• Journal of Korean Elementary Science Education
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• v.42 no.4
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• pp.513-522
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• 2023

There is a lack of empirical research on the level of students' state anxiety according to their perceived task difficulty when confronting science questions. This study seeks to investigate whether perceived task difficulty moderates the process of arousing students' state anxiety in science learning. In pursuit of this objective, we engaged 410 fifth- and sixth-grade elementary school students (186 fifth graders; 194 females) in solving two science questions. We then verified the moderating effect of perceived task difficulty on the relationship between science anxiety and state anxiety arousal when confronting science questions using the PROCESS Macro Model 1. Results confirmed that science anxiety and perceived task difficulty significantly and positively predicted state anxiety. Notably, perceived task difficulty had a significant moderating effect on the process of arousing state anxiety, where lower perceived task difficulty led to a greater increase in state anxiety after confronting the science questions. We discuss the implications of the findings for science education and propose potential directions for future research.

• Educational Technology International
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.137-168
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• 2019

This study examined the effects of information volume and distribution on learners' cognitive load and recall in a mobile augmented reality (AR) environment. Information volume refers to the degree of information users are provided in a learning task, while information distribution indicates the way in which information is distributed, either in a virtual or real format. Sixteen undergraduate students participated in the study, which employed a 2 × 3 randomized block factorial design with repeated measures. Information volume and distribution were independent variables, and factors in learners' cognitive load (mental effort, perceived ease of use, and perceived task difficulty) and recall test scores were the dependent variables. Information volume had significant main effects on perceived ease of use and task difficulty, and recall test scores, while information distribution had significant main effects on perceived task difficulty and test scores. A detailed discussion and implications are provided.

• Journal of Korean Elementary Science Education
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• v.40 no.2
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• pp.175-190
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• 2021

The purpose of this study was to find out how interest in thermal concepts and the perceived difficulty affect the stimulation of science state curiosity. To achieve this purpose, 410 elementary school students in 5th to 6th grade were asked to measure interest in the content of the thermal concept tasks, the perceived difficulty and science state curiosity while solving the thermal concept tasks. 2 (low interest vs. high interest)×2 (easy vs. difficult) ANCOVA was conducted with the covariate of the student's level of science curiosity, which is expected to affect the stimulation of science state curiosity. As a result of the analysis, students with high interest in the contents of the task were showed high science state curiosity. Meanwhile, there was no difference in the level of science state curiosity according to the perceived difficulty. In addition, science state curiosity level of the students with low interest in the content of the task were high when they perceived the task as easy, but science state curiosity level of the students with high interest in the content of the task were high when they perceived the task as difficult. This study was meaningful in that it empirically verified that interest in the content of the tasks has an effect on the stimulation of science state curiosity, and that the effect of interest on the stimulation of science state curiosity varies according to the level of the perceived difficulty.

• Korean Journal of Child Studies
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.61-78
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• 1996

The purpose of this study was to describe maternal social networks and to examine their relationships to maternal perceptions of parenting task difficulty. One hundred and thirty-three mothers of preschool children responded to a questionnaire indicating individuals in their networks, support functions, and perceptions of task difficulty. Mothers reported an average of 6.5 persons in their networks, including primarily with her own mother, the husband, mother-in-law, and sisters. While support was provided mainly by her husband and her own family members, the kinds of support varied depending on the person in networks. It was also found that support functions were different in terms of maternal job status, sex of the child, and the child's previous experience in day care or early childhood education settings. Emotional support from networks was significantly related to parenting task difficulty, especially in daily routine care. Mothers who perceived more emotional support from networks reported parenting to be less difficult.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.594-603
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• 2021

This study explored the moderating effects of task difficulty for flow, learning motivation, and interesting in distant PBL classes of pre-service teachers. For this, the research model was constructed by analyzing previous studies. The research model verification was conducted by 105 students of taking courses in the curriculum. The distant PBL used a real-time video conference system. Cooperative activities were carried out in real time. After the end of the distant PBL activity, the level of learning motivation, interesting, flow, and task difficulty perception were measured. The collected data were analyzed using a test of the structural model invariance across the groups using a structural equation model. This analysis verifies the difference in path coefficients between measurement models. The control effect of task difficulty was verified through the difference in path coefficient. As a result, it was verified that interesting mediates the influence of learning motivation on flow. And the moderating effect of the perceived task difficulty appeared on the path from learning motivation to interesting.

• Research in Community and Public Health Nursing
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.165-178
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• 2012

Purpose: The aim of this study was to analyze the tasks of managers who were working in the Customized Visiting Health Services (CVHS) and to prioritize analyzed tasks according to performance frequency, perceived importance, and difficulty. Methods: Job analysis method by Hartley (1999) was used for task analysis and performance frequency, perceived importance, and difficulty were used for prioritize as criteria. A total of 85 managers in the CVHS of public health centers nationwide were recruited through e-mail and mail survey. Using SPSS/WIN 15.0, descriptive statistics, such as frequency distribution, means, median, and standard deviation, were conducted to examine each subject's general characteristics, the frequency, importance, and difficulty of the tasks as well as to prioritize the each task. Results: The job description of the managers revealed 12 duties, 35 tasks, and 104 task elements. Of the 85 managers, 84.8% were classified as nurses, 40.5% were home health care specialists, and 32.9% were social workers. Their coretasks were management of client cases, budget management, and management of work performance and quality assurance. Conclusion: Considering the analyzed managers' tasks and core tasks, we need to examine each manager's role precisely and provide various educational programs for improving overall manager competence.

• Journal of Korean Elementary Science Education
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• v.40 no.3
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• pp.343-365
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• 2021

The purpose of this study was to clarify the effect of learner variables on triggering state curiosity and state anxiety in confronting scientific task situation for fifth to sixth grades of elementary school. Science curiosity, interest, need for cognition, science self-concept, science anxiety, prior knowledge, and perceived difficulty were selected as learner variables that are expected to affect state curiosity and state anxiety. As a result of this study, the variables that had a significant influence on evoking state curiosity in confronting scientific task situation were in the order of interest, need for cognition, science curiosity, and prior knowledge, and all of these variables had a positive effect. In addition, the variables that significantly affect on evoking state anxiety in confronting scientific task situation were in the order of science anxiety, perceived difficulty, need for cognition, science self-concept, and prior knowledge. Of these, only prior knowledge had a negative effect on evoking state anxiety, and the other variables had a positive effect. The results of this study are expected to broaden the comprehension of students' emotional states in science education, and provide a theoretical foundation for the studies of state curiosity and state anxiety in science learning.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.51 no.6
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• pp.758-768
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• 2021

Purpose: This study aimed to conduct a job analysis of nurse carecoordinators and to identify the frequency, importance and difficulty of each task of their job. Methods: A committee for developing a curriculum (DACUM) was formed and members of the committee defined nurse care coordinators' jobs and enumerated the duties, tasks and task elements by applying the DACUM technique. Then nurse care coordinators enrolled in the pilot project evaluated the frequency, importance and difficulty of each task. Results: From the job descriptions of nurse care coordinators, we identified 12 duties and 42 tasks. Each task comprised 1~5 task elements. Among tasks, 'assess the patient's general health status' was carried out most frequently. Nurse care coordinators perceived that 'check vital signs' and 'strengthen patient competence to promote health behaviors' were more important than all other tasks. The most difficult task was 'develop professionalism as a nurse care coordinator'. Conclusion: The nurse care coordinators' roles developed in this study will serve as the key guidelines for human resource management of care coordinators. Further, job specifications for nurse care coordinators need to be developed, which is necessary for designing education and training programs. We also need to integrate primary health care as an essential component in nursing education.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.38 no.6
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• pp.853-865
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• 2008

Purpose: The aim of this study was to develop and to analyze the task of gerontological nurse practitioners (GNPs) in Korea. Methods: The definition of GNP and job description was developed based on developing a curriculum (DACUM) by 7 panels who have experienced in DACUM analysis and gerontological nursing. One hundred sixty nurses who were working at long term care facilities were participated. The questionnaire included frequency, importance, and difficulty of duties, tasks, and task elements. The data were collected in November 2006, analyzed by descriptive statistics. Results: The job description of GNPs in Korea revealed 5 duties, 23 tasks, and 86 task elements. On the all five duties, the highest duty in frequency and in importance was professional nursing care ($3.25{\pm}0.35$, $3.49{\pm}0.29$). But the highest duty in difficulty was research ($3.24{\pm}0.46$). 'Prevent health problem ($3.42{\pm}0.43$, $3.56{\pm}0.33$)', 'Teach other staffs ($2.83{\pm}0.77$, $3.39{\pm}0.43$)', 'Develop the evidence-based standards ($2.43{\pm}0.76$, $3.22{\pm}0.43$)', 'Develop the self ($2.81{\pm}0.65$, $3.26{\pm}0.42$)', and 'Participate the team activities' were the highest score in frequency and in criticality of tasks. 'Provide emotional support to older adults and families ($3.16{\pm}0.41$)', 'Counsel older adults and their families ($3.14{\pm}0.49$)', 'Do clinical research ($3.32{\pm}0.49$)', 'Quality insurance ($3.25{\pm}0.49$)', and 'Build collaborative system ($3.18{\pm}0.47$)' were perceived the most difficult tasks. Conclusion: The political efforts for the legislation of role and task of GNPs were needed.

• Journal of the Korean Society for information Management
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.29-44
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• 2007

The purpose of this study was to explore whether the concept of amount of invested mental effort (AIME) developed in the field of educational psychology can help explain why people put so little effort into online searching. In this experimental study, two information retrieval systems - a web search engine and a university library system - were used to make a comparison. The data were collected from 15 undergraduate students through background questionnaires, think-aloud protocols, search logs, post-search questionnaires, and post-task interviews. The findings indicate that perception of the web's "easy-ness" and high levels of self confidence in searching capability led the subjects to put less effort into web searching than they do into library system searching. In addition, the perceived difficulty of search task influenced the extent of mental effort invested. The AIME proved a useful framework for understanding search behavior and user experience for both web search engines and library systems.