The relationship between parental bonding and peer victimization: examining child stress and hopelessness as mediators

The purpose of the current study was to investigate a two-stage model in which parent-related stress and hopelessness each served as mediators of the relationship between perceived parental bonding and South Korean adolescent peer victimization. This study also examined whether the mediating relationships differed by the gender of parents and adolescents. A casual chain with three links and four sets of variables were analyzed using structural equation modeling. Data were collected from 800 adolescents attending 10 middle schools in the Busan region of South Korea. Results indicated that both maternal and paternal parental bonding were negatively associated with stress, stress was positively associated with hopelessness, and hopelessness was positively associated with South Korean adolescent peer victimization. Most importantly, the significant negative associations between both maternal and paternal parental bonding and peer victimization were mediated by both stress and hopelessness. Furthermore, gender differences in these relationships existed for both parents and adolescents. Limitations and implications to practice were discussed.     

Assessment of Communication Competencies in Engineering Design Projects

Reforms in engineering education have caused a shift from the traditional stand-alone course in technical communication for Engineering students towards communication training integrated in courses and design projects that allows students to develop four layers of competence. This shift creates opportunities for realistic and situated learning, but offers challenges for assessment of communication competence at student, course and program levels. On the basis of a detailed definition of communicative competence, three formats for integrated communication training are described: Linked to design projects, integrated in design projects and integrated at program level. Assessment of communication competence in these formats is constrained by their characteristics with regard to student motivation, individual and group work, and situated learning.     

Zum Verlauf des Zweitspracherwerbs im Migrationskontext

Zusammenfassung Die Entwicklung der mündlichen und schriftlichen Kenntnisse in Deutsch und der Sprache des Herkunftslandes bei Angeh?rigen der ersten und zweiten Einwanderergeneration aus den Gastarbeiter-Anwerbel?ndern, bei Aussiedlern und neuen Zuwanderergruppen wird beschrieben und Erkl?rungsfaktoren für Unterschiede werden mit Hilfe bivariater und multivariater Verfahren untersucht. Die Deutschkenntnisse der ersten Generation steigen zwischen 1984 und 2001 kaum an, wohingegen Aussiedler und Zuwanderer in kurzer Zeit relativ gute Fortschritte aufweisen. Die meisten Befragten sind bilingual. Defizite bei Deutschkenntnissen variieren nach Herkunftsland. Der Zweitspracherwerb erfolgt im Generationenverlauf, d.h. in Deutschland geborene Personen mit Migrationshintergrund haben in der Regel bessere Deutschkenntnisse als die erste Generation. Die Aufenthaltsdauer hat per se keinen Einfluss auf den Spracherwerb, ebenso wie das Geschlecht, w?hrend das Einwanderungsalter und die Schulbildung entscheidende Faktoren sind. Personen mit niedrigem Einwanderungsalter, Personen, die eine weiterführende Schule im Herkunftsland oder eine h?here Schule in Deutschland abgeschlossen haben, haben eine h?here relative Chance, gute mündliche und schriftliche Deutschkenntnisse zu erwerben.      

Postsecondary Student Persistence and Pathways: Evidence From the YITS-A in Canada

The Youth in Transition Survey is used to follow the postsecondary education (PSE) pathways and outcomes of Canadian youth over the mid 2000s. Students starting at community colleges and four year universities are analyzed separately. First program outcomes are reported, showing the proportions of students who leave their first programs but remain in PSE by switching/transferring to other programs, institutions, or levels. Multinomial regression estimates correlates of students’ first program switching and leaving decisions. Five year graduation rates are calculated to show the importance of different pathways (across programs, institutions, and levels) to earning a PSE credential; in the aggregate and for subgroups of students. Transfers constitute important but not terribly large pathways for Canadian students to adjust their PSE and obtain PSE credentials. We calculate the resulting extent to which institution specific measures of persistence, PSE leaving, and graduation rates misstate the rates experienced by students. Compared to American students, university and community college starters in Canada have higher persistence and graduation rates and lower transfer rates across institutions. For community college starters, much of the difference is due to the relative lack of well defined pathways from community colleges to universities in Canada. We find that students with more family resources are better able to transfer across programs or institutions in order to obtain a PSE credential.     

Kinesin KIF4A is associated with chemotherapeutic drug resistance by regulating intracellular trafficking of lung resistance-related protein

Multidrug resistance (MDR) is the major impediment to cancer chemotherapy. The expression of lung resistance-related protein (LRP), a non-ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporter, is high in tumor cells, resulting in their resistance to a variety of cytotoxic drugs. However, the function of LRP in tumor drug resistance is not yet explicit. Our previous studies had shown that Kinesin KIF4A was overexpressed in cisplatin (DDP)-resistant human lung adenocarcinoma cells (A549/DDP cells) compared with A549 cells. The expression of KIF4A in A549 or A549/DDP cells significantly affects cisplatin resistance but the detailed mechanisms remain unclear. Here, we performed co-immunoprecipitation experiments to show that the tail domain of KIF4A interacted with the N-terminal of LRP. Immunofluorescence images showed that both the ability of binding to LRP and the motility of KIF4A were essential for the dispersed cytoplasm distribution of LRP. Altogether, our results shed light on a potential mechanism in that motor protein KIF4A promotes drug resistance of lung adenocarcinoma cells through transporting LRP-based vaults along microtubules towards the cell membrane. Thus KIF4A might be a cisplatin resistance-associated protein and serves as a potential target for chemotherapeutic drug resistance in lung cancer.     

The formation experiment in the age of hypermedia and distance learning

Searching for an adequate method to investigate human development (especially the development of theoretical thinking) Vygotsky and his collaborators developed the causal genetic method. The basic idea of this method consists in the investigation of psychic functions and structures by their formation under controlled conditions (for instance via a formation experiment in classroom). But is this method also applicable in instructional settings using modern communications media?This paper is an attempt to find an answer to the question: By what means is the investigation of the formation of theoretical thinking realizable through the application of the causal-genetic method in instructional settings using hypermedia and distance learning? However, a closer examination of the question itself shows that there are three interrelated aspects, namely: the investigation and formation of theoretical thinking; distance learning using modern communications media; the causal-genetic method.It will be shown that in a formation experiment learning with a hyper-media-educational program, which is based on the theory of learning- activity, students reach a new level of cognitive development which is characterized by the growing ability of complex and dialectical thinking.     

Making the Case for Early Identification and Intervention for Young Children at Risk for Learning Disabilities

The early identification of children with learning disabilities (LD) is difficult but can be accomplished. Observation of key behaviors which are indicators of LD by preschool and kindergarten teachers can assist in this process. This early identification facilitates the use of intervention strategies to provide a positive early experience for children at risk for academic difficulties.     

圆周上的范德瓦尔登数

The big upper bound of typical van der Waerden number was investigated through calculating the van der Waerden number on a circle. And the van der Waerden number Wh (3,3) = 9, Wh (3,3,3)≥25 on a circle was calculated by computer.     

Teacher capacity for and beliefs about data-driven decision making: A literature review of international research

Data-driven decision making continues to be a growing educational reform initiative across the globe. The effective use of data requires that teachers develop the knowledge and skills to analyze and use data to improve instruction. The purpose of this article is to examine teachers’ capacity for and beliefs about data use. These issues are examined through a review of research in the past decade. We find that teachers’ beliefs about and capacity for data use are often not connected within the literature or in practice, but we argue they are the heart of the connection between data and instructional change. Teachers’ capacity to use data and their beliefs about data use are shaped within their professional communities, in training sessions, and in their interactions with coaches, consultants, and principals. However, efforts to develop teachers’ capacity for data use often fall short of their goals. Correspondingly, teachers have varied beliefs about data use, and some feel they lack the ability to use data to inform instruction. In order to be more successful, capacity building should directly address teachers’ beliefs, and data use must be decoupled from external accountability demands and involve a variety of information on student learning.     

How to encourage a lifelong learner? The complex relation between learning strategies and assessment in a medical curriculum

Abstract

To foster lifelong learning skills, we need new didactic approaches with aligned assessment methods. Therefore, we investigated whether the outcomes of a project assignment show a different relation to learning strategies than a longitudinal knowledge-based assessment. We studied learning strategies of first year students of medicine and biomedical sciences (n?=?248) and performed hierarchical regression analyses for the learning strategies and grades of the longitudinal knowledge-based test and project assignment. Scores of students, measured with the Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire (Likert scale 1–7), were relatively low for critical thinking (3.53), compared to rehearsal (4.40), elaboration (4.82), organisation (4.69) and metacognitive self-regulation (4.33). Knowledge based tests showed a significant relation to elaboration (p?<?0.01). For the project-based assessment, we did not find a significant relation to any learning strategy (p?=?0.074). Explained variance of the grades was low for all learning strategies (R² < 0.043). Different types of assessment did not discriminate between students with high or low scores on learning strategies associated with lifelong learning. An explanation is that the curriculum is not aligned with assessment, or students do not benefit in terms of grades. We conclude that, if assessment is to drive lifelong learning skills, this is not self-evident.