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ISS-2012 Proceedings Volume On Longitudinal Data Analysis Subject to Measurement Errors, Missing Values, and/or Outliers
by Brajendra C. SutradharThis proceedings volume contains nine selected papers that were presented in the International Symposium in Statistics, 2012 held at Memorial University from July 16 to 18. These nine papers cover three different areas for longitudinal data analysis, four dealing with longitudinal data subject to measurement errors, four on incomplete longitudinal data analysis, and the last one for inferences for longitudinal data subject to outliers. Unlike in the independence setup, the inferences in measurement errors, missing values, and/or outlier models, are not adequately discussed in the longitudinal setup. The papers in the present volume provide details on successes and further challenges in these three areas for longitudinal data analysis. This volume is the first outlet with current research in three important areas in the longitudinal setup. The nine papers presented in three parts clearly reveal the similarities and differences in inference techniques used for three different longitudinal setups. Because the research problems considered in this volume are encountered in many real life studies in biomedical, clinical, epidemiology, socioeconomic, econometrics, and engineering fields, the volume should be useful to the researchers including graduate students in these areas.
IT Crisisology Models: Object-Based Optimization for Sustainable Development (Smart Innovation, Systems and Technologies #381)
by Sergey V. ZykovThe book focuses on modeling real-world crisis management in digital product development. This includes models and methods for forecasting, responding, and agile engineering/managing for sustainable product development. This book suggests an approach that contains principles, formal models, and semi-formal practice-oriented methods, patterns and techniques to efficiently manage these crises and provide sustainable development. The book also introduces a set of principles, models, and methods for sustainable management as a blend, the components of which have been carefully selected from a few domains adjacent to digital production such as IT-intensive operation, human resource management, and knowledge engineering, to name a few. The key ingredients of this crisis management framework include smart data modeling, trade-off optimizing, agile product controlling, and knowledge transferring.
ITNG 2024: 21st International Conference on Information Technology-New Generations (Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing #1456)
by Shahram LatifiThis volume represents the 21st International Conference on Information Technology - New Generations (ITNG), 2024. ITNG is an annual event focusing on state of the art technologies pertaining to digital information and communications. The applications of advanced information technology to such domains as astronomy, biology, education, geosciences, security, and health care are the among topics of relevance to ITNG. Visionary ideas, theoretical and experimental results, as well as prototypes, designs, and tools that help the information readily flow to the user are of special interest. Machine Learning, Robotics, High Performance Computing, and Innovative Methods of Computing are examples of related topics. The conference features keynote speakers, a best student award, poster award, service award, a technical open panel, and workshops/exhibits from industry, government and academia. This publication is unique as it captures modern trends in IT with a balance of theoretical and experimental work. Most other work focus either on theoretical or experimental, but not both. Accordingly, we do not know of any competitive literature.
IUTAM Laminar-Turbulent Transition: 9th IUTAM Symposium, London, UK, September 2–6, 2019 (IUTAM Bookseries #38)
by Peter Schmid Spencer Sherwin Xuesong WuThis volume comprises the carefully revised papers of the 9th IUTAM Symposium on Laminar-Turbulent Transition, held at the Imperial College, London, UK, in September 2019. The papers focus on the leading research in understanding transition to turbulence, which is a challenging topic of fluid mechanics and arises in many modern technologies as well as in nature. The proceedings are of interest for researchers in fluid mechanics and industry who have to handle these types of problems, such as in the aeronautical sector.
IUTAM Symposium on Cellular, Molecular and Tissue Mechanics
by Ellen M. Arruda Krishna GarikipatiThese Proceedings reflect the state of current understanding of the role played by mechanics in biological systems at the molecular, cellular and tissue levels. The invited papers will be notable for the expressed viewpoints of biologists, biophysicists and mechanicians. The topics addressed will range from tissue engineering and tissue mechanics, through cell mechanics, down to the mechanics of biomolecules.
IUTAM Symposium on Model Order Reduction of Coupled Systems, Stuttgart, Germany, May 22–25, 2018: MORCOS 2018 (IUTAM Bookseries #36)
by Jörg Fehr Bernard HaasdonkThis volume contains the proceedings of the IUTAM Symposium on Model Order Reduction of Coupled System, held in Stuttgart, Germany, May 22–25, 2018. For the understanding and development of complex technical systems, such as the human body or mechatronic systems, an integrated, multiphysics and multidisciplinary view is essential. Many problems can be solved within one physical domain. For the simulation and optimization of the combined system, the different domains are connected with each other. Very often, the combination is only possible by using reduced order models such that the large-scale dynamical system is approximated with a system of much smaller dimension where the most dominant features of the large-scale system are retained as much as possible. The field of model order reduction (MOR) is interdisciplinary. Researchers from Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science identify, explore and compare the potentials, challenges and limitations of recent and new advances.
IUTAM Symposium on Multiscale Modelling of Fatigue, Damage and Fracture in Smart Materials
by Andreas Ricoeur Meinhard KunaToday, multi-functional materials such as piezoelectric/ferroelectric ceramics, magneto-strictive and shape memory alloys are gaining increasing applications as sensors, actuators or smart composite materials systems for emerging high tech areas. The stable performance and reliability of these smart components under complex service loads is of paramount practical importance. However, most multi-functional materials suffer from various mechanical and/or electro-magnetical degra-dation mechanisms as fatigue, damage and fracture. Therefore, this exciting topic has become a challenge to intensive international research, provoking the interdisciplinary approach between solid mechanics, materials science and physics. This book summarizes the outcome of the above mentioned IUTAM-symposium, assembling contributions by leading scientists in this area. Particularly, the following topics have been addressed: (1) Development of computational methods for coupled electromechanical field analysis, especially extended, adaptive and multi-level finite elements. (2) Constitutive modeling of non-linear smart material behavior with coupled electric, magnetic, thermal and mechanical fields, primarily based on micro-mechanical models. (3) Investigations of fracture and fatigue in piezoelectric and ferroelectric ceramics by means of process zone modeling, phase field simulation and configurational mechanics. (4) Reliability and durability of sensors and actuators under in service loading by alternating mechanical, electrical and thermal fields. (5) Experimental methods to measure fracture strength and to investigate fatigue crack growth in ferroelectric materials under electromechanical loading. (6) New ferroelectric materials, compounds and composites with enhanced strain capabilities.
IUTAM Symposium on Nonlinear Dynamics for Advanced Technologies and Engineering Design
by Giuseppe Rega Marian WiercigrochNonlinear dynamics has been enjoying a vast development for nearly four decades resulting in a range of well established theory, with the potential to significantly enhance performance, effectiveness, reliability and safety of physical systems as well as offering novel technologies and designs. By critically appraising the state-of-the-art, it is now time to develop design criteria and technology for new generation products/processes operating on principles of nonlinear interaction and in the nonlinear regime, leading to more effective, sensitive, accurate, and durable methods than what is currently available. This new approach is expected to radically influence the design, control and exploitation paradigms, in a magnitude of contexts. With a strong emphasis on experimentally calibrated and validated models, contributions by top-level international experts will foster future directions for the development of engineering technologies and design using robust nonlinear dynamics modelling and analysis.
IUTAM Symposium on The Physics of Wall-Bounded Turbulent Flows on Rough Walls
by T. B. NickelsThis work describes the state-of-the-art in the understanding of turbulent wall-bounded flows developing on rough surfaces. This symposium brought together the best researchers in the field to discuss the technical issues and develop a consistent approach to the subject - hence it is an up-to-date reference work for research in this area.
Ibn al-Haytham and Analytical Mathematics: A History of Arabic Sciences and Mathematics Volume 2 (Culture and Civilization in the Middle East)
by Roshdi RashedThis volume provides a unique primary source on the history and philosophy of mathematics and the exact sciences in the mediaeval Arab world. The second of five comprehensive volumes, this book offers a detailed exploration of Arabic mathematics in the eleventh century as embodied in the legacy of the celebrated polymath al-Hasan ibn al-Haytham. Extensive analyses and annotations from the eminent scholar, Roshdi Rashed, support a number of key Arabic texts from Ibn al-Haytham’s treatises in infinitesimal mathematics, translated here into English for the first time. Rashed shows how Ibn al-Haytham’s works demonstrate a remarkable mathematical competence in mathematical subjects like the quadrature of the circle and of lunes, the calculation of the volumes of paraboloids, the problem of isoperimetric plane figures and solid figures with equal surface areas, along with the extraction of square and cubic roots. The present text is complemented by the first volume of A History of Arabic Sciences and Mathematics, which focused on founding figures and commentators in the ninth and tenth centuries Archimedean-Apollonian mathematical ‘School of Baghdad’. This constellation of works illustrates the historical and epistemological development of ‘infinitesimal mathematics’ as it became clearly articulated in the oeuvre of Ibn al-Haytham. Contributing to a more informed and balanced understanding of the internal currents of the history of mathematics and the exact sciences in Islam, and of its adaptive interpretation and assimilation in the European context, this fundamental text will appeal to historians of ideas, epistemologists and mathematicians at the most advanced levels of research.
Ibn al-Haytham's Geometrical Methods and the Philosophy of Mathematics: A History of Arabic Sciences and Mathematics Volume 5 (Culture and Civilization in the Middle East)
by Roshdi Rashed and J. V. FieldThis fifth volume of A History of Arabic Sciences and Mathematics is complemented by four preceding volumes which focused on the main chapters of classical mathematics: infinitesimal geometry, theory of conics and its applications, spherical geometry, mathematical astronomy, etc. This book includes seven main works of Ibn al-Haytham (Alhazen) and of two of his predecessors, Thābit ibn Qurra and al-Sijzī: The circle, its transformations and its properties; Analysis and synthesis: the founding of analytical art; A new mathematical discipline: the Knowns; The geometrisation of place; Analysis and synthesis: examples of the geometry of triangles; Axiomatic method and invention: Thābit ibn Qurra; The idea of an Ars Inveniendi: al-Sijzī. Including extensive commentary from one of the world’s foremost authorities on the subject, this fundamental text is essential reading for historians and mathematicians at the most advanced levels of research.
Ibn al-Haytham's Theory of Conics, Geometrical Constructions and Practical Geometry: A History of Arabic Sciences and Mathematics Volume 3 (Culture and Civilization in the Middle East)
by Roshdi RashedTheory of Conics, Geometrical Constructions and Practical Geometry: A History of Arabic Sciences and Mathematics Volume 3, provides a unique primary source on the history and philosophy of mathematics and science from the mediaeval Arab world. The present text is complemented by two preceding volumes of A History of Arabic Sciences and Mathematics, which focused on founding figures and commentators in the ninth and tenth centuries, and the historical and epistemological development of ‘infinitesimal mathematics’ as it became clearly articulated in the oeuvre of Ibn al-Haytham. This volume examines the increasing tendency, after the ninth century, to explain mathematical problems inherited from Greek times using the theory of conics. Roshdi Rashed argues that Ibn al-Haytham completes the transformation of this ‘area of activity,’ into a part of geometry concerned with geometrical constructions, dealing not only with the metrical properties of conic sections but with ways of drawing them and properties of their position and shape. Including extensive commentary from one of world’s foremost authorities on the subject, this book contributes a more informed and balanced understanding of the internal currents of the history of mathematics and the exact sciences in Islam, and of its adaptive interpretation and assimilation in the European context. This fundamental text will appeal to historians of ideas, epistemologists and mathematicians at the most advanced levels of research.
Ibn al-Haytham, New Astronomy and Spherical Geometry: A History of Arabic Sciences and Mathematics Volume 4 (Culture and Civilization in the Middle East)
by Roshdi RashedThis volume provides a unique primary source on the history and philosophy of mathematics and science from the mediaeval Arab world. The fourth volume of A History of Arabic Sciences and Mathematics is complemented by three preceding volumes which focused on infinitesimal determinations and other chapters of classical mathematics. This book includes five main works of the polymath Ibn al-Haytham (Alhazen) on astronomy, spherical geometry and trigonometry, plane trigonometry and studies of astronomical instruments on hour lines, horizontal sundials and compasses for great circles. In particular, volume four examines: the increasing tendency to mathematize the inherited astronomy from Greek sources, namely Ptolemy's Almagest; the development of celestial kinematics; new research in spherical geometry and trigonometry required by the new kinematical theory; the study on astronomical instruments and its impact on mathematical research. These new historical materials and their mathematical and historical commentaries contribute to rewriting the history of mathematical astronomy and mathematics from the 11th century on. Including extensive commentary from one of the world’s foremost authorities on the subject, this fundamental text is essential reading for historians and mathematicians at the most advanced levels of research.
Iceberg Semantics for Mass Nouns and Count Nouns: A New Framework for Boolean Semantics (Studies in Linguistics and Philosophy #105)
by Fred LandmanIceberg semantics is a new framework of Boolean semantics for mass nouns and count nouns in which the interpretation of a noun phrase rises up from a generating base and floats with its base on its Boolean part set, like an iceberg. The framework is shown to preserve the attractive features of classical Boolean semantics for count nouns; the book argues that Iceberg semantics forms a much better framework for studying mass nouns than the classical theory does. Iceberg semantics uses its notion of base to develop a semantic theory of the differences between mass nouns and count nouns and between different types of mass nouns, in particular between prototypical mass nouns (here called mess mass nouns) like water and mud versus object mass nouns (here called neat mass nouns) like poultry and pottery. The book shows in detail how and why neat mass nouns pattern semantically both with mess mass nouns and with count nouns. Iceberg semantics is a compositional theory and in Iceberg semantics the semantic distinctions defined apply to noun phrases of any complexity. The book studies in depth the semantics of classifier noun phrases (like three glasses of wine) and measure noun phrases (like three liters of wine). The classical wisdom is that classifier interpretations are count. Recent literature has argued compellingly that measure interpretations are mass. The book shows that both connections follow from the basic architecture of Iceberg semantics.Audience: Scholars and students in linguistics - in particular semantics, pragmatics, computational linguistics and syntax – and neighbouring disciplines like logic, philosophy of language, and cognitive science.
Ideal Theoretic Methods in Commutative Algebra (Lecture Notes in Pure and Applied Mathematics)
by Daniel D. Anderson Ira J. PapickIncludes current work of 38 renowned contributors that details the diversity of thought in the fields of commutative algebra and multiplicative ideal theory. Summarizes recent findings on classes of going-down domains and the going-down property, emphasizing new characterizations and applications, as well as generalizations for commutative rings wi
Ideal Theory of Commutative Rings and Monoids (Lecture Notes in Mathematics #2368)
by Franz Halter-KochThis book offers a concise treatment of multiplicative ideal theory in the language of multiplicative monoids. It presents a systematic development of the theory of weak ideal systems and weak module systems on arbitrary commutative monoids. Examples of monoids that are investigated include, but are not limited to, Mori monoids, Laskerian monoids, Prüfer monoids and Krull monoids. An in-depth study of various constructions from ring theory is also provided, with an emphasis on polynomial rings, Kronecker function rings and Nagata rings. The target audience is graduate students and researchers in ring and semigroup theory.
Ideals of Powers and Powers of Ideals: Intersecting Algebra, Geometry, and Combinatorics (Lecture Notes of the Unione Matematica Italiana #27)
by Adam Van Tuyl Enrico Carlini Huy Tài Hà Brian HarbourneThis book discusses regular powers and symbolic powers of ideals from three perspectives– algebra, combinatorics and geometry – and examines the interactions between them. It invites readers to explore the evolution of the set of associated primes of higher and higher powers of an ideal and explains the evolution of ideals associated with combinatorial objects like graphs or hypergraphs in terms of the original combinatorial objects. It also addresses similar questions concerning our understanding of the Castelnuovo-Mumford regularity of powers of combinatorially defined ideals in terms of the associated combinatorial data. From a more geometric point of view, the book considers how the relations between symbolic and regular powers can be interpreted in geometrical terms. Other topics covered include aspects of Waring type problems, symbolic powers of an ideal and their invariants (e.g., the Waldschmidt constant, the resurgence), and the persistence of associated primes.
Ideals, Varieties, and Algorithms: An Introduction to Computational Algebraic Geometry and Commutative Algebra (Undergraduate Texts in Mathematics)
by John Little David A. Cox Donal O'SheaThis text covers topics in algebraic geometry and commutative algebra with a strong perspective toward practical and computational aspects. The first four chapters form the core of the book. A comprehensive chart in the Preface illustrates a variety of ways to proceed with the material once these chapters are covered. In addition to the fundamentals of algebraic geometry--the elimination theorem, the extension theorem, the closure theorem and the Nullstellensatz--this new edition incorporates several substantial changes, all of which are listed in the Preface. The largest revision incorporates a new Chapter (ten), which presents some of the essentials of progress made over the last decades in computing Gröbner bases. The book also includes current computer algebra material in Appendix C and updated independent projects (Appendix D). The book may serve as a first or second course in undergraduate abstract algebra and with some supplementation perhaps, for beginning graduate level courses in algebraic geometry or computational algebra. Prerequisites for the reader include linear algebra and a proof-oriented course. It is assumed that the reader has access to a computer algebra system. Appendix C describes features of Maple(tm), Mathematica® and Sage, as well as other systems that are most relevant to the text. Pseudocode is used in the text; Appendix B carefully describes the pseudocode used. From the reviews of previous editions: ". . . The book gives an introduction to Buchberger's algorithm with applications to syzygies, Hilbert polynomials, primary decompositions. There is an introduction to classical algebraic geometry with applications to the ideal membership problem, solving polynomial equations and elimination theory. . . . The book is well-written. . . . The reviewer is sure that it will be an excellent guide to introduce further undergraduates in the algorithmic aspect of commutative algebra and algebraic geometry. " --Peter Schenzel, zbMATH, 2007 "I consider the book to be wonderful. . . . The exposition is very clear, there are many helpful pictures and there are a great many instructive exercises, some quite challenging . . . offers the heart and soul of modern commutative and algebraic geometry. " --The American Mathematical Monthly
Identifiability and Observability in Epidemiological Models: A Primer (SpringerBriefs on PDEs and Data Science)
by Alain Rapaport Nik Cunniffe Frédéric Hamelin Abderrahman Iggidr Gauthier SalletThis book introduces the concepts of identifiability and observability in mathematical epidemiology, as well as those of observers’ constructions. It first exposes and illustrates on several examples the mathematical definitions and properties of observability and identifiability. A chapter is dedicated to the well-known Kermack McKendrick model, for which the complete analysis of identifiability and observability is not available in the literature. Then, several techniques of observer constructions, in view of online estimation of state and parameters, are presented and deployed on several models. New developments relevant for applications in epidemiology are also given. Finally, practical considerations are discussed with data and numerical simulations related to models previously analysed in the book. The book will be appealing to epidemiological modellers and mathematicians working on models in epidemiology.This book contributes to Sustainable Development Goal 3 (SDG3): Good Health and Well Being.
Identifiability and Regression Analysis of Biological Systems Models: Statistical and Mathematical Foundations and R Scripts (SpringerBriefs in Statistics)
by Paola LeccaThis richly illustrated book presents the objectives of, and the latest techniques for, the identifiability analysis and standard and robust regression analysis of complex dynamical models. The book first provides a definition of complexity in dynamic systems by introducing readers to the concepts of system size, density of interactions, stiff dynamics, and hybrid nature of determination. In turn, it presents the mathematical foundations of and algorithmic procedures for model structural and practical identifiability analysis, multilinear and non-linear regression analysis, and best predictor selection.Although the main fields of application discussed in the book are biochemistry and systems biology, the methodologies described can also be employed in other disciplines such as physics and the environmental sciences. Readers will learn how to deal with problems such as determining the identifiability conditions, searching for an identifiable model, and conducting their own regression analysis and diagnostics without supervision. Featuring a wealth of real-world examples, exercises, and codes in R, the book addresses the needs of doctoral students and researchers in bioinformatics, bioengineering, systems biology, biophysics, biochemistry, the environmental sciences and experimental physics. Readers should be familiar with the fundamentals of probability and statistics (as provided in first-year university courses) and a basic grasp of R.
Identifiability and Regression Analysis of Biological Systems Models: Statistical and Mathematical Foundations and R Scripts (SpringerBriefs in Statistics)
by Paola LeccaThis richly illustrated book presents the latest techniques for the identifiability analysis and standard and robust regression analysis of complex dynamical models, and looks at their objectives. It begins by providing a definition of complexity in dynamic systems, introducing the concepts of system size, density of interactions, stiff dynamics, and the hybrid nature of determination. The discussion then turns to the mathematical foundations of model structural and practical identifiability analysis, multilinear and non-linear regression analysis, and best predictor selection, and their algorithmic procedures. Although the featured examples mainly focus on applications to biochemistry and systems biology, the methodologies described can also be employed in other disciplines such as physics and the environmental sciences. Readers will learn how to determine identifiability conditions, how to search for an identifiable model, and how to conduct their own regression analysis and diagnostics without supervision. This new edition includes a concise, yet comprehensive treatment of the main artificial intelligence methods which can be used for parameter inference in models of complex dynamic biological systems. It emphasizes the most efficient solutions for generating synthetic data that augment the training data and which are indispensable for machine learning procedures. Featuring a wealth of real-world examples, exercises, and R codes, the book addresses the needs of doctoral students and researchers in bioinformatics, bioengineering, systems biology, biophysics, biochemistry, the environmental sciences and experimental physics. Familiarity with the fundamentals of probability and statistics (as provided in first-year university courses) and a basic grasp of R are assumed.
Identification Problems in the Social Sciences
by Charles F. ManskiThis book provides a language and a set of tools for finding bounds on the predictions that social and behavioral scientists can logically make from nonexperimental and experimental data. The economist Charles F. Manski draws on examples from criminology, demography, epidemiology, social psychology, and sociology as well as economics to illustrate this language and to demonstrate the broad usefulness of the tools. There are many traditional ways to present identification problems in econometrics, sociology, and psychometrics. Some of these are primarily statistical in nature, using concepts such as flat likelihood functions and nondistinct parameter estimates. Manski’s strategy is to divorce identification from purely statistical concepts and to present the logic of identification analysis in ways that are accessible to a wide audience in the social and behavioral sciences. In each case, problems are motivated by real examples with real policy importance, the mathematics is kept to a minimum, and the deductions on identifiability are derived giving fresh insights. Manski begins with the conceptual problem of extrapolating predictions from one population to some new population or to the future. He then analyzes in depth the fundamental selection problem that arises whenever a scientist tries to predict the effects of treatments on outcomes. He carefully specifies assumptions and develops his nonparametric methods of bounding predictions. Manski shows how these tools should be used to investigate common problems such as predicting the effect of family structure on children’s outcomes and the effect of policing on crime rates. Successive chapters deal with topics ranging from the use of experiments to evaluate social programs, to the use of case-control sampling by epidemiologists studying the association of risk factors and disease, to the use of intentions data by demographers seeking to predict future fertility. The book closes by examining two central identification problems in the analysis of social interactions: the classical simultaneity problem of econometrics and the reflection problem faced in analyses of neighborhood and contextual effects.
Identification and Other Probabilistic Models: Rudolf Ahlswede’s Lectures on Information Theory 6 (Foundations in Signal Processing, Communications and Networking #16)
by Rudolf AhlswedeThe sixth volume of Rudolf Ahlswede's lectures on Information Theory is focused on Identification Theory. In contrast to Shannon's classical coding scheme for the transmission of a message over a noisy channel, in the theory of identification the decoder is not really interested in what the received message is, but only in deciding whether a message, which is of special interest to him, has been sent or not. There are also algorithmic problems where it is not necessary to calculate the solution, but only to check whether a certain given answer is correct. Depending on the problem, this answer might be much easier to give than finding the solution. ``Easier'' in this context means using fewer resources like channel usage, computing time or storage space. Ahlswede and Dueck's main result was that, in contrast to transmission problems, where the possible code sizes grow exponentially fast with block length, the size of identification codes will grow doubly exponentially fast. The theory of identification has now developed into a sophisticated mathematical discipline with many branches and facets, forming part of the Post Shannon theory in which Ahlswede was one of the leading experts. New discoveries in this theory are motivated both by concrete engineering problems and by explorations of the inherent properties of the mathematical structures. Rudolf Ahlswede wrote: It seems that the whole body of present day Information Theory will undergo serious revisions and some dramatic expansions. In this book we will open several directions of future research and start the mathematical description of communication models in great generality. For some specific problems we provide solutions or ideas for their solutions. The lectures presented in this work, which consists of 10 volumes, are suitable for graduate students in Mathematics, and also for those working in Theoretical Computer Science, Physics, and Electrical Engineering with a background in basic Mathematics. The lectures can be used as the basis for courses or to supplement courses in many ways. Ph.D. students will also find research problems, often with conjectures, that offer potential subjects for a thesis. More advanced researchers may find questions which form the basis of entire research programs. The book also contains an afterword by Gunter Dueck.
Identifying Potential for Equitable Access to Tertiary Level Science
by Marissa RollnickHigher education internationally is in a state of transition and transformation, leading to an increase in the level of participation, and a consequent increase in number of non traditional and underprepared students. The appearance of these students provides a particular challenge in the sciences where adequate grounding is crucial. One response to this challenge has been the provision of access, foundation or "second chance programmes" which operate on different models internationally. In South Africa, where the push for equity is strong in the wake of the apartheid era, programmes have generally been established at all tertiary institutions with some of the most successful of these programmes based at universities characterised by a high research output. Consequently in the last decade there has been a great deal of research into the effectiveness of these programmes both at a micro and macro level. Similar research in other countries exists, but is patchy and often based on small groups of students. This book provides valuable information on what research has to say about disadvantaged and under prepared science students and how they learn - what works and what does not work. It provides an examination of issues related to the programmes, their structure, student selection and adjustment. Issues such the learning of these students, their communicative ability and laboratory work come under the spotlight. Although examining the issue internationally, the book draws heavily on lessons from South Africa where there has been considerably experience of such programmes.
Identifying and Supporting Productive STEM Programs in Out-of-School Settings
by Committee on Successful Out-of-School STEM LearningMore and more young people are learning about science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) in a wide variety of afterschool, summer, and informal programs. At the same time, there has been increasing awareness of the value of such programs in sparking, sustaining, and extending interest in and understanding of STEM. To help policy makers, funders and education leaders in both school and out-of-school settings make informed decisions about how to best leverage the educational and learning resources in their community, this report identifies features of productive STEM programs in out-of-school settings. "Identifying and Supporting Productive STEM Programs in Out-of-School Settings" draws from a wide range of research traditions to illustrate that interest in STEM and deep STEM learning develop across time and settings. The report provides guidance on how to evaluate and sustain programs. This report is a resource for local, state, and federal policy makers seeking to broaden access to multiple, high-quality STEM learning opportunities in their community.