• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.49 no.4
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• pp.183-196
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• 2016

Objectives: There is no systematic review on economic evaluations of telemedicine in Japan, despite over 1000 trials implemented. Our systematic review aims to examine whether Japan's telemedicine is cost-saving or cost-effective, examine the methodological rigorousness of the economic evaluations, and discuss future studies needed to improve telemedicine's financial sustainability. Methods: We searched five databases, including two Japanese databases, to find peer-reviewed articles published between January 1, 2000 and December 31, 2014 in English and Japanese that performed economic evaluations of Japan's telemedicine programs. The methodological rigorousness of the economic analyses was assessed with a well-established checklist. We calculated the benefit-to-cost ratio (BCR) when a reviewed study reported related data but did not report the BCR. All cost values were adjusted to 2014 US dollars. Results: Among the 17 articles identified, six studies reported on settings connecting physicians for specialist consultations, and eleven studies on settings connecting healthcare providers and patients at home. There are three cost-benefit analyses and three cost-minimization analyses. The remaining studies measured the benefit of telemedicine only, using medical expenditure saved or users' willingness-to-pay. There was substantial diversity in the methodological rigorousness. Studies on teledermatology and teleradiology indicated a favorable level of economic efficiency. Studies on telehomecare gave mixed results. One cost-benefit analysis on telehomecare indicated a low economic efficiency, partly due to public subsidy rules, e.g., a too short budget period. Conclusions: Overall, telemedicine programs in Japan were indicated to have a favorable level of economic efficiency. However, the scarcity of the economic literature indicates the need for further rigorous economic evaluation studies.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.278-287
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• 2017

As a background for qualitative research, the concept of bricolage is very common in the North America. As a movement of art area, because, it has characteristics of criticality and existence which is very close to the definitions of qualitative research. However, regardless of recent rapid wide-spread of qualitative research with the world trend of research methodology, it is very unusual that scholars are rarely discussing on the concept of bricolage in South Korea. In literature review, scholars conceptualize bricolage in literature, art, and so on except qualitative research field. Thus, I realize that it is necessary to discuss the concept of bricolage in qualitative research. Through it, scholars will understand more about the definition of qualitative research. Accordingly, I try to prove the thesis 'qualitative research is bricolage' in this article. In conclusion, scholars commonly define qualitative research to involve the meanings of 'reflection', 'understanding', 'deconstruction', and 'reconstruction' and illustrate also the concepts of bricolage in a praxis of interpretation and understanding with getting together of rigorousness, complexity, and criticality. I realize that these notions are very close to each other in this study.

• Journal of Educational Research in Mathematics
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.15-29
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• 1999

The purpose of this study is to investigate various mathematics education improvement or reform movements of Western Europe countries (United Kingdom, Germany, etc.) and the United States of America, to see the effects of those movements on Korean mathematics education circle, and to find a direction of Korean mathematics curriculum design. The third Korean mathematics curriculum was most affected by the new mathematics movement of the United States of America. This movement was emphasizing abstract structure, logical rigorousness and discovery learning of mathematics, which was fired from late fifties. Korean mathematics education circle imported the new mathematics early seventies from USA, but serious problems had been found at that time in USA. This study has pointed out that new math oriented Korean mathematics curriculum was not proper and the new mathematics itself was disastrous for most Korean students' learning. The study also points out that they hurried too much introducing the new mathematics and publishing new mathematics oriented textbooks but they had not sufficient teacher training programs. In our future mathematics curriculum reform, we have to remember such a historical lesson.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.365-380
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• 2017

Rapid changes in the flora of exotic species are ecological problems that cause the alteration of national and regional biota. The purpose of this study is to identify the reality of neophyte flora currently inhabiting in Korea. Having analyzed a total of 151 studies published up until 2016, we found the qualitative and quantitative gaps among the preceding studies due to the lack of rigorousness on the application of the spatial and temporal level of exotic species and academic terminology. In this study, the neophyte is defined as the flora introduced temporarily after the Enlightenment in Korea (late 19th century) and spatially in the Eastern Asiatic Province of the Takhtajan's floral region instead of a country boundary. A total of 326 taxa of 184 genera of 39 families were identified and analyzed for their distributional origin and habitat characteristics. Approximately 87% (285 taxa) was a component of the single-layered herb vegetation, and a total of 211 taxa originated from Europe and North America which are the same temperate biome as Korea. The wetland vegetation components were much fewer with 21 taxa, but they included a large number of invasive alien species that caused critical deterioration in the habitat structure and function of aquatic ecosystems. Ecological approaches to exotic species categories such as Ephemerophyten and Apophyten have emerged.