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Race, Class, and College Access: Achieving Diversity in a Shifting Legal Landscape
This is a groundbreaking report examining how legal challenges to race-conscious admissions are influencing contemporary admissions practices at selective colleges and universities around the country. The report is especially timely in light of the U.S. Supreme Court decision to take a second look at the constitutionality of the University of Texas' admissions policy by granting review in Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin.Study findings are based on responses to a first-of-its-kind national survey of undergraduate admissions and enrollment management leaders administered in 2014 -- 15. Data reflect responses from 338 nonprofit four-year institutions that collectively enrolled 2.7 million students and fielded over 3 million applications for admission in 2013 -- 14. Among other findings, the authors examine the most widely used and effective diversity strategies; changes in admissions factors after the 2013 Fisher ruling and statewide bans on race-conscious admissions; and the most sought after research and guidance given the current legal and policy landscap
More Efficient High Schools in Maine: Emerging Student-Centered Learning Communities
American K-12 public education all across the nation is at a difficult and critical crossroads. We are at a time when keen global competition underscores the need for exceptional performance in our primary and secondary schools. Yet, state and federal governments face unprecedented budget deficits and limited resources for the foreseeable future. Additionally, our schools are being called upon to do an even better job of preparing students for the 21st century. There is growing evidence that success in the 21st Century requires more than what has traditionally been the content of schooling. It requires more and different types of knowledge, skills, and learning. To help students acquire this knowledge base and skills, many educators and leaders are calling for transformative changes in our schools and changes in how we help students learn. This transformative change is called by many names: performance-based learning, standards-based learning, and student-centered learning. The Nellie Mae Education Foundation (NMEF) describes this transformation to more student-centered learning as the need for:... growing a greater variety of higher quality educational opportunities that enable all learners -- especially and essentially underserved learners -- to obtain the skills, knowledge and supports necessary to become civically engaged, economically self-sufficient lifelong learners. (2011) Can our schools be transformed to meet these challenges? More importantly, can they be high performing, efficient, and student-centered at the same time? To explore these questions, the Center for Education Policy, Applied Research, and Evaluation at the University of Southern Maine conducted a study in 2010-2011 of a sample of Maine high schools. Funded in part by the Nellie Mae Education Foundation, the study examined the degree to which these More Efficient high schools were also student-centered. In 2010, NMEF identified some of the key principles and attributes of studentcentered learning. The principles are that: Student-centered education systems provide all students equal access to the skills and knowledge needed for college and career readiness in today's world. Student-centered education systems align with current research on the learning process and motivation. Student-centered education systems focus on mastery of skills and knowledge. Student-centered education systems build student's identities through a positive culture with a foundation of strong relationships and high expectations. Student-centered education systems empower and support parents, teachers, administrators, and other community members to encourage and guide learners through their educational journey. The key attributes are that: Curriculum, instruction and assessment embrace the skills and knowledge needed for success. Community assets are harnessed to support and deepen learning experiences. Time is used flexibly and includes learning opportunities outside the traditional school day and year. Mastery-based strategies are employed to allow for pacing based on proficiency in skills and knowledge. The goal of the study reported here was to determine to what extent these principles and attributes may be found in the high schools. To that end, once a sample of More Efficient high schools was identified, the beliefs, strategies, and practices found in these schools were examined in light of the 2010 NMEF key principles and attributes
Modeling student pathways in a physics bachelor's degree program
Physics education research has used quantitative modeling techniques to
explore learning, affect, and other aspects of physics education. However,
these studies have rarely examined the predictive output of the models, instead
focusing on the inferences or causal relationships observed in various data
sets. This research introduces a modern predictive modeling approach to the PER
community using transcript data for students declaring physics majors at
Michigan State University (MSU). Using a machine learning model, this analysis
demonstrates that students who switch from a physics degree program to an
engineering degree program do not take the third semester course in
thermodynamics and modern physics, and may take engineering courses while
registered as a physics major. Performance in introductory physics and calculus
courses, measured by grade as well as a students' declared gender and ethnicity
play a much smaller role relative to the other features included the model.
These results are used to compare traditional statistical analysis to a more
modern modeling approach.Comment: submitted to Physical Review Physics Education Researc
Some Like It Hot, Some Like It Warm: Phenotyping To Explore Thermotolerance Diversity
Plants have evolved overlapping but distinct cellular responses to different aspects of high temperature stress. These responses include basal thermotolerance, short- and long-term acquired thermotolerance, and thermotolerance to moderately high temperatures. This ‘thermotolerance diversity’ means that multiple phenotypic assays are essential for fully describing the functions of genes involved in heat stress responses. A large number of genes with potential roles in heat stress responses have been identified using genetic screens and genome wide expression studies. We examine the range of phenotypic assays that have been used to characterize thermotolerance phenotypes in both Arabidopsis and crop plants. Three major variables differentiate thermotolerance assays: (1) the heat stress regime used, (2) the developmental stage of the plants being studied, and (3) the actual phenotype which is scored. Consideration of these variables will be essential for deepening our understanding of the molecular genetics of plant thermotolerance
Exciton spin dynamics and photoluminescence polarization of CdSe/CdS dot-in-rod nanocrystals in high magnetic fields
The exciton spin dynamics and polarization properties of the related emission
are investigated in colloidal CdSe/CdS dot-in-rod (DiR) and spherical
core/shell nanocrystal (NC) ensembles by magneto-optical photoluminescence (PL)
spectroscopy in magnetic fields up to 15 T. It is shown that the degree of
circular polarization (DCP) of the exciton emission induced by the magnetic
field is affected by the NC geometry as well as the exciton fine structure and
can provide information on nanorod orientation. A theory to describe the
circular and linear polarization properties of the NC emission in magnetic
field is developed. It takes into account phonon mediated coupling between the
exciton fine structure states as well as the dielectric enhancement effect
resulting from the anisotropic shell of DiR NCs. This theoretical approach is
used to model the experimental results and allows us to explain most of the
measured features. The spin dynamics of the dark excitons is investigated in
magnetic fields by time-resolved photoluminescence. The results highlight the
importance of confined acoustic phonons in the spin relaxation of dark
excitons. The bare core surface as well as the core/shell interface give rise
to an efficient spin relaxation channel, while the surface of core/shell NCs
seems to play only a minor role.Comment: 18 pages, 15 figure
Input-output relations in biological systems: measurement, information and the Hill equation
Biological systems produce outputs in response to variable inputs.
Input-output relations tend to follow a few regular patterns. For example, many
chemical processes follow the S-shaped Hill equation relation between input
concentrations and output concentrations. That Hill equation pattern
contradicts the fundamental Michaelis-Menten theory of enzyme kinetics. I use
the discrepancy between the expected Michaelis-Menten process of enzyme
kinetics and the widely observed Hill equation pattern of biological systems to
explore the general properties of biological input-output relations. I start
with the various processes that could explain the discrepancy between basic
chemistry and biological pattern. I then expand the analysis to consider
broader aspects that shape biological input-output relations. Key aspects
include the input-output processing by component subsystems and how those
components combine to determine the system's overall input-output relations.
That aggregate structure often imposes strong regularity on underlying
disorder. Aggregation imposes order by dissipating information as it flows
through the components of a system. The dissipation of information may be
evaluated by the analysis of measurement and precision, explaining why certain
common scaling patterns arise so frequently in input-output relations. I
discuss how aggregation, measurement and scale provide a framework for
understanding the relations between pattern and process. The regularity imposed
by those broader structural aspects sets the contours of variation in biology.
Thus, biological design will also tend to follow those contours. Natural
selection may act primarily to modulate system properties within those broad
constraints.Comment: Biology Direct 8:3
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