I found an interesting paper from The Internet and Higher Education which talks about the influence of Facebook on education from a perspective of faculty and students use. The link to this article is given as follows.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1096751610000278

This research analyze the frequent use of Facebook for faculty and students based on a survey on the use of Facebook and email technologies. Researchers found that students are much more likely to use the Facebook or other similar technologies while faculty members are more likely to use the the email or other traditional technologies. More specifically, this study found students and faculty did not differ significantly in how often they checked their Facebook accounts. Also, students tend to check email and Facebook while faculty who have Facebook accounts do not use it as they use via email. Even though faculty and students both use Facebook, they do not use it a great deal for instructional purposes. As for the satisfaction of Facebook, students are significantly more likely to agree that it would be convenient to use Facebook while instructors are significantly more likely to agree that Facebook is not for educational purpose.

Although this research investigates the influence of social media and technologies on higher education, it is still not clear whether or not Facebook and similar sources have a bright future as a mainstream communication tool in the higher education. Based on my own experience, Facebook are still limited in several ways. First of all, it sometimes can not be tracked for many important messages. Each email is automatically stored if there are important notifications. Secondly, if instructors put information in a Facebook group, many students will ignore these information as others will talk in the group and make the important information gradually disappear. Thirdly, instructors can not use Facebook to evaluate students’ performance and at the same to be recorded by the university. Using Facebook can be viewed as some informal notifications and will not be recorded by university’s system. Therefore, university can not have the communication data among instructors and students.

As is shown in the paper, due to the small-scale survey and limited universities, there is still a long way for social media to enter into the higher education. However, before using social media formally, students can use the social media privately, such as forming a discussion group which is more efficient than university’s system. If possible, several universities can work together to have a social media APP for students to use and also recorded the importation messages as backup. The social medias APP such as Facebook and Twitter still have bright future in the higher education.

Today, I would like to introduce a famous academic journal in environmental economics which is named as Journal of Environmental Economics and Management （JEEM). This journal is a peer-reviewed academic journal of environmental economics which published six times per year and it is also the official journal of the Association of Environmental and Resource Economics until 2016.

This journal is now has a history from 1974 to present and the current edit-in-chiefs are Roger von Haefen from North Carolina State University and Andreas Lange from University of Hamburg. In this journal, there are lots of innovative and original studies presented including the empirical and theoretical analysis in environmental economics. Topics of interest include environmental policy, environmental behavior, renewable and non-renewable resources and energy economics related to developing countries, etc.

Based on the studies published, the JEEM aims at analyzing and investigating the environmental problems connected to human activities. Although it is not a famous journal within the economic field, it does earn credits within the environmental economics. In order to widespread ideas and researches from JEEM, it is open-access for all researchers and students. Though JEEM is published by ELSEVIER, it still provide digital PDF and download services if connected with university internet. Some people may have the trouble to get access to the full-PDF version, but JEEM also provides the abstract online to review. Compared with other open access journals, JEEM may still behind total open access but it provides a great tool to grasp the innovative ideas in the world of environmental economics.

After browsing the website for the office of Research and Integrity, I would like to talk about one program named the Research on Research Integrity Program. This program mainly encourages to submit research proposal for investigating the integrity in research.

As we know, integrity is also the first to be considered for a person, especially for a researcher and teacher. For our hokies, we have the honor codes that regulates every hokie to be honest and integrity. As a Ph.D. student, I am also trained to follow the academic regulations such as how to quote others’ work and how to set up a reference.

This program attracts me not only its topic about research integrity but also different fields are applied to this topic such as psychology, behavioral analysis and health services research. Currently, I am working on contingent valuation research which applies the survey as a tool to investigate people’s actions when they faced with a contingency situation. If integrity is investigated, surveying respondents from different groups will be very helpful to get the necessary information for future analysis.

Also, experiment design aiming at respondents’ behaviors will also be helpful in investigating people’s integrity. Nowadays, behavioral economics is an innovative field which applies experiments, economics and psychology together. Maybe it is more precise to set up an experiment design in the lab to test people’s choice when they faced with different scenarios and then we can analyze experimental results with econometric models. Particularly, we can start from students in Virginia Tech to design a solid experiment and then spread this experiment to other groups such as researchers, instructors and employee.

I am highly interested in investigating people’ integrity and wonder if I can apply economic theories, econometric models and people’ s minds together. By revealing people’s minds and behaviors, it is more possible for researchers to develop a better way to improve integrity and social welfare.

Today, I want to talk about mission statements from two universities I have stayed or is staying right now. The first university is Xiamen University in China where I obtained my master degree and the second university is Virginia Tech in US where I am finishing my doctorate degree.

Xiamen University, established in 1921 by renowned overseas Chinese leader Mr. Tan Kah Kee who is also called the ancestor of this university. This university is quite unique among all Chinese universities since this is the first university that found by private rather than government. In 1920s, overseas Chinese planned to establish a new China by promoting modern education and many of them donated a large amount of money to establish the Xiamen University. From 1921 to 1949, this university was totally funded by private people and most of funding were donations from overseas Chinese. After 1949, Xiamen University is funded by the Chinese government.

The motto of this university is Pursue Excellence; Strive for Perfection. The first part of the motto can be explained as “As the movement of heavens is forever dynamic, so the superior man pursues excellence all his life.” And the second part of the motto can be understood as “the ability to explain and exemplify virtues, to show love and concern for people, and to strive for perfection.” This university has special meaning for me not only I spent three happy years there but also it provides me with humanist ideas and thoughts. When I studied there as a master student, my academic knowledge was upgraded and teachers there told me how to treat unknown knowledge and how to deal with fears in academic world. A man can not solve all problems and everyone needs to know how to control fear or misunderstanding when faced with unknown world. After graduation from Xiamen University, I have the confidence to pursue a higher degree and challenge myself to another country to continue my education.

Another university I want to talk about is Virginia Tech which is established in 1872 and expanded after WWII. This is a public, land-grant, research university in Virginia. Right now, I am finishing my doctorate degree in the Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics.

I want to talk about this university not only because I will spend a long time there but also this university makes me understand how to be a good researcher or even a professor in the future. First of all, being athletic and energetic should be the priority for everyone. The slogan for Virginia Tech is “Go, Hokies“. Some people interpret this as a spirit of pursuing knowledge but I would like to consider this as a encouragement of sports and health given the athletic tradition in this university. After spending three years in this university, I gradually begin to grasp the essence of research: pursuing the knowledge and break the limitation for yourself. When I begun my Ph.D. career, I barely know anything and feel that I needs to learn a lot. Fortunately, with the help of my advisor and many other professors, I start from the very beginning of each knowledge. This also helps me understand how to become a excellent teacher in the future: start to teach from the very basic knowledge otherwise many students can not follow. Virginia Tech will be the university where I stay for the longest time among all universities I have ever stayed. After ten-years education, I finally find the core and true spirits of education and research in Virginia Tech. Let’s go, Hokies!