Experiences,activities, and personal characteristics as predictors of engagement in STEM-focused summer programs

Out-of-school-time programs for youth that are focused on STEM content are often seen as affording opportunities to increase youth engagement, interest, and knowledge in STEM domains, yet we know relatively little about how youth actually experience such programs. In this article, we explore how experiences and activities employed in the delivery of summer STEM programs are associated with youth engagement during programming, and whether youth characteristics moderate these relationships. Data were collected from 203 youth (ages 10–16) in nine summer programs using multiple methods including video, experience sampling, and surveys. Through the use of cross-classified, multi-level models, we found that youth reported higher engagement in program activities they perceived to be more challenging and relevant, and in activities, they perceived to have more affordances for learning or developing skills. Gender moderated these relationships such that the positive relationships observed among males were muted or nonexistent for girls. We further identify that program activities are differently associated with fostering challenge, relevance, and learning. Findings have implications for out-of-school STEM programming for youth.     

A K+-sensitive AND-gate dual-mode probe for simultaneous tumor imaging and malignancy identificationOA

Although molecular imaging probes have the potential to non-invasively diagnose a tumor,imaging probes that can detect a tumor and simultaneously identify tumor malignancy remain elusive.Here,we demonstrate a potassium ion(K+) sensitive dual-mode nanoprobe(KDMN) for non-invasive tumor imaging and malignancy identification,which operates via a cascaded ’AND’ logic gate controlled by inputs of magnetic resonance imaging(MRI) and fluorescence imaging(FI) signals.We encapsulate commercial K⁺     

Correlations between the Woodcock-Johnson and the WISC-R for a behavior disordered population

Correlations between the Woodcock-Johnson Test of Cognitive Abilities (WJTCA) and the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised (WISC-R) were evaluated on a sample of 55 behavior disordered males, 28 of whom were also diagnosed as learning disabled. Concurrent validity for this sample was demonstrated by only a 2.33 point difference between the mean WJTCA Broad Cognitive score and the mean WISC-R Full Scale IQ score. Analysis of Pearson product-moment correlations between each WISC-R subtest and each Woodcock-Johnson cluster score substantiated previous assertions that the WJTCA is unduly weighted with Product-Dominant factors. Construct validity of some of the WJTCA clusters also was questioned. Implications of these results for behavior disordered populations were discussed.     

Parallel generation of uniform fine droplets at hundreds of kilohertz in a flow-focusing module

Droplet-based microfluidic systems enable a variety of biomedical applications from point-of-care diagnostics with third world implications, to targeted therapeutics alongside medical ultrasound, to molecular screening and genetic testing. Though these systems maintain the key advantage of precise control of the size and composition of the droplet as compared to conventional methods of production, the low rates at which droplets are produced limits translation beyond the laboratory setting. As well, previous attempts to scale up shear-based microfluidic systems focused on increasing the volumetric throughput and formed large droplets, negating many practical applications of emulsions such as site-specific therapeutics. We present the operation of a parallel module with eight flow-focusing orifices in the dripping regime of droplet formation for the generation of uniform fine droplets at rates in the hundreds of kilohertz. Elevating the capillary number to access dripping, generation of monodisperse droplets of liquid perfluoropentane in the parallel module exceeded 3.69 × 10⁵ droplets per second, or 1.33 × 10⁹ droplets per hour, at a mean diameter of 9.8 μm. Our microfluidic method offers a novel means to amass uniform fine droplets in practical amounts, for instance, to satisfy clinical needs, with the potential for modification to form massive amounts of more complex droplets.     

Child Development in Cultural Contexts: Implications of Cultural Psychology for Early Childhood Teacher Education

In this article we argue that early childhood educators, under the influence of last century’s grand universal theories of child development, have not been attentive enough to the centrality of culture in children’s development. We discuss how the exploration of contemporary developmental perspectives is critical to the field and illustrate cultural views of child development based on cultural psychology. The goal of cultural psychology is to study the co-creation of human beings and cultures by focusing on both mentalities and practices, on both culture and biology. Using this lens, we explore the implications that cultural psychology holds for early childhood educators.     

Development of moral reasoning in situational and cultural contexts

ABSTRACT

This article examines relationships between children and youths’ judgments and their justifications of truth telling and verbal deception, in situational and cultural contexts. Han Chinese, Euro-Canadians and Chinese-Canadians, seven- to 17-years of age were presented competitive scenarios in which protagonists told either lies to protect, or truths to harm, various levels of collectivity. Participants evaluated protagonists’ statements, using a 7-point scale, and justified their judgments. Cultural variations in moral evaluations emerged among the three groups of participants. Older Chinese participants reflected significant collective cultural values in their judgements; by contrast, Euro-Canadians identified more individualistically; and Chinese-Canadians demonstrated notable variability between these perspectives in their judgments. The article enhances understanding of situational and cultural sources in the development of moral reasoning within a sociocultural framework.     

Infants’ Preference for Social Interactions Increases from 7 to 13 Months of Age

This study examined 7-to-13.5-month-old middle-class Western infants’ visual orienting to third-party interactions in parallel with their social attention behavior during own social interactions (Leipzig, Germany). In Experiment 1, 9.5- to-11-month-olds (n = 20) looked longer than 7- to-8.5-month-olds (n = 20) at videos showing two adults interacting with one another when simultaneously presented with a scene showing two adults acting individually. Moreover, older infants showed higher social engagement (including joint attention) during parent–infant free play. Experiment 2 replicated this age-related increase in both measures and showed that it follows continuous trajectories from 7 to 13.5 months (n = 50). This suggests that infants’ attentional orienting to others’ interactions coincides with parallel developments in their social attention behavior during own social interactions.     

Library Services for Persons with Disabilities: Twentieth Anniversary Update

The Sauls Memorial Virtual Library closed its physical space in 2012. This article outlines the reasons for this change and how the library staff and hospital leadership planned and executed the enormous undertaking. Outcomes of the change and lessons learned from the process are discussed.