Análise dos fatores que influenciam os estudantes na seleção da Instituição de Ensino Superior no Estado do Rio Grande do Sul - Brasil

Esta dissertação de mestrado busca analisar os fatores que influenciam os estudantes na seleção do Instituto de Ensino Superior no Estado do Rio Grande do Sul – Brasil. Como problemática, buscou-se analisar o que motiva os alunos do ensino superior na hora de definir a instituição de ensino? O estudo apresentou como objetivo conhecer os fatores influenciadores na região do estudo. Foi utilizado abordagem exploratória e descritiva na qual buscou-se conhecer o assunto e posterior geração de hipóteses. Já a pesquisa descritiva complementou o estudo pois tem o objetivo de descrever as características de uma população e estabelecer a relação entre as variáveis no objeto de estudo analisado. Estima-se uma população de aproximadamente 378.000 alunos matriculados divididos em 131 estabelecimentos de ensino superior, caracterizadas na categoria privada e pública, com organização acadêmica de faculdade, centro universitário, universidade e instituto federal de educação, ciência e tecnologia. Para a coleta de dados foi utilizado um instrumento de pesquisa disponível online, onde foi criado 15 questões de múltiplas escolhas, mais 4 blocos de questões para identificação dos fatores onde se abordou áreas como ensino, instalações, serviços e influências, totalizando 19 questões. Como técnica de estatística de amostragem, utilizou-se o modelo “bola de neve”, em que, após enviado o questionário para o responsável da instituição de ensino superior era repassado aos demais para participação. A população alcançada foi de 423 questionários respondidos por alunos residentes em 49 municípios do Estado. Constatou-se que fatores como qualidade do ensino, capacidade de transmissão do conhecimento por parte dos docentes, corpo docente qualificado, empregabilidade ou reconhecimento do diploma no mercado como também infraestrutura das salas de aulas, laboratórios e bibliotecas, conectividade, segurança física, limpeza e visita as instalações são fatores predominantemente importantes no momento da seleção da instituição de ensino.

Developmental TVET rhetoric in-action: the White Paper for post-school education and training in South Africa

This paper explores the extent to which latest developments in the Technical and Vocational Education and Training System in South Africa respond to key principles espoused for a developmental, democratic and inclusionary ideal. The White Paper for post school education and training approved by Cabinet in November, 2013 is referred to by the Minister as the “definitive statement of the governments vision for the post school system” and as such represents a crucial strategy document intended to chart the TVET direction to 2030. Using key theoretical constructs from development theory, this paper provides an assessment of the TVET strategy contained is the paper and explores the extent to which it does respond to the agenda defined by the promise. It is argued that the challenges outlined are not yet able to provide the blueprint for a TVET transformative vision. It is concluded that while the development rhetoric contained in the paper is plausible, the creative tinkering of the system is unlikely to lead to the radical revisioning necessary for a truly transformative TVET system. The underlying assumptions regarding purpose, impact and outcome will need to be carefully reconsidered if the system is to be responsive to the promises of the democratic developmental ideal to which the government is committed. (DIPF/Orig.)

CROSS-LINGUISTIC TRANSFER OF SPELLING SKILLS IN SPANISH-SPEAKING ADULT ESL LEARNERS

Spelling is an important literacy skill, and learning to spell is an important component of learning to write. Learners with strong spelling skills also exhibit greater reading, vocabulary, and orthographic knowledge than those with poor spelling skills (Ehri & Rosenthal, 2007; Ehri & Wilce, 1987; Rankin, Bruning, Timme, & Katkanant, 1993). English, being a deep orthography, has inconsistent sound-to-letter correspondences (Seymour, 2005; Ziegler & Goswami, 2005). This poses a great challenge for learners in gaining spelling fluency and accuracy. The purpose of the present study is to examine cross-linguistic transfer of English vowel spellings in Spanish-speaking adult ESL learners. The research participants were 129 Spanish-speaking adult ESL learners and 104 native English-speaking GED students enrolled in a community college located in the South Atlantic region of the United States. The adult ESL participants were in classes at three different levels of English proficiency: advanced, intermediate, and beginning. An experimental English spelling test was administered to both the native English-speaking and ESL participants. In addition, the adult ESL participants took the standardized spelling tests to rank their spelling skills in both English and Spanish. The data were analyzed using robust regression and Poisson regression procedures, Mann-Whitney test, and descriptive statistics. The study found that both Spanish spelling skills and English proficiency are strong predictors of English spelling skills. Spanish spelling is also a strong predictor of level of L1-influenced transfer. More proficient Spanish spellers made significantly fewer L1-influenced spelling errors than less proficient Spanish spellers. L1-influenced transfer of spelling knowledge from Spanish to English likely occurred in three vowel targets (/ɑɪ/ spelled as ae, ai, or ay, /ɑʊ/ spelled as au, and /eɪ/ spelled as e). The ESL participants and the native English-speaking participants produced highly similar error patterns of English vowel spellings when the errors did not indicate L1-influenced transfer, which implies that the two groups might follow similar trajectories of developing English spelling skills. The findings may help guide future researchers or practitioners to modify and develop instructional spelling intervention to meet the needs of adult ESL learners and help them gain English spelling competence.

Ready for Transition: Factors that facilitate transfer to undergraduate engineering programs among Black African and American students

This study examines the factors facilitating the transfer admission of students broadly classified as Black from a single community college into a selective engineering college. The work aims to further research on STEM preparation and performance for students of color, as well as scholarship on increasing access to four-year institutions from two-year schools. Factors illuminating Underrepresented Racial and Ethnic Minority (URM) student pathways through Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) degree programs have often been examined through large-scale quantitative studies. However, this qualitative study complements quantitative data through demographic questionnaires, as well as semi-structured individual and group. The backgrounds and voices of diverse Black transfer students in four-year engineering degree programs were captured through these methods. Major findings from this research include evidence that community college faculty, peer networks, and family members facilitated transfer. Other results distinguish Black African from Black American transfers; included in these distinctions are depictions of different K-12 schooling experiences and differences in how participants self-identified. The findings that result from this research build upon the few studies that account for expanded dimensions of student diversity within the Black population. Among other demographic data, participants’ countries of birth and years of migration to the U.S. (if applicable) are included. Interviews reveal participants’ perceptions of factors impacting their educational trajectories in STEM and subsequent ability to transfer into a competitive undergraduate engineering program. This study is inclusive of, and reveals an important shifting demographic within the United States of America, Black Africans, who represent one of the fastest-growing segments of the immigrant population.

CATÁLOGO DE AUTORIDAD TERMINOLÓGICO PARA EL ANÁLISIS DE LA INFORMACIÓN DOCUMENTAL DE LA COMUNIDAD UNIVERSITARIA DE UNIDADES DE INFORMACIÓN ESPECIALIZADAS EN CIENCIAS SOCIALES

Se presentan los resultados de la práctica final de graduación denominada "Catálogo de Autoridad Terminológico para el análisis de la información documental de la Comunidad Universitaria de Unidades de Información Especializadas en Ciencias Sociales (CUUICS)" que consistió en la revisión, corrección y normalización del vocabulario libre de las unidades de información documental: Biblioteca Eugenio Fonseca Tortós de la Universidad de Costa Rica, el Fondo Bibliográfico de la Escuela de Historia y el Centro de Información Documental de la Facultad de Ciencias Sociales de la Universidad Nacional (Costa Rica).   Los objetivos consistieron en: 1. Realizar un diagnóstico sobre el estado actual de los procesos de indización de la CUUICS y 2. Sistematizar y normalizar el lenguaje libre empleado por las unidades de información y proponer su uso dentro de la CUUICS.

Electracy in Praxis: Pedagogical Relays for an Undergraduate Writing Curriculum

The paradigm shift from traditional print literacy to the postmodern fragmentation, nonlinearity, and multimodality of writing for the Internet is realized in Gregory L. Ulmer’s electracy theory. Ulmer’s open invitation to continually invent the theory has resulted in the proliferation of relays, or weak models, by electracy advocates for understanding and applying the theory. Most relays, however, remain theoretical rather than practical for the writing classroom, and electracy instruction remains rare, potentially hindering the theory’s development. In this dissertation, I address the gap in electracy praxis by adapting, developing, and remixing relays for a functional electracy curriculum with first-year writing students in the Virginia Community College System as the target audience. I review existing electracy relays, pedagogical applications, and assessment practices – Ulmer’s and those of electracy advocates – before introducing my own relays, which take the form of modules. My proposed relay modules are designed for adaptability with the goals of introducing digital natives to the logic of new media and guiding instructors to possible implementations of electracy. Each module contains a justification, core competencies and learning outcomes, optional readings, an assignment with supplemental exercises, and assessment criteria. My Playlist, Transduction, and (Sim)ulation relays follow sound backward curricular design principles and emphasize core hallmarks of electracy as juxtaposed alongside literacy. This dissertation encourages the instruction of new media in Ulmer’s postmodern apparatus in which student invention via the articulation of fragments from various semiotic modes stems from and results in new methodologies for and understandings of digital communication.

The Impact of a Classroom Performance System on Learning Gains in a Biology Course for Science Majors

This study was conducted to determine if the use of the technology known as Classroom Performance System (CPS), specifically referred to as “Clickers”, improves the learning gains of students enrolled in a biology course for science majors. CPS is one of a group of developing technologies adapted for providing feedback in the classroom using a learner-centered approach. It supports and facilitates discussion among students and between them and teachers, and provides for participation by passive students. Advocates, influenced by constructivist theories, claim increased academic achievement. In science teaching, the results have been mixed, but there is some evidence of improvements in conceptual understanding. The study employed a pretest-posttest, non-equivalent groups experimental design. The sample consisted of 226 participants in six sections of a college biology course at a large community college in South Florida with two instructors trained in the use of clickers. Each instructor randomly selected their sections into CPS (treatment) and non-CPS (control) groups. All participants filled out a survey that included demographic data at the beginning of the semester. The treatment group used clicker questions throughout, with discussions as necessary, whereas the control groups answered the same questions as quizzes, similarly engaging in discussion where necessary. The learning gains were assessed on a pre/post-test basis. The average learning gains, defined as the actual gain divided by the possible gain, were slightly better in the treatment group than in the control group, but the difference was statistically non-significant. An Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) statistic with pretest scores as the covariate was conducted to test for significant differences between the treatment and control groups on the posttest. A second ANCOVA was used to determine the significance of differences between the treatment and control groups on the posttest scores, after controlling for sex, GPA, academic status, experience with clickers, and instructional style. The results indicated a small increase in learning gains but these were not statistically significant. The data did not support an increase in learning based on the use of the CPS technology. This study adds to the body of research that questions whether CPS technology merits classroom adaptation.

Mapping Memories: Cuban Exiles Navigate Home

This flyer promotes the lecture "Mapping Memories: Cuban Exiles Navigate Home" by Patricia L. Price, the Dean of Academic Affairs at Stella & Charles Guttman Community College, City University of New York, Manhattan. This lecture was held on November 16, 2015 at Modesto M. Maidique Campus, Green Library 220.

BUDGET AND CONTROL BOARD ACCOUNTABILITY REPORT 2005-2006

Spartanburg Community College reports to the Budget and Control Board its annual accountability report that includes an executive summary, a description of the leadership system, customer focus and satisfaction and other performance criteria, mission, and program descriptions and budgets.

Accountability Report 2006-2007

Spartanburg Community College reports to the Budget and Control Board its annual accountability report that includes an executive summary, a description of the leadership system, customer focus and satisfaction and other performance criteria, mission, and program descriptions and budgets.

2007-2008 higher education state accountability report

Spartanburg Community College reports to the Budget and Control Board its annual accountability report that includes an executive summary, a description of the leadership system, customer focus and satisfaction and other performance criteria, mission, and program descriptions and budgets.

2008-2009 higher education state accountability report

Spartanburg Community College reports to the Budget and Control Board its annual accountability report that includes an executive summary, a description of the leadership system, customer focus and satisfaction and other performance criteria, mission, and program descriptions and budgets.

2009-2010 higher education state accountability report

Spartanburg Community College reports to the Budget and Control Board its annual accountability report that includes an executive summary, a description of the leadership system, customer focus and satisfaction and other performance criteria, mission, and program descriptions and budgets.

2011-2012 higher education state accountability report

Spartanburg Community College reports to the Budget and Control Board its annual accountability report that includes an executive summary, a description of the leadership system, customer focus and satisfaction and other performance criteria, mission, and program descriptions and budgets.

2012-2013 higher education state accountability report

Spartanburg Community College reports to the Budget and Control Board its annual accountability report that includes an executive summary, a description of the leadership system, customer focus and satisfaction and other performance criteria, mission, and program descriptions and budgets.