐based learning environment that incorporated a graph‐oriented, computer‐assisted application (GOCAA). A total of 42 students comprised the treatment condition and were engaged in a project‐based learning environment that incorporated a GOCAA. Of these 42 students, 21 were located in the United States and 21 were located in Taiwan. A total of 26 students comprised the control condition and were engaged in a project‐based learning environment without the GOCAA. Of these 26 students, 15 were in the United States and 11 were in Taiwan. In each country, verbal collaborative argumentation was recorded and the students' post‐essays were collected. A one‐way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was conducted for each measure of science knowledge about alternative energies. The results showed a significant treatment effect for the outcome of scientific explanation among U.S. students, while among Taiwanese students, a significant treatment effect on scientific facts was observed. A one‐way ANOVA was additionally conducted for each measure of argumentation skills and a significant treatment effect on counterarguments and rebuttals was observed among the U.S. students, while in Taiwan, a significant treatment effect on reasoning and rebuttals was observed. A qualitative analysis was conducted to examine how the GOCAA supported students' development of argumentation skills in different countries. This study found distinct argumentation patterns between the U.S. and Taiwanese intervention teams. Additionally, a distinct gender difference in the use of evidence and division of labour was noted when the Taiwanese teams were compared with the U.S. teams, which may be explained by cultural differences. This study concluded that, in both the United States and Taiwan, a project‐based learning environment incorporating a GOCAA was effective in improving students' science knowledge and developing their scientific argumentation skills.     

Practices with technology: learning at the boundary between study and work

A study of part‐time student experience of university courses delivered using a range of technologies found that information and communication technology enabled students to move between study and work experience to the benefit of their learning in both contexts. Technology‐based study activities enabled students to participate in learning both as a student and as a member of a practice or work context. Given the increasingly pressured lives of all students in higher education and their aspirations for employment after graduation, this suggests that we would benefit from taking their relationship to work and professional practice into account more directly, in deciding how to integrate technology into their study experience. Teacher conceptions of technology as a tool primarily for information delivery and discussion need to expand to recognize that it can be used to construct learning experiences situated in roles, skills and interactive environments that enhance students' ability to make transitions across the boundaries between contexts of study and work.     

高校文化景观

任何文化都是积淀的产物,校园文化景观也不例外。大学校园文化景观,不仅在塑造大学的良好形象方面,还在形成大学生完美人格,促进大学生身心健康、和谐发展等方面发挥着重要作用。     

安迪·沃霍尔:消费社会的巫师

安迪·沃霍尔用机械复制的手法去表达他所要表达的内容,丝网作业法就是他要消除艺术家的个人手法的一种方法,"重复"和"挪用"被他用到了无以复加的地步。在消费社会高度发展的时代,安迪·沃霍尔用大众文化挑战了大众文化,但他的艺术成为了"批评性的艺术"。艺术进入大众文化,并不等于说它本身就是大众文化了,本文试图从安迪·沃霍尔的艺术入手来探讨艺术与消费社会的关系。     

浅谈现代视觉传达设计中传统文化的运用

对传统文化中图形、色彩等元素在视觉传达设计中的运用进行了分析,并阐释了如何在视觉传达设计中将传统文化的神韵与现代设计相结合,达到文化的传承与发展。     

浙江石窗艺术的审美趣味和表现手法

浙江石窗是第二批浙江省非物质文化遗产名录中的一项民间美术,它是盛开在浙江大地上的一朵建筑民俗之花,它的审美趣味与当地的民风民俗和建筑风格完全融合,它的表现手法与中国的吉祥图案一脉相连。     

浅议文化因素与艺术设计

人类发展的进程中,设计艺术与文化因素同步发展,文化是设计的基础,设计作为文化的视觉载体,是物质和精神文明的统一载体,设计师基于自身的文化底蕴,运用已有的工具和工艺,根据设计理念用创造性的手法将材料加工成具有一定造型艺术的实体,使之成为具有使用价值和审美价值合一的产品。本文就艺术设计与文化因素进行相关探讨。     

论浙江石窗艺术的精神内涵和物质基础

浙江石窗艺术是浙江省非物质文化遗产中的一项民间美术,它是盛开在浙江大地上的一朵建筑民俗之花,它的精神内涵是当时社会思潮的折射,它的物质基础呈现了当时社会经济的发展水平。