Expanding the scope of "trans-humanism": situating within the framework of life and death education - the importance of a "trans-mystical mindset".

Life and death education, as noted from the literatures, has been studied and researched extensively in China, Malaysia, and Taiwan. Our own research undertakings over the past several years, situated in different sociocultural settings have delved into aspects of life and death that could help advance theoretical understanding of the subject matters (e.g., does the meaning of "effective life functioning" connote differing interpretations for different cultural groups?). Situating within the framework of life and death education, we expand the study of trans-humanism by introducing an extended prefix or nomenclature known as "trans-mystical". Specifically, our philosophized concept of trans-mysticism considers a related concept, which we term as a "trans-mystical mindset". A trans-mystical mindset, differing from an ordinary mindset, from our philosophical rationalization, is defined as "a person's higher-order state of consciousness, espousing her perception, judgment, belief, and attempted interpretation of life and death phenomena that are mystifying and fall outside the ordinary boundaries of human psyche." Our focus of inquiry, as reported in the present article, seeks to advance our proposition: that a trans-mystical mindset, unlike an ordinary mindset, may help a person to rationalize, appreciate, and understand metaphysical contexts, mystical experiences, and the like. This focus, interestingly, serves to highlight an important discourse - namely, that there is a dichotomy in theoretical lenses (i.e., objective reality vs. individual subjectivity) that a person may use to rationalize the significance or non-significance of universal contexts, events, phenomena, etc. (e.g., a person's experience of "premonition"). As such, then, there is an important question that we seek to consider: whether philosophization, or the use of philosophical psychology, would yield perceived "scientific evidence" to support or to reject the study of metaphysicism, mysticism, and the like? For example, does our philosophization of an "equivalency" between a person's trans-mystical mindset and her experience of self-transcendence help to normalize and/or to scientize the subject matters of metaphysicism, mysticism, etc.?

Developing Problem-Solving Expertise for Word Problems.

Studying worked examples impose relatively low cognitive load because learners' attention is directed to learn the schema, which is embedded in the worked examples. That schema encompasses both conceptual knowledge and procedural knowledge. It is well-documented that worked examples are effective in facilitating the acquisition of problem-solving skills. However, the use of worked examples to develop problem-solving expertise is less known. Typically, experts demonstrate an efficient way to solve problems that is quicker, faster, and having fewer solution steps. We reviewed five studies to validate the benefit of worked examples to develop problem-solving expertise for word problems. Overall, a diagram portrays the problem structure, coupled with either study worked examples or complete multiple example-problem pairs, facilitates the formation of an equation to solve words problems efficiently. Hence, an in-depth understanding of conceptual knowledge (i.e., problem structure) might contribute to superior performance of procedural knowledge manifested in the reduced solution steps.

Advancing the Study of "Goals of Best Practice": Toward Achieving Optimal Best - Educational Implications to Developments in Flow Research and Positive Optimal Psychology.

The paradigm of positive psychology is significant in introducing positive psychological concepts such as "flourishing," "optimal best," and "a state of flow." In terms of research development of positive psychology, the researchers of this article have made extensive theoretical, empirical, and methodological contributions by advancing the study of optimal best. One aspect of this research, notably, consists of advancement of the psychological process of optimization. Optimization, in brief, provides a theoretical account into the "optimization" of a person's state of functioning. Non-academically, a Buddhist nun's seeking to successfully achieve an optimal state of enlightenment or, academically, a first-year student's seeking to achieve an A grade in Psych 101 would require some form of optimization. Recent research development has, interestingly, considered a related concept known as "goals of best practice" (GsBP), which may co-exist with the process of optimization and/or assist to account for the optimization of learning experiences. This conceptual analysis article, by utilizing the paradigm of philosophical psychology, advances the study of optimal best practice by focusing on three major aspects: (i) to consider conceptually and philosophically how and/or the extent to which GsBP could, in fact, relate to the nature of flow, flourishing, and optimal best; (ii) to consider a methodological account, which could help to measure and assess the concept GsBP; and (iii) to consider the potential practicality of GsBP in educational contexts, which may assist to facilitate and motivate the achievement of optimal best. These three aspects, we firmly believe, are of significance as they provide grounding for implementation and continuing research development into the area of best practice.

A Case for Cognitive Entrenchment: To Achieve Optimal Best, Taking Into Account the Importance of Perceived Optimal Efficiency and Cognitive Load Imposition.

One interesting observation that we may all concur with is that many experts, or those who are extremely knowledgeable and well-versed in their respective domains of functioning, become "mediocre" and lose their "touch of invincibility" over time. For example, in the world of professional football, it has been argued that an elite football coach would lose his/her air of invincibility and demise after 10-15 years at the top. Why is this the case? There are different reasons and contrasting viewpoints that have been offered to account for this observed demise. One notable concept, recently introduced to explain this decline, is known as cognitive entrenchment, which is concerned with a high level of stability in one's domain schemas (Dane, 2010). This entrenchment or "situated fixation," from our proposition, may act to deter the flexibility and/or willingness of a person to adapt to a new context or situation. Some writers, on this basis, have argued that cognitive entrenchment would help explain the demise of some experts and/or why some students have difficulties adapting to new situations. An initial inspection would seem to indicate that cognitive entrenchment is detrimental, potentially imparting evidence of inflexibility, difficulty, and/or the unwillingness of a person to adapt to new contexts (Dane, 2010). This premise importantly connotes that expertise may constrain a person from being flexible, innovative, and/or creative to ongoing changes. In this analysis, an expert may experience a cognitive state of entrenchment, facilitated in this case by his/her own experience, knowledge, and/or theoretical understanding of a subject matter. Having said this, however, it is also a plausibility that cognitive entrenchment in itself espouses some form of positivity, giving rise to improvement and/or achievement of different types of adaptive outcomes. Drawing from our existing research development, we propose in this conceptual analysis article that personal "entrenchment" to a particular context (e.g., the situated fixation of a football coach to a particular training methodology) may closely relate to three major elements: self-cognizance of cognitive load imposition, a need for efficiency, and the quest for stability and comfort. As we explore later, there is credence to accept the "positivity" of cognitive entrenchment-that by nature, for example, a person would purposively choose the status quo in order to minimize cognitive load imposition, optimize efficiency, and/or to achieve minimum disruption and a high level of comfort, which could then "optimize" his/her learning experiences. We strongly believe that our propositions, which consider eight in this article, are of significance and may, importantly, provide grounding for further research development into the validity of cognitive entrenchment.

Learning to Solve Trigonometry Problems That Involve Algebraic Transformation Skills via Learning by Analogy and Learning by Comparison.

The subject of mathematics is a national priority for most countries in the world. By all account, mathematics is considered as being "pure theoretical" (Becher, 1987), compared to other subjects that are "soft theoretical" or "hard applied." As such, the learning of mathematics may pose extreme difficulties for some students. Indeed, as a pure theoretical subject, mathematics is not that enjoyable and for some students, its learning can be somewhat arduous and challenging. One such example is the topical theme of Trigonometry, which is relatively complex for comprehension and understanding. This Trigonometry problem that involves algebraic transformation skills is confounded, in particular, by the location of the pronumeral (e.g., x)-whether it is a numerator sin30° = x/5 or a denominator sin30° = 5/x. More specifically, we contend that some students may have difficulties when solving sin30° = x/5, say, despite having learned how to solve a similar problem, such as x/4 = 3. For more challenging Trigonometry problems, such as sin50° = 12/x where the pronumeral is a denominator, students have been taught to "swap" the x with sin30° and then from this, solve for x. Previous research has attempted to address this issue but was unsuccessful. Learning by analogy relies on drawing a parallel between a learned problem and a new problem, whereby both share a similar solution procedure. We juxtapose a linear equation (e.g., x/4 = 3) and a Trigonometry problem (e.g., sin30° = x/5) to facilitate analogical learning. Learning by comparison, in contrast, identifies similarities and differences between two problems, thereby contributing to students' understanding of the solution procedures for both problems. We juxtapose the two types of Trigonometry problems that differ in the location of the pronumeral (e.g., sin30° = x/5 vs. cos50° = 20/x) to encourage active comparison. Therefore, drawing on the complementary strength of learning by analogy and learning by comparison theories, we expect to counter the inherent difficulty of learning Trigonometry problems that involve algebraic transformation skills. This conceptual analysis article, overall, makes attempts to elucidate and seek clarity into the two comparative pedagogical approaches for effective learning of Trigonometry.

Optimization: In-Depth Examination and Proposition.

One notable concept that is of interest is a person's state of optimal functioning. Achieving optimal functioning (e.g., subjective well-being at school), aside from personal autonomy, requires some form of "optimization." Optimization, we argue, is more than just an "enhancement," a "predictive effect," and/or a "causal flow" between an independent variable (IV) and a dependent variable (DV). We note from existing literature that optimization has often been referred to without a clear, definitive explanation of what this term actually entails. At the same time, we acknowledge that unlike other areas of development (e.g., engagement), no theoretical article is available to explain the concept of optimization. This article considers a number of theoretical tenets for advancement: (1) the tenet of three major criteria that could assist in the explanation, assessment, and measurement of optimization, (2) the tenet of the development of a methodological conceptualization that could measure and assess optimization, and (3) the tenet of the "quantification" of optimization, and in particular, a proposed index of optimization and a corresponding scientific notation of "γ", which we coin as an "optimizing effect." Overall, we contend that this examination is insightful and holistic, seeking clarity into an important topical theme in psychology.