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This study aimed to investigate how mass media in Korea dealt with various issues arising from COVID-19 and the implications of this on statistics education in South Korea during the recent pandemic. We extracted news articles with the keywords “Corona” and “Statistics” from 18 February to 20 May 2020. We employed word frequency analysis, topic modeling, semantic network analysis, hierarchical clustering, and simple linear regression analysis. The main results of this study are as follows. First, the topic modeling analysis revealed four topics, namely “macroeconomy”, “domestic outbreak”, “international outbreak”, and “real estate and stocks”. Second, a simple linear regression analysis displayed two rising topics, “macroeconomy” and “real estate and stocks” and two falling topics, “domestic outbreak” and “international outbreak” regarding the statistics related to COVID-19 as time passed. Based on these findings, we suggest that the high school mathematics curriculum of Korea should be revised to use real-life context to enable integrated education, social justice for statistics education, and simple linear regression analysis.

Consumption of alcohol mixed with energy drinks (AmED) has been associated with various alcohol-related consequences among college students. However, more information is required to assess how this relationship is affected by sociodemographic and environmental factors. This paper investigates the association between AmED consumption and negative alcohol-related consequences while (1) stratifying AmED users by sex, (2) examining a range of outcomes specific to the college context (e.g., missing class), and (3) controlling for drinking frequency and amount. We surveyed and analyzed the data of 4592 students in a nationally representative sample of 82 colleges in South Korea. Multiple linear regression analysis was used to identify the association between AmED use and a number of alcohol-related consequences (ranging from a score of 0–12) while adjusting for covariates, including drinking frequency and intake per drinking session. Of our study population, 22.0% of alcohol-consuming men and 13.4% of alcohol-consuming women reported AmED consumption in the past 12 months. AmED users experienced a greater number of alcohol-related consequences (e.g., missing class, engaging in unplanned sexual activity) than non-AmED users (men β: 0.804, p ≤ 0.0001; women β: 0.522, p ≤ 0.0001). Male AmED users consuming alcohol once a month (β: 1.155, p ≤ 0.0001) and female users consuming less than once a month (β: 1.019, p ≤ 0.0001) experienced the greatest number of consequences compared to non-users, as did AmED users consuming 3–4 drinks per drinking session (men β: 1.012, p ≤ 0.0001; women β: 0.993, p ≤ 0.0001). Our findings reveal that both male and female college students who consume AmED experience a greater number of negative alcohol-related consequences than those who do not. Rather than high-risk drinkers, moderate drinkers who consume alcohol infrequently and/or in low amounts may experience more consequences when consumers of AmED.

Although a substantial body of mentoring research has been conducted on students attending four-year colleges, the interplay of career-related mentoring, ambiguity tolerance, and job search effort and behavior has not been seriously investigated. Therefore, we examined the relationship between career-related mentoring and ambiguity tolerance, as well as job search effort and behavior, for the purpose of understanding how to better assist undergraduate college students achieve preliminary job search success. Data were collected via pencil surveys administered to 300 undergraduate students selected by purposive sampling from four colleges in Seoul, Korea. Correlation analysis and covariance structure analysis were conducted to examine the relationships between variables. A Sobel test was also conducted to check the mediation effect of the model. Results were consistent with our hypotheses and showed that there was a significant, indirect, positive effect of career-related mentoring on job search effort and behavior, mediated through ambiguity tolerance. Our study contributes to career-related mentoring and job search research by providing empirical evidence supporting the results. It has implications for universities, mentoring program design, and career guidance professionals.

The purposes of the present study are two-fold: (1) To examine whether social psychological variables, such as attitude and subjective norm, can predict South Korean English as a foreign language high school students’ intention to learn English, and (2) to identify the best social psychological model for sustainable second language learning in the context of South Korean English as a foreign language (EFL) learning. A total of 614 South Korean high school learners of English participated in the present study. Data collected from a survey questionnaire were analyzed using a structural equation modeling procedure. Results of the present study indicate that South Korean high school students’ attitudes toward learning English and subjective norms made a significant and independent contribution to the variance in their intention to study English. Among the three competing social psychological models examined in the current study, the theory of Planned Behavior and an expanded model of Gardner’s Socio-educational Model proved to be the most effective in terms of the strength of path coefficients and explanatory power. Theoretical and pedagogical implications are provided.

Contemporary research indicates that student creativity is crucial to the success of arts education. Self-regulated learning has become one of educational psychology’s most critical research areas. However, there is limited research on creativity in arts education in self-regulated learning. Therefore, this study aims to define the creativity characteristics that determine the quality of students’ work. This study implemented a creative competition in painting and composition for first-year undergraduates. It was conducted at a Chinese university with the participation of 178 first-year students aged 18 to 26. It evaluated the characteristics of creativity during the three main phases of the task: planning, execution, and completion. We investigated the subject by employing semi-open questionnaires (n = 178) and using the content analysis method and quantitative analysis. According to the competition results, the students with the highest scores in flow, inspiration, and idea generation in the performance phase had the best quality work. In the forethought phase, analogical thinking and idea generation worked best for most students, while in the performance phase, flow sense, idea generation, and idea manipulation worked best. Data on creativity characteristics at different work phases and final quality might adequately guide and organize educational procedures. These findings can serve as a theoretical foundation for quantifying the creativity phase in self-regulated learning and offer arts educators a reference for creativity instruction.

Conceptual understanding has been emphasized in the national curriculum and principles and standards across nations as it is the key in mathematical learning. However, mathematics instruction in classrooms often relies on rote memorization of mathematical rules and formulae without conceptual connections. This study considers the concreteness fading instruction strategy—starting with physical activities with manipulatives and gradually fading concreteness to access abstract concepts and representations—as a promising and sustainable instructional model for supporting students in accessing conceptual understanding in mathematics classrooms. The results from the case study support the validity of the concreteness fading framework in providing specific instructional strategies in each phase of concept development. This study implies the development of sustainable teacher education and professional development by providing specific instructional strategies for conceptual understanding.

Abstract With the world's attention focused on climate change, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change provides the basis for global action to encourage sustainable development. A wide variety of measures are being taken in South Korea in line with this trend, but new and renewable energy (NRE) have been highlighted as sustainable energy sources. This study aims to assess the economic and environmental effects of the use of NRE for selecting the optimum NRE system in educational facilities. Towards this end, the following were done: (i) selection of facility and its applicable NRE system type; (ii) calculation of the energy generation by the NRE systems via energy simulation; (iii) life cycle cost analysis for the economic evaluation on the NRE systems; (iv) life cycle assessment for the environmental evaluation on the NRE systems; (v) using the net present value and the savings-to-investment ratio, comprehensive evaluation of the economic and environmental effects on the NRE systems. The results of this study can be used to (i) determine which NRE system is most appropriate for educational facilities; (ii) calculate the payback period for a certain investment; (iii) decide which location is proper for the implementation of an NRE system considering the characteristics of the regional climate; and (iv) select energy- and cost-efficient elementary schools where the NRE system can be applied.

This study explores the imagined identities of three EFL undergraduates at a local public university in China, and how these identities relate to their commitment to language learning. Data were gathered through classroom observations, interviews, course documents, and student artefacts for two academic semesters. The data showed that the students’ imagined identities with regards to their professional development, academic pursuits, and corresponding social roles developed throughout their language learning trajectories. In turn, their imagined professional and social identities informed their current EFL learning agency in terms of their initiative to learn English at the university. The findings suggest that a focused imagined identity assists students in building self-discipline and choosing appropriate learning skills. As the current study presents a limited group of students that may not fully represent EFL students’ imagined identities in China, a longitudinal study may further reveal other factors that could contribute to this topic in the future. Although the construction and development of one’s imagined identity are complex and dynamic, the data show that the earlier one sets a clear professional or academic imagined identity, the more motivated a student is to learn the target language.