Making Time for Growth: Discipleship for the Families of Shepherd of the Hill Lutheran Church

The goal of this ministry project is to create a strategy for confronting the challenges that threaten the fulfillment of the responsibilities laid upon the parents of children baptized at Shepherd of the Hill Lutheran Church in Lockport, Illinois. The problem is not just a lack of knowledge or skill in how parents can disciple their children for faith in God; equally at fault is the lack of time in a family’s schedule caused by society’s pressure to ignore Sabbath. Through an examination of both classical Lutheran theology and its critique by both evangelical and Lutheran theologians, an argument is put forth that discipleship is not contrary to the Lutheran emphasis of “salvation by grace through faith.” Simultaneously, a case is made that, due to our present anxiety-laden economic system, there is an increasing pressure to ignore God’s gift of Sabbath and thus a tendency to forget who we are and whose we are. This ministry initiative proposes a strategy that seeks do three things at the same time: better equip parents for the work of discipling their children, plant within families a thirst for God’s gift of rest, and create a structure of support as these families begin a distinctively counter-cultural path. The equipping of parents is facilitated by new aspects of the congregation’s Sunday school and confirmation instruction. The thirst for Sabbath is established through a proposed quarterly practice of Sabbath-keeping and a yearly assessment of family commitments. Parental support is given by the organization of a parents’ small group. The overall goal of this initiative is to better equip parents to say “no” to those things that draw their family away from God, enabling them to say “yes” to those things that draw the family nearer. Content Reader: Randy L. Rowlan

Circulating and organizational testosterone and the perception of dominance

This project focused on the relationship between both circulating testosterone (T), prenatal exposure to T, and perception of emotions in the faces of others. Based on past research, Twas hypothesized to be related to the Theory of Mind (ToM) abilities, which are concerned with reading emotions and intentions of others. More specifically, T was hypothesized to be more strongly related to the perception of dominant emotions compared to the perception of non-dominant emotions. To test this idea, the Test of the Eyes was used, which measures the ability to correctly perceive emotions in pictures of faces (specifically, eyes). To date, this research was the first to examine both circulating T and an indicator of prenatal T in relation to the perception of dominance. Correlational analyses showed that neither exposure to prenatal T, nor circulating T, were related to scores on the ToM test. Consistent with past research, however, women scored better on the test, interpreting emotions better than men. Several different measures of trait dominance were found to be positively related to circulating T, but this relationship was accounted for by gender. Trait dominance was also unrelated to organizational T and to the perception of dominance. Findings, limitations, and future research directions are discussed

Evaluative Case Study of a Summer Academy Program

The demands for technological workers have prompted a national effort to encourage all sectors of the population to consider careers in mathematics and science (National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, NCTM, 1989; NSF, 1988; Task Force, 1989). Yet students are not electing to enroll in science in school. One possible solution to increase interest in science is through summer programs. The Summer Academy in Plant Biology and Transgenics hosted by the Western Oklahoma State College, the Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation and the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education, is an intervention program in science for talented students and, in particular minorities and girls. This program is informed by the current research, employs a reformed curriculum and involves students working alongside practicing scientists in a highly interactive science experience and appears to have many positive aspects that enable it to reach its goals

Evaluative Case Study of a Summer Academy Program

The demands for technological workers have prompted a national effort to encourage all sectors of the population to consider careers in mathematics and science (National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, NCTM, 1989; NSF, 1988; Task Force, 1989). Yet students are not electing to enroll in science in school. One possible solution to increase interest in science is through summer programs. The Summer Academy in Plant Biology and Transgenics hosted by the Western Oklahoma State College, the Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation and the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education, is an intervention program in science for talented students and, in particular minorities and girls. This program is informed by the current research, employs a reformed curriculum and involves students working alongside practicing scientists in a highly interactive science experience and appears to have many positive aspects that enable it to reach its goals