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Background: Previous research has examined the use of augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) in English language teaching. However, to the best of our knowledge, none of the earlier studies that investigated integrating AR and VR "wearables" into teaching and learning English based on the attention, relevance, confidence, and satisfaction (ARCS) motivation model compared the differences in learning motivation and performance between traditional teaching methods and those using AR- and VR-based using wearables. Objectives: To create a thematic learning environment based on learners' lived experiences and provide them with an immersive English course that extends textbook knowledge using a technology-assisted real-life learning context. Method: This study used a quasi-experimental research design. A total of 119 participants were spilt into three learning groups based on teaching tools: traditional methods and AR- and VR-based wearable devices. The performance of each group was evaluated through three stages using appropriate educational tools for traditional, AR-, and VR-based classrooms, followed by semistructured interviews. Multiple regression analysis was conducted to investigate the inference learning performance (remembering and analysing) of the four ARCS dimensions with the three teaching methods. Results: The results showed that confidence and relevance were positively correlated with learning performance in the VR-based wearable group. In the context of the ARCS model, learners' confidence predicted learning performance and the remembering subdimension when VR-based learning materials were used. Implications: These results suggest that, compared to traditional teaching methods, VR-based wearables make it easier to create a highly immersive learning environment and are more likely to help learners find the correct words, improve their accuracy, and increase their confidence and sense of accomplishment in the entire learning process.

The aim of software engineering education is to educate students in software technologies, developments, procedures, and scientific practices to enable them to cope with industrial demands. However, the implementation of software engineering education in traditional university classrooms is restricted by the semester structure, making it difficult to achieve a proper learning balance between theory and practice. To balance theoretical and practical learning, prior studies have indicated that flipped learning is a suitable classroom setting for students and teachers. In a flipped learning environment, it is important to enhance and capture students' learning performance before the class to facilitate teachers and students in proceeding with inclass instruction and learning. In this study, an e-book system named BookRoll was applied to support software engineering education in a flipped learning setting. The proposed approach supports and facilitates out-of-class and in-class learning by providing reading and learning analytic functions for teachers and students. To evaluate the proposed approach, two classes of students were allocated to an experimental group and a control group to participate in an experiment. In the flipped learning process, the experimental group was supported by the BookRoll system, while the control group did not use the BookRoll system. The results revealed that the proposed approach not only promoted students' learning achievements in software engineering education but also improved their learning motivation, attitude, and problem-solving ability. The reading behavior analysis further indicated that reading time was a statistically significant predictor of learning achievement.

Education is the fundamental of a country and it is one of the important support factors of a nation's growth. As for the educational issues never settled, it also brought up the awareness from a different perspective as for social rank, race, gender, and the area of the students and persuading social justice. The purpose of this study would like to have better strategies of enacting correspondent Chinese future policies on equality of educational opportunity. The time frame of this study traced back pre-industrialization till modern society, it went through the Universal Declaration of Human Rights as it was the foundation of education, reviewed different acts, policies, and majorly cited the Coleman Report as the key reference for corresponding issues of the Chinese version of the No Child Left Behind Act. The Act fell into the similar result of the research done by Ivan Illich. The issues are: (1) the amount was insufficient to improve the performance; (2) the money was incompetently spent; (3) educational deprived not only cured by the education. In order to have better value for equality of educational opportunity, there are three new approaches of this study: (1) focusing on fairness and protection of accessing to school; (2) appropriating education for each student; (3) compensating education for cultural deprivation, culturally disadvantaged learners. Four specific strategies are: (1) enacting correspondent policy for inputting resources, subsidize for educational priority areas (EPA); (2) lower teaching staffs change flow; (3) offering free tutorial classes and mental counseling; (4) empower the family function. The authorities need to focus on "function" and "capability" to integrate five United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Institute for Education learning support props including "learn to know", "learn to do", "learn to live together", "learn to be", and "learn to change". This study can be followed up by the solutions to meet the needs of rural area children and family in order to apply at a designated area as an empirical experiment as a blueprint for national wide policy making references.

The 3D virtual worlds (3DVWs) were widely used for language learning in the past two decades. Although numerous research studies acknowledged the affordance, a full-scale investigation that discussed how they can be applied to language learning with substantial evidence of effect sizes were not presented. Thus, this analysis aimed to synthesize the research findings particularly in the impact of 3DVWs on language learning by addressing two issues. The first one concerned the role of interaction in 3DVWs with theoretical bases, while the second issue concerned the effect sizes of moderating variables, based on experimental findings that were published between 2008 and 2019. Data with 50 variables generated from 13 primary studies were analyzed. Different patterns of interaction were identified based on three theories. The meta-analysis showed (1) significant overall linguistic gains (d = 0.832) and affective gains (d = 0.531), and (2) various effect sizes for moderator variables, such as types of learning activities. Based on these results, this paper used the notion of partnership to interpret the relation between 3DVWs and language learners.

This study explores the effects of how collaborating in a virtual world (VW) enhanced learners' healthcare professional-patient communicative skills, including physician-patient and inter-professional communication in medical discourse. Through a quasi-experimental design case study, 47 Taiwanese Freshman English students from a College of Medicine participated in this study for 3 weeks. Research data included video analysis of students' role-play creations in two different media (on the stage versus VW program), transcripts of learners' role-plays, and questionnaire results of students' perceptions of role-playing. The results include (1) rich description of the scenarios and plots created by students in the VW group, (2) VW group learners' better performance in using effective communicative skills when role-playing via the VW, including building rapport with the patients and colleagues and showing empathy and understanding toward patients; and (3) VW group learners' higher evaluation of how the role-play helped their English language skills, healthcare professional-patient communication and learning in general. The study concludes by discussing the theoretical and pedagogical implications of the results.

The present study focuses on the utilization of a hydrogel consisting of gelatin methacrylate (GelMA) and polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) as a matrix for hosting the redox couple Fe(CN)63−/4−. The hydrogel exhibits a discernable thermopower (Src) of 3 mV K−1. The beneficial effect of the hydrogel microstructure on the mechanical robustness is demonstrated by small‐angle X‐ray scattering (SAXS). Moreover, the hydrogel is used to construct a 3D printed thermoelectric generator (TEG) consisting of eight p‐type thermoelectric legs, which exhibits commendable thermoelectric properties, including an open‐circuit voltage of 64 mV and a power density of 4.0 mW m−2 under a temperature gradient (ΔT) of 2.5 K. These findings demonstrate that 3D printing both enhances the quality of the interface between the hydrogel and electrode and provides a promising method for a more facile TEG fabrication process with the potential for further applications in low‐grade waste heat harvesting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Coronavirus disease (COVID-19), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARSCoV-2) (1), was detected in the United States in January 2020 (2). Researchers documented deaths in the United States [...]

Advancements in information and communication technology (ICT) allowed several tools and systems to be proposed for improving classroom experiences to both instructors and students. However, most of these tools were brand-new and stand-alone programs that require users to invest additional time and effort to become familiar with their use. This requirement could adversely affect the users' motivation on using these particular programs. However, enhancing student learning motivation and participation is crucial for the teaching and learning of new knowledge or skills since motivation would affect how instructors and students interact with learning materials. In the era of Web 2.0, both instructors and students are heavily immersed in various web applications such as SkyDrive, Evernote, DropBox, and Google Apps on a daily basis. These web applications were also well-received by both instructors and students in their daily lives. Therefore, the use of well-known web applications could be a potentially novel method to engage instructors and students in meaningful teaching and learning activities. Bearing this in mind, this study proposed a learning environment supported by well-known web applications to supplement classroom teaching and learning activities, assist instructors in facilitating student learning and participation, and help improve student learning motivation and performance. Experimental results revealed that students had higher learning motivation and participation when using the proposed web application supported learning environment during and after class as it gave them access to adequate learning support. The proposed approach also gave effective assistance to instructors and students in administering and conducting learning activities during and after class. (Contains 4 tables and 5 figures.)

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is the etiologic agent of the current rapidly growing outbreak of coronavirus disease (COVID-19), originating from the city of Wuhan, Hubei Province, China [...]