The determinants of private tutoring participation and attendant expenditures in Korea

With the growing worldwide prevalence of private tutoring, the causes and effects of private tutoring have been drawing increasing attention both academically and policy wise. This study intends to draw policy implications by investigating the determinants of private tutoring participation of school-aged children and expenditures per child for such private tutoring. The logistic regression (for participation), OLS, and F.E. panel models (for expenditures) were adopted for the analysis, using the Korean panel data. The empirical findings indicate that private tutoring for children—both in terms of participation and expenditures—has a positive correlation with the mother’s educational attainment (preference effect), a negative correlation with the mother’s employment status (time constraint effect), and a positive correlation with the household income (income effect).     

Production of a Science Documentary and its Usefulness in Teaching the Nature of Science: Indirect Experience of How Science Works

In this study, we produced a documentary which portrays scientists at work and critically evaluated the use of this film as a teaching tool to help students develop an understanding of the nature of science. The documentary, “Life as a Scientist: People in Love with Caenorhabditis elegans, a Soil Nematode” encompasses the entire process of a scientific investigation by exploring the everyday life of a particular group of scientists. We explored the effectiveness of this documentary in teaching the nature of science by examining the epistemological views of college students toward science before and after viewing. In addition, we collected written responses from the students where they described which aspect of the nature of science they learned from the documentary. The scores of epistemological views toward science increased between the pretest and the posttest (p < 0.01) with the most significant increase being in their views of the role of social negotiation. In the written responses, approximately half of the students suggested that they had learned more about the role which cooperation and collaboration play in the development of scientific knowledge by watching the documentary. The documentary overall provides a valuable instructional context so that students are able to discuss and reflect on various aspects of nature of science within authentic scientific research.     

Supply chain information capabilities and performance outcomes: An empirical study of Korean steel suppliers

This article discusses how supply chain information capabilities are instrumental to achieve performance outcomes. We identify critical components of supply chain information capabilities in terms of inter-organizational information system capacity and inter-organizational relational competency. In view of the high degree of industry concentration in Korea, this article presents and tests a research model using a sample of Korean steel suppliers. Empirical tests are conducted using the structural equation modeling, PLS (partial least squares). The results of this study suggest that Korean manufacturing (e.g., automobile, shipbuilding, construction, and mobile industries) are heavily influenced by the competitiveness of the steel industry in terms of supply chain information capabilities and performance outcomes—supply chain-level (i.e., supply chain flexibility) and firm-level performance outcomes (i.e., customer responsiveness and cost reductions). Future research may extend the findings of this study in other country contexts to accomplish both customer responsiveness and cost reductions through supply chain information capabilities.     

NEIGHBORHOOD SOCIOECONOMIC WELL‐BEING,HOME LITERACY,AND EARLY LITERACY SKILLS OF AT‐RISK PRESCHOOLERS

In response to growing research and policy interest in the developmental contexts of early literacy, this study examined relations between neighborhood socioeconomic well‐being, home literacy (parent–child shared reading and number of books at home), and directly assessed early literacy outcomes among 551 Head Start students in the fall of preschool. In Structural Equation Models, neighborhood socioeconomic well‐being predicted home literacy, which in turn predicted early literacy (a latent variable derived from receptive vocabulary, letter‐word identification, and concepts about print). Implications for future research concerning parent involvement at home in the context of neighborhoods and the early literacy of at‐risk preschoolers is discussed.     

Cultural differences in how individuals explain their lying and truth-telling tendencies

This study investigated how cultural differences between Korea and the United States in attitudinal and normative components affect individuals’ explanation of their intentions to lie or tell the truth. Study 1 examined individuals’ intentions to base their lying or truth-telling tendencies on attitude-related reasons (i.e., attitudinal reasons) and subjective norm-related reasons (i.e., normative reasons). Study 2 examined individuals’ evaluation of a person who used attitudinal reasons or normative reasons to explain his/her behaviors of lying or truth-telling. The results showed that neither culture used one type of reason consistently across different behaviors. Instead, the types of behaviors influenced the way attitudinal and normative components were related to behavioral intentions. The attitudinal component was important for individuals’ explanations of their attitudinal reasons to lie and to tell the truth and that the normative component was important for individuals’ explanations of their normative reasons to lie. However, both the attitudinal and normative components were important for individuals’ explanations of their normative reasons to tell the truth. Cross-culturally, Koreans were more likely to use normative reasons when they had to explain why they intended to lie for a friend, whereas Americans were more likely to use normative reasons when they had to explain why they intended to tell the truth. In addition, Koreans and Americans had different preferences for each reason type depending on the type of behavior probably because Koreans, as compared to Americans, tend to view lying for a friend less negatively.     

Influences of electric field on living cells in a charged water-in-oil droplet under electrophoretic actuation

We experimentally investigate the effects of high electric field on living cells inside a charged droplet under electrophoretic actuation. When an aqueous droplet suspended in a dielectric liquid contacts with electrified electrode, the droplet acquires charge. This charged droplet undergoes electrophoretic motion under strong electric field (1–3 kV/cm), which can be used as a droplet manipulation method in biomicrofluidic applications. However, because strong electric field and use of dielectric oil can be a harmful environment for living cells, the biological feasibilities have been tested. Trypan blue test and cell growth test have been performed to check the viability and proliferation of cells in a droplet under various electric field strengths and actuation times. We have not observed any noticeable influence of electric field and silicone oil on the viability and proliferation of cells, which indicates that electrophoresis could be safely used as a manipulation method for a droplet containing living biological system.     

Measuring knowledge integration: Validation of four‐year assessments

Science education needs valid, authentic, and efficient assessments. Many typical science assessments primarily measure recall of isolated information. This paper reports on the validation of assessments that measure knowledge integration ability among middle school and high school students. The assessments were administered to 18,729 students in five states. Rasch analyses of the assessments demonstrated satisfactory item fit, item difficulty, test reliability, and person reliability. The study showed that, when appropriately designed, knowledge integration assessments can be balanced between validity and reliability, authenticity and generalizability, and instructional sensitivity and technical quality. Results also showed that, when paired with multiple‐choice items and scored with an effective scoring rubric, constructed‐response items can achieve high reliabilities. Analyses showed that English language learner status and computer use significantly impacted students' science knowledge integration abilities. Students who took the assessment online, which matched the format of content delivery, performed significantly better than students who took the paper‐and‐pencil version. Implications and future directions of research are noted, including refining curriculum materials to meet the needs of diverse students and expanding the range of topics measured by knowledge integration assessments. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 48: 1079–1107, 2011     

Cultural validation of the Maslach Burnout Inventory for Korean students

The purpose of this study was to examine the factorial validity of the MBI-SS in Korean students. Specifically, we investigated whether the original three-factor structure of the MBI-SS was appropriate for use with Korean students. In addition, by running multi-group structural equation model analyses with factorial invariance tests simultaneously for both genders (i.e., males and females) and academic settings (i.e., middle school and high school), we tested whether the factor loading and correlations between factors can be similarly interpreted across the different groups. Results indicated that the MBI-SS is a valid instrument to measure academic burnout of Korean students. Furthermore, results presented the possibility that the MBI-SS could be used regardless of cultural background. Implications for future research and practice and limitations are discussed.     

Using cogenerative dialogues to improve coteaching for language learner (LL) students in an inclusion science classroom

This paper presents findings from a study conducted in an urban elementary school in the United States with an English language learner (ELL) student and two teachers engaged in collaborative teaching in an inclusion science classroom. This study examines the efficacy of utilising cogenerative dialogues between an ELL student and his science teacher and English as second language teacher to improve instructional practices enacted during coteaching. Drawing from field notes, teacher and student interviews, and video captured during cotaught science lessons and during cogenerative dialogues between the student and his coteachers, we examined the ways in which cogenerative dialogue expands teachers’ agency to adapt curriculum and implement instructional strategies that can better meet the needs of their students. At the same time, we examined the ways in which participation in cogenerative dialogues with his teachers expanded this student’s agency as a science learner and a language learner.     

Microfluidic parallel circuit for measurement of hydraulic resistance

We present a microfluidic parallel circuit that directly compares the test channel of an unknown hydraulic resistance with the reference channel with a known resistance, thereby measuring the unknown resistance without any measurement setup, such as standard pressure gauges. Many of microfluidic applications require the precise transport of fluid along a channel network with complex patterns. Therefore, it is important to accurately characterize and measure the hydraulic resistance of each channel segment, and determines whether the device principle works well. However, there is no fluidic device that includes features, such as the ability to diagnose microfluidic problems by measuring the hydraulic resistance of a microfluidic component in microscales. To address the above need, we demonstrate a simple strategy to measure an unknown hydraulic resistance, by characterizing the hydraulic resistance of microchannels with different widths and defining an equivalent linear channel of a microchannel with repeated patterns of a sudden contraction and expansion.