State of Northwest Arkansas Region, Business Analysis 2020

Mervin Jebaraj, the center\u27s director, will outline the economic highlights in the State of the Northwest Arkansas Region Report and will report economic data and insights about the impact of COVID-19. The State of the Northwest Arkansas Region Report is viewed as one of the best measures of the area\u27s economy, comparing that to peer regions such as Madison, Wis.; Raleigh, N.C.; Provo-Orem, Utah; Des Moines, Iowa; and Austin, Texas. Northwest Arkansas Council Chief Operating Officer, Mike Harvey, will give an overview of the Council\u27s efforts to attract talent to the region by highlighting quality of life and job opportunities. The Finding NWA program uses social media platforms like LinkedIn to help recruiters identify top talent from places such as San Francisco, Seattle, Dallas and Kansas City for careers at Walmart, Tyson Foods and other companies. Human resources managers at these companies have praised the Finding NWA efforts since its program expanded in June, the council reports. Karen Roberts, Northwest Arkansas Council 2020-2021 presiding co-chair, will moderate the event. Roberts is executive vice president and general counsel for Walmart. In this role, she oversees the legal department, which is responsible for handling all legal matters affecting the company in its domestic and international markets

Influence of Socioeconomic Status and Gender on High School Seniors' Use of Computers at Home and at School

This article critically assesses the proposition that computers have a democratizing effect in schools by increasing job-relevant skills among diverse groups of students. Drawing on arguments that schools are limited in their ability to counter long-standing patterns of inequality, we examine how gender and socioeconomic status interact to shape computer use patterns among high school seniors both at home and at school. Our data come from a large representative sample of grade 12 students in a western Canadian province. We find that social inequalities are being reproduced in the home through access to, and use of, home computers, with job-relevant uses higher among both female and male students from more advantaged backgrounds. Home environment conditions the effect of school use of computers because students from higher SES families—who have higher academic achievement and goals—are more likely to use computers at home but less likely to do so in school. This finding challenges claims that computers in schools can level differences in cultural capital that students acquire at home.Cet article présente une analyse critique de la proposition selon laquelle l'ordinateur a un effet démocratisant dans les écoles en ce qu'il améliore des habiletés professionnelles chez divers groupes d'élèves. Puisant dans des arguments qui démontrent que les capacités qu'a l'école de redresser des inégalités de longue date sont limitées, nous nous penchons sur la façon dont le statut social des hommes et des hommes (le sexe) et le statut socio-économique influencent l'emploi que font les élèves de l'ordinateur à l'école et à la maison. Les données proviennent d'un échantillon important d'élèves en 12' année dans une province de l'ouest canadien. Les résultats indiquent que les inégalités sociales se reproduisent à la maison par l'accès à un ordinateur et l'emploi que l'on en fait. Plus précisément, les élèves (garçons et filles) provenant de foyers plus aisés se servaient plus de l'ordinateur de façon à améliorer leurs compétences professionnelles. L'environnement à la maison affecte l'emploi que font les élèves des ordinateurs à l'école dans le sens que les élèves de familles de statut socio-économique plus élevé (et dont le rendement et les objectifs académiques sont plus élevés) sont plus portés à employer un ordinateur à la maison mais moins portés à le faire à l'école. Cette conclusion remet en question les arguments selon lesquels les ordinateurs à l'école peuvent niveler les différences dans le capital culturel que les élèves acquièrent à la maison

Influence of Socioeconomic Status and Gender on High School Seniors' Use of Computers at Home and at School

This article critically assesses the proposition that computers have a democratizing effect in schools by increasing job-relevant skills among diverse groups of students. Drawing on arguments that schools are limited in their ability to counter long-standing patterns of inequality, we examine how gender and socioeconomic status interact to shape computer use patterns among high school seniors both at home and at school. Our data come from a large representative sample of grade 12 students in a western Canadian province. We find that social inequalities are being reproduced in the home through access to, and use of, home computers, with job-relevant uses higher among both female and male students from more advantaged backgrounds. Home environment conditions the effect of school use of computers because students from higher SES families—who have higher academic achievement and goals—are more likely to use computers at home but less likely to do so in school. This finding challenges claims that computers in schools can level differences in cultural capital that students acquire at home.Cet article présente une analyse critique de la proposition selon laquelle l'ordinateur a un effet démocratisant dans les écoles en ce qu'il améliore des habiletés professionnelles chez divers groupes d'élèves. Puisant dans des arguments qui démontrent que les capacités qu'a l'école de redresser des inégalités de longue date sont limitées, nous nous penchons sur la façon dont le statut social des hommes et des hommes (le sexe) et le statut socio-économique influencent l'emploi que font les élèves de l'ordinateur à l'école et à la maison. Les données proviennent d'un échantillon important d'élèves en 12' année dans une province de l'ouest canadien. Les résultats indiquent que les inégalités sociales se reproduisent à la maison par l'accès à un ordinateur et l'emploi que l'on en fait. Plus précisément, les élèves (garçons et filles) provenant de foyers plus aisés se servaient plus de l'ordinateur de façon à améliorer leurs compétences professionnelles. L'environnement à la maison affecte l'emploi que font les élèves des ordinateurs à l'école dans le sens que les élèves de familles de statut socio-économique plus élevé (et dont le rendement et les objectifs académiques sont plus élevés) sont plus portés à employer un ordinateur à la maison mais moins portés à le faire à l'école. Cette conclusion remet en question les arguments selon lesquels les ordinateurs à l'école peuvent niveler les différences dans le capital culturel que les élèves acquièrent à la maison

The ecology of 3-d space use in a sexually dimorphic mammal

The distribution of animals is the result of habitat selection according to sex, reproductive status and resource availability. Little is known about how marine predators investigate their 3-dimensional space along both the horizontal and vertical axes and how temporal variation affects space use. In this study, we assessed the spatio-temporal movement of a sexually dimorphic marine mammal, the grey seal Halichoerus grypus by 1) determining seasonal home range size, 2) testing whether space use of seals was affected by water depth, and 3) investigating the vertical movement of seals according to the maximum depth of each dive. Between 1993 and 2005, we fitted 49 grey seals in the Gulf of St. Lawrence with satellite transmitters. We estimated seasonal 95% fixed-kernel home ranges for each individual. For each seal, we tested for selectivity and preference for 4 water depth classes at the home range scale and within the home range. We also evaluated the proportional number of dives made in each water depth classes according to the maximum depth of each dive. Home ranges were 10 times larger in winter than in summer. Seals generally selected habitats <50 m deep. They also mainly dove to depths of 40 m or less. At both scales of selection, preference for shallow areas decreased in winter. We also observed that adults used shallow habitats more than juveniles to establish their home range. A spatial segregation based on sex also occurred at the finer scale of selection where females were more concentrated in the shallowest parts of their home range than males. Segregation in space use according to age and sex classes occurred at both the horizontal and vertical scales. Our results emphasise the importance of studying habitat selection of marine predators in 3-dimensional space, in addition to the temporal scale

Extending teacher education students' mental models of teaching and learning through Problem Based Learning

Published version of the paper reproduced here with permission from the publisher.This paper reports student teachers’ reflections on changes in their mental models of teaching and learning following their experiences of a problem based learning (PBL) topic. Students develop robust mental models of teaching and learning during their school years. Mental models inform intentions and plans, which in turn inform actions. As such, teachers often teach as they were taught—possibly perpetuating practices that limit intellectual inquiry in classrooms. PBL was introduced to our Bachelor of Education (B.Ed.) to challenge and extend students’ mental models about teaching and learning, with a view to influencing their prospective teaching actions. We created an analytical framework and identified key-word descriptors of change to guide categorisation of 105 students’ focussed written reflections on their PBL experiences. Results provide evidence that students do report changed mental models in areas such as, 1) the value of case studies for engaging with subject content, motivating learning and connecting theory with practice, 2) self-reflection and peer collaboration for cognitive and professional growth, and 3) PBL processes of inquiry for developing self-regulated learning practices

What happens in my university classes that helps me to learn?': Teacher Education Students' Instructional Metacognitive Knowledge

Teacher education students’ instructional metacognitive knowledge needs to be well developed to promote both their own learning and their prospective students’ learning. In this study, we asked teacher education students to provide answers to the question “What happens in my university classes that helps me to learn?” Students identified issues such as supportive classroom environments, teachers’ professional and personal qualities, practical activities, reflection, and discussions. Cognitive organisation strategies were not well represented. Cluster analysis and multidimensional scaling of students’ responses identified a perceptual separation between teachers’ and students’ roles, suggesting that participants’ sense of personal agency, shared responsibility for learning, and involvement in a learning community, were not developed in directions suggested by contemporary educational theory. Implications for teaching-learning interactions that have the potential to develop students’ instructional metacognitive knowledge are discussed

Teacher Education Students' Knowledge About how Class Discussions Help Them to Learn

Published version of the paper reproduced here with permission from the publisher.Self-regulatory perspectives of learning imply that students need to possess knowledge about 1) themselves as learners, 2) how to build effective knowledge structures, and 3) how to further develop and apply their knowledge. In a teacher education context we would hope that students would be able to explicitly articulate such knowledge, not only in relation to themselves as learners, but also as potential teachers of other learners. This paper describes one part of a study that sought to investigate pre-service teachers' knowledge about learning. We asked final year Bachelor of Education students to provide a short written answer to the question, "What happens in your university classes that helps you to learn." The students' most frequent response was, "Discussions." We then conducted follow up interviews where students elaborated upon their written responses. We created a framework for analysing students' responses based upon principles of classroom climate, motivation, self-regulation and psychological- and social-constructivism. We draw conclusions about 1) the value of discussions as a teaching and learning technique, 2) the quality of participants' knowledge about how discussions help them to learn, and 3) the implications of participants' knowledge about discussions for their future roles as teachers