This study is designed to address aspects of self-regulation and self-efficacy as they relate to critical issues in the design and evaluation of online learning programs. It begins with a discussion of the rapid growth of distance learning programs at all levels and across virtually all disciplines of educational programming. Much of this…

Though targeted for governmental reform since 2002, services envisioned for gifted and talented students have not materialized in Japan. From the perspective of his personal experience as a Japan Fulbright Memorial Fund participant in 2005 and an extensive review of available literature and contacts with the Japanese Ministry of Education,…

This research explores the perceived exchange of social support resources of young, midlife, and older adults in the United States and Japan, and how perceptions of exchange may moderate attributions of control, difficulty, and success in attaining important life-goals. A survey was administered to participants in the United States and Japan who…

The author discusses the Japanese cultural concept of sunao (perhaps best translated as one's honest, gentle, cooperative nature) in relation to early childhood education in Japan. She explains the cultural belief that during early childhood, children need to learn to connect with one another and build a willingness and capacity to live…

The Taiwan travel information resources used by American, German, and Japanese tourists in 2006 are identified and analyzed in this study. Differences among demographic groups regarding types of information accessed, spending behaviors, and levels of satisfaction with available travel resources were examined. The study was based on analysis of…

Since the 1980s, school bullying--"Ijime"--has been a major concern of educational policy in Japan. In Japanese schools, homeroom teachers provide guidance for students' psychological and social development, in addition to academic development. Homeroom teachers spend significant time counseling students, visiting their families, and…

An ethnographic study conducted between 2003 and 2006 followed three children from Latin America attending three different public Japanese primary schools. The investigation concerned a Japanese-language tutoring programme for foreign children, which was evaluated by participant observation and a set of in-depth interviews with officials, school…

This paper outlines new work in cross-cultural psychology largely drawn from Nisbett, Choi, and Smith ("Cognition," 65, 15-32, 1997); Nisbett, Peng, Choi, & Norenzayan, "Psychological Review," 108(2), 291-310, 2001; Nisbett, "The Geography of Thought: How Asians and Westerners Think Differently...and Why." New…

Background: Effective educational evaluations involve interviews, observations and nonverbal cue interpretations. Educators carry out these evaluative activities everyday as instructors, advisors or administrators, often relying on nothing but their intuition. These evaluations inform the future decisions. One must determine if students really…

Cross-cultural trust and cooperation are important concerns for international markets, political cooperation, and cultural exchange. Until recently, this problem was difficult to study under controlled conditions due to the inability to conduct experiments involving interaction between participants located in physically distant locations. We…

Focusing on dress codes, this article aims at providing a better understanding of current practices of youth socialization in Japanese schools and of cultural consequences of post-scarcity on schools. Since the late 1980s, there has been a national trend among Japanese secondary schools granting students more freedom of individual expression…

The purpose of this paper is to problematize that which has been taken for granted about the notion of multiculturalism in Japan. Multiculturalism is a "hot" issue in Japan. As the Japanese government started to promote "internationalization" since 1980s, slogans such as "international exchange," "cultural…

The purpose of this article is to discuss the Japanese educational system and how the transformed society influenced the appearance of school counselors in the educational setting. In addition, a comparison of issues that influenced the emergence of these professionals to those in the United States is provided. Finally, a discussion is included…

This study is concerned with ways in which children with Williams syndrome (WS), a rare neurodevelopmental disorder arising from a hemizygous deletion in chromosome band 7q11.23 including the gene for elastin (ELN) and approximately 20 surrounding genes, are affected by social mores of vastly differing cultures: the United States and Japan. WS…

Describes the various reading styles found in Japan which reflect the people's view of reading. (HOD)