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Virtual labs provide space for students to iteratively test, observe, and revise their understanding so as to improve their scientific literacy. However, one of the challenges that students face is that they need to think and act like scientists so as to be sensitively alert to methodological flaws and various sources of error. This study thus compared the effect of two instructional approaches using a virtual lab to enhance students' scientific literacy. Before students were given the opportunity to conduct science inquiries with the virtual lab, they were required to critique problematic inquiry cases (the critique group) or watch teachers' demonstrations (the teacher demonstration group) before taking part in the inquiry. By analyzing data from 50 middle school students, this study found that the effect of applying virtual labs can be augmented by an instructional design that engages students in critiquing experiments prior to their inquiry with the virtual lab. This study also found a limitation of the use of virtual labs in helping students transfer what they have learned from the teacher's demonstration to new inquiry contexts. A close relation among scientific literacy post-test scores, critiquing performance, and inquiry performance in the inquiry activity was detected, suggesting that student critiquing prior to inquiry is in alignment with the goal of developing students' inquiry skills and scientific literacy with virtual labs.

Background: Collaborative computer simulations are available on some online platforms which support students at distributed locations to synchronously collaborate on the simulations to learn sciences. However, how students collaborate with each other in collaborative simulations is not clear. Objectives: The aim of this study was to investigate whether functional interdependency would influence learning. Methods: Two collaborative learning models with different functional interdependencies were examined (the synchronous model and the distributed accountability model). Multiple data sources obtained from 64 students were collected and analyzed. We discuss the collaborative learning with two levels of factors: the individual-level factors (i.e., individual perceptions of teamwork quality, visual attention and learning performance before and after a simulation activity) and the pair-level factors (i.e., discourse data and joint attention). Given that the pair-level factors in the collaborative learning environment may affect the individual-level factors, we further discuss the interactions of the two levels of factors in different collaborative learning models with hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) analysis. Results and Conclusions: The analytical results of the individual-level factors found participants in the distributed accountability model demonstrated more frequent and longer attention to the learning activity. Furthermore, the results indicated that the two simulation learning activities would enhance the participants' learning performance except in Q2. For the pair-level factors, the results demonstrated that the participants in the distributed accountability model showed more active discourse segments but similar joint attention patterns in the learning activity. The results of the HLM analysis indicated that the students in the distributed accountability model had to collaborate with their partners through more constructive dialogue, and focused on the same areas of interest to enhance their learning performance, as the complexity of the distributed accountability design was implemented in a simulation learning activity. Major takeaways: We found that the increase of functional interdependency cannot guarantee students' learning effect in collaborative learning and may hinder the communication that is needed during collaboration. Researcher may need to consider other collaboration tools to enhance the reciprocal reflection.

The purpose of this study was to understand how students engage in computer-supported modeling-based activities (CSMBAs), and the relationship between their engagement and their modeling competence. Different facets of learning engagement were measured through multiple data, including performance on modeling tasks, self-reported level of engagement, and online behavior patterns of science modeling. The research participants were 76 11th-grade students in Taiwan. The research instruments included online student worksheets, an engagement questionnaire, computer logs, and modeling competence tests. Students' online worksheets were scored and used to group them into three performance groups--the low-level-performance group (LPG), the middle-level-performance group (MPG) and the high-level-performance group (HPG). ANOVA statistics lag sequential analysis (LSA), and ANCOVA statistics were used for the data analysis. The results showed that, first, in analyzing the engagement questionnaires, students' negative cognitive engagement, negative behavioral engagement, and negative social engagement all played important roles in their low performance in the CSMBAs. Second, through the use of LSA, it was found that the LPG students lacked evaluative behavior, while the HPG students emphasized reflective behavior. Third, analysis of the students' pre- and post-modeling competence tests showed that those who were in the HPG and MPG scored significantly higher than those in the LPG in two dimensions of the modeling competence post-tests. The results indicate that efforts made in completing tasks in CSMBAs can lead to better modeling competence. Implications for developing future CSMBAs and for promoting student engagement are suggested.

Despite the positive potential of the online social networking platforms, the longitudinal studies regarding how children participate in digital storytelling communities is still scant in the literature. This study investigated how 26 elementary students participated in a 2-year digital storytelling community mediated by a social network application. By analyzing the students' weekly responses, social networks, and their language learning performance, the results suggested that their oral reading proficiency improved along with their participation in the long-term activity. It was also found that the community features impacted the students' sense of engagement in the activity. The feature of the learning community that allows students to team up with partners to complete a story improved their engagement and motivation. The social network analysis found that multiple literacies including multimedia processing, language, and collaboration were all considered by students as important criteria for the partnership to complete the collaborative digital storytelling work. However, such a prolonged collaborative digital storytelling activity also introduced new challenges for those students demonstrating unfavorable collaboration profiles as they needed to learn how to collaborate in order to team up with others. The implications of the findings for educational practice are discussed.

Background: Inconsistent results regarding the risk of relapse and better subjective outcomes of previous antipsychotic dose reduction trials in patients with remitted psychosis have not been verified using therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM). This study examined plasma drug concentrations of a dose-tapering trial which exhibited the potential of successful maintenance under lower antipsychotic dosages. Methods: A 2-year open-label randomized prospective trial recruited remitted patients to undergo guided antipsychotic tapering. Blood samples were collected at baseline, annually, and after each dose reduction. Plasma aripiprazole/dehydroaripiprazole concentrations were determined using LC–MS/MS. The relationship between the dose and serum drug levels was examined using Spearman's correlation. Divided at 120 ng/mL, relapse rate, global function, quality of life, and psychopathology were compared between high- and low- drug level groups. Results: A total of 126 blood samples were collected, after excluding13 samples due of non-adherence. The correlation coefficients between dosage and drug level were 0.853 (aripiprazole) and 0.864 (dehydroaripiprazole), and the dose and concentration plots were parallel along the tapering trajectories, except patients with non-adherence. The concentration-to-dose ratio of aripiprazole in this cohort, 17.79 ± 7.23 ng/mL/mg, was higher than that in Caucasian populations. No significant differences were observed in the clinical outcomes between the high- and low-level groups. Remarkably, 12 of 15 patients maintained remission at plasma aripiprazole concentrations of <120 ng/mL. Conclusions: The lower-than-expected doses reached in our antipsychotic tapering trial were substantiated to provide adequate prophylactic effects by TDM results in a subset of patients treated with aripiprazole, even considering the differences in pharmacogenomics between ethnicities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

D-amino acid oxidase (DAO) has been reported to be associated with schizophrenia. This study aimed to search for genetic variants associated with this gene. The genomic regions of all exons, highly conserved regions of introns, and promoters of this gene were sequenced. Potentially meaningful single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) obtained from direct sequencing were selected for genotyping in 600 controls and 912 patients with schizophrenia and in a replicated sample consisting of 388 patients with schizophrenia. Genetic associations were examined using single-locus and haplotype association analyses. In single-locus analyses, the frequency of the C allele of a novel SNP rs55944529 located at intron 8 was found to be significantly higher in the original large patient sample (p = 0.016). This allele was associated with a higher level of DAO mRNA expression in the Epstein-Barr virus-transformed lymphocytes. The haplotype distribution of a haplotype block composed of rs11114083-rs2070586-rs2070587-rs55944529 across intron 1 and intron 8 was significantly different between the patients and controls and the haplotype frequencies of AAGC were significantly higher in patients, in both the original (corrected p < 0.0001) and replicated samples (corrected p = 0.0003). The CGTC haplotype was specifically associated with the subgroup with deficits in sustained attention and executive function and the AAGC haplotype was associated with the subgroup without such deficits. The DAO gene was a susceptibility gene for schizophrenia and the genomic region between intron 1 and intron 8 may harbor functional genetic variants, which may influence the mRNA expression of DAO and neurocognitive functions in schizophrenia.

The interest-driven creator (IDC) theory is being developed as a group endeavor by Asian researchers to articulate a holistic learning design theory for future education in Asia. The theory hypothesizes that students, driven by "interest", can be engaged in the "creation" of knowledge (generating ideas and artifacts). By repeating this creation process in their daily learning routines, they will excel in learning performance, develop twenty-first-century competencies, and form creation "habits". We hope that with such practices in education, our future generations will ultimately become lifelong interest-driven creators. In IDC Theory, there are three "anchored" concepts, namely, interest, creation, and habit. Each anchored concept comprises three "component" concepts which form a "concept loop". For example, the creation loop consists of three component concepts--"imitating", "combining", and "staging". Imitating is concerned with taking in (or inputting) an abundant amount of existing knowledge from the outside world to form one's background knowledge. Combining refers to delivering (or outputting) new ideas or artifacts prolifically by synthesizing existing information encountered in the world and thoughts arising from the students' background knowledge. Staging relates to frequently demonstrating the generated ideas or artifacts to the relevant communities and receiving feedback from these communities to improve the novelty and value of the demonstrated outcomes while gaining social recognition and nurturing positive social emotions. This paper focuses on describing the three components of the creation loop. We provide three case studies to illustrate the creation loop at work, as well as how it intertwines with both the interest and habit loops in supporting students to develop their creation capabilities. In presenting this iteration of the creation concept, an anchored concept in IDC theory, we acknowledge the roles played of imitation, combination, and staging in different learning and education contexts--indeed, there are multiple theories that inform and intersect with it.

This study investigated students' modeling progress and strategies in a problem-solving simulation game through content analysis, and through supervised and unsupervised lag sequential analysis (LSA). Multiple data sources, including self-report models and activity logs, were collected from 25 senior high school students. The results of the content analysis found that the problem-solving simulation game helped most of the students to reflectively play with the science problem and build a workable model to solve it. By using the supervised LSA, it was found that the students who successful solved the game frequently linked the game contexts with the physics terminologies, while those who did not solve the problem simply relied on the intuitive knowledge provided in the reference materials. Furthermore, the unsupervised LSA identified four activity patterns that were not noticed in the supervised LSA: the fragmented, reference material centered, reference material aided modeling, and modeling centered patterns. Each pattern has certain associations with certain problem-solving outcomes. The results of this study also shed light on the use of different analytics techniques. While the supervised LSA is particularly helpful for depicting a contrast of activity patterns between two specific student groups, the unsupervised LSA is able to identify hidden significant patterns which were not clearly distinguished in the pre-defined student groups. Researchers may find these analytics techniques useful for analyzing students' learning processes.

This study explored how a free-space digital storytelling approach that advocates autonomy and creativity can be implemented in a formal elementary classroom and how it impacts students' language learning motivation and performances. Participants of the study were 64 sixth grade students in Taiwan. Following an experimental design, the data collected from three data sources, including motivation surveys, achievement test scores, and digital stories, were analyzed and triangulated. Two performance indicators of the digital storytelling, levels of language usage and levels of creativity, were found to have significant but different impacts on language learning. While the students' language usage performance in digital storytelling was significantly related to their achievement test scores, their creativity performance were significantly related to multiple motivation components, including extrinsic motivation, task value and elaboration. It was also found that the proposed digital storytelling approach had a positive impact on students' language performance and contributed to an increase to students' motivation in two dimensions: extrinsic goal orientation and elaboration, rather than intrinsic goal orientation. The results suggest that the positive impact of the proposed storytelling pedagogy resides in allowing students to stretch their creativity while demonstrating their language productivity, with the leverage of a holistic assessment scheme.

Objective: Occupational function assessment is essential for rehabilitation of severe mental illness but lacks comprehensive tools. Method: This study examines the psychometric properties of the Chinese versions of the Vocational Cognitive Rating Scale (VCRS) and the Work Behavior Inventory (WBI) in 60 chronic patients from a psychiatric daycare center and identifies clinical correlates of occupational function measured on the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS). Results: The Chinese VCRS and WBI showed adequate internal consistency, interrater and test–retest reliability, and good convergent validity with the Comprehensive Occupational Therapy Evaluation Scale. Factor analysis favored a one-factor solution of the VCRS; and a four-factor structure in the WBI including Efficiency, Social Interaction, Appropriateness, and Regularity. The VCRS and Efficiency were predicted by fewer disorganization but greater affective symptoms. Social Interaction was negatively predicted by resistance symptoms. Appropriateness was associated with all but negative symptoms. Regularity was predicted by fewer negative symptoms. Considering work behavior altogether, WBI total scores were predicted by fewer negative, fewer disorganization, and greater affective symptoms. Conclusions and Implication for Practice: Findings suggest that the Chinese VCRS and WBI have sound psychometric properties and are suitable for both clinical trials and for planning personalized rehabilitation programs. Impact and Implications: This study provided the first validation of the Vocational Cognitive Rating Scale and the Work Behavior Inventory—two functional assessment tools regarding work performance specific to patients with mental illness—in an Asian country. We derived a new factor structure for finding unique relationships between clinical profiles and each facet of various work behaviors. The findings provide evidence to support a more delicate assessment of occupational function while providing a fundamental foundation for developing future personalized rehabilitation programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Examining patients with first-episode psychosis (FEP) provides opportunities to better understand the mechanism underlying these illnesses. By incorporating quantitative measures in FEP patients, we aimed to (1) determine the baseline distribution of clinical features; (2) examine the impairment magnitude of the quantitative measures by comparing with external controls and then the counterparts of schizophrenia patients of different familial loadings; and (3) evaluate whether these quantitative measures were associated with the baseline clinical features. Methods: Patients with FEP were recruited from one medical center, two regional psychiatric centers, and two private clinics in northern Taiwan with clinical features rated using the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) and Personal and Social Performance (PSP) scale. Quantitative measurements included the Continuous Performance Test (CPT), Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST), niacin response abnormality (NRA), and minor physical anomalies and craniofacial features (MPAs). To evaluate the relative performance of the quantitative measures in our FEP patients, four external comparison groups from previous studies were used, including three independent healthy controls for the CPT, WCST, and NRA, respectively, and one group of treatment-resistant schizophrenia patients for the MPAs. Additionally, patients from simplex families and patients from multiplex families were used to assess the magnitude of FEP patients’ impairment on the CPT, WCST, and NRA. Results: Among the 80 patients with FEP recruited in this study (58% female, mean age = 25.6 years, mean duration of untreated psychosis = 132 days), the clinical severity was mild to moderate (mean PANSS score = 67.3; mean PSP score = 61.8). Patients exhibited both neurocognitive and niacin response impairments (mean Z-scores: −1.24 for NRA, − 1.06 for undegraded d', − 0.70 for degraded d', − 0.32 for categories achieved, and 0.44 for perseverative errors) but did not show MPAs indicative of treatment resistance. Among these quantitative measures, three of the four neurocognitive indices were correlated with the baseline clinical features, whereas NRA did not show such correlation. Conclusions: This FEP study of Taiwanese patients revealed the presence of neurocognitive performance and niacin response and their different relationships with clinical features, rendering this sample useful for future follow-up and incorporation of multiomics investigation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Researchers and educators have paid much attention to scientific explanation as it is regarded as one of the important scientific inquiry skills. Recently, Tablet computers have allowed students to draw together with text and vocal narrations as a learning strategy to prompt them to articulate their scientific explanations. However, the literature regarding exactly how students use drawing and vocal narrations on Tablet computers to explain scientific questions is still scant. Therefore, by gathering the drawings and narrations which were generated by 41 high school students, this study aimed to explore what patterns students may apply to construct their scientific explanations for the four seasons with Tablet computers. It was found that the students perceived a lower extent of using memorizing and the test-to-learn concept to learn science but perceived a higher level of deep motivation and strategy in the drawing-based scientific explanation activity than they did in their prior experience. This study also suggests five hierarchical explanation patterns when using Tablet computers in scientific explanations, including portraying life experience, reciting alternative conceptions, summarizing referential facts, and depicting comparative and analytical processes. A further analysis found that the students who adopted high-level explanation patterns (i.e., depicting comparative and analytical processes) obtained higher scores in the learning test than those who adopted low-level explanation patterns (i.e., portraying life experience, reciting alternative conceptions, and summarizing referential facts). Therefore, the explanation patterns adopted by the students played a prominent role in their scientific understandings. Educators may need to help students to apply effective explanation patterns in their scientific explanations with technology-assisted environments.

Many studies have pointed out the significant contrast between the creative nature of Web 2.0 learning activities and the structured learning in school. This study proposes an approach to leveraging Web 2.0 learning activities and classroom teaching to help students develop both specific knowledge and creativity based on Csikzentmihalyi's system model of creativity. The approach considers peer review as the core component in the Web 2.0 learning activities with the aim of engaging students in the creative learning paradigm. To gain a better understanding of the impact of such an approach on students' confidence and performance, this study gathered and analyzed the works developed by 53 sixth graders in a Web 2.0 storytelling activity, as well as details of their creative self-efficacy. The results show that those students who experienced the peer review using a set of storytelling rubrics produced significantly more sophisticated stories than those who did not. Furthermore, the peer review did not exert a significant negative influence on the students' creative self-efficacy. It was also found that the experimental group's (students experiencing the peer review) creative self-efficacy consistently reflected their performance, while the control group's creative self-efficacy did not. Such results support that the peer review process may help students to build a sophisticated level of reflection upon their creative work in Web 2.0 learning activities.

One issue facing teachers who implement model-based instruction within the school system is the tight curricular schedule. The 'lesson objective tension' calls for investigations to address instructional issues such as how to organise modelling-based instruction at the curriculum level which is across multiple units. We investigated the effect of the cyclic curricular design spacing out three modelling-based instruction units with virtual labs over three semesters, each involving 73, 181, and 150 junior high school students, respectively. Results indicate that, overall, the approach of modelling with virtual labs better promoted students' scientific literacy than the traditional instruction did. Specifically, students with low and moderate school science achievements benefitted more as shown in their scientific literacy scores than did the high achievement students. Furthermore, this study found that receiving one unit of modelling-based instruction may not be sufficient to promote students' scientific literacy, whereas the cyclic approach that suggests students receive two or more units of modelling-based instruction with virtual labs spaced over consecutive semesters had significant effects on promoting students' scientific literacy. The results provide insights into when and how modelling-based learning with virtual labs can promote scientific literacy at a curricular level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Patients with remitted psychosis face a dilemma between the wish to discontinue antipsychotics and the risk of relapse. We test if an operationalized guided-dose-reduction algorithm can help reach a lower effective dose without increased risks of relapse. Methods: A 2-year open-label randomized prospective comparative cohort trial from Aug 2017 to Sep 2022. Patients with a history of schizophrenia-related psychotic disorders under stable medications and symptoms were eligible, randomized 2:1 into guided dose reduction group (GDR) v. maintenance treatment group (MT1), together with a group of naturalistic maintenance controls (MT2). We observed if the relapse rates would be different between 3 groups, to what extent the dose could be reduced, and if GDR patients could have improved functioning and quality of life. Results: A total of 96 patients, comprised 51, 24, and 21 patients in GDR, MT1, and MT2 groups, respectively. During follow-up, 14 patients (14.6%) relapsed, including 6, 4, and 4 from GDR, MT1, and MT2, statistically no difference between groups. In total, 74.5% of GDR patients could stay well under a lower dose, including 18 patients (35.3%) conducting 4 consecutive dose-tapering and staying well after reducing 58.5% of their baseline dose. The GDR group exhibited improved clinical outcomes and endorsed better quality of life. Conclusions: GDR is a feasible approach as the majority of patients had a chance to taper antipsychotics to certain extents. Still, 25.5% of GDR patients could not successfully decrease any dose, including 11.8% experienced relapse, a risk comparable to their maintenance counterparts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]