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This investigation (1) elucidates genuine interest in the context of learning from Dewey's perspective, (2) assesses construct validity evidence for a genuine interest conceptual model using data from the Factors Effecting Ethics Learning survey, and (3) assesses measurement invariance of the genuine interest constructs between male (n = 352) and female (n = 188) Taiwan high school students. Results provide support for genuine interest as a two-dimensional construct. Second-order factor analysis shows that latent variables of genuine interest in learning socio-scientific issues and interpersonal communication ethics-related issues are represented by sub-latent constructs of learning interest and learning enjoyment. Assessment of gender invariance in the conceptual model provides evidence of measurement equivalence.

This study investigated the predictive effect of 11th grade Taiwanese students' (N = 878) self-assessed critical thinking, group participation self-efficacy, and active learning on their genuine learning interest (GLI) in socio-scientific issues (SSI). Results showed that active learning had a direct effect on GLI, while critical thinking and group participation self-efficacy had indirect effects on GLI as mediated by active learning. Critical thinking showed a significant direct effect on active learning, and a significant indirect effect on active learning that was mediated by group participation self-efficacy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

"Science for all" is a global educational pursuit; however, the realities in formal science education show that it is a goal still challenged by inequitable outcomes that are marked by gender, race/ethnicity, language, culture, and socioeconomic status. Whether these inequities persist in the informal settings still remained a question that is open for more investigation. This empirical study aims to examine the factors that relate to access to informal science education institutions. A representative sample of 1611 Taiwanese adults was asked if they have visited six popular informal science education institutions in the last 12 months. Nine factors related to travel distance, social demography, and scientific literacy, were included to explain the likelihood of visiting each institution. The findings showed that the travel distance, education, presence of children, interest in scientific issues, and attitudes toward these institutions were statistically significant predictors of visitation. The paper provides empirical and practical implications to help informal science educators and policy makers to ensure equitable access to these institutions for "all."

The purpose of civic education is to prepare students to become 'good citizens' aligned with the policies and political purposes of the regime to which they belong. This exploratory study employed a mixed methods design to construct a typology of 'good citizens' to understand university students' perceptions of citizenship in Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau and Mainland China. It found that the university students' perceptions of 'good citizens' is constructed from two components: internal political efficacy and the connection between 'good citizens' and the regime. Students in these societies share a similar understanding of the first component but have significant divergences in the second component. These findings demonstrate a correlation between regime type and the perceptions of 'good citizens' and our typology could provide a conceptual framework to guide researchers in organising and conducting further comparative studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Background Action semantics have been investigated in relation to context violation but remain less examined in relation to the meaning of gestures. In the present study, we examined tool–gesture incongruity by event-related potentials (ERPs) and hypothesized that the component N400, a neural index which has been widely used in both linguistic and action semantic congruence, is significant for conditions of incongruence. Methods Twenty participants performed a tool–gesture judgment task, in which they were asked to judge whether the tool–gesture pairs were correct or incorrect, for the purpose of conveying functional expression of the tools. Online electroencephalograms and behavioral performances (the accuracy rate and reaction time) were recorded. Results The ERP analysis showed a left centro-parieto-temporal N300 effect (220–360 ms) for the correct condition. However, the expected N400 (400–550 ms) could not be differentiated between correct/incorrect conditions. After 700 ms, a prominent late negative complex for the correct condition was also found in the left centro-parieto-temporal area. Conclusions The neurophysiological findings indicated that the left centro-parieto-temporal area is the predominant region contributing to neural processing for tool–gesture incongruity in right-handers. The temporal dynamics of tool–gesture incongruity are: (1) firstly enhanced for recognizable tool–gesture using patterns, (2) and require a secondary reanalysis for further examination of the highly complicated visual structures of gestures and tools. The evidence from the tool–gesture incongruity indicated altered brain activities attributable to the N400 in relation to lexical and action semantics. The online interaction between gesture and tool processing provided minimal context violation or anticipation effect, which may explain the missing N400.

This research surveyed the characteristics of the developmental traits of impulse control behavior in children through parent-report questionnaires. After matching for gender and attention behavior, as well as controlling for variables (motor and perception) which might confound impulse control, 710 participants (355 girls and 355 boys; grade, 1–5; age, 7–12 years) were recruited from a database of 1763 children. Results demonstrated that there was a significant difference between grade 1 and grade 5 in impulse control. Conversely, no significant differences were found when comparing other grades. The present findings indicate that a striking development of impulse control occurs from grade 4 to 5. Moreover, the plateau of impulse control development from grade 1 to 4 implies that a long transition period is needed to prepare children to develop future impulse control. In conclusion, the age-dependent maturation associated with stage-wise development is a critical characteristic of impulse control development in school age children. Further discussions are made regarding this characteristic, such as from the perspective of frontal lobe development.

Selective removal of the silicon underneath a set of single-turn multilayer interlaced stacked (SMIS) radio-frequency (RF) transformers with nearly perfect magnetic-coupling factor ([[kappa].sub.IM] ~ 1) and high resistive-coupling factor ([[kappa].sub.Re]) is demonstrated. This process is based on the inductively coupled-plasma (ICP) deep trench technology. Improvement of 20.6 and 15.7 dB in isolation ([S.sub.21]) were achieved at 5.2 and 8 GHz, respectively, for a dummy open device after the backside ICP etching. Q-factor increases of 102% (from 4.96 to 10.03) and 23.2% (from 2.24 to 2.76), [G.sub.Amax] increases of 11.8% (from 0.76 to 0.85) and 4.5% (from 0.88 to 0.92), and N[F.sub.min] decreases of 0.49 dB (from 1.22 to 0.73 dB) and 0.19 dB (from 0.55 to 0.36 dB) were achieved at 5.2 and 8 GHz, respectively, for an SMIS transformer with an overall dimension of 170 x 240 [micro][m.sub.2] after the backside ICP etching. The [G.sub.Amax] of 0.85 and 0.92 are both state-of-the-art results among all reported on-chip transformers. Furthermore, the reasons why the SMIS transformer exhibits better performances than the traditional bifilar and the traditional stacked transformer are explained. These results show that the micromachined SMIS transformers are very promising for RF integrated circuit applications. Index Terms--Inductively coupled plasma (ICP), magnetic coupling, quality factor (Q-factor), radio-frequency integrated circuit (RFIC), single-turn multilayer interlaced stacked (SMIS), transformer, ultra-low-loss.

Both care continuity and care coordination are important features of the health care system. However, little is known about the relationship between care continuity and care coordination, their effects on hospitalizations, and whether these effects vary across patients with various levels of comorbidity. This study employed a panel study design with a 3-year follow-up from 2007 to 2011 in Taiwan's universal health coverage system. Patients aged 18 years or older who were newly diagnosed with diabetes in 2007 were included in the study. We found that the correlation between care continuity and care coordination was low. Patients with higher levels of care continuity or care coordination were less likely to experience hospitalization for diabetes-related conditions. Furthermore, both care continuity and care coordination showed stronger effects for patients with higher comorbidity scores. Improving care continuity and coordination for patients with multiple chronic conditions is the right direction for policymakers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]