A model for making decisions about ethical dilemmas in student assessment

In this mixed-methods study we investigated the development of a generalized ethics decision-making model that can be applied in considering ethical dilemmas related to student assessment. For the study, we developed five scenarios that describe ethical dilemmas associated with student assessment. Survey participants (i.e., educators) completed an online survey to express their decision-making process when faced with ethical dilemmas relating to student assessment. Based on the literature and the educators’ written responses to the scenarios, elements to consider in an ethics decision-making model related to student assessment include the following: (1) the critical incident giving rise to the ethical dilemma; (2) identification of the conflict elements; (3) decisions about the ethicality of the elements; (4) justification of the decisions; (5) implications; and (6) alternative suggestions. This model offers guidance to educators in considering the dimensions of an ethical dilemma in assessment prior to making a decision.     

Parent-daughter transmission of the androgen receptor gene as an explanation of the effect of father absence on age of menarche

Based on an evolutionary theory of socialization, Belsky and colleagues proposed that girls exposed to a stressful environment, especially when due to father absence in the first 7 years of life, showed an early onset of puberty, precocious sexuality, and unstable relationships as adults. The authors of this article examined an alternative explanation that a variant X-linked androgen receptor (AR) gene, predisposing the father to behaviors that include family abandonment, may be passed to their daughters causing early puberty, precocious sexuality, and behavior problems. The results of a study of 121 White males and 164 White females showed a significant association of the short alleles of the GGC repeat polymorphism of the AR gene with a range of measures of aggression and impulsivity, increased number of sexual partners, sexual compulsivity, and lifetime number of sex partners in males; and paternal divorce, father absence, and early age of menarche in females. These findings support a genetic explanation of the Belsky psychosocial evolutionary hypothesis regarding the association of fathers' absence and parental stress with early age of onset of menarche and early sexual activity in their daughters. A genetic explanation of the father absence effect is proposed in which fathers carrying the AR alleles are more likely to abandon a marriage (father absence) and pass those alleles to their daughters in whom they produce an earlier age of menarche and behavioral problems.     

Houston Teaching Academy: Partnership in developing teachers

The need for excellent teachers to teach at-risk inner-city children is well documented. Too often new teachers who have received their field experience in the suburbs are hired to teach in multicultural inner-city schools with little preparation to serve this population of children and families. Changing the history of failure for this population of teachers and their students to an experience of success was the primary goal of the partnership between the Houston Independent School District and the University of Houston's College of Education.The structure of the Houston Teaching Academy (HTA) includes four collaborative decision-making councils. Representatives from the school and college serve on each of the councils. Shared weekly seminars for supervising teachers, student teachers, and college supervisors are led by school teachers or college supervisors. Methods courses are taught at the HTA, and the students serve as tutors in the classrooms. Several graduate college courses requested by teachers are offered at the HTA.Concurrent with the development of the HTA, a formative and summative evaluation has monitored the progress of the HTA toward its goals. The HTA graduates have been followed into their first years of teaching. Interviews with their principals indicate that 77% are effectively teaching in inner-city and multicultural settings.     

Emotion Regulation Strategies and Parenting Practices among Parents of Children With Clinic-Referred Conduct Problems

Objective. This study examined the cognitive-affective strategies used by parents of young children with conduct problems to regulate emotions. Key questions concerned the extent to which these emotion regulation strategies are associated with positive and negative parenting practices and predict quality of parenting through interplay with parental depression. Design. Participants were families of toddlers (n = 84) referred to a tertiary-level health service for the treatment of disruptive behavior problems. Parenting practices were indexed through observational coding of parent–child interactions and self-report data on multiple dimensions of positive and negative parenting. Parents self-reported their use of cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression—the two emotion regulation strategies that are most robustly associated with psychosocial functioning in adults. Results. Associations between emotion regulation strategy and quality of parenting were moderated by parental depressive symptom severity, with distinct effects seen for positive and negative parenting practices. In terms of positive parenting, more frequent use of cognitive reappraisal was associated with increased use of labeled praise among parents with lower levels of depressive symptoms, whereas parents who had higher levels of depressive symptoms engaged in less such praise regardless of how frequently they used reappraisal. In terms of negative parenting, frequent use of cognitive reappraisal and expression suppression were associated with reduced levels of negative parenting, but only among parents with high levels of depression. Conclusions. These findings add to growing support for the integration of emotion regulation strategies into family process models of early-onset conduct problems and related clinical interventions.     

Fetal pain: life in troubled waters

Maternal well-being is the key to fetal well-being. A fetus is highly vulnerable and sensitive to pain and stress, and exposure has the potential for negative developmental consequences. Childbirth educators can help raise parental awareness about the importance of the maternal environment for best outcomes in fetal development.     

A semester-long student-directed research project involving enzyme immunoassay: appropriate for immunology, endocrinology, or neuroscience courses

The following project aimed at promoting integrated and long-lasting learning is described for an Immunology course, but it may be adapted to other disciplines. Students were asked to develop and carry out a research project to examine the relationship between immune function and stress. The experiments were required to include the assessment of salivary cortisol and salivary IgA (sIgA) with enzyme immunoassays. All other aspects of the experiments were developed by student groups with appropriate guidance from the instructor. Data are presented for one group project that assessed the effect of music on cortisol and sIgA. Overall levels of sIgA and cortisol were consistent with reported values. Students found a significant decrease in cortisol over time. Additionally, there was a trend that supported the overall student hypothesis regarding the effect of stress and immune function. Compared with the same Immunology course that included an instructor-designed experiment using enzyme immunoassays for cortisol and sIgA, several assessments (e.g., final grades and comments on student evaluations) show that overall learning seemed to be much better in the course with the student-directed research project.     

非形式逻辑与演绎主义

非形式逻辑出现于上个世纪70年代,它首先是一种寻求更好的大学逻辑教学方式的努力.进而,非形式逻辑学者们逐渐开始触及和探讨越来越多的理论议题,即发展不依赖于形式逻辑的关于论证以及好论证的理解方式.在1998年世界哲学大会上,布莱尔和我阐释了非形式逻辑为哲学所带来的理论后果,其中一点我们称之为"演绎主义的终结".那时我们并未给出演绎主义的定义,而只是把它等同于麦金泰尔的那个精炼的说法:"任何推理,不是演绎的,就是有缺陷的."但现在看来,我们在当时就作出"演绎主义的终结"这一论断,显然是有点为时过早了.因为演绎主义似乎至今都还很有生命力,甚至在那些倾向于非形式逻辑的学者那里它也能得到支持:恩尼斯长期以来都辩护演绎主义是一种论证重构策略,格罗尔克更是致力于辩护它是一种论证评价理论.在本文中我将论证,非形式逻辑最好被理解为一种不诉诸于演绎技巧和演绎规范的逻辑研究.当我们意识到演绎和演绎主义已经如何深深地扎根于我们的哲学发展史中,并且牢牢地控制了我们关于逻辑研究的理解,我们就能明白非形式逻辑这一理论努力是多么的困难和重要.我将首先澄清"演绎主义"的意思,然后再分别考察那些赞成和反对演绎主义的论证,最后,我将表明非形式逻辑是从演绎主义中挽救逻辑的理论尝试.     

Wendell Berry on Education: A Cultural Inheritance of Care

Although recognized for his wisdom on issues of agriculture, ecology, economics, and theology, writer Wendell Berry has been largely ignored for his thinking on education. Yet the same good sense and clear thinking that he applies to other areas of thought can be seen also in his writings on education. This article reviews what scholars have observed about Berry’s ideas on education, and then contextualizes his thinking through a comparison with two giants of educational theory: John Dewey and Paulo Freire. Berry’s local focus and his emphasis on community and the ecosphere create a vision for education that could lead to a healthier, more peaceable world.