From access to usage: The divide of self-reported digital skills among adolescents

Based on the PISA data in 2003 and 2006, this paper develops a hierarchical linear model to identify multi-level explanatory variables of the divide of adolescents’ self-reported digital skills. At the country-level, the study finds a generally negative relationship between the ICT penetration rate of a country and adolescents’ digital skills, implying that increased ICT penetration rate does not guarantee that adolescents have more chance to learn and use ICTs. Educational expenditure on secondary education is positively related to digital skills in 2006, but not in 2003. At the school-level, whether the school is public or private does not elicit impact on adolescents’ self-reported digital skills; school ICT access is positively related to students’ self-reported digital skills. At the individual-level, self-reported digital skills is affected by home ICT access, adolescents’ Socio-Economic Status, gender and their history of using ICTs. The cross-level interaction effect of ICT penetration rate and home ICT access on self-reported digital skills is significant in the 2003 model, but not significant in the 2006 model. The cross-level interaction effect of ICT penetration rate and school ICT access is significant in the 2006 model. The interaction effect of school ICT access and home ICT access is not supported by the dataset of either year.     

The development of a formative scenario-based computer assisted assessment tool in psychology for teachers: The PePCAA project

Formative computer assisted assessment has become increasingly attractive in Higher Education where providing useful feedback to large numbers of students can be difficult. However, the nature of such assessments has often been limited to objective questions such as multiple-choice. This paper reports on the development and initial trialling of a more innovative, formative use of computer assisted assessment in a Higher Education context. The European funded PePCAA (Pedagogical Psychology Computer Assisted Assessment) project developed a series of scenario-based computer-delivered formative assessments of pedagogical psychology for teachers and trainee teachers, using a range of software features, including the addition of confidence measurement. The project had a two-fold aim: to provide a tool to improve understanding of pedagogical psychology and to explore the potential of more innovative techniques of computer assisted assessment to motivate students and to assess deeper learning. The combination of computer-delivered formative assessment with innovative question styles and confidence ratings is believed to be unique for pedagogical psychology. Scenarios were based on realistic classroom situations and focused on problem solving or on utilising best practice. The PePCAA Learning Assessment Circle (PLAC) provided a framework for indexing the kinds of processes required of users. In the UK, small scale trialling involved a total of 23 teacher trainees such that each assessment was attempted by about seven participants. Participants completed evaluation questionnaires after each assessment. Responses from learners indicated that the UK scenarios were generally very well received and had at least partly achieved the aim of stimulating deeper learning. Transfer of assessments between countries proved more difficult than expected. The next stage of development should be to conduct a larger pilot, thus allowing full investigation of the reliability and validity of the assessments. There is also scope for further development of the PePCAA approach and for its application in other subjects.     

Cross-cultural differences in driving skills: a comparison of six countries

The first aim of the present study was to investigate the applicability of the two-factor structure (perceptual-motor skills by 11 items, e.g., "fluent driving"; safety skills by 9 items, e.g., "conforming to the speed limits") of the Driver Skill Inventory (DSI) among British, Dutch, Finnish, Greek, Iranian, and Turkish drivers. It was also hypothesized that the combination of self reported high ratings of perceptual-motor skills and low ratings of safety skills creates a serious risk for dangerous driving and road accident involvement. The second aim of this study was, therefore, to investigate this asymmetric relationship between perceptual-motor and safety skills in traffic penalties and accident involvement. Two hundred and forty two drivers were chosen from each of the six countries, matched for age and sex. The results of exploratory factor analyses together with target rotation showed that the two-factor structure of DSI found in "safe" Northern and Western European countries were highly congruent. However, the safety skills factor of DSI in Greece, Iran, and Turkey was relatively incongruent in spite of high factor similarity found in perceptual-motor skills. The asymmetric relationship between perceptual-motor and safety skills on traffic penalties was found in Finland and Turkey. A negative relationship between safety skills and the number of accidents was found both in Greece and Iran while a positive relationship between perceptual-motor skills and the number of accidents was found only in Iran.     

Intention to purchase on social commerce websites across cultures: A cross-regional study

This study investigates the moderating effect of culture and the mediating effect of trust in a social network community on the relationship between social interactions and purchase intention. Trust transference theory, social interactions, and Hofstede's cultural dimensions are considered. The findings from the research support the moderating effect of culture and the mediating role of trust in a social network community on the relationship between social interactions (in terms of closeness and familiarity) and intention to purchase in social commerce environments. In addition, the mediating effect of trust in a social network community is conditional on culture. The findings also suggest that trust in a social network community may be attributed to the closeness and familiarity developed among its members resulting from social interactions. The results presented herein are in line with the trust transference theory. The empirical study results also suggest that social commerce market penetration in East Asia may have relatively fewer barriers to overcome and be more likely to succeed than in the Latin America region.     

The implications of cross-regional differences for the design of In-vehicle Information Systems: a comparison of Australian and Chinese drivers

The increasing global distribution of automobiles necessitates that the design of In-vehicle Information Systems (IVIS) is appropriate for the regions to which they are being exported. Differences between regions such as culture, environment and traffic context can influence the needs, usability and acceptance of IVIS. This paper describes two studies aimed at identifying regional differences in IVIS design needs and preferences across drivers from Australia and China to determine the impact of any differences on IVIS design. Using a questionnaire and interaction clinics, the influence of cultural values and driving patterns on drivers' preferences for, and comprehension of, surface- and interaction-level aspects of IVIS interfaces was explored. Similarities and differences were found between the two regional groups in terms of preferences for IVIS input control types and labels and in the comprehension of IVIS functions. Specifically, Chinese drivers preferred symbols and Chinese characters over English words and were less successful (compared to Australians) at comprehending English abbreviations, particularly for complex IVIS functions. Implications in terms of the current trend to introduce Western-styled interfaces into other regions with little or no adaptation are discussed.     

Exploring students’ learning experience in an international online research seminar in the Synchronous Cyber Classroom

The development of computer-mediated communication enables teaching and learning to take place across geographical boundaries. An online synchronous learning environment with cyber face-to-face features affords students the sense of learning together online. This study reports a novel design of organizing a 16-week seminar for doctoral students across Canada, Italy, New Zealand, and Taiwan in the Synchronous Cyber Classroom, an online synchronous learning environment. Students’ learning experiences were explored from the perspective of students’ interactions with students, instructors, and the content, based on which the perception of being in a learning community was formed. This article reports how this international online research seminar was organized, how students’ learning experience was analyzed, and what we learned about students’ learning in this international online research seminar.     

Understanding the effect of culture on food representations using word associations: The case of “rice” and “good rice”

Consumers’ perception toward rice was studied using a word association task in Korea, Japan, Thailand and France. A total of 195 participants from four countries were asked to indicate all the words that came to their minds when the stimulus words, “rice” and “good rice” were verbally presented. Frequencies of elicited words were counted and these words were grouped in different categories by triangulation. Some similarities and differences were observed among countries. French participants tended to associate “rice” more frequently with concepts such as foreign countries, culture, travel and exoticism. Participants in Asian countries tended to associate it more frequently with concepts such as agricultural products, necessary goods, and emotions. Framed into the triadic approach of consumption, these results indicate that symbolic motivation is more important for French participants and utilitarian and experiential motivations are more important for Asian participants in rice consumption. For good rice, all participants elicited terms linked to taste, health and process. However the relative importance of these categories of terms differed between countries. Health was more considered by Korean and Thai participants and cooking process was more considered by French and Japanese participants. Agricultural process was frequently cited by Korean and Japanese participants. Results showed that there are clear cultural differences in terms of utilitarian and symbolic motivations to consume rice as well as on the relative importance of the main quality criteria associated with rice.