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A Study on Practical Curriculum Development of the Education for Love based on the Understanding of Psychoanalytic 'Desire of Subject' (정신분석학적 '욕망의 주체' 이해에 기초한 사랑의 교육 교육과정 개발)

  • Kim, Sun Ah
    • Journal of Christian Education in Korea
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    • v.68
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    • pp.77-112
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    • 2021
  • This study is based on the research of the first year, which is the National Research Foundation of Korea's R&D subject for middle-grade researchers. In this study, the practical curriculum development of the education for love - an according to the psychoanalytic perspectives of F. Dolto(1908-1988) - is suggested as follows. The first is 'the reconstruction of the directions of curriculum and its specific aims in accordance with such directions.' The reconstruction of the directions of curriculum aims at leading our future generation to live as a subject of desire through the mutual-communication of love. The second is 'the reconstruction of the tasks of curriculum and its specific contents in accordance with such tasks.' The reconstruction of the tasks of curriculum pursuit to help our future generation through the converting the education for love into the paradigm of desire of Agape to live as a subject of desire forming a whole personality and practicing the desire of Agape in daily life. as a source of desire. According to these aims, the reconstruction of directions of curriculum are presented as following: firstly, 'curriculum for the mutual-communication between subjects of love' and secondly, 'curriculum for the subject of desire'. The reconstruction of tasks of curriculum are like these: firstly, 'converting the education for love into the paradigm of desire of Agape', and secondly, 'forming a whole personality through the education for love'. Thus, with respect to two specific aims in accordance with the reconstruction of directions are suggested like these: Firstly, 'constructing a subject as a speaking existence' and secondly, 'realizing the subject as the autonomous source of desire'. In the two specific contents in accordance with the reconstruction of tasks are presented as following: Firstly, 'realizing the truth of the desire of Agape'.' Secondly, 'practicing the desire of Agape in daily life.' The third is 'the reconstruction of curriculum by life cycle' are suggested. They include the fetal life, infants and preschool children life, and childhood life. In further study, it is required to contain adolescent period. It will be useful to help them to recover their self-esteem with the experience of true love, especially, out-of-school young generation overcome negative perspectives and prejudice in the society, and challenges to their dreams and future through proper utilization of the study outcome. The outcome of this study, which presented practical curriculum development of the education for love based on the understanding of psychoanalytic 'desire of subject' can be used as basic teaching materials for our future generations. Furthermore, the results can be used as a resource for educating ministers and lay leaders in the religious world to build capabilities to heal their inner side as well as the society that is tainted with various forms of conflict. These include general conflicts, anger, pleasure and addiction, depression and suicide, violence and murder, etc. The study outcome can contribute to the prevention of antisocial incidents against humanity that have recently been occurring in our free-semester system implemented in all middle schools across the country to be operated effectively. For example, it is possible to provide the study results as lecture and teaching materials for 'character camp' (self-examination and self-esteem improvement training) and 'family healing camp' (solution of a communication gap between family members and love communication training), which help students participate in field trip activities and career exploration activities voluntarily, independently, and creatively. Ultimately, it can visibly present the convergent research performance by providing the study outcome as preliminary data for the development of lecture videos and materials including infant care and preschool education, parental education, family consultation education, and holistic healing education. Support from the religious world, including the central government and local governments, are urgently required in order for such educational possibilities to be fulfilled both in the society and the fields of church education and to be actively linked to follow-up studies.

Differences in Sleep Patterns are Related to Behavior, Emotional Problems, Attention and Academic Performance in Elementary School Students of a South Korean Metropolitan City (일 도시의 초등학교 학생의 수면습관과 행동, 정서, 주의력, 학습과의 관계)

  • Tak, Hee-Jong;Lee, Ji-Ho;Lee, Chang-Myung;Chung, Seok-Hoon;Lee, Jae-Won;Sim, Chang-Sun;Yoon, Jae-Goog;Sung, Joo-Hyeon;Bhang, Soo-Young
    • Journal of the Korean Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
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    • v.22 no.3
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    • pp.182-191
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    • 2011
  • Objectives: The aim of this study was to investigate the sleep patterns of South Korean elementary school children and whether the differences in sleep patterns were related to behavior, emotional problems, attention and academic performance. Method: This study included a community sample of 268 boys and girls from fourth-, fifth- and sixth-grade classes in a South Korean metropolitan city from November to December 2010. The primary caregivers completed a questionnaire that included information on demographic characteristics, as well as the Child's Sleep Habit Questionnaire (CSHQ), the Korean version of Child Behavior Checklist (K-CBCL), the Korean version of the Learning Disability Evaluation Scale (K-LDES), the Korean version of ADHD Rating Scale (K-ARS) and the Disruptive Behavior Disorder Scale (DBDS). We conducted analyses on the CSHQ individual items, between the subscales, on the total scores and on the K-CBCL, the K-LEDS, the K-ARS and the DBDS. Results: Based on the findings from the CHSQ, the subjects had significantly higher scores for bedtime resistance ($9.18{\pm}2.17$), delayed sleep onset ($1.32{\pm}0.62$), the sleep duration ($4.19{\pm}1.52$) and daytime sleepiness ($14.10{\pm}3.55$) than the scores from the previous reports on children from western countries. The total CHSQ score showed positive correlations to all subscales of the K-CBCL : withdrawn (r=0.24, p<.005), somatic complaint (r=0.24, p<.005) and anxious/depressive (r=0.38, p<.005). Bedtime resistance was associated with oppositional defiant disorder (r=0.15, p<.05) and a positive correlation was demonstrated between sleep anxiety and the oppositional defiant disorder score (r=0.13, p<.05), night waking and the conduct disorder score (r=0.16, p<.05). Delayed sleep onset was related with low performance on the K-LDES with respect to thinking (r=-0.17, p<.05) and mathematical calculation (r=-0.17, p<.05). Conclusion: The results of this study reconfirm Korean children's problematic sleep patterns. Taken together the results provide that the reduced sleep duration and disruption of sleep pattern can have a significant impact on emotion, behavior, performance of learning in children. Further studies concerning more diverse psychosocial factors affecting sleep pattern will be helpful to understanding of the sleep health in Korean children.

Secondary Teachers' Perceptions and Needs Analysis on Integrative STEM Education (통합 STEM 교육에 대한 중등 교사의 인식과 요구)

  • Lee, Hyo-Nyong;Son, Dong-Il;Kwon, Hyuk-Soo;Park, Kyung-Suk;Han, In-Ki;Jung, Hyun-Il;Lee, Seong-Soo;Oh, Hee-Jin;Nam, Jung-Chul;Oh, Young-Jai;Phang, Seong-Hye;Seo, Bo-Hyun
    • Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
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    • v.32 no.1
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    • pp.30-45
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    • 2012
  • Educational communities around the world have concentrated on integrative efforts among science, technology, engineering and mathematics (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics: STEM) subjects. Korea has focused on integrative education among STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics) school subjects to raise talented human resources in the fields of science and technology. The purpose of this study was to analyze secondary school science, technology, and mathematics teacher's perceptions and needs toward integrated education and integrative STEM education. A total of 251 secondary school teachers from all areas of the country who have taught science, mathematics, and technology were surveyed by using a self-reported instrument. The findings were as follows: First, teachers have used little integrated education in their classes due to insufficient time in the actual preparation of the integrated education and the lack of expertise, teaching experience, and teaching-learning materials for the integrated education, while they have positive thoughts about the need of integrated education. Second, they presented several needs to facilitate the integrated education: development of a variety of integrated programs, school administrative and financial support, and in-service teachers' training. Third, overall perception toward integrated STEM education was not sufficient, but most teachers perceived the need toward integrated STEM education due to students' development in their creativity, thinking skills, and adaptability. Fourth, they perceived that it was imperative to develop the various integrated STEM education programs, distribute the materials, and help STEM teachers' understanding toward integrated STEM education. Fifth, they perceived that the most relevant method to integrate STEM subjects was the problem solving approach. In addition, they appreciate that the integrated STEM education is highly efficient in not only developing integrated problem solving skills and STEM related literacy, but also in positively impacting the rise of talented human resources in the fields of science and technology. In order to increase the awareness of STEM-related secondary school teachers and vitalize the integrated STEM education, it is necessary to develop and spread a variety of programs, effective teaching and learning materials, and teachers' training programs.

Analysis of Teachers' Perceptions on the Subject Competencies of Integrated Science (통합과학 교과 역량에 대한 교사들의 인식 분석)

  • Ahn, Yumin;Byun, Taejin
    • Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
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    • v.40 no.2
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    • pp.97-111
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    • 2020
  • In the 2015 revised curriculum, 'Integrated Science' was established to increase convergent thinking and designated as a common subject for all students to learn, regardless of career. In addition, the 2015 revised curriculum introduced 'competence' as a distinctive feature from the previous curriculum. In the 2015 revised curriculum, competencies are divided into core competencies of cross-curricular character and subject competencies based on academic knowledge and skills of the subject. The science curriculum contains five subject competencies: scientific thinking, scientific inquiry, scientific problem solving, scientific communication, scientific participation and life-long learning. However, the description of competencies in curriculum documents is insufficient, and experts' perceptions of competencies are not uniform. Therefore, this study examines the perceptions of science subjects in science high school teachers by deciding that comprehension of competencies should be preceded in order for competency-based education to be properly applied to school sites. First, we analyzed the relationship between achievement standards and subject competencies of integrated science through the operation of an expert working group with a high understanding of the integrated science achievement standards. Next, 31 high school science teachers examined the perception of the five subject competencies through a descriptive questionnaire. The semantic network analysis has been utilized to analyze the teachers' responses. The results of the analysis showed that the three curriculum competencies of scientific inquiry, scientific communication, scientific participation and life-long learning ability are similar to the definitions of teachers and curriculum documents, but in the case of scientific thinking and scientific problem solving, there are some gaps in perception and definition in curriculum documents. In addition, the results of the comprehensive analysis of teachers' perceptions on the five competencies show that the five curriculum competencies are more relevant than mutually exclusive or independent.

A study of Conjunctival Cellular Changes in Dry Eye Patients by Impression Cytology (Impression cytology를 이용한 건성안의 결막 세포변화에 관한 연구)

  • Kim, Jai-Min;Kho, Eun-Gyung;Chae, Soo-Chul;Kim, Soon-Ae
    • Journal of Korean Ophthalmic Optics Society
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    • v.9 no.2
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    • pp.333-343
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    • 2004
  • Impression cytology refers to application of cellulose acetate filter material to the ocular surface to remove the superficial layers of the conjunctival epithelium. The technique is non-invasive, is easy to perform, causes minimal discomfort to the patient, and can be used to follow changes in the conjunctival ocular surface over time. With this method, the morphology of the conjunctival ocular surface can be studied and the degree of squmaous metaplasia assessed. This study was performed to evaluate the conjunctival surface by impression cytology in dry eye patients. A total of 70 students with no contact lens wearing history were recruited. Subjects were required to fill in a McMonnies dry eye symptom questionnaire. The non-invasive tear thinning time(TIT) test of each subject was measured, followed by Schirmer tear test(STI), tear film break-up time(TBUT) tests and Rose-bengal staining were performed as a baseline. Conjunctival epithelial cells from the inferior bulbar conjunctiva were harvested by the impression cytology technique. The specimens collected were labelled and stained with PAS(Periodic Acid Schift)-haematoxylin. The goblet cells and conjunctival epithelial cells were observed under a light microscope of 400x magnification. The specimens were classified according to the Nelson Grading scale which was based on the degree of squamous metaplasia such as changes of goblet cells density, size/form, N:C(nucleus : cytoplasm) ratio. Dry eye patients were observed morphological changes of the epithelial cells, different nuclear alterations, decrease of the goblet cells density. The degree of cytological changes was related to severity of dry eye conditions. When the epithelial cell morphology was graded according to the system described by Nelson, specimens from the control group revealed 91.43% of the eyes to be grade 0 and 8.57% to be grade 1, whereas of the dry eye patients, 20% were grade 0, 42.86% grade 1, 34.29% grade 2 and 2,86% grade 3. Impression cytology represents a non- or minimally invasive biopsy of the ocular surface epithelium with no side effects or contraindications. It has demonstrated to be a useful diagnostic aid for a wide variety of processes involving the ocular surface. This technique is a safe, simple method and may help increase understanding of various ocular surface alterations in dry eye patients.

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A Study on Avant-Garde Fine Art during the period of Japanese Colonial Rule of Korea, centering on 'Munjang' (a literary magazine) (일제강점기 '전위미술론'의 전통관 연구 - '문장(文章)' 그룹을 중심으로)

  • Park, Ca-Rey
    • The Journal of Art Theory & Practice
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    • no.4
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    • pp.57-76
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    • 2006
  • From the late 1920s to the 1930s, Korea's fine art community focused on traditional viewpoints as their main topic. The traditional viewpoints were discussed mainly by Korean students studying in Japan, especially oil painters. Such discussions on tradition can be divided into two separate halves, namely the pre- and post-Sino-Japanese War (1937) periods. Before the war, the modernists among Korea's fine art community tried to gain a fuller understanding of contemporary Western modern art, namely, expressionism, futurism, surrealism, and so forth, on the basis of Orientalism, and borrow from these schools' in order to create their own works. Furthermore, proponents of Joseon's avant-garde fine arts and artists of the pro-fine art school triggered debate on the traditional viewpoints. After the Sino-Japanese War, these artists continued to embrace Western modern art on the basis of Orientalism. However, since Western modern fine art was regressing into Oriental fine art during this period, Korean artists did not need to research Western modern fine art, but sought to study Joseon's classics and create Joseon's own avant- garde fine art in a movement led by the Munjang group. This research reviews the traditional view espoused by the Munjang group, which represented the avant-garde fine art movement of the post-war period. Advocating Joseon's own current of avant-garde fine art through the Munjang literary magazine, Gil Jin - seop, Kim Yong-jun and others accepted the Japanese fine art community's methodology for the restoration of classicism, but refused Orientalism as an ideology, and attempted to renew their perception of Joseon tradition. The advocation of the restoration of classicism by Gil Jin-seop and Kim Yong-jun appears to be similar to that of the Yasuda Yojuro-style restoration of classicism. However, Gil Jin-seop and Kim Yong-jun did not seek their sources of classicism from the Three-Kingdoms and Unified Silla periods, which Japan had promoted as a symbol of unity among the Joseon people; instead they sought classicism from the Joseon fine art which the Japanese had criticized as a hotbed of decadence. It was the Joseon period that the Munjang group chose as classicism when Japan was upholding Fascism as a contemporary extremism, and when Hangeul (Korean writing system) was banned from schools. The group highly evaluated literature written in the style of women, especially women's writings on the royal court, as represented by Hanjungnok (A Story of Sorrowful Days). In the area of fine art, the group renewed the evaluation of not only literary paintings, but also of the authentic landscape paintings refused by, and the values of the Chusa school criticized as decadent by, the colonial bureaucratic artists, there by making great progress in promoting the traditional viewpoint. Kim Yong-jun embraced a painting philosophy based on the painting techniques of Sasaeng (sketching), because he paid keen attention to the tradition of literary paintings, authentic landscape paintings and genre paintings. The literary painting theory of the 20th century, which was highly developed, could naturally shed both the colonial historical viewpoint which regarded Joseon fine art as heteronomical, and the traditional viewpoint which regarded Joseon fine art as decadent. As such, the Munjang group was able to embrace the Joseon period as the source of classicism amid the prevalent colonial historical viewpoint, presumably as it had accumulated first-hand experience in appreciating curios of paintings and calligraphic works, instead of taking a logical approach. Kim Yong-jun, in his fine art theory, defined artistic forms as the expression of mind, and noted that such an artistic mind could be attained by the appreciation of nature and life. This is because, for the Munjang group, the experience of appreciating nature and life begins with the appreciation of curios of paintings and calligraphic works. Furthermore, for the members of the Munjang group, who were purists who valued artistic style, the concept of individuality presumably was an engine that protected them from falling into the then totalitarian world view represented by the Nishita philosophy. Such a 20th century literary painting theory espoused by the Munjang group concurred with the contemporary traditional viewpoint spearheaded by Oh Se-chang in the 1910s. This theory had a great influence on South and North Korea's fine art theories and circles through the Fine Art College of Seoul National University and Pyongyang Fine Art School in the wake of Korea's liberation. In this sense, the significance of the theory should be re-evaluated.

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Teachers' Understanding of Environment around Schools and Actual Survey in Prejudical Business in Taegu City (대구지역(大邱地域) 학교주변(學校周邊) 환경(環境)에 대한 교사(敎師)의 인식(認識)과 유해업소(有害業所) 실지조사(實地調査))

  • Yang, Myung Sook;Kim, Sang Soon
    • Journal of the Korean Society of School Health
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    • v.7 no.1
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    • pp.45-55
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    • 1994
  • The purpose of this study is to contribute to improvement of educational environment by analysing all problems related to environment around the school. To accomplish this purpose, this study was carried out by examining the problems in controlling the areas required for cleanup with 220 teachers in charging the cleanup duties of the primary and secondary schools in Taegu between June 1 and July 15, 1993 and by actually surveying the prejudical business stores around 72 primary schools between August 10 and September 20, 1993. Although most teachers answered to the questionnaires that it is necessary to cleanup the bad environment around the school, the duties of its cleanup tend not to be considered as an important matter. The teachers considered that the most prejudical business store around the school is totally the game room, and in such order as comic books' store, liquor selling shop and causing noise and pollution. 57.3% of total respondents answered that the present cleanup movements have resulted in failure mostly because of both supervising authorities' careless promotion and store owners' excessive commercial transactions. The result of actual survey in environmental and sanitary cleanup area around 72 primary schools showed that the greatest number of 1,258 prejudical stores was the video tapes shop, and then in such order as lodgings, and game rooms, while the number of prejudical store by the schools was 17.5 stores per school on the average which showed a various distribution from zero to 77 places. In general, these prejudical stores were mainly located around the schools in Jung-gu and Seo-gu areas. In addition, it was shown that the more the number of students, the more the number of the prejudical stores. In order to improve the environment around the school, it is necessary to strictly carry out the zoning system relating to the usage of land, to strongly restrict the stores without permit and abnormal stores and to establish the basis asking the city development authorities to go through the environmental evaluation. Moreover, it is absolutely required to make efforts to establish the national right sense of education, and to closely cooperate with the related authorities.

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A Study of School Science Textbooks which was used from 1906 to 1915 in Korea (대한제국 후기부터 일제 식민지 초기(1906-1915년)까지 사용되었던 과학교과용 도서의 조사 분석)

  • Park, Jong-Seok;Chung, Byung-Hoon;Pak, Sung-Jae
    • Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
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    • v.18 no.1
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    • pp.93-108
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    • 1998
  • This study investigated science textbooks used from 1906 to 1915 in Korea, which is often neglected in previous researches. By doing so, more practical and specific understanding of the science education during that period can be made. It was based on the historical achieves "School Textbook List"(Vol. $4{\sim}9$) which was published by the Ministry of Education and the Government General of Chosen and other sources. The results and conclusions of the research are as follow; (1) The science textbooks which have been used from 1906 to 1915 in Korea can be categorized into three different tapes of books, either written in Chinese, or in Japanese, or in Korean. The names of science textbooks were Nature Study, Physics, Chemistry, Natural History, Hygienics, Physiology, Zoology, Botany, Astronomy, Physiography, Mineralogy, Geology. These names were much broader than those in curriculum settled by the government and rather correspond to the names of science textbooks in curriculum which settled by private schools. Therefore those science textbooks had been mainly used in private schools. Moreover almost all of the science textbooks published in Korea have started to appear after 1906. Since then many schools were newly opened and the number of students increased. It is possible to say that substantial science education in Korea established after 1906. (2) Science textbooks from 1906 to 1915 printed in Korea were controlled in their use by the Ministry of Education and the Government General of Chosen. They were the main means of government regulations, supported by Private School Ordinance, Regulations for Official Examination of textbooks in 1908 and Law of Publication in 1909. According to the result of official examination, as the time went by under the Japanese ruling of Korea, the increasing number of science textbooks were getting banned. While the science textbooks had enjoyed more freedom than the other textbooks from the control by inspection of the Government General of Chosen, the situation has been significantly changed as Japan started to intensity the control of all kinds of textbooks in Korea. Although there were a lot of copied science textbooks, 62 science textbooks printed in Korea, 72 Japanese science textbooks were used in Korea, and 40 Korean were to be engaged in science education compiling and copying science textbooks. There developments in science textbooks alone suggest that there were enormous amount of potentials in Korean science education at that time. However, all of these effects and progresses were destroyed when the sovereign authority of Korea was lost to Japan in 1910.

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A Study on the Effects of User Participation on Stickiness and Continued Use on Internet Community (인터넷 커뮤니티에서 사용자 참여가 밀착도와 지속적 이용의도에 미치는 영향)

  • Ko, Mi-Hyun;Kwon, Sun-Dong
    • Asia pacific journal of information systems
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    • v.18 no.2
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    • pp.41-72
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    • 2008
  • The purpose of this study is the investigation of the effects of user participation, network effect, social influence, and usefulness on stickiness and continued use on Internet communities. In this research, stickiness refers to repeat visit and visit duration to an Internet community. Continued use means the willingness to continue to use an Internet community in the future. Internet community-based companies can earn money through selling the digital contents such as game, music, and avatar, advertizing on internet site, or offering an affiliate marketing. For such money making, stickiness and continued use of Internet users is much more important than the number of Internet users. We tried to answer following three questions. Fist, what is the effects of user participation on stickiness and continued use on Internet communities? Second, by what is user participation formed? Third, are network effect, social influence, and usefulness that was significant at prior research about technology acceptance model(TAM) still significant on internet communities? In this study, user participation, network effect, social influence, and usefulness are independent variables, stickiness is mediating variable, and continued use is dependent variable. Among independent variables, we are focused on user participation. User participation means that Internet user participates in the development of Internet community site (called mini-hompy or blog in Korea). User participation was studied from 1970 to 1997 at the research area of information system. But since 1997 when Internet started to spread to the public, user participation has hardly been studied. Given the importance of user participation at the success of Internet-based companies, it is very meaningful to study the research topic of user participation. To test the proposed model, we used a data set generated from the survey. The survey instrument was designed on the basis of a comprehensive literature review and interviews of experts, and was refined through several rounds of pretests, revisions, and pilot tests. The respondents of survey were the undergraduates and the graduate students who mainly used Internet communities. Data analysis was conducted using 217 respondents(response rate, 97.7 percent). We used structural equation modeling(SEM) implemented in partial least square(PLS). We chose PLS for two reason. First, our model has formative constructs. PLS uses components-based algorithm and can estimated formative constructs. Second, PLS is more appropriate when the research model is in an early stage of development. A review of the literature suggests that empirical tests of user participation is still sparse. The test of model was executed in the order of three research questions. First user participation had the direct effects on stickiness(${\beta}$=0.150, p<0.01) and continued use (${\beta}$=0.119, p<0.05). And user participation, as a partial mediation model, had a indirect effect on continued use mediated through stickiness (${\beta}$=0.007, p<0.05). Second, optional participation and prosuming participation significantly formed user participation. Optional participation, with a path magnitude as high as 0.986 (p<0.001), is a key determinant for the strength of user participation. Third, Network effect (${\beta}$=0.236, p<0.001). social influence (${\beta}$=0.135, p<0.05), and usefulness (${\beta}$=0.343, p<0.001) had directly significant impacts on stickiness. But network effect and social influence, as a full mediation model, had both indirectly significant impacts on continued use mediated through stickiness (${\beta}$=0.11, p<0.001, and ${\beta}$=0.063, p<0.05, respectively). Compared with this result, usefulness, as a partial mediation model, had a direct impact on continued use and a indirect impact on continued use mediated through stickiness. This study has three contributions. First this is the first empirical study showing that user participation is the significant driver of continued use. The researchers of information system have hardly studies user participation since late 1990s. And the researchers of marketing have studied a few lately. Second, this study enhanced the understanding of user participation. Up to recently, user participation has been studied from the bipolar viewpoint of participation v.s non-participation. Also, even the study on participation has been studied from the point of limited optional participation. But, this study proved the existence of prosuming participation to design and produce products or services, besides optional participation. And this study empirically proved that optional participation and prosuming participation were the key determinant for user participation. Third, our study compliments traditional studies of TAM. According prior literature about of TAM, the constructs of network effect, social influence, and usefulness had effects on the technology adoption. This study proved that these constructs still are significant on Internet communities.

The Effects of Metaphors in the Interface of Smartphone Applications on Users' Intention to Use (사용자환경의 메타포가 스마트폰 애플리케이션 사용의도에 미치는 영향)

  • Jung, Wonjin;Hong, Suk-Ki
    • Asia pacific journal of information systems
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    • v.24 no.3
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    • pp.255-279
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    • 2014
  • It is not too much to say that smartphones have become an essential part of our lives due to their versatility. Nevertheless, they still have less overall capabilities than their desktop counterparts. Specifically, they have small screens and low resolutions, which make their applications difficult to have a usable interface. To account for these limitations, the interface of smartphone applications should be designed carefully and properly. Good interface design to any application is critical. However, a comprehensive information systems (IS) literature review found that there has been little research on the user interface design of smartphone applications. More specifically, there has been little empirical evidence and understanding about how metaphors, an imaginative way of describing objects and concepts, in the user interface of smartphone applications affect users' intention to use the applications. Thereby, the research goals of this study are to examine 1) the effects of the metaphors in the user interface of smartphone applications on the interaction between users and applications and 2) the effects of mediating variables including the interaction between users and applications, users' beliefs and attitudes, on users' intention to use the applications. A survey was conducted to collect data. University students and practitioners participated in the survey. A 24-item questionnaire was developed on a 5-point Likert-type scale. The measurement items were mostly adapted from the previous studies in the IS literature and modified to fit the context of this study. First, a principal component factor analysis was performed to explore the inter-relationships among a set of variables. The analysis showed that most of the items loaded quite strongly on the six components. The analysis also revealed the six components with eigenvalues exceeding 1, explaining a total of 70.7 per cent of the variance. The reliabilities of the items were also checked. Most Cronbach alpha values were above 0.8, so the scales were considered reliable. In sum, the results of the analysis support the decision to retain the six factors for further investigation. Next, the structural model was analyzed with AMOS structural equation modeling. The values of GFI, AGFI, NFI, TLI, CFI, and RMSEA were checked. The values showed that the research model considerably have a good fit in general. Next, the convergent and discriminant validities of all constructs were examined. The values for the standardized regression weights and critical ration (CR) indicated sufficient convergent validity for all constructs. In addition, the square root of the average variance extracted (AVE) of each construct was compared with its correlations with all other constructs. The results supported discriminant validity for all constructs. In sum, the results of analysis demonstrated adequate convergent and discriminant validities for all constructs. Finally, path coefficients between the variables were examined. Methphor was found to have an impact on interaction (${\beta}$ = .457, p = .000). There were also significant effects of the interaction on perceived usefulness (${\beta}$ = .273, p = .000) and ease of use (${\beta}$ = .405, p = .000). User attitude was significantly influenced by these two beliefs, perceived usefulness (${\beta}$ = .386, p = .000) and ease of use (${\beta}$ = .347, p = .000) respectively. Further, the results of analysis found that users' intention to use smartphone applications was significantly influenced by user attitude (${\beta}$ = .567, p = .000). Based upon the analyses, all hypotheses were supported. This study found that the metaphors used in the interface of smartphone applications affect not only the interaction between users and applications, but also users' intention to use the applications through the mediating variables, perceived usefulness and ease of use. These findings imply that if the metaphors used in the user interface of application are easy enough to understand for smartphone users, then the application can be perceived useful and easy to use, which in turn make users to have an intention to use the application. In conclusion, this study contributed not only to validate and extend Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) partially, but also to develop the construct of metaphor in smartphone settings. However, since a single empirical study cannot be enough to validate the findings, some limitations should be considered.