1.Title Teaching based on augmented reality for a technical creative design course Author

Personalization and intelligent tutor are two key factors in the research on learning environment. Intelligent tutoring system (ITS), which can imitate the human teachers' actions to implement one-to-one personalized teaching to some extent, is an effective tool for training the ability of problem solving. This research firstly discusses the concepts and methods of designing problem solving oriented ITS, and then develops the current iTutor based on the extended model of ITS. At last, the research adopts a quasi-experimental design to investigate the effectiveness of iTutor in skills acquisition. The results indicate that students in iTutor group experience better learning effectiveness than those in the control group. iTutor is found to be effective in improving the learning effectiveness of students with low-level prior knowledge. Database ScienceDirect 3.Title Implementing flexible hybrid instruction in an electrical engineering course: The best of three worlds? Author Wenliang He | Daniel Gajski | George Farkas | Mark Warschauer Journal Computers & Education, Volume 81, February 2015 Abstract This study explored a modified version of hybrid instruction, referred to as the flexible hybrid format, in a lower division electrical engineering course offered at a large public university. The objective of the study is to use longitudinal data to investigate the impact of class attendance, out-of-class study time, and motivation on student exam performance. Generalized least squares and fixed effects models were used in the analyses. It was found that class attendance was indispensable; it was associated with exam performance even when all essential course material was made available online and students generally rated the online instruction component to be of higher quality. The benefit of class attendance was then explained by the ICAP hypothesis and spaced learning practice and it was suggested that online education might be more effective in teaching relatively simpler contents. Out-of-class effort significantly predicated performance in previous weeks, but not in the final period. The harmful effect of cramming was cited to explain this phenomenon. Hence, by implication, time management might be an issue in a flexible hybrid environment. Finally, motivation was found to be a robust predicator of performance and its effect was the strongest when the course was at its most challenging stage. Besides, the relationship between motivation and exam performance was likely to be bidirectional, as higher motivation resulted in better performance, which in turn further boosted motivation. Based on current findings, directions for future research were also suggested to verify our claims and improve our implementation. Database ScienceDirect 4.Title Public Services and the Poor in Laos Author Peter Warr | Jayant Menon | Sitthiroth Rasphone Journal World Development, Volume 66, February 2015 Abstract Both cross sectional and panel methods of analysis for Laos confirm that for public education and health services, the poorest quintile groups receive the smallest shares of total provision of these services. Nevertheless, poor groups’ shares of an increase in the level of provision—their marginal shares—are generally higher than these average shares. For primary and lower secondary education and for primary health centers, expanding the overall level of provision delivers a pattern of marginal effects that is significantly more pro-poor than average shares indicate and the degree to which the poor benefit increases with the level of provision. Database ScienceDirect 5.Title Does Education Empower Women? Evidence from Indonesia Author Shanika Samarakoon | Rasyad A. Parinduri Journal World Development, Volume 66, February 2015 Abstract This paper examines whether education empowers women. We exploit an exogenous variation in education induced by a longer school year in Indonesia in 1978, which fits a fuzzy regression discontinuity design. We find education reduces the number of live births, increases contraceptive use, and promotes reproductive health practices. However, except for a few outcome measures, we do not find evidence that education improves women’s decision-making authority within households, asset ownership, or community participation. These results suggest that, to some extent, education does empower women in middleincome countries like Indonesia. Database ScienceDirect 6.Title A Comparative Study of Paper-and-Pen Versus Computer-Delivered Assessment Modes on Students’ Writing Quality: A Singapore Study Author Yin Ling Cheung Journal The Asia-Pacific Education Researcher January 2015 Abstract Much research has been conducted to investigate the quality of writing and high-level revisions in word processing-assisted and pen-and-paper writing modes. Studies that address cognitive aspects, such as experience and comfort with computers, by which students compose essays during writing assessments have remained relatively unexplored. To fill this gap, the present study investigates the impact of writing using computers versus traditional writing with pen-and-paper based on 366 undergraduate students in Singapore. It analyses the students’ thinking processes, the quality of their written work, and their perceptions of working with computers. The results indicate that the students demonstrated a positive attitude towards working with computers. Furthermore, the computer-delivered writing mode has a positive impact on their quality of writing in both technical aspects (content, organization, vocabulary, language use, and mechanics) and global aspects (setting macro rhetorical goal and ordering information in achieving the macro rhetorical goal). On the other hand, the results show that there was no significant difference between the paper and computer writing modes in their effects during the planning stage of writing in-class reflections. The study contributes to writing research by encouraging teachers to give students an option of delivery modes, beyond traditional pen-and-paper, for their writing assessments. Database SpringerLink 7.Title Learning and Instruction Research in the Asia-Pacific Region from 2002 to 2011: Examining Trends, Authors, and Institutions Author Elizabeth Koh | Young Hoan Cho | Imelda Caleon Journal The Asia-Pacific Education Researcher Abstract Although research from the Asia-Pacific region has been increasing, much is unknown about research trends, authors, and institutions in the region, especially in relation to learning and instruction. It is important to have an understanding of current research to identify its strengths and weaknesses and to chart future research directions. It is also useful to identify prominent and productive authors and institutions in the Asia-Pacific to enhance international and regional collaboration between researchers. Twelve top international journals from 2002 to 2011 in the fields of educational psychology, educational technology, and learning sciences were examined. New bibliometric measures, such as the q 2 index, as well as coauthorship network analysis, and cluster analysis methods were utilized to provide insights into Asia-Pacific authors and institutions in the field of learning and instruction research. Database SpringerLink 8.Title Breaking through: Using educational technology for children with special needs Author Lori Glaeser Journal Education and Information Technologies February 2015 Abstract Barbara Albers Hill markets the book, Breaking Through: Using Educational Technology for Children with Special Needs, as a tool providing assistance with use of educational technology as it relates to children with special needs. The mention of specific special needs, such as children with Autism and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), leads readers to believe the book will provide detailed information on how educational technology will assist a child according to each specific need. Hill organizes the book in two parts. The first part provides an overview of tablet technology and how to use it to enhance learning for children with special needs. Part two of the book provides the reader with information that will assist a consumer with purchasing the right tablet for the special need. Upon review of the content, the book is less about detail and more about a shopping guide for the consumer as to the best tablet to select for children with special needs. Database SpringerLink 9.Title The outsourcing of control: Alcohol law enforcement, private-sector governance and the evening and night-time economy Author Phil Hadfield | Fiona Measham Journal Urban Stud February 2015 vol. 52 no. 3 Abstract England and Wales have experienced a decade of transformation concerning the legislative governance of urban public drinking spaces, yet the Evening and Night-time Economy (ENTE) retains its position at the top of ‘community safety’ agendas. This article reflects upon our research on alcohol law enforcement. We explore how some alcohol laws are ill-fit-forpurpose, whilst others are considered too difficult, or costly, to pursue. Subtle negotiations of compliance in which regulator and regulated form ‘partnerships’ are, at best, increasing trust and the flow of intelligence, and at worst, breeding complacency, inaction and regulatory capture. Gaps between headline statutory objectives and their delivery through policy implementation are being filled by corporate actors mobilising resources in line with central government predilections towards the outsourcing of control. In particular, the alcohol and hospitality industries promote ‘voluntary alternatives’ to the statutory roles and enforcement powers of city authorities and police. Replacing traditional law enforcement activity with selfregulation by alco-centric commercial interests is unlikely to assist attempts by public bodies, NGOs and other business sectors to engineer more diversified and inclusive urban nightscapes. Database Sage Journals Online 10.Title Student Perceptions towards Using Clickers and Lecture Software Applications in Hospitality Lecture Courses Author Alison J. Green | Wen Chang | Sarah Tanford | Lisa Moll Journal Journal of Teaching in Travel & Tourism Abstract Personal response systems (i.e., “clickers”) have been used in classes for about 10 years, whereas lecture software that students access on their own devices is a relatively new technology in education. This study examined student engagement by integrating technology to promote active learning in lecture classrooms. A quasi-experiment was conducted to evaluate students’ perceptions of clickers and lecture software applications compared to traditional lecture methods in three sections of the same hospitality undergraduate course. The findings revealed that “clickers” enhanced student engagement whereas a lecture software application did not. The findings have implications for using technology to enhance student learning. Database Taylor & Francis