The Privilege of Ease: Social Class and Campus Life at Highly Selective,Private Universities

Active involvement in college activities is linked to a host of student development outcomes, including personal growth, achievement and satisfaction. Yet, to date there has been too little attention to how social class shapes campus involvement. Through an analysis of survey data of students attending a single elite university and a national sample of students at highly selective, private universities, I consider how class background is associated with participation in college activities and satisfaction with campus social life. Reflecting a history of class-based exclusion, the typical elite university student enters college from an affluent household, although distinct class fractions help conceal significant gaps and differences across the college years. Dominant class students devote considerable time to social and recreational activities, while middle and subordinate class students are more likely to have a part-time job to pay for college expenses. This pattern of campus involvement explains middle and subordinate class students’ lower levels of satisfaction upon graduation.     

Monitoring rapid urban expansion using a multi-temporal RGB-impervious surface model

In this paper, we developed a novel method of combining remote sensing tools at the sub-pixel level for accurate identification of impervious surface time series changes. We examined the use of the red-green-blue impervious surface model (RGB-IS) in detecting time series internal modification of urban regions by integrating Landsat data collected over four different periods between 1987 and 2009 (i.e., 1987, 2000, 2002, and 2009). The performance of this approach was compared with two conventional methods, namely standard RGB-normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) and post-classification technique. In contrast to conventional techniques, RGB-IS could monitor between-class changes, within-class changes, and location of these modifications. The proposed method was independent of seasonal changes and was also able to serve as a useful alternative for quick mapping growth hotspots and updating transportation corridor map. The results also showed that Cixi County, Zhejiang Province, China experienced tremendous impervious surface changes, especially along the corridors of newly constructed highways and around urban areas over the past 22 years.     

Use of individual feedback during human gross anatomy course for enhancing professional behaviors in doctor of physical therapy students

Medical professionals and public consumers expect that new physical therapy graduates possess cognitive, technical, and behavioral skills required to provide safe and high‐quality care to patients. The purpose of this study was to determine if a repertoire of ten professional behaviors assessed at the beginning of doctorate of physical therapy education and before the first significant clinical internship could be enhanced in a semester course in gross human anatomy using individual formative feedback. During the human anatomy course, 28 first‐year physical therapy students completed six biweekly, anonymous self‐ and peer assessment surveys that targeted ten professional behaviors important to physical therapists. All professional behaviors were assessed using a five‐point Likert scale. Feedback reports occurred at week eight (mid‐semester) and week 16 (end‐of‐semester) and comprised the direct intervention components of this study. At the midpoint of the semester, professional behavior scores and narrative comments from weeks two, four, and six were compiled and shared with each student by one of three faculty members in a feedback session. Students then submitted biweekly self‐and peer professional behavior assessments (weeks 10, 12, and 14) for the remainder of the human anatomy course. Differences between preintervention and postintervention scores for each of the ten professional behaviors were compared using the Wilcoxon signed‐ranks test. Upon receiving mid‐semester individual feedback, students demonstrated significant improvement in each of the ten professional behaviors. Results from this study indicated a gross anatomy laboratory dissection experience during the first academic semester provided an effective opportunity for teaching and assessing professional behaviors of doctoral students in physical therapy. Anat Sci Educ 6: 324–331. © 2013 American Association of Anatomists.     

Critical success factors: How one multinational company develops global e‐learning

This research study examined how a multinational company determined what the critical success factors (CSFs) were for developing global e‐learning. The study analyzed how these CSFs were grouped together to make their management more efficient. There were 21 participants in the study who were key stakeholders from the United States, Europe, Latin America, and Asia. The results demonstrated that not all CSFs were deemed critical for every program and that what were considered CSFs early in the project often changed by the end of the project. In addition, the study showed that grouping the CSFs into common categories allowed the program development stakeholders to be more consistent and thorough in their ability to manage and address those CSFs throughout the project. Finally, the results demonstrated that for the study company, the best way to manage CSFs was to expand existing best practices and standard operating procedures to address global CSFs.     

Examining the Effectiveness of a Multicomponent Reading Comprehension Intervention in Middle Schools: A Focus on Treatment Fidelity

In this experimental study, we examined the effects of a multicomponent reading comprehension intervention in sixth- to eighth-grade English language arts classes with a focus on factors to enhance treatment implementation. We tested the contribution of a theoretically derived fidelity framework that included adherence, quality, dosage, program differentiation, and student responsiveness. The study was conducted in three schools, involving 14 teachers and 859 students. English language arts classes were randomly assigned to the Comprehension Circuit Training intervention (n?=?30) or typical practice comparison (n?=?31) conditions, and all teachers taught in both conditions. Findings indicated that there was no reliable difference between the intervention and typical practice groups on standardized or researcher-developed proximal measures. To investigate the relationship between fidelity and student outcomes, we conducted a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) to determine the relation of the indicators to a latent fidelity factor. Results of the CFA revealed a single fidelity factor composed of the adherence, quality, dosage, student responsiveness, and program differentiation variables. The fidelity factor was statistically significantly related to outcomes on a standardized comprehension measure (γ?=?.86, p?γ?=?.52, p?相似文献