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Under the impact of the digital wave, traditional paper-cutting art faces unprecedented challenges in preservation and dissemination. Given the urgent need for Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) protection, this study explores the application of Virtual Reality (VR) technology in the preservation of paper-cutting art. VR efficiently digitizes and widely disseminates paper-cutting art by skillfully integrating modern technological elements. The study not only deeply analyzes how VR technology can safeguard and inherit traditional Chinese paper-cutting art but also focuses on the meticulous design and optimization of the paper-cutting VR system. The constructed VR system integrates cutting-edge technologies such as 3D modeling and modular design. It showcases outstanding performance in virtual environment rendering and user interaction, rigorously validated through precise evaluation methods. Experimental results demonstrate the paper-cutting VR system's response time of only 10 ms and a high frame rate of 90 frames per second, highlighting its exceptional performance. Furthermore, comprehensive research on the profound impact of the VR system on various stakeholders contributes a new perspective and profound insights into the digital preservation of ICH. In summary, this study successfully innovatively applies VR technology to the protection and dissemination of paper-cutting art, achieving digital preservation goals and injecting new vitality into its inheritance. This pioneering research path opens a hopeful new channel for the digital preservation of ICH and provides a valuable reference for the conservation of other traditional cultures. The study holds critical academic value and significant practical implications. Moreover, the extensive prospects of VR technology in the cultural heritage conservation field urgently require further exploration and investigation.

This study aimed at designing a model of instructional materials for Academic Writing Course focusing on research paper writing. The model was designed based on the Curriculum at the English Education Study Program, Faculty of Language and Art Education of IKIP PGRI Bojonegoro, East Java, Indonesia. This model was developed in order to improve students' skill in writing research paper which is one of the prerequisite tasks before graduating from university. The steps of this research and development consist of needs analysis, document analysis, model design, model development, and model experimentation. The researchers conducted needs analysis to the fifth semester students and three academic writing teachers, in order to generate information dealing with the students' needs in academic writing course materials. The needs analysis and documents analysis were dug up through questionnaire, interview, and discussion among students and academic writing teachers. The documents analyzed in this study were syllabus, lesson plan, and the existing textbook. The model design used is derived from Borg and Gall (1983) and Sukmadinata (2008), in which there are four steps, i.e. (1) exploration phase; (2) model development phase; (3) model experimentation phase; and (4) dissemination and model implementation phase. The results of needs analysis questionnaire reveal that students need to be taught how to write academic writing in terms of journal article since it will be the final project of the students at the end of their study in university. Instructional materials with different strategies focused on research paper writing are needed by the students.

This study is meant to examine the thesis quality of students of English Department at IAIN Samarinda. Through the descriptive-quantitative research, the thesis quality of students of English Department at IAIN Samarinda is reviewed from the aspects of language, structure, concepts understanding, theoretical framework, methodology, content, writing mechanism, and references used. This study also tries to figure out any factors that affect the thesis quality of English Department students. Fourteen English Department Students' thesis tested in 2013 are used as the main data. In addition, other data are obtained from respondents i.e. 19 students, and informants i.e. lecturers of English Department who are also their thesis advisors. The result shows that the average score of thesis written by 14 English Department students at IAIN Samarinda academic year of 2013 is 3.16 which is in the range of 2.61-3.40 scale, which is quite good quality. This quality is relevant with the informants' perceptions about the quality of thesis written by their students. Judging from some aspects, they assume that their students are able to write a good quality of thesis with an average score of 2.81 which is at a scale of 2.61-3.40. The quality is affected by internal factors and external factors. The most decisive internal factor is the respondents' low score of writing with appropriate and acceptable structure in English. This is the effect of respondents' lack of ability of composing adequate paragraphs in English. Meanwhile, the most concerning external factor is the quality of learning structure course and the professionalism of the informants in guiding the students to improve their writing ability in thesis writing. A bibliography is included.

This paper focuses on students' reading habits--whether traditional reading habits (print books) or modern reading habits (using a computer screen). We review the changes in students' reading habits over time, as part of other global changes, and explore whether corresponding digital pedagogies have evolved to address these changes. We examine Generation Y students' motivations and study habits, a generation that shows indications of changes in its academic values and priorities, and cracks in its research skills for a global world. We focus on a case study of the reading habits of students in one academic institution and discuss the implications of the findings for academic teaching and the academia's traditional role of training researchers.

It is generally perceived that a substantial number of engineering faculty are still unaware of alternative educational methods, and many who are aware of them choose not to incorporate them into their approach to teaching. There are several likely reasons for this inertia, aside from the inevitable human resistance to change. The primary focus of imparting information is restricted to fulfilling the course requirements and, the upcoming term end examination. It is imperative to adopt a change from teaching to learning paradigm engaging the students in Higher Order Thinking Skills. Knowledge and technological advancements are changing the role of engineering and engineering faculty in the society. Engineering Education reforms need to focus on inductive teaching and stimulated learning. Students should be taught critical thinking skills and creative thinking skills to keep pace with the rapidly changing engineering profession. This paper reports the study done to test and explore the faculty awareness of Bloom's Taxonomy of Educational Objectives in the cognitive domain and Higher Order Thinking Skills (HOTS) and to evaluate question papers set by engineering faculty with respect to HOTS as proposed by Bloom's Taxonomy. Various active learning strategies to enhance critical thinking skills and creative thinking skills of the students are recommended for use by the faculty in their interactions with the students.

The purposes of this study were to investigate the effects of the use of paper-based and weblog-based electronic portfolios on the writing achievement of limited English proficiency students, to survey the students' attitudes towards the use of the portfolio assessment, and to compare the viewpoints of the students in the control and experimental groups. The study was conducted with 60 second-year hotel and tourism students enrolled in the Writing for the Service Industry course. They had limited English proficiency, as their previous English grades were C or below in average. The simple random sampling technique was used for subject selection and group assignment. Google's free weblog website (located at www.blogger.com) was used as a tool for creating and developing the students' personal electronic portfolios. At the beginning of the course, the students in the control group and the experimental group were trained in the concept of portfolios, and the purposes, content, and criteria used for assessment were discussed with the students. A writing achievement test and a closed-ended questionnaire were used for the quantitative data collection, while the qualitative data were gathered from the open-ended questions, interviews, and reflection. Descriptive statistics and t-tests were employed for the data analysis. It was found that the effects of the use of paper-based portfolios and weblog-based electronic portfolios on the writing achievement were not significantly different, but some promising results of the use of weblog-based electronic portfolios for language learning and assessment are indisputable.

University education has been massified in South Africa and this has disrupted conventions and practices of assessment. Universities are perceived as promoting complex achievements and complex skills through rigorous curriculum specifications and assessment instruments. Due to experiences in high school and the novelty of university education, students have begun to enquire about the "scope of the paper." This enquiry has tended to destabilise the reliability of assessments and judgments in universities in South Africa. Grades and symbols certified by some universities have become both indeterminate and ambiguous. A qualitative, quantitative design was adopted to identify and interrogate university research participants' views on experiences about examinations at university level. In the process, the meanings that first-year degree-level test-takers ascribed to the concept of "the scope of the paper" were unpacked. It was determined which aspects of the test scope students had studied in order to prepare for tests. Inferences were made about the concepts that the students marginalised because they were perceived to be "out of the scope" of the examination. A holistic and broad educational experience for university students is recommended in spite of the daunting numbers enrolled in certain university courses.

Recently, electronic books (e-books) have become prevalent amongst the general population, as well as students, owing to their advantages over traditional books. In South Africa, a number of schools have integrated tablets into the classroom with the promise of replacing traditional books. In order to realise the potential of e-books and their associated devices within an academic context, where reading speed and comprehension are critical for academic performance and personal growth, the effectiveness of reading from a tablet screen should be evaluated. To achieve this objective, a quasi-experimental within subjects design was employed in order to compare the reading speed and comprehension performance of 68 students. The results of this study indicate the majority of participants read faster on an iPad, which is in contrast to previous studies that have found reading from tablets to be slower. It was also found that comprehension scores did not differ significantly between the two media. For students, these results provide evidence that tablets and e-books are suitable tools for reading and learning, and therefore, can be used for academic work. For educators, e-books can be introduced without concern that reading performance and comprehension will be hindered.

This paper builds upon the theoretical framework developed by Zahra and George (2002) to empirically explore, first, the moderator effect of principals' inspirational vision content as a social mechanism that reduces the gap between potential absorptive capacity (PACAP; the ability to acquire and assimilate external knowledge) and realized absorptive capacity (RACAP; the ability to transform and exploit this external knowledge to school processes); and second, the relationship between RACAP and long-term school outcomes (teachers' absenteeism 1 year later). Based on a sample of 600 teachers from 100 elementary schools in Israel, results showed that the relationship between PACAP and RACAP is not conditioned by principals' inspirational vision content. The latter and PACAP predicted RACAP separately. Further, RACAP was negatively correlated with teacher absenteeism. This study provides a deeper understanding of the ACAP model in the school context and opens new avenues to exploring the social integration mechanism between PACAP and RACAP. It also adds a new construct to predict teacher absenteeism over the long term.

Based on a research project comprising data from an interview study and a survey with teachers and school principals in four German federal states ("Bundesländer"), this paper questions the claim that the side effects of accountability in education are bound to high-stakes contexts, and also provides evidence of side effects occurring in no- and low-stakes contexts. The findings suggest that side effects cannot be fully explained by certain implementation features of accountability regimes (e.g., high stakes), but should rather be understood as a result of implementation features as well as systematic effects of accountability in education.

This study details the procedure and results of developing a mission statement at a language institute for the purpose of obtaining a program accreditation from an international language commission. A serious self-study process results in the development of a solid, true and ambitious mission since the mission covers all areas related to achieving students learning outcomes. It shows how the mission was changed and why. It also details how the new mission resulted in the improving quality, especially in the areas of curriculum and professional development of faculty and staff. Other aspects, such as facilities and student affairs were modified to achieve the goals and objectives of the new mission. This essay reports the changes that were implemented during the process of mission statement development. These changes resulted in plans to improve the quality of the English language teaching at the English Language Academy (ELA) which offers an English language program to Foundation Year students whose success in the program is a college requirement at the University of Business and Technology (UBT) in the academic year of 2016-2017. The program also aims at improving the English language proficiency of students so that they can use it in their future professions considering that the university logo is "Education for Job Opportunities." The third main goal or aim is related to the use of English to assist students in personal and social life. Critical thinking surfaced as a main concern of those surveyed for needs assessment. The report concludes with recommending conducting thorough and genuine self-study process which certainly ends with quality improvement. The report uses data collected from five questionnaires completed by students, faculty, alumni and employers of UBT graduates. The purpose of the survey was to identify the needs of the students. Based on those needs, the learning outcomes are identified and accordingly, the new mission statement is developed.

Background Research theses can have a significant impact on the development of applied sciences, especially when their results are published. Objective This study aims to determine publication rate of papers extracted from the medical residency and master’s degree theses of Guilan University of Medical Sciences (GUMS) during 2008-2018. Methods This is a descriptive cross-sectional study. The data were collected from the medical residency and master’s degree theses of GUMS from 2008 to 2018. Then, they were searched in international and national databases according to the title, keywords, and names of supervisors, advisors, and students. Results Of 774 theses, 449 (58 %) papers had been extracted and published in journals indexed by ISI/ PubMed (41.2%), Scopus (11.8%), BIOSIS, Chemical Abstract, and Embase (0.44%) and others (46.56%). Most of them (98.66%) were original research. Moreover, in 383(85.3%) of the theses, there was no statistician or data advisor. The median time from defending theses to the publication of a paper from them was two years. Conclusion The publication of papers extracted from the theses of GUMS has increased, and more than 50% of them have been published in journals indexed by ISI, PubMed, and Scopus. However, the factors associated with the publication of papers need to be surveyed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2007, the Malaysia government initiated twinned primary teacher education arrangements with five Southern Hemisphere higher education institutions (HEIs). Participating students completed their teacher education in both Malaysia and a partner HEI. In this paper, we consider the preliminary findings of a comparative study tracking the beginning teacher journeys of 13 Malaysia based twinning programme graduates and six New Zealand based teachers. The study involved two aspects: (1) a comparative discourse analysis of key Malaysia and New Zealand education policy documents; and (2) thematic and discourse analysis of participants' reflections on their early teaching experiences. Our focus is on beginning teachers as "policy workers": policy subjects whose work is shaped and constrained by policy discourses and imperatives, and policy actors who mediate, translate and resist these. We compare the two policy contexts and consider how policy discourses appeared and were contested in teachers' initial online questionnaire responses.

The objective of this study was to determine how different is the competence of between Junior High School Economic-Social Studies teachers in Indonesia, especially Java and outside of Java. The subjects of this study were teachers who participated in Curriculum 2013 dissemination activities carried out by the Directorate of Elementary and Secondary Education, Department of Education and Culture. Respondents were selected by simple random sampling, namely the Junior High School Economic-Social Studies teachers from Java and outside of Java. Instruments used to collect the data were in the form of questionnaires and documents. The data were analyzed using quantitative analysis. Results showed that the ability of teachers in Indonesia for research have not been evenly distributed proportionally. Junior high school teachers who served in Java have the ability to research better than the teacher outside Java. In Java which has a more complete educational facilities, teacher is easier to access books, research reports, experts, and other resources. The research competence of High School Economic-Social Studies teachers in Java have higher levels of competence of theoretical mastery, cognitive ability, and technical ability than teachers in outside of Java.

Long Zhen,1,2 Gang Wang,1 Gailing Xu,2 Le Xiao,1 Lei Feng,1 Xu Chen,1 Man Liu,1 Xuequan Zhu1 1The National Clinical Research Center for Mental Disorders and Beijing Key Laboratory of Mental Disorders and Beijing Anding Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing 100088, People’s Republic of China; 2Tianjin Mental Health Center, Tianjin Anding Hospital, Tianjin 300222, People’s Republic of ChinaCorrespondence: Gang WangThe National Clinical Research Center for Mental Disorders & Beijing Key Laboratory of Mental Disorders & Beijing Anding Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing 100088, People’s Republic of ChinaTel +86-13672146258Fax +86-02288188856Email andingyjs@163.comPurpose: Smartphone-based questionnaires have advantages compared with their paper versions, but there is a lack of consistent research on depressive disorder questionnaires. This study aimed to assess the equivalence between the paper and smartphone versions of the Quick Inventory of Depressive Symptomatology-Self-Report (QIDS-SR16) and Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) for patients with depressive disorders in psychiatric hospitals in China.Patients and Methods: This was a randomized crossover study of 110 depressed patients recruited from the outpatient department of Beijing Anding Hospital from March 2016 to September 2018. Group 1 completed both the QIDS-SR16 and PHQ-9 in paper format and then completed the smartphone version 1– 2 h later. Group 2 completed the scales in the reverse order. Reliability was evaluated using intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs) with 95% confidence intervals (CI). The expected ICC was 0.9 (α=0.05).Results: The overall ICC score of the QIDS-SR16 paper and smartphone versions was 0.904 (95% CI: 0.861– 0.934), and the ICCs of each item ranged from 0.769 to 0.923. The overall ICC score of the PHQ-9 paper and smartphone versions was 0.951 (95% CI: 0.929– 0.967), and the ICCs of each item ranged from 0.779 to 0.914.Conclusion: This study demonstrated the equivalence of the paper and smartphone versions of the PHQ-9 and QIDS-SR16 in depressed patients in China.Keywords: depressive disorder, equivalence, intraclass correlation coefficient, questionnaires, smartphone

Postgraduate students need to be equipped with self-determined learning skills in order to meet the demands of higher degree and employment in the fourth industrial revolution (IR 4.0) environment. However, the lack of analysis conducted on item level for validating the measurement of postgraduate students' self-determined learning skills prompted the development of The Postgraduate Self-determined Learning Questionnaire (PSLQ) to fill in the research gaps. This paper aimed to assess the psychometric properties of the newly developed 42-item instrument through a mixed method approach as no study has evaluated the psychometric properties of PSLQ at the item level through Rasch model analysis. Quantitatively, 440 postgraduate students were sampled from a higher education institution in Malaysia to answer the questionnaire. Qualitatively, 10 respondents from science and non-science disciplines were interviewed. The paper reports findings on the psychometric properties of PSLQ through Rasch Rating Analysis and participants' perspectives on the item validity. The results revealed that the items in PSLQ demonstrated good psychometric properties for the measurement of self-determined learning skills of postgraduate students. Implications of the study were discussed in this paper. Future studies can further investigate the psychometric properties of PSLQ according to students' discipline of study.

A questionnaire was recently developed for the use with the Spanish-speaking, and evidence have been provided about the construct internal validity by means of structural equation modelling. In this paper, two research questions were considered: (i) What new evidence does application of the Rasch model provide regarding the validity of this construct?; (ii) What cutoffs should be applied to the constructed scales in order to differentiate between acceptable and insufficient levels of the construct being measured? Participants were 1,272 Spanish at both high-school and college level. The instrument is a pencil and paper questionnaire written in Spanish, comprising 20 items (5-point Likert-type scale) distributed evenly across four scales: beyond exact replicas, purpose of models, multiple models, and changing models. Students' responses were coded on an ordinal scale from zero to four. We then conducted a Rasch analysis using both a multidimensional approach and a consecutive unidimensional approach for each dimension. Data provided new evidence regarding the internal validity of the four scales of the questionnaire. The Rasch analysis also allowed us to establish cutoffs for the constructed scales. The evidence provided by this, and the previous study suggest that the questionnaire may be useful as a diagnostic tool when applied to groups or populations of students. In addition, the identified cutoffs could, hypothetically, serve to differentiate between students with an adequate versus an insufficient understanding of the nature of models. [Note: The page range (344-359) shown on the PDF is incorrect. The correct page range for this article is 344-361.]

In people with bone and soft tissue injuries of the wrist, hand and/or fingers, do feedback-guided exercises performed on a tablet touchscreen hasten return to work, reduce healthcare usage and improve clinical recovery more than a home exercise program prescribed on paper? Randomised, parallel-group trial with concealed allocation, assessor blinding and intention-to-treat analysis. Seventy-four workers with limited functional ability due to bone and soft tissue injuries of the wrist, hand and/or fingers. Participants in the experimental and control groups received the same in-patient physiotherapy and occupational therapy. Participants in the experimental group received a home exercise program using the ReHand tablet application, which guides exercises performed on a tablet touchscreen with feedback, monitoring and progression. Participants in the control group were prescribed an evidence-based home exercise program on paper. The primary outcome was the time taken to return to work. Secondary outcomes included: healthcare usage (number of clinical appointments); and functional ability, pain intensity, and grip and pinch strength 2 and 4 weeks after randomisation. Compared with the control group, the experimental group: returned to work sooner (MD –18 days, 95% CI –33 to –3); required fewer physiotherapy sessions (MD –7.4, 95% CI –13.1 to –1.6), rehabilitation consultations (MD –1.9, 95% CI –3.6 to 0.3) and plastic surgery consultations (MD –3.6, 95% CI –6.3 to –0.9); and had better short-term recovery of functional ability and pinch strength. In people with bone and soft-tissue injuries of the wrist, hand and/or fingers, prescribing a feedback-guided home exercise program using a tablet-based application instead of a conventional program on paper hastened return to work and improved the short-term recovery of functional ability and pinch strength, while reducing the number of required healthcare appointments. ACTRN12619000344190 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reasoning for complexity is a fundamental competency in these complex times for solutions to social problems and decision-making. The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate the validity and reliability of the eComplexity instrument by presenting its psychometric properties. The instrument consists of a Likert-type scale questionnaire designed to measure college students' perceptions of their mastery levels of complex reasoning competency as well as the subcompetencies that comprise it. The instrument was applied to higher education students in different countries of Latin America and Spain. The questionnaire articulates four types of thinking: systemic, scientific, critical and innovative and consists of 25 items. The methodology used was instrumental and psychometric, which seeks to demonstrate the validity and reliability of the eComplexity questionnaire. The results obtained from the research were as follows: The exploratory factor analysis indicated a Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin index (KMO) > 0.80, a significance of p< 0.05 and a Cronbach's Alpha value of 0.93. Likewise, a Confirmatory Factor Analysis was carried out and was possible to corroborate the internal structure validity of the instrument. In addition to Cronbach's Alpha coefficient, McDonald's Omega, and Guttman's Lambda coefficients were calculated to calculate reliability. With the results obtained it was possible to conclude that the instrument is valid and reliable, can be used in various university contexts to support integrated training necessary to address current challenges and contribute to educational research. It is recommended for future studies that the research can be expanded by using an instrument that can move from perceptual terms to measuring levels of complex reasoning mastery, but it is valuable to contrast with the students' perception to have a broader vision.

In this paper, we aimed to explore the connection between teacher emotion and self-regulation, the predictive power of teacher emotions on teacher self-regulation, and factors that influence teachers' emotions. An exploratory sequential design was adopted in the study. Data was gathered from 403 teachers teaching actively in elementary grades in the quantitative dimension. In the qualitative dimension, a focus group interview was held with eight teachers. The Teacher Emotion Questionnaire (TEQ), The Teacher Self-Regulation Scale, and focus group interview questions were used to collect data. The quantitative data was analyzed through correlational analysis and simple linear regression analysis and the qualitative data was analyzed through content analysis. The quantitative findings demonstrated that teachers' pride and love in the profession significantly predicted teacher self-regulation levels; however, predicted only 2% of the variability in teacher self-regulation. The findings from the qualitative dimension seemed to explain why we did not find significant relationships between teacher self-regulation and teacher emotions. Emotions seem to be unrelated to teaching skills. Instead, the teachers attribute the source of their emotions mostly to external factors and individual characteristics to some extent.

Abstract Question In people who have undergone surgical carpal tunnel release, do sensorimotor-based exercises performed on the touchscreen of a tablet device improve outcomes more than a conventional home exercise program prescribed on paper? Design Randomised, parallel-group trial with concealed allocation, assessor blinding, and intention-to-treat analysis. Participants Fifty participants within 10 days of surgical carpal tunnel release. Intervention Each participant was prescribed a 4-week home exercise program. Participants in the experimental group received the ReHand tablet application, which administered and monitored exercises via the touchscreen. The control group was prescribed a home exercise program on paper, as is usual practice in the public hospital system. Outcome measures The primary outcome was functional ability of the hand, reported using the shortened form of the Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder and Hand (QuickDASH) questionnaire. Secondary outcomes were grip strength, pain intensity measured on a 10-cm visual analogue scale, and dexterity measured with the Nine-Hole Peg Test. Outcomes were measured by a blinded assessor at baseline and at the end of the 4-week intervention period. Results At Week 4, functional ability improved significantly more in the experimental group than the control group (MD –21, 95% CI –33 to –9) on the QuickDASH score (0 to 100). Although the mean estimates of effect on the secondary outcome also all favoured the experimental group, none reached statistical significance: grip strength (MD 5.6 kg, 95% CI –0.5 to 11.7), pain (MD –1.4 cm, 95% CI –2.9 to 0.1), and dexterity (MD –1.3 seconds, 95% CI –3.7 to 1.1). Conclusion Use of the ReHand tablet application for early rehabilitation after carpal tunnel release is more effective in the recovery of functional ability than a conventional home exercise program. It remains unclear whether there are any benefits in grip strength, pain or dexterity. Trial registration ACTRN12618001887268. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Few biomarker-based validation studies have examined error in online self-report dietary assessment instruments, and food records (FRs) have been considered less than food frequency questionnaires (FFQs) and 24-hour recalls (24HRs). We investigated measurement error in online and paper-based FFQs, online 24HRs, and paper-based FRs in 3 samples drawn primarily from 3 cohorts, comprising 1,393 women and 1,455 men aged 45–86 years. Data collection occurred from January 2011 to October 2013. Attenuation factors and correlation coefficients between reported and true usual intake for energy, protein, sodium, potassium, and respective densities were estimated using recovery biomarkers. Across studies, average attenuation factors for energy were 0.07, 0.07, and 0.19 for a single FFQ, 24HR, and FR, respectively. Correlation coefficients for energy were 0.24, 0.23, and 0.40, respectively. Excluding energy, the average attenuation factors across nutrients and studies were 0.22 for a single FFQ, 0.22 for a single 24HR, and 0.51 for a single FR. Corresponding correlation coefficients were 0.31, 0.34, and 0.53, respectively. For densities (nutrient expressed relative to energy), the average attenuation factors across studies were 0.37, 0.17, and 0.50, respectively. The findings support prior research suggesting different instruments have unique strengths that should be leveraged in epidemiologic research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research examines the impact of teachers' positive psychological capital (PPC) on their job satisfaction (JS) levels. In the study, the relational survey model was used by conducting hierarchical regression analysis. The sample of the study consists of randomly selected 376 teachers in Batman, Turkey. The data were collected with the "Positive Psychological Capital Scale" and "Minnesota Job Satisfaction Scale (MSQ-Short form)". According to the results, the PPC levels (total scores and dimensions) of the teachers are at a very high level; only the optimism dimension of the PPC scale and JS were found to be at a high level. In the regression analysis, the model (Model 6) that measures the effect of all dimensions of PPC on JS is significant. This finding implies that PPC is a significant predictor on JS and approximately 22% of the total variance in job satisfaction is explained PPC. The results of the study imply that self-efficacy and optimism components of PPC can be used to increase JS of teachers even the economic needs are not adequately met. [This paper was presented as an oral presentation at the 4th Global Conference on Education and Research (GLOCER, 2021) on June 8-10, 2021.]

Objectives: Information professionals have supported medical providers, administrators and decision-makers, and guideline creators in the COVID-19 response. Searching COVID-19 literature presented new challenges, including the volume and heterogeneity of literature and the proliferation of new information sources, and exposed existing issues in metadata and publishing. An expert panel developed best practices, including recommendations, elaborations, and examples, for searching during public health emergencies. Methods: Project directors and advisors developed core elements from experience and literature. Experts, identified by affiliation with evidence synthesis groups, COVID-19 search experience, and nomination, responded to an online survey to reach consensus on core elements. Expert participants provided written responses to guiding questions. A synthesis of responses provided the foundation for focus group discussions. A writing group then drafted the best practices into a statement. Experts reviewed the statement prior to dissemination. Results: Twelve information professionals contributed to best practice recommendations on six elements: core resources, search strategies, publication types, transparency and reproducibility, collaboration, and conducting research. Underlying principles across recommendations include timeliness, openness, balance, preparedness, and responsiveness. Conclusions: The authors and experts anticipate the recommendations for searching for evidence during public health emergencies will help information specialists, librarians, evidence synthesis groups, researchers, and decision-makers respond to future public health emergencies, including but not limited to disease outbreaks. The recommendations complement existing guidance by addressing concerns specific to emergency response. The statement is intended as a living document. Future revisions should solicit input from a broader community and reflect conclusions of meta-research on COVID-19 and health emergencies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Study participants and patients often perceive (long) questionnaires as burdensome. In addition, paper-based questionnaires are prone to errors such as (unintentionally) skipping questions or filling in a wrong type of answer. Such errors can be prevented with the emergence of mobile questionnaire apps. Objective: This study aimed to validate an innovative way to measure the quality of life using a mobile app based on the EQ-5D-5L questionnaire. This validation study compared the EQ-5D-5L questionnaire requested by a mobile app with the gold standard paper-based version of the EQ-5D-5L. Methods: This was a randomized, crossover, and open study. The main criteria for participation were participants should be aged =18 years, healthy at their own discretion, in possession of a smartphone with at least Android version 4.1 or higher or iOS version 9 or higher, digitally skilled in downloading the mobile app, and able to read and answer questionnaires in Dutch. Participants were recruited by a market research company that divided them into 2 groups balanced for age, gender, and education. Each participant received a digital version of the EQ-5D-5L questionnaire via a mobile app and the EQ-5D-5L paper-based questionnaire by postal mail. In the mobile app, participants received, for 5 consecutive days, 1 question in the morning and 1 question in the afternoon; as such, all questions were asked twice (at time point 1 [App T1] and time point 2 [App T2]). The primary outcomes were the correlations between the answers (scores) of each EQ-5D-5L question answered via the mobile app compared with the paper-based questionnaire to assess convergent validity. Results: A total of 255 participants (healthy at their own discretion), 117 (45.9%) men and 138 (54.1%) women in the age range of 18 to 64 years, completed the study. To ensure randomization, the measured demographics were checked and compared between groups. To compare the results of the electronic and paper-based questionnaires, polychoric correlation analysis was performed. All questions showed a high correlation (0.64-0.92; P<.001) between the paper-based and the mobile app-based questions at App T1 and App T2. The scores and their variance remained similar over the questionnaires, indicating no clear difference in the answer tendency. In addition, the correlation between the 2 app-based questionnaires was high (>0.73; P<.001), illustrating a high test-retest reliability, indicating it to be a reliable replacement for the paper-based questionnaire. Conclusions: This study indicates that the mobile app is a valid tool for measuring the quality of life and is as reliable as the paper-based version of the EQ-5D-5L, while reducing the response burden. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]