A Symbiosis of Access: Proliferating STEM PhD Training in the U.S. from 1920–2010

Minerva - Over the course of the 20th century, unprecedented growth in scientific discovery was fueled by broad growth in the number of university-based scientists. During this period the American...     

Creating (in) equalities in access to higher education in the context of structural adjustment and post-adjustment policies: the case of chile

By analyzing the access of different socio-economic groups to post-secondary institutions by quintile, this paper examines the impact produced by higher education financing policies in Chile during the Pinochet (1973–1990), the Aylwin (1990–1994) and the Frei (1994–2000) administrations. To this purpose, CASEN databases and semi-structured interviews conducted with former and current government officials as well as higher education administrators provide valuable information to measure the impact that higher education financing policies had on different socio-economic groups. Access to post-secondary institutions is seen in relation to two aspects: (a) enrollment rates by type of institution and sector and (b) access of students (18–24 year-old group) by family per capita income level. Major conclusion set up that despite increased participation across all socio-economic groups within the post secondary system, upper and upper-middle income students gained access to higher education disproportionately compared to lower, lower-middle, and middle income groups during the 1987–1998 period.

Do Phonological and Executive Processes in English Learners at Risk for Reading Disabilities in Grade 1 Predict Performance in Grade 2?

This study determined the degree to which the phonological and executive components of memory reflect language‐specific capacities in reading achievement. We tested whether the memory processes in a sample of English‐language learners that played a major role in predicting second‐language acquisition and risk for reading disability (RD) in Grade 1 (Swanson, Sáez, Gerber, & Leafstedt, 2004) also predicted reading performance in Grade 2. The present results showed that Spanish short‐term memory (STM) performance in Grade 1 predicted basic Spanish‐reading skills and Spanish comprehension in Grade 2, whereas Grade 1 English STM performance predicted English vocabulary and English comprehension in Grade 2. More importantly, children at risk for RD in Grade 1 differed from the counterparts in Grade 2 on both English and Spanish measures of reading, whereas their memory deficits were isolated to Spanish STM and working memory (WM). The relationship between language‐specific processes in memory and reading are discussed.     

Methods for documenting historical agro-industrial buildings: a comparative study and a simple photogrammetric method

As an important element in the cultural heritage of a people, traditional rural constructions need to be conserved over time. Graphic and metric documentation methods play a key role in the preservation of cultural heritage. In this paper different existing methods of graphic and metric documentation are analysed in order to select the most suitable for the documentation of agro-industrial buildings according to their characteristics. The selected one is a simple close-range photogrammetry method, which is affordable and easy to understand for non experts. It is based on the use of plumb lines, a conventional digital camera and monoscopic restitution. The application of the method is illustrated in a particular case consisting on the graphic and metric documentation of a windmill. Also the accuracy of the method is evaluated in this particular case.     

Generation of virtual models of cultural heritage

Different techniques and tools currently exist to generate three-dimensional models of small elements, buildings and cities. Apart from being easier to interpret than two-dimensional drawings, these models facilitate data necessary for reconstruction projects, preservation or rehabilitation of the architectural or archaeological heritage. Traditional surveying only enables us to obtain discrete information of the characteristic lines that define each surface, edge, slope change etc. whereas work with massive capture techniques allows us to obtain continuous points of the surfaces. Photogrammetry or laser scanning combined with conventional photography provides information of the building in addition to its geometry. We carried out a review of the different techniques showing the advantages and disadvantages of each technique as well as the information that can be obtained by applying these techniques to the survey of the great Gate of Antioch in the town of Aleppo, declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1986, in Syria.     

From the disjunction between passive and active instruction approaches towards their integration as an alternative for the significant learning of sustainable development / De la disyuntiva entre los enfoques de instrucción pasiva y activa hacia su integración como alternativa para un aprendizaje significativo del desarrollo sostenible

Abstract

This study aims to show how the integration of passive and active learning approaches contributes towards the significant understanding of problems associated with sustainable development. To do this, a case study from the municipality of San Miguel de Achiutla in Oaxaca, Mexico, is used as a general method, with the specific procedure including an instrument based on secondary sources representing the passive learning phase, as well as an instrument created on the basis of primary sources, designed in relation to the active learning component. The passive learning phase enabled us to identify variables pertaining to the highly vulnerable dimensions of sustainable development, and to also detect areas in which there is a deficit of information, since not all data are available, while the active learning phase revealed the causes of vulnerability from the perspective of different agents, including those who experienced the issues directly. In view of the above, we conclude that rather than being exclusive, these two different approaches should in fact be complementary.     

English Language Proficiency and Bilingual Verbal Ability Among Chinese,Dominican, and Haitian Immigrant Students

This article describes English language proficiency and bilingual verbal ability for a sample of 209 students aged 10 to 16 from three immigrant groups—Chinese, Dominican, and Haitian. Sources of data included structured student interviews, parent interviews, and individual language assessments. On average, students' English language proficiency was far below their age and grade level with significant differences among the groups. Estimates of students' language ability improved once their skills in their first language were considered as demonstrated by the bilingual verbal ability scores. Results from this study demonstrate the need to consider both English and first language skills in assessing the language abilities of these students and in promoting educational access and equity for recent immigrants.     

TRANSFER RATES AMONG STUDENTS FROM RURAL,SUBURBAN, AND URBAN COMMUNITY COLLEGES: WHAT WE KNOW,DON'T KNOW,AND NEED TO KNOW

During the past decade much thought has been given to the merits and weaknesses of different ways of calculating transfer rates. This debate, although legitimate and necessary, has not led to research on transfer rates among colleges in different geographic locations. Furthermore, the lack of consensus and sometimes neglect in defining geographic location has reduced the reliability of the data that do exist. This article examines what is known about transfer rates by geographic location and what remains to be studied. Findings on differences by ethnic group and location also are presented. Although there are indications that students from rural areas differ from their urban and suburban counterparts, there has been little work that explores the impact of those differences on transfer rates. The need for further research on transfer rates and college location is also addressed.     

Adult Students at Two-Year Colleges: A Longitudinal Study

Abstract

Adults constitute a continually increasing proportion of students at two-year colleges. While adult students presumably have special needs, little is known about them. This study focused on the characteristics and needs of 17,137 students enrolled in 100 randomly selected two-year colleges across the country, separately for different age levels. Using a wide variety of variables collected at entrance, after one term, at graduation, and three years after graduation, differences by sex among the following four age groups were ascertained: age 19 or younger, 20–24, 25–39, and 40 or older. Major trends with age, differences among age groups, and interactions between age and sex were found for a number of variables: abilities, grades, attrition, self-perceptions, aspirations and goals, competencies, job values and preferences, satisfaction with and rating of various aspects of the college, expressed needs for help, extracurricular participation, outside work during school, postgraduate jobs obtained and how obtained, job satisfaction, percent going to and graduating from four-year programs, and preference for entering a two-year program if they had to do it all over again. Adult students do have many special needs that vary with age level. We think a repeat of the study but comparing across other groupings of adults would be desirable, even though extreme diversity also exists within such groups. Another consideration is that many new kinds of adult students will in the future be entering postsecondary education in large numbers.