Enhancing adult student persistence: The relationship between prior learning assessment and persistence toward the baccalaureate degree

In this study of adult part-time baccalaureate students at a midwestern private liberal arts college, prior learning assessment (the PLA portfolio process) significantly predicts persistence. Logistic regression results indicate that completers of the PLA portfolio process increase their estimated probability of persistence dramatically;Part-time adult students in higher education are likely to drop out. Adult students had dropped out at double the rate of traditional age students (45% versus 23%) in a 1992 study of the 1989 entering class. In a 1994 follow-up study, highly non-traditional students (attended part-time, worked full-time, had dependents, and delayed entry into college) were the least likely to have persisted. Among highly non-traditional students, 54% had dropped out 5 years after their 1989 entry;Researchers have identified a set of background factors and process factors that play significant role in persistence. The background variables are: age, gender, educational attainment of spouse and parents, work intensity (full-time or part-time), high school performance, and prior college credits. Life changes (such as divorce, childbirth, death or illness, and job change) influence the decision to enter higher education and the decision to leave. The outcome variables (grade point average, enrollment status, financial aid, academic and social integration, and disposition) directly influence the decision to persist;Disposition factors are confidence, goal clarity, commitment, satisfaction, and sources of support;The complex interplay of background, motivation, academic performance, PLA portfolio participation, and life changes affects adult student progress throughout the process. The significant variables predicting persistence for this study are grade point average, number of prior college credits, and participation in prior learning assessment. Demographic variables were not significant;Few interventions by adult educators can have as dramatic effect on persistence as the PLA portfolio process. Students within this sample who complete the PLA portfolio process increase their probability of persistence by a minimum of 45% to a high of 281%. Students with mean GPA and mean prior credits increased their probability of persistence by 106%. Three fourths of eligible students who completed the PLA graduated versus 39% of those who did not

Shrinking homes? The geographies of small domestic properties in London, 2010-2021

In the last decade, the UK’s media have highlighted an apparent rise in the number of homes below the recommended Nationally Described Space Standard for a one-person, one-bed home. However, evidence for the growth of ‘micro-apartments’ is mixed, with existing data making it difficult to map the geographies of sub-standard homes below the Local Authority scale. Focussing on London, this paper uses Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs) as a source of floorspace data, matching this to the Land Registry’s Price Paid Data (PPD) and information from the London Planning Database. It quantifies the number of sub-standard homes in London registered for an EPC 2010–21, maps their location at the MSOA (neighbourhood) level, and compares property prices for small and larger homes. Focusing on newly-built homes, it shows that the numbers of small homes doubled across this period with growth in select outer London ‘hotspots’ accounting for much of this. It also demonstrates the overall numbers of small homes rose despite the formal incorporation of NDSS in the London Plan 2016, with the by-passing of space standards in property conversions under Permitted Development Rights, 2013–21 appearing relatively insignificant in explaining these temporal and spatial trends. Finally, it shows that the price per square metre of small homes often far exceeds that of much larger homes in the same area. While recognising the limitations of EPC data, our findings point to the need for further exploration of the enforcement of space standards, not least because it is often assumed that building more, smaller homes in the capital will create more affordable homes for Londoners

Finite volume approach for the instationary Cosserat rod model describing the spinning of viscous jets

The spinning of slender viscous jets can be described asymptotically by one-dimensional models that consist of systems of partial and ordinary differential equations. Whereas the well-established string models possess only solutions for certain choices of parameters and set-ups, the more sophisticated rod model that can be considered as $\epsilon$-regularized string is generally applicable. But containing the slenderness ratio $\epsilon$ explicitely in the equations complicates the numerical treatment. In this paper we present the first instationary simulations of a rod in a rotational spinning process for arbitrary parameter ranges with free and fixed jet end, for which the hitherto investigations longed. So we close an existing gap in literature. The numerics is based on a finite volume approach with mixed central, up- and down-winded differences, the time integration is performed by stiff accurate Radau methods

Entrainment of Dungeness Crab in the Desdemona Shoals Reach of the Lower Columbia River Navigation Channel

Proposed dredging of the Columbia River has raised concerns about related impacts on Dungeness crab in the Columbia River Estuary (CRE). This study follows two major efforts, sponsored by the Portland District of the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) to quantify the number of crabs entrained by a hopper dredge working in the CRE. From June 2002 through September 2002, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) conducted direct measurements of crab entrainment in the CRE from the mouth of the Columbia River (MCR, river mile -3 to +3) upriver as far as Miller Sands (river mile 21 to 24). These studies constituted a major step in quantifying crab entrainment in the CRE, and allowed statistically bounded projections of adult equivalent loss (AEL) for Dungeness crab populations under a range of future construction dredging and maintenance dredging scenarios (Pearson et al. 2002, 2003). In 2004, PNNL performed additional measurements to improve estimates of crab entrainment at Desdemona Shoals and at Flavel Bar, a reach near Astoria that had not been adequately sampled in 2002 (Figure 1). The 2004 data were used to update the crab loss projections for channel construction to 43 ft MLLW. In addition, a correlation between bottom salinity and adult (age 2+ and 3+, >100 mm carapace width) crab entrainment was developed using 2002 data, and elaborated upon with the 2004 data. This crab salinity model was applied to forecasting seasonal (monthly) entrainment rates and AEL using seasonal variations in salinity (Pearson et al. 2005). In the previous studies, entrainment rates in Desdemona Shoals were more variable than in any of the other reaches. Pearson et al. (2005) concluded that ?the dynamics behind the variable entrainment rates at Desdemona Shoals are not fully understood,? as well as finding that juvenile crab entrainment was not significantly correlated with salinity as it was for older crab. The present study was undertaken to address the question of whether the high age 1+ entrainment rate at Desdemona Shoals in June 2002 unusual, or would it be observed again under similar conditions? PNNL and USACE personnel directly measured crab entrainment by the USACE hopper dredge Essayons working in Desdemona Shoals in June 2006. In addition to quantifying crab entrainment of all age classes, bottom salinity was directly measured in as many samples as possible, so that the relationship between crab entrainment and salinity could be further evaluated. All 2006 data were collected and analyzed in a manner consistent with the previous entrainment studies (Pearson et al. 2002, 2003, 2005)

Estimated Entrainment of Dungeness Crab During Dredging For The Columbia River Channel Improvement Project

The studies reported here focus on issues regarding the entrainment of Dungeness crab related to the proposed Columbia River Channel Improvement Project and provided direct measurements of crab entrainment rates at three locations (Desdomona Shoals, Upper Sands, and Miller Sands) from RM4 to RM24 during summer 2002. Entrainment rates for all age classes of crabs ranged from zero at Miller Sands to 0.224 crabs per cy at Desdemona Shoals in June 2002. The overall entrainment rate at Desdomona Shoals in September was 0.120 crabs per cy. A modified Dredge Impact Model (DIM) used the summer 2002 entrainment rates to project crab entrainment and adult equivalent loss and loss to the fishery for the Channel Improvement Project. To improve the projections, entrainment data from Flavel Bar is needed. The literature, analyses of salinity intrusion scenarios, and the summer 2002 site-specific data on entrainment and salinity all indicate that bottom salinity influences crab distribution and entrainment, especially at lower salinities. It is now clear from field measurements of entrainment rates and salinity during a period of low river flow (90-150 Kcfs) and high salinity intrusion that entrainment rates are zero where bottom salinity is less than 16 o/oo most of the time. Further, entrainment rates of 2+ and older crab fall with decreasing salinity in a clear and consistent manner. More elaboration of the crab distribution- salinity model, especially concerning salinity and the movements of 1+ crab, is needed