The effects of journal writing on academic achievement in high school Integrated Mathematics I

The purpose of this study was to determine if there was a significant difference in the level of academic achievement in responding to open-ended questions between those students who wrote in journals and those who did not write in journals, in an Integrated Mathematics I class. The sample consisted of thirty-three students from two Integrated Mathematics I classes; there were eighteen students who wrote in journals (the experimental group) and fifteen students who did not write in journals (the control group.) Integrated Mathematics I is a course designed for ninth grade non-college-bound students, where emphasis is placed on skills necessary for successful completion of the New Jersey High School Proficiency Test. Achievement tests containing open-ended questions were administered to both groups prior to and following the experiment. An independent t-test was performed to see if there was any significant difference in the level of academic achievement in responding to open-ended questions. The study indicated that there was no significant difference in academic achievement between those students who wrote in journals and those who did not write in journals

An exploration of the marital preferences of heterosexual college-educated black women : a qualitative examination

The present study sought to examine the marital preferences of college-educated, heterosexual, Black women between the ages of 25 and 34. This sample of women had never been married but had a desire to become married in the future. Participants shared their marital preferences, their beliefs, attitudes, and experiences with finding a marriage partner and their perceptions of marriage difficulty. Data were analyzed using a grounded theory method in which several themes emerged. The results of this study outlined the key personal qualities that the participants desired in a marriage partner, in addition to their racial, educational, and socioeconomic preferences. Results also revealed the attitudes and views participants have about Black men and the various challenges and factors they believe impact their marital status. Implications and directions for future research are provided.Department of Counseling Psychology, Social Psychology, and CounselingThesis (Ph. D.

La evaluación de la docencia universitaria en Argentina: situación, problemas y perspectivas

El advenimiento del “Estado evaluador”, en la década de los noventa, afirma la calidad de la educación en el escenario y agenda de la educación superior como un concepto clave: un bien público y determinante de la competitividad del país. La “profesión académica” como objeto de investigación ha cobrado importancia en las últimas décadas, de forma paralela al crecimiento y afianzamiento de la educación superior como campo de investigación. En Argentina, el tema de la evaluación de la docencia universitaria constituye un área de vacancia que, a la vez, limita la interpretación de los estudios que toman como objeto los cambios en nuestro sistema de educación superior. En este trabajo, proponemos desarrollar un panorama general sobre la evaluación de la docencia universitaria en Argentina, a partir de distintas fuentes de información y del análisis de experiencias realizadas en diversas universidades y de datos preliminares obtenidos de la encuesta del Proyecto The Changing Academic Profesión (CAP)

Desafíos para la construcción del Espacio Latinoamericano de Educación Superior, en el marco de las políticas supranacionales

This work tackles the main challenges for the construction of the Latin-American Space of Higher education - that it includes to the set of the continent - before the situation of untidy diversification and fragmentation that registers the Latin-American higher education and to avoid a potential situation of sharpening of the same one opposite to supranational politics that affect it negatively, how it might be the case of the imposition – of character neo colonial - on the part of the European Space of Higher Education (Process of Bologna) and of other origins. For it, the situation of the higher education is described in Latin America as the main processes and programs of convergence and its contribution to a common higher education space, in the frame of the processes of regional integration, particularly the MERCOSUR. Finally, some proposals appear to attend on the challenge of consolidating the Latin-American Space of Higher Education and its possible joint, both with the European Space and with other supranational spacesEste trabajo aborda los principales desafíos para la construcción del Espacio Latinoamericano de Educación Superior -que abarque al conjunto del continente-, ante la situación de desordenada diversificación y fragmentación que registra la educación superior latinoamericana y para evitar una potencial situación de agudización de la misma frente a políticas supranacionales que la afecten negativamente, como podría ser el caso de la imposición –de carácter neo colonial- por parte del Espacio Europeo de Educación Superior (Proceso de Bolonia) y de otros orígenes. Para ello, se describen tanto la situación de la educación superior en América Latina como los principales procesos y programas de convergencia y su contribución a un espacio común de educación superior, en el marco de los procesos de integración regional, particularmente el MERCOSUR. Finalmente, se plantean algunas propuestas para atender al desafío de consolidar el Espacio Latinoamericano de Educación Superior y su posible articulación, tanto con el Espacio Europeo como con otros espacios supranacionale

Evaluation of university teachers from an institutional perspective

La docencia universitaria es una de las funciones esenciales de la universidad y juega un papel fundamental en la mejora de la calidad de las instituciones y como un área relevante de las políticas institucionales para el desarrollo profesional docente. De esta manera, la evaluación de la docencia universitaria se transforma en un aspecto esencial de la universidad tanto para llevar a cabo políticas de mejoramiento e innovación como para la toma de decisiones políticas, académicas y administrativas. En este trabajo se abordará la evaluación de la docencia universitaria en el marco de las evaluaciones institucionales desde una perspectiva que incluye las distintas funciones docentes: las de gobierno y de gestión, las de producción y distribución del conocimiento, las de los diversos actores; las concepciones sobre la enseñanza y el aprendizaje y el modo en que éstas se articulan entre sí, entre otras cuestiones. Para ello, se presentan los principales fundamentos teórico-metodológicos de la investigación “Las políticas de evaluación de la docencia universitaria en Argentina en una perspectiva comparativa con España y México”; que se lleva a cabo en el Núcleo Interdisciplinario de Formación y Estudios para el Desarrollo de la Educación (nifede) de la Universidad Nacional de Tres de Febrero, de Argentina. Se desarrollan algunas consideraciones sobre los procesos de evaluación de la docencia universitaria, en el marco de las evaluaciones institucionales en Argentina y se analizan las evaluaciones externas realizadas en Argentina, por coneau y los datos obtenidos del Proyecto “The Changing Academic Profession an Internacional Research Project” (cap), que en la Argentina desarrollan la untref y la Universidad Nacional de General Sarmiento (ungs

Contributions for rethinking the assessment of the teaching function at universities

La evaluación de la función docencia universitaria es un aspecto relevante en todo proceso de mejora de la universidad, ya que posibilita realizar distintas recomendaciones para la toma de decisiones políticas, académicas y administrativas, a partir del conocimiento de la calidad con la que los docentes desarrollan las distintas actividades que les competen. Este trabajo se centra en la evaluación de la función docente universitaria, a partir de la formulación de una serie de interrogantes, que surgen de 30 entrevistas realizadas a docentes universitarios de universidades públicas de Argentina y México. Es, a través de los interrogantes formulados, ilustrados con la “voz de los protagonistas”, que se espera aportar al debate sobre algunas de las cuestiones que se consideran problemáticas a la hora de reflexionar sobre la evaluación del profesional universitario.Avaliação da Universidade função do ensino é um aspecto importante em qualquer processo de melhoria da Universidade, como ele permite que você faça recomendações diferentes políticos, acadêmicos e decisões administrativas com base no conhecimento da qualidade com a qual professores desenvolvem diferentes atividades que lhes pertencem. Este trabalho enfoca a avaliação da função educacional da Universidade, da formulação de uma série de questões que surgem de 30 entrevistas com professores de universidades públicas na Argentina e no México. É, por meio de perguntas formulados, ilustrado com a "voz dos protagonistas", que deverá contribuir para o debate sobre algumas das questões que são consideradas problemáticas quando se trata de refletir sobre a avaliação do profissional da Universidade.The evaluation of university teaching function is an important aspect of any process of university improvement, since it allows making various recommendations for making political, academic and administrative decisions based on the knowledge of the quality with which faculty carry on the different activities that concern them. In this paper we will focus on evaluation of the teaching function at universities, through the formulation of a series of questions arising from interviews with 30 university professors and assistants from public universities in Argentina and Mexico. By means of the questions asked, illustrated with the actors' own voices, it is expected to contribute to the debate on some of the issues arisen when thinking about university staff assessment

Aquatic Resources Management of the Colorado River Ecosystem

The Colorado River system has often been referred to as the most regulated river system in the world. The Colorado River Basin serves millions of people through agricultural, energy, municipal and industrial uses, fish and wildlife activities, and recreation. The symposium was conceived and organized to allow researchers, private industry, consultants, water users, regulatory agencies, and concerned citizens the opportunity to express needs, desires, and concerns about the vast resources of the Colorado River. We found that there were a diverse number of problems confronting the individuals who are involved in the management of this important ecosystem. A variety of broad topics have been presented which include: water policy and major diversions; energy impacts; oil shale development--resources and impacts; Lake Mead and the other major reservoirs in the system; the ecology and management of the watershed and the riparian habitat in the system; fisheries; salinity problems; sedimentation; eutrophication; flow depletion; and water augmentation. This timely symposium brought together many individuals, representing a variety of disciplines, to discuss and transfer information appropriate to the needs of the Colorado River Basin. The results of this symposium, which have been compiled herein, are an attempt to examine current and projected effects of water and land management within the Colorado River Basin and to provide a basis for determining what can be done to better manage the resources within the total context of activities affecting the Colorado River Ecosystem

Reentrant Spin-Peierls Transition in Mg-Doped CuGeO_3

We report a synchrotron x-ray scattering study of the diluted spin-Peierls (SP) material Cu_{1-x}Mg_xGeO_3. In a recent paper we have shown that the SP dimerization attains long-range order only for x < x_c = 0.022(0.001). Here we report that the SP transition is reentrant in the vicinity of the critical concentration x_c. This is manifested by broadening of the SP dimerization superlattice peaks below the reentrance temperature, T_r, which may mean either the complete loss of the long-range SP order or the development of a short-range ordered component within the long-range ordered SP state. Marked hysteresis and very large relaxation times are found in the samples with Mg concentrations in the vicinity of x_c. The reentrant transition is likely related to the competing Neel transition which occurs at a temperature similar to T_r. We argue that impurity-induced competing interchain interactions play an essential role in these phenomena.Comment: 5 pages, 4 embedded eps figure

Un articolo inedito di André Robinet, Le modele cybernétique dans la pensée politico-technique de G. W. Leibniz

An unpublished paper by André Robinet, which is dated February 5th, 2005 and focuses on Leibniz’s theory of law and justice, is edited and introduced by some preliminary remarks and clarifications. An explanation is proposed concerning Robinet’s claim according to which Leibniz’s use of the French noun ‘gubernation’ justifies speaking of a cybernetic model in his political and law philosophy. His 1994 book on Leibniz’s political thought, which is presupposed, has been consulted to clarify some aspects of Robinet’s article, which is devoid of footnotes. Some of the main texts by Leibniz on the subject have been identified, which are underlying in Robinet’s article