Special relativity theory (SRT) has recently gained popularity as a first introduction to “modern” physics thinking in upper level secondary physics education. A central idea in SRT is the absolute speed of light, with light propagating with uniform speed relative to the reference frame of the observer. Previous research suggests that students, building on their prior understandings of light propagation and relative motion, develop misunderstandings of this idea. The available research provides little detail on the reasoning processes underlying these misunderstandings. We therefore studied secondary education students’ preinstructional reasoning about the speed of light in a qualitative study, probing students’ reasoning through both verbal reasoning and drawing. Event diagrams (EDs) were used as a representational tool to support student reasoning. Results show that students productively use EDs to reason with light propagation. In line with previous research, we found two alternative reference frames students could use for uniform light propagation. Most students show a flexibility in their use of reference frame: They not only evaluate light propagation in their preferred frame of reference, but also relative to other frames. Some students experienced conflict between an alternative reference frame and the speed of light and changed their reasoning because of that. This finding suggests promising directions for designing education.
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Virtual communities are online spaces with potential of integration of (member-generated) content and conversations [7,8]. In our research project we are interested in the adoption and building of virtual communities in organized sports, that is to say in the voluntary sports clubs (VSCs) in the Netherlands. Since these VSCs have massively transferred their communication with members from paper club magazines to online channels, these virtual communities arise from the use of a growing number of websites, e-mail and social network sites (SNSs). Although virtual communities are broadly investigated, such as social communities, brand communities, and public communities, there is little scholarly interest in virtual communities of member organizations that VSCs are an example of. The study that is to be presented at SECSI 2019 concerns the clubs’ use of SNSs (ClubSNSs), such as Facebook and Twitter, within the virtual communities. These SNSs are increasingly used by the VSCs to facilitate organizational communication and to obtain a good internal climate [9]. However, academic understanding of the impact of ClubSNSs’ content and conversations on the organizational performance of the VSC is in its infancy. In our study, we examined this impact of ClubSNSs use on the involvement among members and whether we can explain this by members’ identification with the club. Furthermore, we have tried to categorize ClubSNSs by content types, such as informative, conversational or sociable ClubSNSs, and their role in stimulating the use of ClubSNSs. In this way we attempted to gain insight into the effect of types of ClubSNSs’ content and conversations on membership involvement and the mediating role of identification with the club. This insight can help VSCs to develop effective ClubSNS channels that contribute to organizational goals such as supportive and loyal membership.
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Population ageing has become a domain of international discussions and research throughout the spectrum of disciplines including housing, urban planning, and real estate. Older people are encouraged to continue living in their homes in their familiar environment, and this is referred to as “ageing-in-place”. Enabling one to age-in-place requires new housing arrangements that facilitate and enable older adults to live comfortably into old age, preferably with others. Innovative examples are provided from a Dutch social housing association, illustrating a new approach to environmental design that focuses more on building new communities in conjunction with the building itself, as opposed to the occupational therapeutic approaches and environmental support. Transformation projects, referred to as “Second Youth Experiments”, are conducted using the Røring method, which is based on the principles of co-creation. De Benring in Voorst, The Netherlands, is provided as a case study of an innovative transformation project. This project shows how social and technological innovations can be integrated in the retrofitting of existing real estate for older people. It leads to a flexible use of the real estate, which makes the building system- and customer preference proof. Original article at: https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings8070089 © 2018 by the authors. Licensee MDPI.
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