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The purpose of this study was to develop and test a scale assessing students' moral thinking and communication (MTC) functioning as well as to explore the implications for moral development and education. The rationale of MTC functioning, including interaction of four independent competencies: moral awareness, moral judgement, moral discourse, and moral decision-making, is primarily adapted from L. Kohlberg's theory, Neo-Kohlbergian theory, J. Habermas's and K.-O. Apel's discourse ethics, and L. Hinman's ethical pluralism. There were two studies in the development of the measure. The resulting instrument contained four moral dilemmas differing by a focus on micro-moral and macro-moral levels. Findings from the studies indicated the MTC scale has acceptable psychometric properties and describe Taiwanese students as attending to the difficult problems of integrating local and international cultural norms. Additionally, the measure provides a detailed picture of students' moral thinking and communication functioning. These results are discussed in terms of implications for moral theory and assessment of moral education.

This article focuses on first-person perspectives of a parent-child relationship. The personal experiences of my son and I epitomise the clash of Eastern and Western, traditional and modern cultures in the social context of Taiwan. As a professor of moral education, I reflect on my son's upbringing in order to try to understand and reconcile differences of educational principles and styles between cultures and generations. I relate the journey my adolescent son and I endured over six years to overcome the many difficulties he faced, as he did not fit neatly into the traditional education mould. As a result of this moral education process I point to some implications for parents and educators, including: consideration of universal values and educational methods in different cultures; adoption and integration of various educational theories to form a cultural identity; and the application of the theory and practice of moral education to parenting and schooling.

This study focused on the planning, implementation and evaluation of a character-based school culture (CBSC) project in Taiwan. The project integrated the principles of justice, caring and developmental discipline and was influenced by several well-known American models of character education programmes. The CBSC project was conducted in a Taiwanese elementary school from August 2005 to July 2007. The methods included symposia, workshops, meetings, interviews, surveys, observations and experimentation. The findings were: (1) the planning, implementation and evaluation of the CBSC project revealed numerous strengths and a few limitations; (2) the CBSC project demonstrated its coherence and feasibility in practice; and (3) the results of this case study showed the CBSC project's effectiveness in qualitative but not quantitative terms. Several recommendations are made to schools and researchers on how to use the CBSC project as a basis for instilling an effective, high-quality, character-based school culture in Taiwanese schools and also in schools elsewhere. (Contains 3 tables.)

This study was designed to illuminate the state of education in Taiwan by constructing Educational Indicator Systems. The study, sponsored by the National Science Council between 1998 and 2000, was the first comprehensive indicator project to cover all educational levels in Taiwan. Various research methods were used, including panel discussion, conference, setting up website, Delphi technique, questionnaires and visits to 14 international organizations and government agencies. In the process, two educational indicator systems based upon the "Context-Input-Process-Progress" (CIPP) model were formulated: "Taiwan's Educational Indicator System by educational level" (TEIS by el) with 99 indicators, and "Significant Indicators of Taiwan's Education" (SITE) with 34 indicators. Finally, some limitations and suggestions were offered for the future development of Educational Indicator Systems.

Taiwan has gradually transformed from an authoritarian to a democratic society. The education system is moving from uniformity to diversity, from authoritarian centralization to deregulation and pluralism. Moral education is a reflection of, and influenced by, educational reform and social change, as this paper shows in describing the history of moral education in Taiwan. From 1949 to the 1980s, Taiwan's moral education consisted of ideological, nationalistic, political education and the teaching of a strict code of conduct. Since the late 1980s moral education has changed rapidly due to educational reforms. Political ideologies and traditional culture in moral education have gradually been phased out. Since August 2004, diversified and generalized moral education has replaced the special subject of moral education offered in school. Moral education in Taiwan faces great changes and new challenges. The paper concludes by suggesting some strategies, such as facilitating critical thinking, civic values and multiple teaching approaches, for the development of a new moral education suitable to modern democratic society in Taiwan.

To link to full-text access for this article, visit this link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.tips.2006.04.004 Byline: Chi-Ming Lee (a), Lars Farde (b) Abstract: Positron emission tomography (PET) is a non-invasive technology of nuclear medicine that has sensitivity for tracing low picomolar concentrations of radiolabeled molecules in the human body. Radiolabeling a new drug to high specific radioactivity facilitates a detailed mapping of its distribution to crucial organs in humans after the administration of a 'microdose' ( Author Affiliation: (a) AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals, 1800 Concord Pike, Wilmington, DE 19850, USA (b) AstraZeneca R&D Sodertalje, SE-15185, Sodertalje, Sweden, and Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, SE-17176 Stockholm, Sweden