First year undergraduate students in the hot seat: co-constructors of knowledge and inquiry in Higher Education

Research skills and inquiry promote independence and autonomy of the learner, yet these expectations of HE are not always made explicit to the student body. Informal discussions have recurring themes that reflect students are failing to read enough. While students in later stages of their study are indicating they wished that they had read more. In an effort to becoming increasingly ‘student-centered’, perhaps there has been an element of overlooking learner inquiry, engagement and ownership (Ramsden, 2001)

A Novel Condom Distribution Program for County Jail Prisoners

The Center for AIDS Prevention Studies (CAPS), in collaboration with the Center for Health Justice, the Forensic AIDS Project, and the San Francisco Sheriff's Department, conducted a feasibility study of a novel method of providing condoms to prisoners by installing a condom dispens- ing machine in the San Francisco County Jail.This study begins to address the dearth of research on prisoner condom access programs, a novel component of HIV prevention behavioral interventions among an extremely high-risk population, and to identify a method of providing prisoners condoms on a larger scale than any current program. Further, this pilot feasibility study has the potential to stimulate research on the impact of condom distribution and consideration of legislation in other jurisdictions to allow prisoners access to condoms

Cycle Lengths In Aᵏb

Let A be a nonnegative, n n matrix, and let b be a nonnegative, nxn vector. Let S be the sequence {Akb }, k = 0, l, 2, .... Define m(A, b) to be the length of the cycle of zero-nonzero patterns into which S eventually falls. Define m(A) to be the maximum, over all nonnegative b of m(A, b). Finally, define m(n) to be the maximum, over all nonnegative, nxn matrices A of m(A). This paper shows given A and b, that m(A, b) is a divisor of a certain number, which is determined by the structure of A and b. It is also shown that log m(n) ~ (n log n) /2

The Legacy Project: Lessons Learned About Conducting Community-Based Research

Collaborative partnerships between community based organizations (CBOs) and university-based researchers can successfully conduct useful HIV prevention research. Collaboratively conducted research contributes to good programs and good science.The Legacy Project is an evaluation of 18 such partnerships. The evaluation found 6 essential elements for successful collaborative community-based research:Thoughtful selection of interventions for evaluationSecondary or alternative research questions incorporated into the research project from the beginningFlexibility to modify or change primary research question mid-studyAppropriate, stable CBO staffingHigh level of university-researcher involvement with both intervention and evaluationAdequate funding for intervention, evaluation and participant tim