In the latter half of the twentieth century, developed countries of the world have made tremendous strides in organ donation and transplantation. However, in this area of medicine, Japan has been slow to follow. Japanese ethics, deeply rooted in religion and tradition, have affected their outlook on life and death. Because the Japanese have only recently started to acknowledge the concept of brain death, transplantation of major organs has been hindered in that country. Currently, there is a dual definition of death in Japan, intended to satisfy both sides of the issue. This interesting paradox, which still stands to be fully resolved, illustrates the contentious conflict between medical ethics and medical progress in Japan.

This study examined the relationships of various teacher retention factors with the intentions of math and science teachers to remain in the profession. With data collected from the 2007–08 Schools and Staffing Survey, a sample of 6588 secondary math and science teachers across public schools in the USA was used for structural equation modeling. Socioeconomic impact, student truancy, and years of experience all showed direct relationships with teacher autonomy, while administrative support, teacher autonomy, and satisfaction with salary were all directly related to these teachers’ intentions to remain in the profession. Of these teacher retention factors, satisfaction with salary was found to have the strongest relationship. By understanding what factors are associated with the intentions of math and science teachers to continue teaching, educational policymakers and practitioners will have practical guidance in helping them make decisions to improve the retention of these teachers in secondary public schools, on whom the fields in STEM are so dependent.

This study investigated how students’ implicit theory that public speaking abilities can be developed and improved (i.e., growth mindset) was related to their apprehension, perceived competence, and beliefs regarding public speaking. Growth mindset was associated with lower apprehension and higher self-perceived competence. Growth mindset was also associated with the belief that public speaking involves reflection, revision, and adapting to one’s audience rather than merely transmitting information. Correlations were consistent with hypotheses.

(2020). The state of educational leadership in the United States: trends and implications for higher education and local school districts. International Journal of Leadership in Education. Ahead of Print.

This study investigated deference to scientific authority [Brossard, D., & Nisbet, M. C. (2007). Deference to scientific authority among a low information public: Understanding U.S. opinion on agricultural biotechnology. International Journal of Public Opinion Research, 19, 24–52] as it relates to support for science across eight sociocultural domains: the economy, the environment, epistemology, science education for all, public health, race and gender, public policy, and science and religion [Cobern, W. W., & Loving, C. C. (2002). Investigation of preservice elementary teachers’ thinking about science. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 39, 1016–1031]. Results revealed that both increased deference to scientific authority and increased support for science were associated with greater science education and lower religious attendance and revealed two underlying dimensions: an epistemic dimension, combining the deference, epistemology, and science and religion scales, and differing based on religious attendance; and a socioscientific dimension, combining science education for all, economy, environment, and public policy scales, and differing based on science education. In summary, this study suggested that low religious attendance was most strongly associated with support for the value of scientific knowledge and authority, while greater science education was most strongly associated with support for science in schools and society. The effect size for religious attendance was substantially larger than that for science education.