An importance-performance analysis of teachers' perception of STEM engineering design education.

There is an increasing worldwide trend toward the development of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education using engineering design (ED) practice. Considering that teachers play pivotal roles in terms of student interest in STEM subjects and careers, it is important to explore teachers' perceptions of STEM-ED education. We analysed survey data from 184 technology teachers who participated in empowerment training (using a STEM-ED curriculum) in 2017, 2018, 2021, and 2022. We used an importance-performance analytical model to investigate the teachers' perceptions of STEM-ED itself, its impact on students, and the challenges experienced during implementation. The results showed that various improvements were required for STEM-ED promotion and for the preparation of STEM-ED lessons. Analysis of variance revealed that the age groups taught and the number of weekly teaching hours significantly affected the teachers' perceptions of STEM-ED. These findings will assist educational institutions worldwide in planning future education policies, designing teacher empowerment courses, and understanding teachers' needs in efforts to improve STEM-ED.

EFFECTS OF MESSAGE FRAMING AND EXEMPLARS ON PROMOTING ORGAN DONATION.

People in many countries are unwilling to donate organs. Drawing on previous research regarding the use of message framing and the theory of exemplification promoting intentions to donate organs, this study examined messaging strategies. This study used a 2 × 2 between-subjects factorial design to examine the joint effects of gain/loss frames and statistical/exemplar appeals on the intentions of 189 Taiwanese college students (108 women, 81 men; age range = 19-24 yr., M = 21.6, SD = 2.9) regarding organ donation. Each participant was randomly assigned to read one of four versions of an organ donation promotional message and then to complete a questionnaire. The analysis of variance showed a significant interaction between the two factors. Loss-exemplar messages elicited significantly more positive intentions toward donation than did loss-statistical messages. There was no significant difference between the statistical and exemplar appeals observed under the gain-framed condition. The practical implications of developing effective organ donation promotional materials and the limitations of this study are discussed.

THE EFFECTS OF SEX, TOPOLOGICAL STRUCTURE, AND TASK TYPE ON HYPERTEXT NAVIGATIONAL PERFORMANCE.

Currently, almost all online materials use hyperlinks to provide users access to background, supplemental, or alternative information presented in context, greatly increasing the potential integration of information. However, a major problem is that people do not navigate hyperlinks effectively when the links become more topologically complex. Thus, identification of the variables that lead to navigational errors is necessary for the effective design of hyperlinks. Ninety-one participants (45 women, 46 men) were recruited for this experiment. All were college students and ranged in age from 19 to 23 yr. (M = 20.87, SD = 1.02). Navigational performance was examined in relation to sex, topological structure, and task type. A network topology with single-node task was superior to one with a linear topology under a single-node task condition, but equal to one with a linear topology under a multi-node task condition. Men navigated the linear topology with multi-node task and a network topology with a single-node task significantly faster than women, whereas no significant differences were observed under the other conditions. Sex interacted with topological structure and task type. This study extended the research in this domain by demonstrating an interactive effect among sex, topological structure, and task type on the navigational performance of users and can contribute to research regarding web page design.

Persuasiveness of online flu-vaccination promotional banners.

Young people appear to have relatively little motivation to participate in flu-vaccination programs. This study assessed the effectiveness of online banners in efforts to persuade young people to get vaccinated. Specifically, a 2 x 3 between-subjects factorial design was used to examine the effects of message framing (gain vs loss) and color configuration (white text on a red background, black text on a yellow background, and white text on a blue background) on 180 college students' perceptions of the persuasiveness of flu-vaccination promotional banners. Each participant completed a four-item questionnaire, and the results of an analysis of variance showed that persuasiveness scores were higher among participants exposed to a loss-framed than to a gain-framed message, but only when the loss-framed message was presented in white text on a red background. The theoretical and practical implications of manipulating these two factors in the development of effective health-promotion materials are discussed.

Rapid serial visual presentation display on a small screen: reading Chinese while walking.

This study examined the effects of presentation unit (word-by-word or single line) and presentation duration [171, 213, 240, and 308 msec. per character (msec./C)] on the comprehension of Chinese rapid serial visual presentation (RSVP) displays read from the small screen of a mobile phone in three different contexts (seated, walking on a treadmill, and walking through an outdoor course). 30 native Chinese readers ages 19 to 26 were recruited as participants. Scores on reading comprehension showed that presentation unit and presentation duration significantly affected reading comprehension, and interactions between factors were also significant. When the presentation unit was word-by-word, no significant difference in reading comprehension was observed under different presentation durations. However, when the presentation unit was a single line, reading comprehension deteriorated with the shortest presentation duration of 171 msec./C. With regard to context, participants had a higher mean reading comprehension score in the seated context than in walking contexts, but the difference was not significant.

Message framing and color combination in the perception of medical information.

A 2 x 2 between-subjects design was used to examine the effects of message framing (gain vs loss) and color combination (red background with white characters vs white background with black characters) on 120 university students' perception of materials promoting the H1N1 flu vaccine and their willingness to receive the vaccine after they had read the materials. Each participant completed a 6-item questionnaire, and the results of an analysis of variance showed that participants rated vaccine information presented through loss-framed messages as having greater interest and leading to greater understanding. Loss-framed messages presented on a white background with black characters significantly increased the willingness of the participants to receive the vaccine.

Learning and context of use for small-screen leading displays on visual performance in a Chinese sample.

Leading displays represent mechanisms for exhibiting temporal instead of spatial information to overcome the limited display space of mobile devices. Prior studies focused only on information presented but disregarded the influence of context of use and learnability. In this study, 12 Chinese-speaking college students were presented a small-screen mobile device that simultaneously showed 100 Chinese characters and a 30-character leading display. Analyzed were presentation rate (250, 350, and 450 characters per minute), presentation mode (character-by-character or word-by-word), and learning (5 practice sessions) by instructing the subjects to perform a static information search task to identify the location of target characters on the screen and through an evaluation of reading comprehension for the text presented in the leading display. There was no significant change in performance over the 5 days of practice, but the rate of presentation and word-by-word presentation significantly affected reading comprehension. Results indicated that none of the leading-display factors distracted subjects from the static information-search task, but they were influenced by comprehension of the leading-display content.

Effect of dynamic display and speed of display movement on reading Chinese text presented on a small screen.

Automatic dynamic displays, e.g., scrolling displays, are frequently used to present text information on small screens. This study examined the effects of three dynamic displays [leading, scrolling, and rapid serial visual presentation (RSVP)] and three presentations speeds [171, 250, and 305 wpm (words per minute)] on subjects' reading comprehension for different types of small screens for laptops, personal digital assistants (PDAs), and mobile phones. 12 college students who were native speakers of Chinese (4 men and 8 women between the ages of 19 and 36 years) participated. Scores for reading comprehension indicated (1) for laptops, both leading displays and RSVP, at speeds of about 250 wpm, comprehension was highest; (2) for PDAs and mobile phones, scrolling displays and RSVP, speeds of about 305 wpm were more suitable for presenting information in Chinese text; (3) consequently, RSVP appeared to be the most viable dynamic display on small screens and led to the highest reading comprehension for these Chinese readers.