���Which child left behind��� : historical issues regarding equity in science assessment

Assessment of learning plays a dominant role in formal education in the forms of determining features of curriculum that are emphasized, pedagogic methods that teachers use with their students, and parents��� and employers��� understanding of how well students have performed. A common perception is that fair assessment applies the same mode of assessment and content focus for all students���the approach of assessments in international comparative studies of science achievement. This article examines research evidence demonstrating that the act of assessment is not neutral���different forms of assessment advantage or disadvantage groups of students on the basis of family backgrounds, gender, race, or disability. Assessment that implicitly or explicitly captures the social capital of the child serves to consolidate, not address, educational equity. The article provides an overview of ways that science curriculum focus and assessment can introduce bias in the identification of student achievement. It examines the effect of changes to curriculum and assessment approaches in science, and relationships between assessment of science and the cultural context of the student. Recommendations are provided for science���assessment research to address bias for different groups of students.

International assessments of science learning : their positive and negative contributions to science education

The establishment and continuity of two international comparative assessments of science learning���the IEA���s TIMSS project and the OECD���s PISA project���have meant that there are now high-status reference points for other national and more local approaches to assessing the efficacy of science teaching and learning. Both projects, albeit with very different senses of what the outcome of science learning should be, have contributed positively and negatively to the current state of assessment of school science. The TIMSS project looks back at the science that is commonly included in the curricula of the participating countries. It is thus not about established school science nor about innovations in it. PISA is highly innovative looking, prospectively forward to see how students can use their science learning in everyday life situations. In this chapter some of these positives and negatives are discussed.

Towards an authentically assessed science curriculum

The intentions of the science curriculum are very often constrained by the forms of student learning that are required by, or are currently available within, the system of education. Furthermore, little attention is given to developing new approaches to assessment that would encourage these good intentions. In this chapter, we argue that achieving this broadening of the intentions of science education will require a diversity of assessment techniques and that only a profile of each student���s achievement will capture the range of intended learnings. We explore a variety of assessment modes that match some of these new aspects of science learning and that also provide students with both formative information and a more comprehensive and authentic summative profile of their performances. Our discussion is illustrated with research-based examples of assessment practice in relation to three aspects of science education that are increasingly referred to in curriculum statements as desirable human dimensions of science: context-based science education, decision-making processes and socioscientific issues and integrated science education. We conclude with some notes on what these broader kinds of assessment mean for teachers and the support they would need to include them in their day-to-day practices in the science classrooms if, and when, the mainstream of science teaching and learning takes these curricular intentions seriously.

Waterfalls, science and aesthetics

Waterfalls and rapids are a subject of study by scientists and scholars from a variety of academic and professional backgrounds. Unlike cave research, known as speleology, which also involves many different disciplines, the study of waterfalls is not generally regarded as a distinct branch of knowledge. Long neglected as subjects of research, waterfalls have received considerable attention since the 1980s. This paper traces the study of waterfalls from the late eighteenth century, a period when both a scientific and an aesthetic interest in landscape developed in Europe, to the present. The work of geographers, geologists and others who studied landforms and landscapes is examined, with particular attention to those who expressed a special interest in waterfalls, notably Alexander von Humboldt. The study argues that the scientific and aesthetic approaches to landscape research are not incompatible and supports the view that both are necessary for a full understanding and appreciation of the environment in which we live.

Association between postmenopausal osteoporosis and experimental periodontitis

To investigate the correlation between postmenopausal osteoporosis (PMO) and the pathogenesis of periodontitis, ovariectomized rats were generated and the experimental periodontitis was induced using a silk ligature. The inflammatory factors and bone metabolic markers were measured in the serum and periodontal tissues of ovariectomized rats using an automatic chemistry analyzer, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays, and immunohistochemistry. The bone mineral density of whole body, pelvis, and spine was analyzed using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry and image analysis. All data were analyzed using SPSS 13.0 statistical software. It was found that ovariectomy could upregulate the expression of interleukin- (IL-)6, the receptor activator of nuclear factor-��B ligand (RANKL), and osteoprotegerin (OPG) and downregulate IL-10 expression in periodontal tissues, which resulted in progressive alveolar bone loss in experimental periodontitis. This study indicates that changes of cytokines and bone turnover markers in the periodontal tissues of ovariectomized rats contribute to the damage of periodontal tissues.

Mobile silencing in plants: what is the signal and what defines the target

RNA-mediated silencing in plants can spread from cell to cell and over a long distance, and such mobile silencing has been extensively studied in the past decade. However, major questions remain as to what is the exact nature of the mobile silencing signals, how the components of the RNA-directed DNA methylation pathway are involved, and why systemic spread of silencing has only been observed for transgenes but not endogenous genes. In this review, we provide an overview of the current knowledge on mobile gene silencing in plants and present a model where systemic silencing involves long nuclear RNA transcripts that serve as a template to amplify primary siRNA signals.

Jane McCredie - Making Girls and Boys : Inside the Science of Sex [Book Review]

Activists, Feminists, queer theorists, and those who live outside traditional gender narratives have long challenged the fixity of the sex and gender binaries. While the dominant Western paradigm posits sex and gender as natural and inherent, queer theory argues that sex and gender are socially constructed. This means that our ideas about sex and gender, and the concepts themselves, are shaped by particular social contexts. Questioning the nature of sex can be puzzling. After all, isn���t sex biology? Binary sex ��� male and female ��� was labelled as such by scientists based on existing binary categories and observations of hormones, genes, chromosomes, reproductive organs, genitals and other bodily elements. Binary sex is allocated at birth by genital appearance. Not everyone fits into these categories and this leads queer theorists, and others, to question the categories. Now, ���some scientists are also starting to move away from the idea of biology as the fixed basis on which the social artefact of gender is built��� (5). Making Girls and Boys: Inside the Science of Sex, by Jane McCredie, examines theories about gender roles and behaviours also considering those who don���t fit the arbitrary sex and gender binaries.

The Enamovirus P0 protein is a silencing suppressor which inhibits local and systemic RNA silencing through AGO1 degradation

The P0 protein of poleroviruses and P1 protein of sobemoviruses suppress the plant's RNA silencing machinery. Here we identified a silencing suppressor protein (SSP), P0PE, in the Enamovirus Pea enation mosaic virus-1 (PEMV-1) and showed that it and the P0s of poleroviruses Potato leaf roll virus and Cereal yellow dwarf virus have strong local and systemic SSP activity, while the P1 of Sobemovirus Southern bean mosaic virus supresses systemic silencing. The nuclear localized P0PE has no discernable sequence conservation with known SSPs, but proved to be a strong suppressor of local silencing and a moderate suppressor of systemic silencing. Like the P0s from poleroviruses, P0PE destabilizes AGO1 and this action is mediated by an F-box-like domain. Therefore, despite the lack of any sequence similarity, the poleroviral and enamoviral SSPs have a conserved mode of action upon the RNA silencing machinery. �� 2012 Elsevier Inc.

Biological values of acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine : impact on the life science

Editorial paper

Complexity and the science of implementation in health IT ��� knowledge gaps and future visions

Objectives The intent of this paper is in the examination of health IT implementation processes ��� the barriers to and facilitators of successful implementation, identification of a beginning set of implementation best practices, the identification of gaps in the health IT implementation body of knowledge, and recommendations for future study and application. Methods A literature review resulted in the identification of six health IT related implementation best practices which were subsequently debated and clarified by participants attending the NI2012 Research Post Conference held in Montreal in the summer of 2012. Using the framework for implementation research (CFIR) to guide their application, the six best practices were applied to two distinct health IT implementation studies to assess their applicability. Results Assessing the implementation processes from two markedly diverse settings illustrated both the challenges and potentials of using standardized implementation processes. In support of what was discovered in the review of the literature, ���one size fits all��� in health IT implementation is a fallacy, particularly when global diversity is added into the mix. At the same time, several frameworks show promise for use as ���scaffolding��� to begin to assess best practices, their distinct dimensions, and their applicability for use. Conclusions Health IT innovations, regardless of the implementation setting, requires a close assessment of many dimensions. While there is no ���one size fits all���, there are commonalities and best practices that can be blended, adapted, and utilized to improve the process of implementation. This paper examines health IT implementation processes and identifies a beginning set of implementation best practices, which could begin to address gaps in the health IT implementation body of knowledge.

Retooling Asian-Pacific teachers to promote creativity, innovation and problem solving in science classrooms

This paper reports on a Professional Learning Programme undertaken by primary school teachers in China that aimed to facilitate the development of ���adaptive expertise��� in using technology to facilitate innovative science teaching and learning such as that envisaged by the Chinese Ministry of Education���s (2010���2020) education reforms. The study found that the participants made substantial progress towards the development of adaptive expertise manifested not only by advances in the participants��� repertoires of pedagogical content knowledge but also in changes to their levels of confidence and identities as teachers. By the end of the programme, the participants had coalesced into a professional learning community that readily engaged in the sharing, peer review, reuse and adaption, and collaborative design of innovative science learning and assessment activities. The findings from the study indicate that those engaged in the development of Professional Learning Programmes in Asia-Pacific nations need to take cognizance of certain cultural factors and traditions idiosyncratic to the educational systems. This is reflected in the amended set of principles to inform the design and implementation of professional learning programmes presented in the concluding sections of the paper.

Challenges of elementary science teaching: an Australian perspective

This chapter profiles research that has explored the role of affect in the teaching of science in Australia particularly on primary or elementary science education. Affect is a complex set of characteristics that relate to the interactions between an individual���s knowledge and emotional responses to a stimulus. Thus, there are many dimensions and theoretical frameworks that inform our understanding of how and why people behave in particular ways.

RANKL expression in periodontal disease : where does RANKL come from?

Periodontitis is an inflammatory disease characterized by periodontal pocket formation and alveolar bone resorption. Periodontal bone resorption is induced by osteoclasts and receptor activator of nuclear factor-��B ligand (RANKL) which is an essential and central regulator of osteoclast development and osteoclast function. Therefore, RANKL plays a critical role in periodontal bone resorption. In this review, we have summarized the sources of RANKL in periodontal disease and explored which factors may regulate RANKL expression in this disease.