How do age and gender affect university students’ experience and outcomes?

Increasing access to higher education has led to a diversified student body, suggesting that conceptualising the ‘student experience’ as homogeneous is no longer viable. Previous research reported that age and gender exert significant influences on the student experience, but this has generally taken a ‘snapshot’ of those experiences rather than tracing differences over time. This study makes a contribution to this area by assessing changes in the student experience over the lifespan of the degree to explore the relative impact of age and gender (and the potential interaction between them). The study employed a longitudinal qualitative design to explore in-depth the experiences of sixty-one students over three years, using an innovative email research method. Data was analysed in two key ways: a thematic analysis of the findings which identified issues including confidence, friendships, social life, paid work and family commitments; the exploration of illustrative case studies used to highlight the experiences of ‘ideal type’ students in four demographic groups. Key findings include the following: age and gender influenced the student experience, yet gender exerted the strongest influence. Mature male students were found to share more commonalities of experience with their traditional male counterparts than with female students of varying age. Of the variables which shape experiences, the thesis identified ‘external commitments’ as the key factor. This was evidenced by the contrast between the mature female and male groups, with mature women reporting being constrained by family and home responsibilities, whereas mature men were able to create and maintain ‘separate worlds’ of university and home life. The thesis argues that the ‘double shift’ described as women entered the workplace, has become a triple shift for mature female students attempting to combine home, work and academic responsibilities; notwithstanding this context, this group are the higher performers academically

Mass Loss by Hot Stars

Mechanism explaining mass loss for luminous hot stars using ultraviolet line spectra of some ion

Case Study: Remixing Knowledge with Layered Intelligences

The case study of Degenerative Cultures explores how the layering of different forms of logic offers an opportunity for rethinking our human systems and hypothetically remixing the epistemological roots of society—through interventions into our technological systems. In Degenerative Cultures, the living organism Physarum polycephalum partners with an artificial intelligence that compiles and corrupts an archive of human texts. In the iterative art installation, which incorporates the growth cycles of microbiological organisms, protists as well as fungi cover up and effectively remix human texts. Human knowledge, contained within the philosophy books used in the project, becomes the substrate for organic growth. The living organisms grow over an actual book, and the AI, referred to as a “digital fungus,” corrupts texts on the Internet. The artists’ experiment, which links microbiological growth logic to artificial intelligence, is one step in rethinking how human knowledge may become layered and ultimately corrupted and rerouted—a forking of sorts—through integration with nonhuman logic systems, including microbiological and artificial intelligences. By orienting this work to remix theory, the article offers the hypothesis of a multispecies recombination that could, in utopian terms, reformulate the epistemological basis of modernity. In order to pursue this hypothesis, the art collective Cesar & Lois asks what role remix plays in the ongoing emergence of artificial intelligence and machine learning

Financial concern predicts deteriorations in mental and physical health among university students

Objective. The aim of the present study was to investigate whether students’ financial concerns predicted subsequent changes in their mental and physical health. In addition the opportunity was taken to test for reverse causality, by exploring whether initial levels of health predicted subsequent changes in financial concern. Design. The study employed a prospective correlational design. Main Outcome Measures. Undergraduate students at a British university (N = 337) completed measures of financial concern and health at two time points, approximately eight weeks apart. Results. Regression analyses indicated that experiencing greater financial concern at baseline was associated with subsequent deteriorations in health on the following outcomes: role limitation due to physical health problems, role limitation due to emotional problems, social functioning, mental health, general health perception and change in health. By contrast, there was no evidence that initial health influenced subsequent changes in financial concern. Conclusion. Findings suggest that financial concern might adversely impact mental and physical health outcomes in student populations

Career Choices of Students in Senior High Schools in Ghana

Deciding on the educational path to pursue to arrive at one’s preferred career destination is important. Based on a survey that adapted Germeijs and Verschueren’s (2006) Study Choice Task Inventory (SCTI) to gather relevant data from 1,006 senior high school student respondents, this research assesses the decisional process of how senior high school students choose programmes of study in higher institutions and explores the career guidance and counselling services senior high schools in Ghana provide for their students. Our findings showed that high school students in Ghana were well-oriented about the study choice task and quite decided about the programmes of study to pursue in higher education. The study also found that senior high schools lack the career guidance and counselling infrastructure needed to support students in their efforts to make informed educational career decisions. Also, to a large extent, students relied on themselves for information as they consider the options available in their choices of programmes to study in higher education. Keywords: Career choice, high school students, Ghana, guidance and counselling, decisional tasks DOI: 10.7176/JEP/12-10-10 Publication date: April 30th 2021

An evaluation of post-production facial composite enhancement techniques

Purpose: This article describes four experiments evaluating post-production enhancement techniques with facial composites mainly created using the EFIT-V holistic system. Design/methodology/approach: Each experiment was conducted in two stages. In Stage 1, constructors created between one and four individual composites of unfamiliar targets. These were merged to create morphs, and in Experiment 3, composites were also vertically stretched. In Stage 2, participants familiar with the targets named or provided target-similarity ratings to the images. Findings: In Experiments 1-3, correct naming rates were significantly higher to between-witness 4-morphs, within-witness 4-morphs and vertically stretched composites than to individual composites. In Experiment 4, there was a positive relationship between composite-target similarity ratings and between-witness morph-size (2-, 4-, 8-, 16-morphs). Practical implications: The likelihood of a facial composite being recognised can be improved by morphing and vertical stretch. Originality/value: A greater understanding of the theoretical underpinnings and applied advantage of post-production facial composite techniques should ensure greater acceptance by the criminal justice system, leading to better detection outcomes

“CULTURAS DEGENERATIVAS”: EXPERIMENTAÇÕES EM TORNO DE UMA REDE “BIOHÍBRIDA”

O presente ensaio discorre sobre a criação do projeto Culturas Degenerativas, introduzindo os percursos conceituais que conduziram o projeto em sua primeira apresentação na exposição Generative Art International Conference, em Ravena, Itália. As sociedades humanas têm sido responsáveis pela perda de informação dos sistemas naturais por meio da extinção de espécies, da devastação de florestas e das mudanças climáticas decorrentes da ação humana. Frente a este contexto, os artistas do coletivo Cesar & Lois discutem os padrões entrópicos que estão conduzindo a humanidade à desinformação. A instalação resultante deste processo criativo estabelece um sistema “biohíbrido” autônomo, que conjugam organismos vivos e redes tecnológicas. Na instalação, livros são inoculados com microrganismos vivos que crescem sobre o texto. Os livros, que apresentam diferentes versões do impulso humano em controlar a natureza, são literalmente consumidos pelos microrganismos. Um fungo digital generativo, programado com algoritmos de Inteligência Artificial, procura e corrompe textos que ele encontra na internet com a mesma inclinação predatória. O resultado deste processo de degeneração é impresso pela instalação e publicado no Twitter. Sem pretensões necessariamente teóricas, o ensaio traz um relato das discussões que motivaram o trabalho, bem como faz uma apresentação contextualizada da obra.Palavras-chave: Arte e natureza. Antropoceno. Inteligência artificial. Arte generativa. Arte interativ

"CULTURAS DEGENERATIVAS" : EXPERIMENTAÇÕES EM TORNO DE UMA REDE "BIOHÍBRIDA"

O presente ensaio discorre sobre a criação do projeto Culturas Degenerativas, introduzindo os percursos conceituais que conduziram o projeto em sua primeira apresentação na exposição Generative Art International Conference, em Ravena, Itália. As sociedades humanas têm sido responsáveis pela perda de informação dos sistemas naturais por meio da extinção de espécies, da devastação de florestas e das mudanças climáticas decorrentes da ação humana. Frente a este contexto, os artistas do coletivo Cesar & Lois discutem os padrões entrópicos que estão conduzindo a humanidade à desinformação. A instalação resultante deste processo criativo estabelece um sistema "biohí­brido" autônomo, que conjugam organismos vivos e redes tecnológicas. Na instalação, livros são inoculados com microrganismos vivos que crescem sobre o texto. Os livros, que apresentam diferentes versões do impulso humano em controlar a natureza, são literalmente consumidos pelos microrganismos. Um fungo digital generativo, programado com algoritmos de Inteligência Artificial, procura e corrompe textos que ele encontra na internet com a mesma inclinação predatória. O resultado deste processo de degeneração é impresso pela instalação e publicado no Twitter. Sem pretensões necessariamente teóricas, o ensaio traz um relato das discussões que motivaram o trabalho, bem como faz uma apresentação contextualizada da obra.Palavras-chave: Arte e natureza. Antropoceno. Inteligência artificial. Arte generativa. Arte interativ

Higher Education in the USA, Student fees, financial aid and access

In 2006 the English higher education system will be facing the introduction of variable - albeit capped - tuition fees, alongside a new system of government financial support for students and a market in institutional bursaries and scholarships. Concerns about the potential impact on different groups of students, and on efforts to widen participation in HE have led to the requirement for institutions to make Access agreements and to commit to certain levels of bursary and outreach support. This report of a study trip conducted in June 2005 looks at the US experience of fees, student support, student debt and the implications for access and admissions. It sets out the federal context then reports from the Illinois Student Financial Aid Commission, and two Illinois universities - one private (De Paul University in Chicago) and one public (University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign). The US has always had a fee culture and a market driven economy in higher education, that includes private universities. The report describes current trends in rising fees, the shift from grants to loans and long-term student debt in the US, and the implications for access and admissions policies - including sophisticated modelling of student academic profile and financial circumstances of the kind that English institutions may have to consider adopting. The report draws out lessons for England and identifies some key issues facing those working to widen access in both the US and England -including the different expectations of equitable treatment in the two countries, the implications of long-term student debt accrued at increasingly high levels and the need to consider what policy and finance levers are appropriate in directing institutional policy towards access and widening participation

Using a Participatory Approach and Legume Integration to Increase the Productivity of Early Maturing Maize in the Nigerian Sudan Savannas

Drought, infestation of cereal crops by the parasitic weed Striga hermonthica, and poor soil fertility are the major constraints to maize production by smallholder farmers in the Sudan savannas of northern Nigeria. Four innovation platforms (IPs) were therefore established in 2008 in the Sudan savanna (SS) agroecological zone of northern Nigeria to create a stakeholder forum to address these identified food production challenges in the target areas. )e IPs comprised researchers from Bayero University, Kano; Institute for Agricultural Research, Zaria; International Institute of Tropical Agriculture; state and local government extension programs in Kano and Katsina states; input and output dealers; community-based organisations; and media organisations in the two states. )e current study reports on the effects of legume integration on maize performance in farmer fields and the adoption of Striga management technologies introduced in the IPs over a four-year period. )e deployment of drought- Striga-tolerant and early-maturing maize varieties along with legume rotation reduced Striga infestation by 46–100% when cowpea was rotated with maize, 80–97% when groundnut was rotated with maize, and 59–94% when soybean was rotated with maize. Grain yield of maize increased by 63–88% when cowpea was rotated with maize, 69–128% when groundnut was rotated with maize, and 9–133% when soybean was rotated with maize. Participatory and detailed questionnaire-based adoption surveys showed high adoption of improved maize varieties, five years after program interventions. )e maize variety 99EVDT-W-STR C0 was the most popular among all the IPs because it is early maturing, Striga-resistant, and drought-tolerant. )e high maize yields and high adoption rates suggest that the IP approach was effective in disseminating maize technologies