Modernism and Postmodernism in Contemporary Korean Art: Implications for Art Education Reform

This paper reports the findings of research into cross-cultural influences on Korean contemporary art and the artists’ aesthetic and cultural values and beliefs. Findings were that predominant Western influences during the Korean modern period have been American-Abstract Expressionism and Minimalism, but that these trends have been acculturated rather than assimilated; that Korean Modern Art continues to dominate the Korean fine art world since it is practised by very established artists and master-craftsment; and the work of the younger less-established artists who are absorbing postmodern values, is more representational and eclectic stylistically, and sets out to convey messages and meanings about social problems in contemporary Korean life. The growing concern with Korean cultural identity is interpreted, in part, as a response to the demands of the international art market, but is represented through the artists’ use of traditional Korean content and processes, or pursuit of Korean metaphysical/philosophical ideals.     

Understanding children from diverse cultures: bridging perspectives of parents and teachers

The purpose of this multiple case study was to explore how families negotiate their perspectives with US teachers regarding school. The cases of three Korean and two Chinese preschoolers were examined through semi‐structured, in‐depth interviews with parents and teachers. Observations of the families at home and the children and teachers at school were conducted to add additional context to the interviews. Findings illuminated feelings that conflicted within each participant. Parents were found to have conflicting views between desiring their child to learn the English language yet expressing concern over what they believe was too much acculturation due to English language acquisition. Teachers were found to value international parents, yet felt it was difficult to communicate with parents and unsure of how to welcome them into the classroom. Findings from this study broaden understandings of families from diverse cultures and promote efforts to establish cooperative partnerships between parents and teachers.     

On the construction of cryptographically strong Boolean functions with desirable trade-off

INTRODUCTION A variety of desirable criteria for functions have been identified: balancedness, local and global ava-lanche characteristics, high nonlinearity, etc. These properties are also very important for cryptographic purpose. Obtaining optimal tradeoffs among so many properties is hard. If we take into account more crite-ria, it is more difficult to generate Boolean functions satisfying those properties purely by constructive algebraic methods. How to construct Boolean func-tions …     

The characteristics of effective english teachers as perceived by high school teachers and students in Korea

This study investigated the characteristics of effective English teachers as perceived by 169 teachers and 339 students in high school in Korea, with a self-report questionnaire consisting of three categories: English proficiency, pedagogical knowledge, and socio-affective skills. Overall, the teachers perceived significantly different characteristics than the students in all three categories with the teachers ranking English proficiency the highest in contrast to the students who ranked pedagogical knowledge the highest. The student subgroups also held different perceptions of effective teaching. High achieving students reported different characteristics than low achieving students in pedagogical knowledge and socio-affective skills, whereas the male students demonstrated different characteristics from the female students in socio-affective skills. The findings have implications for knowledge-based teacher education for current and prospective English teachers.     

Surface characteristics and mechanical behavior of retrieved orthodontic microimplants

Objectives

To observe the surface characteristics and mechanical behavior of retrieved microimplants under clinically simulating experimental conditions and to investigate the feasibility of reuse of microimplants.

Materials and methods

The microimplants, inserted at different angles, were retrieved from the patients (RMIP) and the artificial bone (RMIA). Surface characteristics, including morphologic changes of tips and thread edges, length reduction, and surface compositional variation, were evaluated using a field emission scanning electron microscope, a stereoscopic microscope, and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, respectively. Mechanical behavior comprising maximum insertion torque (MIT) and insertion time was tested with the artificial bone under clinically simulating conditions.

Results

The tips and thread edges were worn out to various degrees in retrieved microimplants and thin deposits were observed on the surface in the RMIP group. Traces of foreign elements, such as iron, sulphur, and calcium, were detected on the surface of RMIP. Both MIT and insertion time of retrieved microimplants were increased compared to their initial use, and were much greater in RMIP. The increases of MIT were seen in all groups inserted at the insertion angle of 45° compared with 90°, although the differences were not statistically significant.

Conclusions

Retrieved microimplants exhibited different degrees of changes on surface characteristics and mechanical behavior, with more changes in RMIP. The reuse of microimplants for immediate relocation in the same patient may be acceptable; however, postponed relocation and allogeneic reuse of microimplants are not recommended in clinical practice.

     

Utilizing online learning data to design face-to-face activities in a flipped classroom: a case study of heterogeneous group formation

This study investigates the possibility of utilizing online learning data to design face-to-face activities in a flipped classroom. We focus on heterogeneous group formation for effective collaborative learning. Fifty-three undergraduate students (18 males, 35 females) participated in this study, and 8 students (3 males, 5 females) among them joined post-study interviews. For this study, a total of 6 student characteristics were used: three demographic characteristics obtained from a simple survey and three academic characteristics captured from online learning data. We define three demographic group heterogeneity variables and three academic group heterogeneity variables, where each variable is calculated using the corresponding student characteristic. In this way, each heterogeneity variables represents a degree of diversity within the group. Then, a two-stage hierarchical regression analysis was conducted to identify the significant group heterogeneity variables that influence face-to-face group achievement. The results show that the academic group heterogeneity variables, which were derived from the online learning data, accounted for a significant proportion of the variance in the group achievement when the demographic group heterogeneity variables were controlled. The interviews also reveal that the academic group heterogeneity indeed affected group interaction and learning outcome. These findings highlight that online learning data can be utilized to obtain relevant information for effective face-to-face activity design in a flipped classroom. Based on the results, we discuss the advantages of this data utilization approach and other implications for face-to-face activity design.

     

Coping With Racism: Moderators of the Discrimination–Adjustment Link Among Mexican‐Origin Adolescents

What strategies help ethnic minority adolescents to cope with racism? The present study addressed this question by testing the role of ethnic identity, social support, and anger expression and suppression as moderators of the discrimination–adjustment link among 269 Mexican‐origin adolescents (M_age = 14.1 years), 12–17 years old from the Midwestern U.S. Results from multilevel moderation analyses indicated that ethnic identity, social support, and anger suppression, respectively, significantly attenuated the relations between discrimination and adjustment problems, whereas outward anger expression exacerbated these relations. Moderation effects differed according to the level of analysis. By identifying effective coping strategies in the discrimination–adjustment link at specific levels of analysis, the present findings can guide future intervention efforts for Latino youth.     

Principals’ qualifications in special education and students with and at risk for disabilities’ reading achievement growth in kindergarten

To effectively teach reading to students with and at risk for disabilities, special and general education teachers depend on principals who support effective specialized reading instruction. Yet, extant research indicates that principals have inadequate preparation for supporting specialized instruction. To address this issue, scholars have recommended that leader preparation programs should provide prospective leaders with more preparation in special education. However, research to date provides limited indications of whether more preparation would in fact support more effective leadership for special education. Therefore, we examined data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study to determine whether principals’ qualifications in special education and in reading predicted struggling readers’ and students with disabilities’ reading achievement growth in kindergarten. We found no effects; principals’ coursework in special education, coursework in reading, prior experiences as a special education teacher, and experience in school leadership did not predict reading achievement growth among students with or at-risk for disabilities.     

A Comparison of Approaches for Estimating Covariate Effects in Nonparametric Multilevel Latent Class Models

The inclusion of covariates improves the prediction of class memberships in latent class analysis (LCA). Several methods for examining covariate effects have been developed over the past decade; however, researchers have limited to the comparisons of the performance among these methods in cases of the single-level LCA. The present study investigated the performance of three different methods for examining covariate effects in a multilevel setting. We conducted a simulation to compare the performance of the three methods when level-1 and level-2 covariates were simultaneously incorporated into the nonparametric multilevel latent class model to predict latent class membership at each level. The simulation results revealed that the bias-adjusted three-step maximum likelihood method performed equally well as the one-step method when the sample sizes were sufficiently large and the latent classes were distinct from each other. However, the unadjusted three-step method significantly underestimated the level-1 covariate effect in most conditions.

     

Relationships between social support,job autonomy,job satisfaction,and burnout among care workers in long-term care facilities in Hawaii

This study examined the effects of social support, job autonomy, and job satisfaction on burnout among long-term care workers in Hawaii, USA. Data were collected from 170 care workers working at long-term care facilities in Hawaii. The study variables included demographic data, burnout, social support, job autonomy, and job satisfaction. The study findings support the association between social support, job autonomy, job satisfaction, and burnout among care workers at long-term care facilities. Social support, job autonomy, and job satisfaction were negatively and significantly associated with the level of burnout of care workers in Hawaii. Furthermore, the findings suggest the need to develop policy and practice considerations for reducing burnout risks among care workers in order to improve quality of care.