scholarly journals Retention, Progression and the Taking of Online Courses

2015 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Scott James ◽  
Karen Swan ◽  
Cassandra Daston
Keyword(s):  
Community Colleges ◽  
Online Courses ◽  
Predictive Analytics ◽  
The United States ◽  
Retention Rates ◽  
Pell Grant ◽  
Delivery Mode ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Media Reports ◽  
Onground Courses

Online learning continues to grow at post-secondary institutions across the United States, but many question its efficacy, especially for students most at-risk for failure. This paper engages that issue. It examines recent research on the success of community college students who take online classes and explores similar comparisons using 656,258 student records collected through the Predictive Analytics Reporting (PAR) Framework. In particular, the research investigated retention rates for students in three delivery mode groups — students taking only onground courses, students taking only online courses, and students taking some courses onground and some courses online at five primarily onground community colleges, five primarily onground four-year universities, and four primarily online institutions. Results revealed that taking some online courses did not result in lower retention rates for students enrolled in primarily onground community colleges participating in the PAR Framework. Moreover, although retention rates were lower for such students taking only online courses than for similar students taking only onground or blending their courses, much of the difference could be explained by extraneous factors. Essentially no differences in retention between delivery mode groups were found for students enrolled in primarily onground four-year universities participating in the PAR Framework, while at participating primarily online institutions, students blending their courses had slightly better odds of being retained than students taking exclusively onground or exclusively online courses. No differences between the latter groups were found at these institutions. Patterns of retention were similar regardless of gender across institutional categories, and were mostly similar regardless of Pell grant status with the exception of fully online students at traditional community colleges. Age, however, did differentially affect delivery mode effects. Older students taking only online courses were retained at higher rates than younger students taking only online courses at both primarily onground community colleges and primarily online institutions. The results suggest that, despite media reports to the contrary, taking online courses is not necessarily harmful to students’ chances of being retained, and may provide course-taking opportunities that otherwise might not be available, especially for nontraditional students.

scholarly journals A Prospective Investigation of Cesarean Birth with Total and Truncal Fat Mass in Early Adolescence

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (Supplement_2) ◽  
pp. 1039-1039
Author(s):  
Lidia Minguez Alarcon ◽  
Sheryl Rifas-Shiman ◽  
Joanne Sordillo ◽  
Izzuddin Aris ◽  
Marie-France Hivert ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cesarean Delivery ◽  
Vaginal Delivery ◽  
Fat Mass ◽  
Early Adolescence ◽  
Maternal Age ◽  
The United States ◽  
Delivery Mode ◽  
Linear Regression Models ◽  
Funding Sources ◽  
The Difference

Abstract Objectives Nearly 1.3 million cesarean deliveries are performed each year in the United States, resulting in the birth of one third of all children nationwide. A higher risk of childhood obesity has been observed among children born by cesarean, but this literature is inconsistent. We investigated differences in total and truncal fat mass during early adolescence among offspring born by cesarean compared to those born by vaginal delivery. Methods This prospective study includes adolescents (median age 12.8 years) whose mothers enrolled in while pregnant in Project Viva between 1999 and 2002, and who have been followed since birth. A total of 740 adolescents had available total and truncal fat mass measured using Dual Energy X-Ray Absorptiometry (DXA) at the early adolescent in-person visit. We abstracted delivery mode from electronic medical records. We used multivariable linear regression models to estimate the difference in total and truncal fat mass indices (FMI, kg/m,2) among adolescents born by cesarean compared to those born by vaginal delivery while adjusting for confounders. We used stabilized inverse probability weights to account for censoring. Results Mean (SD) maternal age was 32.2 (5.4) years and pre-pregnancy BMI was 25.0 (5.3) kg/m,2. A total of 157 (21%) of the adolescents were born by cesarean delivery and 51%were female; mean (SD) total and truncal FMI were 6.3 (3.1) and 2.4 (1.5) kg/m,2 respectively. Adolescents born by cesarean vs. vaginal delivery had significantly higher total [β (95% CI) = 0.78 (0.23, 1.33) kg/m,2] and truncal [β (95% CI) = 0.35 (0.08, 0.61) kg/m,2] FMI than those born by vaginal delivery in models adjusted for child age and sex, and maternal age, education and race/ethnicity. These associations were attenuated and no longer statistically significant after further adjusting for maternal pre-pregnancy BMI [β (95% CI) = 0.45 (−0.06, 0.96) kg/m,2 for total and 0.19 (−0.05, 0.44) kg/m,2 for truncal FMI]. Additional adjustment for gestational weight gain, smoking and paternal BMI did not substantially change the results. Conclusions These data suggest that the association between birth by cesarean delivery and adolescent adiposity is largely explained by maternal pre-pregnancy BMI. Funding Sources NIH grants R01HD093761, R01HD034568, R01ES024765, and UH3 OD023286.

Malaysia MOOC: Improving Low Student Retention with Predictive Analytics

2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (2.29) ◽  
pp. 1113
Author(s):  
Nadirah Mohamad ◽  
Nor Bahiah Ahmad ◽  
Dayang Norhayati Abang Jawawi
Keyword(s):  
Data Mining ◽  
Student Retention ◽  
Online Courses ◽  
Predictive Analytics ◽  
Promising Result ◽  
Intervention Programs ◽  
Retention Rates ◽  
Learning Program ◽  
Interaction Factor ◽  
Using Data

Massive Open Online Courses MOOCs have become more acceptable as a learning program globally, including Malaysia. One main issue that has been discussed since the implementation of MOOCs is the issue of low student retention or high dropout rates from the course. Various factors have been found to play a role in this issue including the interaction factor. Previous studies have experimented with various strategies to monitor student retention and apply intervention programs to improve the situation. The strategies include the usage of machine learning and data mining techniques in analysing students’ online interactions to predict student retention rates. The implementation of these strategies produced promising result. However, in Malaysia, these strategies are not really implemented yet. Therefore, this paper discusses the issue of student retention in MOOCs, explores possible intervention plans using data mining and its suitability with the current platforms used for MOOCs. The proposed method includes predictive analytics that involves classification analysis. This paper suggests that the method can be applied to the current platform and complement intervention programs for the issue of low retention or high dropouts with several improvements.

scholarly journals Malaysia MOOC: Improving Low Student Retention with Predictive Analytics

2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (2.29) ◽  
pp. 398 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nadirah Mohamad ◽  
Nor Bahiah Ahmad ◽  
Dayang Norhayati Abang Jawawi
Keyword(s):  
Data Mining ◽  
Student Retention ◽  
Online Courses ◽  
Predictive Analytics ◽  
Promising Result ◽  
Intervention Programs ◽  
Retention Rates ◽  
Learning Program ◽  
Interaction Factor ◽  
Using Data

Massive Open Online Courses MOOCs have become more acceptable as a learning program globally, including Malaysia. One main issue that has been discussed since the implementation of MOOCs is the issue of low student retention or high dropout rates from the course. Various factors have been found to play a role in this issue including the interaction factor. Previous studies have experimented with various strategies to monitor student retention and apply intervention programs to improve the situation. The strategies include the usage of machine learning and data mining techniques in analysing students’ online interactions to predict student retention rates. The implementation of these strategies produced promising result. However, in Malaysia, these strategies are not really implemented yet. Therefore, this paper discusses the issue of student retention in MOOCs, explores possible intervention plans using data mining and its suitability with the current platforms used for MOOCs. The proposed method includes predictive analytics that involves classification analysis. This paper suggests that the method can be applied to the current platform and complement intervention programs for the issue of low retention or high dropouts with several improvements.  

scholarly journals 145. Monthly Antibiotic Prescribing Peer Comparison Combined with In-person Education Decreases Antibiotic Prescribing for Acute Respiratory Infections

2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. S83-S83
Author(s):  
Shelby J Kolo ◽  
David J Taber ◽  
Ronald G Washburn ◽  
Katherine A Pleasants
Keyword(s):  
Primary Care ◽  
Respiratory Infections ◽  
Primary Care Providers ◽  
The United States ◽  
Delivery Mode ◽  
Antibiotic Prescribing ◽  
Acute Respiratory Infections ◽  
Care Providers ◽  
Intervention Period ◽  
Provider Education

Abstract Background Inappropriate antibiotic prescribing is an important modifiable risk factor for antibiotic resistance. Approximately half of all antibiotics prescribed for acute respiratory infections (ARIs) in the United States may be inappropriate or unnecessary. The purpose of this quality improvement (QI) project was to evaluate the effect of three consecutive interventions on improving antibiotic prescribing for ARIs (i.e., pharyngitis, rhinosinusitis, bronchitis, common cold). Methods This was a pre-post analysis of an antimicrobial stewardship QI initiative to improve antibiotic prescribing for ARIs in six Veterans Affairs (VA) primary care clinics. Three distinct intervention phases occurred. Educational interventions included training on appropriate antibiotic prescribing for ARIs. During the first intervention period (8/2017-1/2019), education was presented virtually to primary care providers on a single occasion. In the second intervention period (2/2019-10/2019), in-person education with peer comparison was presented on a single occasion. In the third intervention period (11/2019-4/2020), education and prescribing feedback with peer comparison was presented once in-person followed by monthly emails of prescribing feedback with peer comparison. January 2016-July 2017 was used as a pre-intervention baseline period. The primary outcome was the antibiotic prescribing rate for all classifications of ARIs. Secondary outcomes included adherence to antibiotic prescribing guidance for pharyngitis and rhinosinusitis. Descriptive statistics and interrupted time series segmented regression were used to analyze the outcomes. Results Monthly antibiotic prescribing peer comparison emails in combination with in-person education was associated with a statistically significant 12.5% reduction in the rate of antibiotic prescribing for ARIs (p=0.0019). When provider education alone was used, the reduction in antibiotic prescribing was nonsignificant. Conclusion Education alone does not significantly reduce antibiotic prescribing for ARIs, regardless of the delivery mode. In contrast, education followed by monthly prescribing feedback with peer comparison was associated with a statistically significant reduction in ARI antibiotic prescribing rates. Disclosures All Authors: No reported disclosures

scholarly journals Seed shattering phenology at soybean harvest of economically important weeds in multiple regions of the United States. Part 1: broadleaf species

Weed Science ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 1-29
Author(s):  
Lauren M. Schwartz-Lazaro ◽  
Lovreet S. Shergill ◽  
Jeffrey A. Evans ◽  
Muthukumar V. Bagavathiannan ◽  
Shawn C. Beam ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
The United States ◽  
Ambrosia Artemisiifolia ◽  
Retention Rates ◽  
Weed Species ◽  
Physiological Maturity ◽  
Seed Retention ◽  
Northern Latitudes ◽  
Multiple Regions ◽  
Broadleaf Species ◽  
Crop Maturity

Abstract Potential effectiveness of harvest weed seed control (HWSC) systems depends upon seed shatter of the target weed species at crop maturity, enabling its collection and processing at crop harvest. However, seed retention likely is influenced by agroecological and environmental factors. In 2016 and 2017, we assessed seed shatter phenology in thirteen economically important broadleaf weed species in soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] from crop physiological maturity to four weeks after physiological maturity at multiple sites spread across fourteen states in the southern, northern, and mid-Atlantic U.S. Greater proportions of seeds were retained by weeds in southern latitudes and shatter rate increased at northern latitudes. Amaranthus species seed shatter was low (0 to 2%), whereas shatter varied widely in common ragweed (Ambrosia artemisiifolia L.) (2 to 90%) over the weeks following soybean physiological maturity. Overall, the broadleaf species studied shattered less than ten percent of their seeds by soybean harvest. Our results suggest that some of the broadleaf species with greater seed retention rates in the weeks following soybean physiological maturity may be good candidates for HWSC.

Promoting divergent leadership philosophies to improve student success outcomes for black and brown students in higher education

2021 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicholas Petty ◽  
Dakota King-White ◽  
Tachelle Banks
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
United States ◽  
Student Success ◽  
Baccalaureate Degree ◽  
The United States ◽  
Retention Rates ◽  
Completion Rates ◽  
Marginalized Groups ◽  
Support Students

Abstract Throughout the United States there are millions of Black and Brown students starting the process of attending college. However, research indicates that students from traditionally marginalized groups are less likely than their counterparts to complete the process and graduate college (Shapiro et al., 2017). While retention rates for students from traditionally marginalized backgrounds continue to decline, universities are beginning to pay attention to the needs of this population in search of ways of better supporting them. The examination of these factors may also inform programmatic adjustments, leadership philosophies, and future practices to help retain students and lead to eventual completion of a baccalaureate degree. In this article, the authors review the literature to explore factors that can affect Black and Brown students’ completion rates in higher education. By reviewing the literature and the factors impacting Black and Brown students, the authors share with readers initiatives at one university that are being used to support students from a strengths-based approach.

scholarly journals The Effect of Massachusetts' Health Reform on Employer-Sponsored Insurance Premiums

2010 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
John F Cogan ◽  
R. Glenn Hubbard ◽  
Daniel Kessler
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Health Reform ◽  
Medical Expenditure Panel Survey ◽  
Private Insurance ◽  
The United States ◽  
Medical Expenditure ◽  
Insurance Premiums ◽  
Reform Plan ◽  
The Difference ◽  
The Cost

In this paper, we use publicly available data from the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey - Insurance Component (MEPS-IC) to investigate the effect of Massachusetts' health reform plan on employer-sponsored insurance premiums. We tabulate premium growth for private-sector employers in Massachusetts and the United States as a whole for 2004 - 2008. We estimate the effect of the plan as the difference in premium growth between Massachusetts and the United States between 2006 and 2008—that is, before versus after the plan—over and above the difference in premium growth for 2004 to 2006. We find that health reform in Massachusetts increased single-coverage employer-sponsored insurance premiums by about 6 percent, or $262. Although our research design has important limitations, it does suggest that policy makers should be concerned about the consequences of health reform for the cost of private insurance.

scholarly journals La contrebande des produits du tabac au Canada entre 1985 et 1994 et le cas particulier du Québec

Criminologie ◽  
2005 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 53-72 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marc Alain
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Driving Force ◽  
The United States ◽  
Eastern Canada ◽  
Mass Consumption ◽  
Cigarette Taxes ◽  
Geographical Factors ◽  
The World ◽  
The Difference

The professional smuggling of mass consumption products develops when demand for a product is not adequately fulfilled by the legitimate market. The difficulties encountered in supplying are, in most contemporary cases, caused by real rarity of the desired product. For other cases, however, the rarity is largely virtual in that government taxes aimed at the product in question lead to increasing the product's price to a prohibitive end. This was the case with cigarettes in Canada between 1985 and 1994. Before both, the federal and provincial, governments decided to drastically decrease cigarette taxes in February 1994, the price for a pack of cigarettes was five to six times higher than the same product in the United States. This article begins with a brief review of the contribution made by economists in regard to contemporary smuggling. Focus will be aimed at common characteristics of the smuggling phenomenon across the world. Elements which are more particular to the Canadian smuggling situation will be identified as well. While the difference in the price of cigarettes between Canada and the United States would seem to be the undeniable driving force behind the development of smuggling activities at the countries ' border, one key question remains unexplained. Why was the volume of contraband unequally distributed across Canada even though the price of cigarettes remained largely consistent throughout all provinces? The level of organization of smuggling networks was much higher in Eastern Canada, and particularly in Quebec, than it was in the western provinces. It is argued that the reasons for this are not only due to price, but to a series of political, historical, and geographical factors which allowed cigarette smugglers to function better in Quebec than in the rest of the country.

Psychiatry’s “Chemical Imbalance” Fraud: Who Killed Rebecca Riley?

2008 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 96-108 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fred A. Baughman
Keyword(s):  
The United States ◽  
Diagnosis And Treatment ◽  
Normal Person ◽  
Organic Disease ◽  
Health Care Fraud ◽  
Department Of Health ◽  
Congressional Hearing ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Chemical Imbalance ◽  
The Brain

All physicians attend medical school and learn of (a) all things physically normal; anatomy, physiology, and chemistry, (b) all things physically abnormal; pathology, disease, and (c) how to tell the difference. Diagnosis is the first obligation of every physician to every patient, and must precede treatment. Diagnosis first asks, “Is there a physical abnormality (physical abnormality = disorder = disease), yes or no?” Patients with no abnormality (no physical abnormality = no disorder = no disease = normal) are referred to as having “no evidence or disease” (NED) or “no organic disease” (NOD). Their problems may be psychological or psychiatric, but they are not medical or surgical. In patients found to have an abnormality, diagnosis now asks, “Which disease?” Psychiatrists are the only physicians who do not perform physical diagnosis. The absence of disease is determined for them by other physicians, usually referring physicians. In 1948 the previously conjoint specialty of neuropsychiatry was divided into neurology—responsible for the diagnosis and treatment or physical/organic disease of the nervous system—and psychiatry—responsible for the treatment of emotional and psychological problems, none of them due to organic diseases. Nor did psychiatry object to this scientific division of labor at the time. However, in the 1950s, with the advent of psychotropic drugs, psychiatry, increasingly in league with the pharmaceutical industry, began referring to psychological diagnoses as disorders/diseases/chemical imbalances of the brain, albeit with no proof or science. In a congressional hearing in 1970, psychiatrists and federal officials, including the Food and Drug Administration and the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, represented hyperkinetic disorder (HKD) to be a disorder/disease of the brain leading to the appropriation of millions of dollars for research, diagnosis and treatment into the drug treatment of school children said to have the new disease HKD. HKD became ADD, then ADHD, a disorder/disease/chemical imbalance always in need of a “chemical balancer”—a pill. Without proof of an abnormality/disorder/disease, the ADHD epidemic grew from 150,000 in 1970 to 6 million to 7 million today, the most common childhood diagnosis in the United States, a multi-billion dollar industry, and a model for all 374 DSM–IV psychological/psychiatric diagnoses—none of them actual diseases. As such, psychiatry is not a legitimate branch of medicine deserving scientific-fiscal parity; rather, collectively, it is the greatest health care fraud in history. Every time a so-called chemical imbalance is diagnosed, a patient’s right to informed consent has been abrogated. Every time a medically normal person is treated with a psychotropic chemical balancer—a pill—their first and only abnormality is the iatrogenic intoxication: poisoning.

Equal Opportunity in a Pluralistic Society

1987 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 104-119 ◽  
Author(s):  
James W. Nickel
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Religious Pluralism ◽  
Equal Opportunity ◽  
Religious Diversity ◽  
The United States ◽  
Pluralistic Society ◽  
Self Image ◽  
The Difference ◽  
The U.S

The United States has never been culturally or religiously homogeneous, but its diversity has greatly increased over the last century. Although the U.S. was first a multicultural nation through conquest and enslavement, its present diversity is due equally to immigration. In this paper I try to explain the difference it makes for one area of thought and policy – equal opportunity – if we incorporate cultural and religious pluralism into our national self-image. Formulating and implementing a policy of equal opportunity is more difficult in diverse, pluralistic countries than it is in homogeneous ones. My focus is cultural and religious diversity in the United States, but my conclusions will apply to many other countries – including ones whose pluralism is found more in religion than in culture.

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