Creating Pathways to College for Migrant Students: Assessing a Migrant Outreach Program

Migrant students are among the most disadvantaged of any groups in the United States, yet little is understood about factors that facilitate their college access. College access outreach programs rarely collect data on whether and where their students go to college. This longitudinal study tracked the college-going behaviors of migrant students who participated in the Migrant Student Leadership Institute (MSLI), a program whose goals include increasing migrant students' 4-year college access. The program emphasizes developing students' capacity for critical thinking about sociopolitical conditions, as well as their academic preparation for, and knowledge about, college. Results from analyses using an equivalent comparison group suggest that the program positively affected participants' application rates to, and enrollment rates in, more selective California public higher education institutions, including campuses of the University of California (UC) system. This article addresses factors that potentially accounted for these outcomes.     

Make It Work: Using Service Design to Support Collaboration in Challenging Times

Student success units, like Writing Centers, are logical partners for academic libraries. It is not uncommon to find tutoring or academic support services located in library Learning Commons spaces. At Oregon State University, we recently launched a Research and Writing Studio that takes these partnerships to the next level. This column examines the relevance of a service design approach to collaborative space planning. It further examines the challenging process of applying idealized or general models and theories to the reality of our daily work and local contexts.     

A Phenomenology of Transfer: Students’ Experiences at a Receiving Institution

This study advances a conceptual framework to examine how students who had transferred into a four-year institution described their transition experiences. We used phenomenology as a source of theoretical constructs to interpret their experiences and as a research method. Key themes included the importance of online resources in facilitating the transfer process, the importance of supportive institutional agents, the importance of academic and career goals, and the comparative lack of emphasis on having a more social “college experience.” We discuss implications of these findings for future research, policy, and practice. This study contributes to a better understanding of (a) transfer students’ experiences in an understudied institutional setting, (b) the factors distinguishing persisting and non-persisting transfer students, and (c) ways that receiving institutions can be more responsive to the needs of transfer students.     

Providing Undergraduates with Opportunities to Explicitly Reflect on How News Articles Promote the Public (Mis)understanding of Science

Science & Education - A well-informed populace is vitally important for the proper functioning of democracy. Media news articles constitute an essential means by which the public comes into...     

Introducing Undergraduates to the Nature of Science Through the Co-construction of Evolutionary Trees Evidence from a University Biology Course

Research in Science Education - Contrary to the situation at primary, middle, and secondary school levels, university science courses provide students with very few opportunities to reflect upon...     

The importance of cohesion and enjoyment for the fitness improvement of 8–10-year-old children participating in a team and individual sport school-based physical activity intervention

This study investigates the enjoyment and cohesion of school children participating in a school-based high-intensity physical activity (PA) intervention. Both enjoyment and cohesion have been found to be important factors for adherence to regular physical and sport activity, an important outcome of PA interventions. The sample consisted of 300 pupils (mean age: 9.3 years; 52.7% female) assigned to a team sport intervention, an individual sport intervention, or a control group for 10 months. The Physical Activity Enjoyment Scale and Youth Sport Environment Questionnaire were used to measure enjoyment and cohesion. The Yo-Yo IR1C test determined fitness improvements. Results showed that enjoyment and cohesion (social) measured at the beginning of the intervention significantly predict fitness improvements achieved after 10 months. No differing developmental effects over time could be found in the intervention groups with regard to cohesion and enjoyment when comparing them to the control group. However, enjoyment and cohesion (social) significantly decreased in the groups that performed individual sports. Team sports seem to be more advantageous for the development of enjoyment and cohesion, which are both factors that positively impact the health outcomes of the intervention.     

Examination of the Six Minute Walk Test to Determine Functional Capacity in People with Chronic Heart Failure: A Systematic Review

Purpose: To evaluate the reliability and validity of the six-minute walk test (6MWT) with respect to its ability to predict functional capacity in patients with chronic heart failure. Methods: A systematic review was performed via 8 databases to assess relevant English language full-text articles published from January 1, 1980 to October 31, 2009. Participant characteristics, interventions, reliability, validity, and predictive value for each article with respect to functional capacity as defined by peak VO₂ levels were extracted and compared. Quality Assessment of Diagnostic Accuracy Studies (QUADAS) scores were determined for each study. Results: Fourteen studies met the selection criteria. Comparison of the studies investigating reliability shows that the 6MWT has good reproducibility. The 6MWT demonstrates moderate correlation with peak VO₂ levels, and ability to predict VO₂ (functional capacity) dependent on distance walked. Cut-off distances vary from 300 to 490 meters depending on the study; if total distance walked remains equal or less than these values, the 6MWT retains its strong predictive value. Conclusion: The 6MWT has good reliability, moderate validity, and a significant ability to predict functional capacity in patients with CHF who do not walk greater than 490 meters.Key Words: six-minute walk test, chronic heart failure, functional capacity, peak VO₂     

Cognitive constraints and the early learning goals in writing

This study examined the relative importance of a number of cognitive factors (i.e. working memory, vocabulary knowledge, general cognitive ability and reading skills) in accounting for differences in the rate of progress made by children in the development of emergent writing skills. Sixty-seven children were assessed on tasks measuring the visuospatial, phonological and central executive components of working memory. The children's written texts were analysed according to the assessment scale for writing from the Early Years Foundation Stage Profile. The results indicate that reading performance and visuospatial memory skills are crucial to determining whether or not children aged 4–5 years are able to meet the UK government's prescribed educational standards for writing. The importance of visual skills in the acquisition of orthographic knowledge and writing conventions gained through reading is discussed in relation to current instructional strategies within schools.