Religiosity as a moderator of the links between parental psychological control and children's prosociality

Three studies examined the links between psychological control and prosociality in middle childhood, and the role of religiosity as a moderator. Study 1 (101 Israeli Jewish families, ages 6–9, 50% girls) found a significant interaction, with a negative association between maternal psychological control and children's prosociality in secular but not in religious families. Study 2 (161 Israeli Jewish families, ages 6–12, 48% girls) replicated this interaction for mothers using a continuous religiosity measure. Study 3 (64 Arab Muslim Israeli families, ages 6–8.5, 50% girls) also found a significant interaction, with a positive link between psychological control and prosociality seen at higher, but not at lower, religiosity levels. The findings suggest that religiosity may alter the meaning and consequences of parenting practices.     

Learning From Our Mistakes: Improvements in Spelling Lead to Gains in Reading Speed

The present study tested the hypothesis that underlying orthographic representations vary in completeness within the individual, which is manifested in both spelling accuracy and reading speed. Undergraduate students were trained to improve their spelling of difficult words. Word reading speed was then measured for these same words, allowing for a direct evaluation of whether improvements in spelling would bring about faster reading speeds. Results were clear: Spelling accuracy and reading speed were strongly related across and within participants. Most important, words that improved in spelling accuracy were read more rapidly at posttest than words that did not show improvement in spelling. These results provide direct evidence showing that the quality of orthographic representations, as indexed by spelling accuracy, directly relates to reading speed. This is consistent with the lexical quality hypothesis and highlights the relevance of spelling in literacy acquisition.     

Immunomodulation of excretory secretory materials from the filarial parasite<Emphasis Type="Italic">Setaria digitata</Emphasis>

ES materials released along with the release of mf showed immunosuppression as evidenced by a decrease in T lymphocyte levels in the immunised animals. Lipid fractions of the mf associated ES materials and protein fractions of the detergent soluble materials were found to cause suppression of immune response in the host. Further study revealed that the suppression associated with the lipid fractions is actually the end result and that mf associated ES materials is actually a mixture of immunosuppressive and immunopotentiating components and the release of the components is most likely regulated.     

Loss of proteinase binding capacity of plasma alpha2 macroglobulin in some disease conditions

Alpha₂-macroglobulin (MG) levels in terms of proteinase binding capacity in fresh plasma of diabetics (males 183.9±60.3 mg MG/dl, females 173.8±49.7) and viral hepatitis patients (195.2±41.4) were comparable to normal sujbects (males 180.0±28.6, females 213.0±59.6) whereas in renal failure the values were decreased (144.0±30.0) and was found to be increased in nephrotic syndrome (331.5±47.9). MG activity was stable in normals and nephrotic patients in plasma on standing for 12 hr. at 37°C. In other conditions, the proteinase binding capacity was considerably reduced (mean decrease: 51.2% in diabetes, 64.0% in renal failure and 52.6% in viral hepatitis). Concentration of MG determined by immunoelectrophoresis did not however change in diabetic plasma on 12 hr. incubation. It is proposed that proteinases are continously generated in plasma in some disease conditions which bind to MG causing reduction in measured proteinase binding capacity.     

Sources of variance in curriculum‐based measures of silent reading

Curriculum‐Based Measurement silent reading (CBM‐SR) items have been found to be reliable and valid for measuring reading comprehension skills This generalizability study reports the findings from administration of three CBM‐SR passages to fifth through eighth grade students in one school district. Using Repeated Measures Analyses of Variance (RMANOVA) procedures, the statistical probability of performance on the CBM‐SR task as a differential indicator of reading comprehension skill was found to be significant among students in different grade levels and between students who did and did not receive special education services. Follow‐up analyses were conducted using generalizability theory to estimate the amount of variance in CBM‐SR scores from individual score differences, grade levels, and special education status. The results indicated that on two of the passages, variability in CBM‐SR scores came primarily from grade level differences in scores on the tasks, while on the third passage, the differences were most attributable to individual differences in scores, regardless of grade level or special education services. Implications for the use of CBM‐SR items for routine assessment of students' reading skills are discussed. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Psychol Schs 40: 363–377, 2003.     

我依然崛起

You may write me down in history
With your bitter, twisted lies,
You may trod me in the very dirt
But still, like dust, I＇II rise.     

Active Learning and Student-centered Pedagogy Improve Student Attitudes and Performance in Introductory Biology

We describe the development and implementation of an instructional design that focused on bringing multiple forms of active learning and student-centered pedagogies to a one-semester, undergraduate introductory biology course for both majors and nonmajors. Our course redesign consisted of three major elements: 1) reordering the presentation of the course content in an attempt to teach specific content within the context of broad conceptual themes, 2) incorporating active and problem-based learning into every lecture, and 3) adopting strategies to create a more student-centered learning environment. Assessment of our instructional design consisted of a student survey and comparison of final exam performance across 3 years—1 year before our course redesign was implemented (2006) and during two successive years of implementation (2007 and 2008). The course restructuring led to significant improvement of self-reported student engagement and satisfaction and increased academic performance. We discuss the successes and ongoing challenges of our course restructuring and consider issues relevant to institutional change.