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Engaging in design thinking activities has been increasingly viewed as important for the craft of teaching for early childhood practitioners. However, reliable and valid measurements for this are lacking. As such, this research aims to develop and validate a design thinking engagement scale (DTES) to assess teachers' engagement in design thinking. A sample of 370 Chinese kindergarten teachers completed a questionnaire to test its reliability, validity and generality empirically. First, principal component analysis (PCA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) both supported a five-factor structure of the DTES, indicating satisfactory construct validity. The total variance explained in PCA was 85.48%. Second, the reliability analyses within each sub-dimension and for the total DTES also showed an adequate internal consistency for the scale, ranging from 0.89 to 0.92 in PCA, and 0.84 to 0.94 in CFA. Besides, at CFA, the composite reliability ([rho]) (0.84 to 0.94) also indicated a good reliability. Moreover, both good convergent validity and discriminant validity were obtained through the method of average variance extracted (AVE) for each dimension (0.64 to 0.80) and constraining the correlations between each pair of constructs respectively. Thus, the DTES can be a promising tool for measuring design thinking engagement among early childhood teachers.

The continuous production of mature blood cell lineages is maintained by hematopoietic stem cells but they are highly susceptible to damage by ionizing radiation (IR) that induces death. Thus, devising therapeutic strategies that can mitigate hematopoietic toxicity caused by IR would benefit acute radiation syndrome (ARS) victims and patients receiving radiotherapy. Herein, we describe the preparation of an injectable hydrogel formulation based on Arg‐Gly‐Asp‐alginate (RGD‐Alg) and Laponite using a simple mixing method that ensured a slow and sustained release of interleukin‐12 (IL‐12) (RGD‐Alg/Laponite@IL‐12). The local administration of RGD‐Alg/Laponite@IL‐12 increased survival rates and promoted the hematopoietic recovery of mice who had received sublethal‐dose irradiation. Local intra‐bone marrow (intra‐BM) injection of RGD‐Alg/Laponite@IL‐12 hydrogel effectively stimulated IL12 receptor‐phosphoinositide 3‐kinase/protein kinase B (IL‐12R‐PI3K/AKT) signaling axis, which promoted proliferation and hematopoietic growth factors secretion of BM mesenchymal stem/stromal cells. This signaling axis facilitates the repair of the hematopoietic microenvironment and plays a pivotal role in hematopoietic reconstitution. In conclusion, we describe a biomaterial‐sustained release of IL‐12 for the treatment of irradiated hematopoietic injury and provide a new therapeutic strategy for hematopoietic ARS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

STEM learning is an integrated approach to improving learners' problem-solving capacity and 21st-century skills by engaging them in systematic investigation that requires interdisciplinary knowledge. This study aimed to examine whether the design of an innovative knowledge-building environment facilitates STEM learning. Participants were university students engaging in in-depth group projects to design a piece of living-technology product. Data were obtained from student groups' online discussion of their STEM projects. Both quantitative and qualitative analyses of student groups' knowledge-building activities, including fostering a strong sense of community, working productively with ideas, and assuming higher-level agency, provided evidence of students' deep engagement in the design of their STEM projects. Recommendations for the design of effective STEM learning environments are offered.

Research Findings: This study incorporates teacher vitality, efficacy, and engagement with lesson design practice in which teachers can particularly encounter challenges from technology integration that calls for design thinking. Using a structural equation modeling approach, this study explores the relationships among teachers' design thinking engagement (DTE), efficacy in two types of technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPACK) called pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) and technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPCK), and design vitality (DV). A survey containing measurements for teachers' DTE, PCK efficacy, TPCK efficacy, and DV was delivered to 408 Chinese early childhood teachers. Reliability and validity of the instruments were attained through confirmatory factor analysis. Results indicated that teachers' DTE was statistically significant in explaining teachers' perceived PCK and TPCK efficacy, as well as perceived DV. Teachers' perceived TPCK efficacy significantly predicts DV. However, no significant prediction was found for teachers' perceived PCK efficacy to DV. Practice or Policy: To ensure teachers with character strength as designers who face technology integration challenges, it is important for teacher development program to highlight teachers' proximal processes as designers structured with emotional, cognitive, and behavioral processes that can be manifested through design activities of "Empathize", "Define", "Ideate", "Prototype", and "Test". [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Physical abuse is one subtype of child abuse and it has been a worldwide public health issue for its detrimental effects on child development, profiles, predictors, and its relation with behavior problems need further exploration, particularly in Chinese children. This study attempts to explore profiles and predictors of physical abuse and to examine differences in behavior problems in profiles of physical abuse. A total of 900 caregivers whose children aged 4 to 6 years were recruited in which the data were collected with caregiver-reported questionnaires, and latent profile analysis was used to perform data analysis. Research Findings: Children were divided into three profiles: profiles of extremely low levels of physical abuse, low levels of physical abuse, and moderate levels of physical abuse; child gender and family income predicted classifications of profiles. Internalizing and externalizing problems were different based on profiles, specifically, externalizing problems in the profile of moderate levels of physical abuse were significantly higher than any other profile; internalizing problems in the profile of low levels of physical abuse were significantly higher than the profile of extremely low levels of physical abuse. Practice or Policy: Preventions for physical abuse should take individual differences, such as children's gender, into consideration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]