National Formosa University

About: National Formosa University is a education organization based out in Douliu, Taiwan. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Thin film & Control theory. The organization has 3808 authors who have published 4539 publications receiving 56378 citations.

Using Blogs to Enhance Critical Reflection and Community of Practice

Abstract: Using the theories of critical reflection and community of practice, the aim of this paper was to explore the use of blogs as a reflective platform in the training processes of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) student teachers, who were learning to teach English for future employment in Taiwan. They made use of blogs as a platform to critically reflect on their learning processes as well as to gauge the impact of blogs on their own professional growth. Forty-three student teachers in two teacher-education programs at two science and technology institutions in central Taiwan participated in this study. Two instructors created a blog for use as a discussion forum so that the student teachers could engage in and examine their own reflection process. The data collected was qualitative in nature, consisting of student teachers’ posting messages and comments on the blog, surveys on the student teachers’ reflective experiences using blogs as reflection tools, and group reflective dialogues recorded by instructors in class meetings over the implementation of blogs during the course. The results showed that the student teachers actively discussed teaching theories and their implications through blogs. All of the 43 teachers who took part in this study were reflective, and some critically reflected on their thoughts and made significant comments; and the participants considered technology a useful platform for reflecting and communicating with each other. The positive implications for the use of blogs as a medium to provide and promote critical reflection for EFL teachers are discussed.

Tourism climate and thermal comfort in Sun Moon Lake, Taiwan

Abstract: Bioclimate conditions at Sun Moon Lake, one of Taiwan's most popular tourist destinations, are presented Existing tourism-related climate is typically based on mean monthly conditions of air temperature and precipitation and excludes the thermal perception of tourists This study presents a relatively more detailed analysis of tourism climate by using a modified thermal comfort range for both Taiwan and Western/Middle European conditions, presented by frequency analysis of 10-day intervals Furthermore, an integrated approach (climate tourism information scheme) is applied to present the frequencies of each facet under particular criteria for each 10-day interval, generating a time-series of climate data with temporal resolution for tourists and tourism authorities

Examining the Role of Cognitive and Affective Image in Predicting Choice Across Natural, Developed, and Theme-Park Destinations

Abstract: This study examines the role of cognitive and affective destination-image components in the formation of destination preferences from a multialternative/multiattribute perspective. In addition, the study examines the stability of those roles across three types of destinations. A total of 1,020 Taichung residents in Taiwan were administered an on-site questionnaire. The results indicated that cognitive and affective components of overall destination image influence tourists' destination preferences and that cognitive image impacts affective image. However, the importance of the two image components varied across natural, developed, and theme-park destinations. In addition, the findings confirmed that while some image attributes are universally important, other attributes are only important for specific types of destinations. Implications for theory, practice, and future research are provided.