State standardized testing programs: Friend or foe of gifted education?

This study investigates the effects of state testing programs on the instructional practices of elementary teachers and the effects of such practices on their gifted students’ attitudes toward school and motivation. Results obtained from a national survey of elementary teachers, representing a variety of metropolitan areas and school poverty levels, as well as qualitative case studies from teachers in three states suggest that the perceptions teachers have of standards, tests, and students shape their classroom actions. These findings indicate that teachers are not likely to engage in effective classroom practices but instead engage in one‐size‐fits‐all practices. Implications of these perceptions on professional development and talent development are discussed.     

Communication practices in Korea

The communication practices of Koreans are explored which are divergent from those employed elsewhere in the world. Distinction in social behavior impinging on communication include Confucianistic ethics, filial piety, age, gender, and hierarchical structure. Verbal and nonverbal differences relate to maintaining harmony in interpersonal relationships. The essay concludes with analyses from six research reports comparing Korean communication styles to those in other cultures.     

Memento mori: is there room for death in lifelong learning?

This article presents a groundwork for the benefit of making death more explicit in the knowledge domain and practice of lifelong learning. The existential notion of human mortality is discussed in relation to the prevailing cultural context, theoretical frameworks of human development, and the exercise of lifelong learning. Death is explored as a latent force that can advance learning agendas in adults. Death, as a constant theme in the human condition, can be an existential burden but a significant motivator as well. As a matter of comprehensibility, it is argued that the reality of death, or human finitude, must be incorporated into discourses of lifelong learning towards establishing a deeper sense of meaning to all educative and learning endeavors.     

Wuwei (non-action) Philosophy and Actions: Rethinking ‘actions’ in school reform

This inquiry aims to enrich conversation regarding school reform. The author asks about what other discourses are possible when the action-oriented question of how to ‘act’ is a major approach to ‘fix’ current educational problems. Drawing from Taoist philosophy of wuwei (non-action), the author provides a frame to review current school reform movement. Political philosophy of wuwei highlights non-interference or non-intervention governance. Laozi discusses his theory of governance that a sage leader should take and explicates the paradox of non-action: By not doing, everything is done. The paradox of wuwei complicates dialogues in the field of curriculum theory by opening spaces for taking effortless actions in the midst of standardization and accountability reform movement.     

Inhibitory effect of Jeju endemic seaweeds on the production of pro-inflammatory mediators in mouse macrophage cell line RAW 264.7

Seaweed has been used in traditional cosmetics and as a herbal medicine in treatments for cough,boils,goiters,stomach ailments,and urinary diseases,and for reducing the incidence of tumors,ulcers,and headaches.Despite the fact that seaweeds are frequently used in the practice of human health,little is known about the role of seaweed in the context of inflammation.This study aimed to investigate the influence of Jeju endemic seaweed on a mouse macrophage cell line(RAW 264.7) under the stimulation of lipopolysaccharide(LPS).Ethyl acetate extracts obtained from 14 different kinds of Jeju seaweeds were screened for inhibitory effects on pro-inflammatory mediators.Our results revealed that extracts from five seaweeds,Laurencia okamurae,Grateloupia elliptica,Sargassum thun-bergii,Gloiopeltis furcata,and Hizikia fusiformis,were potent inhibitors of the production of pro-inflammatory mediators such as nitric oxide(NO),prostaglandin E2(PGE2),interleukin-6(IL-6),and tumor necrosis factor-α(TNF-α).Based on these results,the anti-inflammatory effects and low cell toxicity of these seaweed extracts suggest potential thera-peutic applications in the regulation of the inflammatory response.     

Psychological and organizational variables associated with workplace learning in small and medium manufacturing businesses in Korea

The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between workplace learning and psychological variables, such as learning competency, motivation, curiosity, self-esteem and locus of control, and organizational variables, such as centralization of power, formality, merit system and communication. The studied population consisted entirely of workers in small and medium manufacturing businesses in Korea. Totally, 685 workers were sampled and 388 of them were used for the analysis. The level of workplace learning in small and medium manufacturing businesses was higher than the expected average. All the variables in this study had significant positive low or moderate relationships with workplace learning. Lastly, about 50% of the variance in workplace learning was explained by communication, learning competency, merit system, motivation, centralization of power and curiosity.     

Exploring children's understanding of death concepts

This study is an investigation of the effects of death education on children and their understanding of death. The participants of this study were eighty 5- and 6-year-olds who were enrolled in a suburban kindergarten in Korea. To examine the level of children's understanding of death, researchers interviewed each child in both the control and experimental groups. After the interview, researchers provided an intervention (11 educational activities) to the experimental group. No educational intervention was provided to the control group. Researchers re-interviewed children in both groups after the treatment. The overall mean score of the experimental group was significantly higher than that of the control group on all five categories of the death concept: causality, old age, irreversibility, finality, and inevitability. Implications regarding how death education can be approached in early childhood settings are also discussed.     

South Korea’s Book Market Reflects a Culture in Transition

The South Korean publishing industry is ever-evolving according to its own standards while learning how to be competitive on a global scale. After World War II South Korea as a nation has rebuilt itself with ambitions, past resentments to fuel competition, and much hope weighing on the shoulders of its young people. Because keen economics and business acumen are seen as necessities, this thinking is ingrained in early educational resources and expands to adult non-fiction titles about achieving financial goals; however, questions of self-fulfillment are beginning to surface, and the publishing industry is responding.     

Online Media Relations as an Information Subsidy: Quality of Fortune 500 Companies' Websites and Relationships to Media Salience

This study probes relationships among corporate financial resources, web-based corporate media relations, and media attention to corporations to determine whether online media relations functions as an effective information subsidy in the agenda-building process. It compares the quality of online press rooms of Fortune 500 companies with the number of news articles about those same companies published by five major news outlets in the United States. A causal model was supported predicting that resource-rich companies have better-operating online newsrooms with more diverse informational and interactive components, which in turn generate more news stories about the companies. This result suggests that the effectiveness of corporate Web activities depends on financial and professional resources and contradicts earlier expectations that the dominance of resource-rich organizations in communication would be undermined by the Internet.     

Digital microfluidic three-dimensional cell culture and chemical screening platform using alginate hydrogels

Electro wetting-on-dielectric (EWOD) digital microfluidics (DMF) can be used to develop improved chemical screening platforms using 3-dimensional (3D) cell culture. Alginate hydrogels are one common method by which a 3D cell culture environment is created. This paper presents a study of alginate gelation on EWOD DMF and investigates designs to obtain uniform alginate hydrogels that can be repeatedly addressed by any desired liquids. A design which allows for gels to be retained in place during liquid delivery and removal without using any physical barriers or hydrophilic patterning of substrates is presented. A proof of concept screening platform is demonstrated by examining the effects of different concentrations of a test chemical on 3D cells in alginate hydrogels. In addition, the temporal effects of the various chemical concentrations on different hydrogel posts are demonstrated, thereby establishing the benefits of an EWOD DMF 3D cell culture and chemical screening platform using alginate hydrogels.