A Field Study: The Business Of Engaging Higher Education Adjunct Faculty

Competition among higher educational institutions has increased especially among public and private institutions; this is exacerbated by demographic changes whereby the number of high school graduates continues to decrease. Additionally, colleges and universities face daunting competition challenges retaining students; therefore, they are reexamining their long-established business models. As a result, to offset costs, higher education institutions continue to increase the hiring of adjunct faculty. Currently, adjunct instructors account for more than half of all faculty appointments and that number is expected to increase. To amplify the situation, college and university accreditation organizations are requiring student retention and faculty work engagement as part of the effectiveness and accreditation process. Customarily, compared to full-time faculty, adjunct faculty are less engaged with their work as effective coaches and mentors for students outside the classroom. Thus, a quantitative study using the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale questionnaire sought adjunct faculty feedback in terms of engagement with their work for academic and student success and how the results could be used to increase this engagement

A Field Study: The Business Of Engaging Higher Education Adjunct Faculty

Competition among higher educational institutions has increased especially among public and private institutions; this is exacerbated by demographic changes whereby the number of high school graduates continues to decrease. Additionally, colleges and universities face daunting competition challenges retaining students; therefore, they are reexamining their long-established business models. As a result, to offset costs, higher education institutions continue to increase the hiring of adjunct faculty. Currently, adjunct instructors account for more than half of all faculty appointments and that number is expected to increase. To amplify the situation, college and university accreditation organizations are requiring student retention and faculty work engagement as part of the effectiveness and accreditation process. Customarily, compared to full-time faculty, adjunct faculty are less engaged with their work as effective coaches and mentors for students outside the classroom. Thus, a quantitative study using the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale questionnaire sought adjunct faculty feedback in terms of engagement with their work for academic and student success and how the results could be used to increase this engagement

Multiple incursion pathways for Helicoverpa armigera in Brazil show its genetic diversity spreading in a connected world

The Old World cotton bollworm Helicoverpa armigera was first detected in Brazil with subsequent reports from Paraguay, Argentina, Bolivia, and Uruguay. This pattern suggests that the H. armigera spread across the South American continent following incursions into northern/central Brazil, however, this hypothesis has not been tested. Here we compare northern and central Brazilian H. armigera mtDNA COI haplotypes with those from southern Brazil, Uruguay, Argentina, and Paraguay. We infer spatial genetic and gene flow patterns of this dispersive pest in the agricultural landscape of South America. We show that the spatial distribution of H. armigera mtDNA haplotypes and its inferred gene flow patterns in the southwestern region of South America exhibited signatures inconsistent with a single incursion hypothesis. Simulations on spatial distribution patterns show that the detection of rare and/or the absence of dominant mtDNA haplotypes in southern H. armigera populations are inconsistent with genetic signatures observed in northern and central Brazil. Incursions of H. armigera into the New World are therefore likely to have involved independent events in northern/central Brazil, and southern Brazil/Uruguay-Argentina-Paraguay. This study demonstrates the significant biosecurity challenges facing the South American continent, and highlights alternate pathways for introductions of alien species into the New World

Does outreach influence enrolment?

Universities often offer a range of programs for high school students as outreach activities. These programs have various objectives amongst which is the implicit intention to recruit. One such outreach program is the Kickstart program run by the School of Physics at The University of Sydney . Historically, survey data for this program was focused on evaluating the performance of the staff involved and content of the program, not the students engagement or education. This was a useful tool, but once enough data was collected, it was necessary to move to a different focus of student engagement, education and enrolment. The aim of this project is to evaluate the effectiveness in three domains of the Kickstart program, Education, Engagement and Enrolment. An interest in the project is to gather data on the enrolment aspect of Kickstart or “Does coming to Kickstart encourage enrolment in Sydney University Physics?” To conduct the evaluation of the program, student and teacher surveys gather responses to the program. A survey was designed and iteratively modified, and currently the project has completed the second phase of data collection. The purpose of this second phase was to gain consistent results with previous versions of the survey. The results show clear responses from students regarding engagement and education, and a clear indication that the survey is not appropriate for answering the question regarding enrolment. The data so far has eliminated a number of ways of answering this question. A key issue is whether the question on 'Does outreach influence enrolment?' is answerable and even more importantly, should we attempt to answer this question

Key Competences in Europe: Opening Doors For Lifelong Learners Across the School Curriculum and Teacher Education

The aim of the study is to provide a comparative overview of policy and practice concerning the development and implementation of key competences in the education systems of the 27 Member States of the European Union. In particular, the study assesses the implementation of the 8 key competences contained in the European Reference Framework of Key Competences in primary and secondary schools across the EU as well as the extent to which initial and in-service education and training of teachers equips them with the skills and competences necessary to deliver key competences effectively.key competences, lifelong learning, cross-curricular, competence

Three decades of trace element sediment contamination: the mining of governmental databases and the need to address hidden sources for clean and healthy seas

peer reviewedTrace elements (TEs) frequently contaminate coastal marine sediments with many included in priority chemical lists or control legislation. These, improved waste treatment and increased recycling have fostered the belief that TE pollution is declining. Nevertheless, there is a paucity of long-term robust datasets to support this confidence. By mining UK datasets (100s of sites, 31 years), we assess sediment concentrations of arsenic (As), cadmium (Cd), chromium (Cr), copper (Cu), iron (Fe), mercury (Hg), nickel (Ni), lead (Pb) and zinc (Zn) and use indices (PI [Pollution], TEPI [Trace Element Pollution] and Igeo [Geoaccumulation]) to assess TE pollution evolution. PI and TEPI show reductions of overall TE pollution in the 1980s then incremental improvements followed by a distinct increase (2010–13). Zn, As and Pb Igeo scores show low pollution, whilst Cd and Hg are moderate, but with all remaining temporally stable. Igeo scores are low for Ni, Fe and Cr, but increasing for Ni and Fe. A moderate pollution Igeo score for Cu has also steadily increased since the mid-1990s. Increasing site trends are not universal and, conversely, minimal temporal change masks some site-specific increases and decreases. To capture this variability we strongly advocate embedding sufficient sentinel sites within observation networks. Decreasing sediment pollution levels (e.g. Pb and Hg) have been achieved, but stabilizing Igeo and recently increasing TEPI and PI scores require continued global vigilance. Increasing Ni and Fe Igeo scores necessitate source identification, but this is a priority for Cu. Local, regional and world analyses indicate substantial ‘hidden’ inputs from anti-fouling paints (Cu, Zn), ship scrubbers (Cu, Zn, Ni) and sacrificial anodes (Zn) that are also predicted to increase markedly. Accurate TE input assessments and targeted legislation are, therefore, urgently required, especially in the context of rapid blue economic growth (e.g. shipping).Channel Catchments Cluster (3C) programm

Shifting towards inquiry-orientated learning in a high school outreach program

This paper presents results of an examination the effect of the introduction of inquiry-orientated learning, IOL, activities into the formal education outreach program for senior high school Physics students run by School of Physics at the University of Sydney, \u27Kickstart Physics.\u27 This is the flagship outreach program from the Faculty of Science and accommodates approximately a quarter of the total number of students that sit the state Physics exam. The project considered how students arrive at different inquiry-orientated outcomes such as making hypotheses, displaying and interpreting data, validity, reliability, as well as the mental effort reported by the students during the Kickstart workshop. Results from a survey developed for this study show that a significant increase in mental effort was applied by the students in the inquiry-orientated logbook. In addition, the results presented here suggest that the existing, non-modified logbook, based on the current state (NSW) syllabus, has a strong inquiry focus. The methodology was to survey Senior high school students taking part in the Kickstart workshops. Some were given a logbook to accompany the session designed from the NSW Physics syllabus, and some were given a logbook designed around inquiry-orientated learning. The content related to the syllabus for each workshop remained constant