The most important factors in college success

Experts say students don't get the same learning experience in online courses.

How does someone succeed in college? It’s the $64,000 question—or, these days, more like the $150,000 question—whose answer has been sought by countless policy makers, researchers, and universities over the years.

In a new attempt to provide insight into the discussion, sociologists Dan Chambliss of Hamilton College and Christopher Takacs of the University of Chicago took the long road to an answer.

In 2001, they started conducting what would turn into a 10-year study of Hamilton students in an attempt to learn what had the greatest effects on their college experiences. What were the turning points? What mattered most? What didn’t?…Read More

Technology innovations help solve educational challenges

A glimpse into the university's new Mansueto Library.

With a high-speed robotic crane that delivers books in the new library and audio response iPad applications in language classrooms, the University of Chicago exemplifies the successful integration of cutting-edge technology within traditional brick-and-mortar education.

For providing small, intimate class settings that allow the faculty and students to engage on an intellectually challenging level and using technology to complement this style of learning instead of replacing it, we’ve chosen the University of Chicago as our “eCampus of the Month” for September—a designation for colleges and universities that are national leaders in using technology effectively.

Here, Klara Jelinkova, associate vice president and chief information technology officer, describes the keys to the university’s ed-tech success. (Editor’s note: To nominate your college or university for our “eCampus of the Month” honor, go to http://ecampusnews.eschoolmedia.com/ecampus-of-the-month/.)…Read More

Henry Paulson joins University of Chicago

Henry M. Paulson Jr., former U.S. Treasury secretary, will join the University of Chicago as a senior fellow and start an independent institute located at the university, reports Bloomberg.  Paulson, 65, also a former chief executive officer of Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS), will join the university’s Harris School of Public Policy Studies for a five-year appointment starting July 1, the university said today in a statement on its website…

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Professor to students: Text away

Student's text message questions are screened before they're posted to a large screen.
Students' text-message questions are screened before they're posted for peers to read.

Georgia State University students who don’t want to yell their questions from the back of a cavernous lecture hall now have another option: They can send text messages to their professor, who reads the queries from an overhead screen.

David McDonald, director of emerging technologies and an associate professor in the Atlanta-based university’s business school, is inviting the use of text messaging during class while many educators are instituting strict rules against the practice.

The texting program—similar to handheld student response systems—is being used in about 15 Georgia State business courses this school year.…Read More

Nova Southeastern dean making IT grads more marketable

Irakliotis said computer science students should be encouraged by the rise of data mining in public policy.
Irakliotis said computer science students should be encouraged by the rise of data mining in public policy.

Leo Irakliotis doesn’t just want to develop academics and researchers. The newly appointed dean of Nova Southeastern University’s Graduate School of Computer and Information Sciences also wants tech-savvy business people who can talk the talk of the corporate world.

Irakliotis was named the Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.-based university’s computer program chief on Jan. 25 after 13 years as a professor at the University of Chicago, where his business acumen and community connections helped grow the school’s Computer Science Professional Program by 20 percent annually.

Academic immersion remains a central part of a computer science education, he said, but campus IT decision makers should help students develop the communication skills they’ll need to explain complicated IT concepts in simple terms—and network with the companies in search of young computer pros.…Read More

Girls might learn math anxiety from female teachers

Having a female teacher who is anxious about math might reinforce the stereotype that boys are better at math than girls.
Having a female teacher who is anxious about math might reinforce the stereotype that boys are better at math than girls.

Young girls might learn to fear math from the women who are their earliest teachers, new research suggests.

Despite gains in recent years, women still trail men in some areas of math achievement, and the question of why has provoked controversy. Now, a study of first- and second-graders suggests what might be part of the answer: Female elementary school teachers who are concerned about their own math skills could be passing that concern along to the girls they teach.

Young students tend to model themselves after adults of the same sex, and having a female teacher who is anxious about math might reinforce the stereotype that boys are better at math than girls, explained Sian L. Beilock, an associate professor in psychology at the University of Chicago.…Read More

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