Postsecondary Student Persistence and Pathways: Evidence From the YITS-A in Canada

The Youth in Transition Survey is used to follow the postsecondary education (PSE) pathways and outcomes of Canadian youth over the mid 2000s. Students starting at community colleges and four year universities are analyzed separately. First program outcomes are reported, showing the proportions of students who leave their first programs but remain in PSE by switching/transferring to other programs, institutions, or levels. Multinomial regression estimates correlates of students’ first program switching and leaving decisions. Five year graduation rates are calculated to show the importance of different pathways (across programs, institutions, and levels) to earning a PSE credential; in the aggregate and for subgroups of students. Transfers constitute important but not terribly large pathways for Canadian students to adjust their PSE and obtain PSE credentials. We calculate the resulting extent to which institution specific measures of persistence, PSE leaving, and graduation rates misstate the rates experienced by students. Compared to American students, university and community college starters in Canada have higher persistence and graduation rates and lower transfer rates across institutions. For community college starters, much of the difference is due to the relative lack of well defined pathways from community colleges to universities in Canada. We find that students with more family resources are better able to transfer across programs or institutions in order to obtain a PSE credential.     

Thoughts on “publish or perish”

Higher Education - It is widely believed that one publishes or perishes in academic life. This proposition is examined and evidence noted that shows salary and success of various kinds are related...     

青少年暴力及其预防

青少年暴力是当今社会最常见的一种暴力,不但严重影响了青少年自己的身心健康和未来发展,同时也极大威胁着国家和社会的安定与可持续发展。在对暴力的定义、类型及其影响介绍的基础上,详细阐述了青少年暴力的表现、差异特点和影响因素,并进一步结合社会生态学模式和我国当前的社会与青少年实际,从六个方面提出了预防和控制青少年暴力的具体措施。     

全面发展——综合实践活动课的主旨

综合实践活动课程的价值取向是全面发展,以培养学生综合能力、创新精神为目标,其主旨是“发展观”和“全人观”,它揭示了学生发展依赖于人的活动并在活动中受到教育。综合实践活动课可以促进学生在实践与创新中全面发展、学有特长。     

DISCRIMINATORY ORGANIZATIONAL CONTEXTS AND BLACK SCIENTISTS ON POSTSECONDARY FACULTIES

Severe underrepresentation of African-Americansamong postsecondary faculty is often linked toeducational pipeline supply problems,while institutional variations in demandfor black faculty labor and barriers to theirrecruitment and retention receive less empiricalattention. Using a nationally representative sample ofcollege faculty from a wide array of institutions andscience disciplines, this study investigates linksbetween internal organizational conditions and blackfaculty representation. Hypotheses derive from competingexplanations of the role of race in academicorganizations: institutionalized discrimination to protectdominant group privileges; statistical discriminationbased on expectations of racial group differences inacademic preparation; labor supply and politicalconstraints on black faculty recruitment. A multivariateanalysis examines organizational conditions that promoteor curb these dynamics and their relationship to blackappointments at different tenure levels. Results indicate that although the discipline-specificblack doctoral labor supply is a powerful constraint onthe representation of black faculty, selectiveorganizational contexts are substantial influences as well. Although we find little evidence thatinsulation from competition or segmented faculty labormarkets influence the racial composition of faculties,black faculty are more often found whereinstitutionalized discrimination may be checked by greaterformalization and black constituencies on campus.Consistent with statistical discrimination, blackfaculty are poorly represented at research-orientedinstitutions, even controlling for the scholarly reputationof doctoral credentials.     

变化世界中的科学素养:科技博物馆和科学中心能发挥什么作用？

当今世界正以前所未有的速度发生着各种各样的变化。一些大的趋向,即所谓的世界大趋势,在一定程度上影响每个人的生活。科学、技术和创新在这个不断变化的世界中发挥着重要作用。科学素养比以往任何时候都更加重要。科技博物馆和科学中心作为公众参与科学技术的重要角色,面临着一系列的机遇和挑战。在不断变化的世界里,它们在提高公众科学素养方面能发挥什么作用?如何使它们在提高科学素养方面更具相关性和影响力?本文通过分析当前世界在全球化、人口变化、技术变革、信息爆炸、可持续发展等方面的现实,论述科学素养的必要性以及科技博物馆和科学中心在变化的世界中应该如何发挥作用。     

The information requirements and information-seeking behaviours of health and social care professionals providing care to children with health care needs: a pilot study

OBJECTIVES: The objectives of this work were to identify the sources of information currently received, information-seeking behaviours, information requirements and preferences for future information provision amongst health and social care professionals providing care to children with health care needs. METHODS: Data were collected using a cross-sectional postal questionnaire survey. RESULTS: A wide range of information resources was reported as being available to professionals. However, a large proportion of respondents found it necessary to perform additional searches for information, suggesting that current resources were not satisfying their needs. The majority of professionals reported a preference for electronic formats, whilst a smaller proportion preferred hard copy materials. Participants promoted the use of informal networks as a means of support and exchange of information. CONCLUSION: Supplementing the information that is provided in electronic and hard copy formats, by enhancing informal networks, may be the most effective way of meeting the information needs of this group of professionals.     

Focus-on-form instructional methods promote deaf college students' improvement in English grammar

Focus-on-form English teaching methods are designed to facilitate second-language learners' noticing of target language input, where "noticing" is an acquisitional prerequisite for the comprehension, processing, and eventual integration of new grammatical knowledge. While primarily designed for teaching hearing second-language learners, many focus-on-form methods lend themselves to visual presentation. This article reports the results of classroom research on the visually based implementation of focus-on-form methods with deaf college students learning English. Two of 3 groups of deaf students received focus-on-form instruction during a 10-week remedial grammar course; a third control group received grammatical instruction that did not involve focus-on-form methods. The 2 experimental groups exhibited significantly greater improvement in English grammatical knowledge relative to the control group. These results validate the efficacy of visually based focus-on-form English instruction for deaf students of English and set the stage for the continual search for innovative and effective English teaching methodologies.     

Three universities in Georgia, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan: the struggle against corruption and for social cohesion

Universities may contribute to a nation’s social cohesion through both direct and indirect means. In their syllabi they may include techniques necessary for understanding complex social problems. Faculty may model good behaviour in terms of listening and understanding points of view that may contradict their own. University administrators may illustrate ways to lead honourably, which can enhance the chances for achieving consensus with respect to future dilemmas. This project assessed typical areas of university tension, including academic freedom, equity of participation and academic honesty. Three different universities were chosen as sites for faculty interviews—a foreign private university in Kyrgyzstan, a flagship state university in Georgia, and a regional teacher training college recently upgraded to university status in Northeast Kazakhstan. Results suggest that the single most important arena wherein universities can influence social cohesion in these countries is the manner by which they address education corruption. The paper reproduces the statements of those faculty members who participate in corruption as well as those who refuse to participate. It concludes with some predictions about the future of the relationship of higher education to social cohesion.