Advising Places

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In this year’s Wall Street Journal and Times Higher Education College Rankings, Drexel University placed 74th out of 968 other colleges and universities across the country, landing in the top 8 percent of America’s institutions of higher education. When compared solely to private universities, Drexel ranks 36th.

The jump continues Drexel’s trend of making significant gains in the rankings. As previously reported by DrexelNow, last year the University moved 9 spots ahead of its original placement in this three-year-old ranking to place 84th out of 1,054 American colleges and universities.

“Drexel’s continued strong showing is a result of the many improvements we have made recently in the quality of our teaching and experiential learning, as well as in attracting and retaining outstanding students,” University President John Fry said. “The Wall Street Journal/Times Higher Education’s student-focused ranking demonstrates the critical value of the Drexel Co-op program, which provides students the real-world work experience that employers value.”

The methodology used in The Wall Street Journal and Times Higher Education’s system values the outcomes of student success, especially after graduation. This differs from other rankings, such as the U.S. News & World Report’s annual “Best Colleges” list, that place more emphasis on inputs, like college placement test scores and acceptance rates.

The Wall Street Journal and Times Higher Education ranked the schools in four main categories: resources, engagement, outcomes and environment. Scores were tallied by surveying almost 200,000 college students across the country, as well as other sources like the U.S. Department of Education’s Federal Student Aid, the College Scorecard, the Bureau of Economic Analysis and Times Higher Education’s Academic Reputation Survey to determine a university’s reputation for excellence in teaching.

The “outcomes” category held the most weight. It accounted for 40 percent of the overall grade and was based on graduation rate, graduate salary, reputation and debt repayment. The “resources” section made up 30 percent of the grade and judged the instructional expenditure per student, the number of faculty per student and papers published per faculty. Drexel scored the highest in the “engagement” category, which represented 20 percent of the overall ranking and looked at student engagement and interaction, student recommendations and subject breadth. Lastly, the “environment” category made up the last 10 percent of the ranking and accounted for the number of international students, student and faculty diversity and student inclusion.

Drexel received a 26.6 out of 40 in outcomes, 20.9 out of 30 for resources, 17.3 out of 20 for engagement and 7 out of 10 for the environment. Overall, the University scored 71.8 out of 100.

A survey conducted as part of the rankings asked students to answer questions on a scale of zero to 10, with 10 being the strongest agreement. Respondents gave the University 8.4 out of 10 for “right choice,” meaning that if they could start over, they would still choose Drexel. The University received 8 out of 10 for students who said it provided an inspirational and motivating environment.

Overall, the University’s placement in the Wall Street Journal and Times Higher Education ranking has improved by almost 20 positions since the rankings began three years ago. This demonstrates that Drexel has been continually recognized on a national scale as a private research university that successfully prepares students for post-graduate success.

Source: http://drexel.edu/now/archive/2018/September/Drexel-Jumps-Ahead-in-Wall-Street-Journal-Times-Higher-Education-Rankings/

*written by a '21 as a part of the 8,726,400 Seconds of Summer guest post series*

After finishing my freshmen year, I followed the common path of UROPing on campus this summer. I lived at home (about 35 minutes on a good day) and commuted into Cambridge, resulting in the traffic survivor I am today. My UROP was in one of the biotech labs and this initiated me into the 9 to 5 world, something I thought would be easy. At the beginning of this initiating process there was a lot to get used to and a lot of conflicting feelings, now nearing the end of my UROP I have truly enjoyed my time, but it took the beginning weeks to appreciate it. Here I illustrate some of the thoughts I have felt this summer.

Lab coat goggles gloves, lab coat goggles gloves,
What will I do today? I hope I don’t mess up
Ethanol, check cells, please don’t die, please don’t die
Split cells
Aspirate, don’t touch anything, stay sterile
Quick but sterile, quick, but sterile
Please don’t die cells, please don’t die
Lab coat goggles gloves, lab coat goggles gloves,

5 wake up call, why do I do this
I have to workout, for the team, for me
Hang clean, squat repeat
Practice, wow I can’t do anything well today?
Am I getting better, I can’t let the team down, can’t let coach down, can’t let myself down
I want to do big things, need to get better, am getting better
Must get up at 5

Lab coat goggles gloves, lab coat goggles gloves,
Will I get out at 5 today?
Lab coat goggles gloves, lab coat goggles gloves,
Hopefully the day will move quickly
Lab coat goggles gloves, lab coat goggles gloves,
Can I see myself do this for the rest of my life?
Lab coat goggles gloves, lab coat goggles gloves,
4 more days until the weekend
Lab coat goggles gloves, lab coat goggles gloves,
Should I get a PhD or MD, should I go into industry or university
Lab coat goggles gloves, lab coat goggles gloves

What will the traffic be like today?
Shorts or pants?
1hr
1.5hrs
2hrs
Cereal or parfait?
Should I buy lunch? Probably not, too many calories and dollars
I should go, I don’t want traffic to get worse
Time to continue my book on tape
Gas, break, gas, break, 495, 90, exit 18, Vassar

Vassar, exit 18, 90, 495, gas, break, gas, break
Ugh, Friday nights are the worst
I can’t wait to be home and see my family
I wonder what is for dinner
Will we play any board games, too tired.
Time to go to bed, up early

Gas, break, gas, break, 495, 90, exit 18, Vassar
Vassar, exit 18, 90, 495, gas, break, gas, break
Lab coat goggles gloves, lab coat goggles gloves,
Lab coat goggles gloves, lab coat goggles gloves,
 

In many cooperative species, the dominant breeders live longest despite the wear-and-tear of leadership and reproduction.

It has even been suggested these breeders hold the secret of immunity to age-related diseases. Some social insects, such as bees, do have breeders with genetic profiles that delay ageing – but this has never been documented in our fellow mammals.

Scientists from the University of Cambridge have now investigated the lifespans of meerkats: a highly social mammal that lives in groups of up to fifty, where a single dominant couple produce around 90% of the pups.    

The researchers found that the DNA of dominant breeders actually shows signs of accelerated ageing – yet they still consistently outlive the non-breeding subordinates in the group. Their study shows that dominants live an average of 4.4 years compared to subordinates 2.8 years.

This is because meerkat underlings are forced to take the often-fatal risk of leaving the safety of the group to find breeding opportunities, say scientists. Dominants rarely tolerate rival breeders, and violently eject subordinates from the group if they feel threatened.

On reaching the top of the social pecking order, however, meerkats remain ensconced within the group. The study shows an average subordinate spends more than six days each year in the wilderness, with this figure rising year-on-year. Dominant breeders are typically absent for under two hours per year.

“Dominant meerkats typically die due to internal stresses on their bodies, resulting in gradual, predictable declines until death. In humans we might describe this as ‘natural causes’,” said Dr Dominic Cram from Cambridge’s Department of Zoology, lead author of the study published today in Current Biology. 

“Subordinate meerkats die due to sudden, unpredictable circumstances such as exposure to predators, killing them instantly. A meerkat’s place within the social group shapes the mortality risks it faces,” he said.

“The secret of long life for meerkats is not to battle the inevitable declines of ageing, but to be the ruler of your community, profiting from social support and cracking down on would-be rivals.”

Cram conducted the research as part of the Kalahari Meerkat Project: a long-term study of social behavior and ecology, run for over twenty years at the University of Cambridge by Professor Tim Clutton-Brock – a leading figure in the study of mammal societies.

The project has helped train generations of zoologists through the observation of generations of meerkats, resulting in a wide range of data on the life histories of over 3000 meerkat individuals in over 100 groups.

The team collected blood samples from the meerkats, and measured DNA sections called telomeres that help protect DNA from damage – much like the plastic caps on shoe-laces. As they erode over time, the chance of unravelling increases, so the length of telomeres can be used to estimate “biological age”.

While the telomeres of subordinate meerkats remained stable, dominant telomeres shrunk by a third in just 18 months – suggesting accelerated ageing caused by the toils of raising young and fending off rivals.

Yet the dominant meerkats still lived an average of 60% longer than subordinates, as the lower ranking meerkats were increasingly forced to risk more and more time outside the group as they grew older.

“Each year the subordinates spend over triple the amount of time outside the group as the previous year, reaching a peak of 35 days per year, or 10% of their time, outside the social group,” said Cram.

For subordinate males, all females in the group are their sisters or mother, so they must court females away from the group to avoid inbreeding. Subordinate females are bullied and chased away by the dominant when they become a reproductive rival.

Of all those that leave, some return – or try to – after a few days or weeks. A lucky few start their own group and become dominant breeders. Many are never seen again.

“Within a group, a sentinel always keeps look-out and sounds the alarm, allowing the meerkats to flee into burrows or bolt-holes. Each meerkat takes a turn on sentinel duty,” said Cram.

“Away from the group there is no early warning system, and meerkats are easy prey for eagles, goshawks and caracal. Letting down their guard to dig for food is too risky, so many starve for fear of being eaten.”

“Lone meerkats have even been known to be torn apart by members of a rival group. It’s a dangerous world for a solo meerkat.”

My wife wrote a long email the other day in response [to the question]. She lays out some of the pros and cons of the different options. We pretty much agree but, not surprisingly, I will state my opinion a little bit more forcefully.

Short Answer: Wait

Longer Answer:

1. It totally depends on the kid. For a student to start Kindergarten early, they need to not only be intellectually ready, but also socially and emotionally. Somewhere north of 99.7% of kids are not ready in all 3 areas. (That’s a totally made up number, but one I feel confident is roughly accurate.)
   
2. For the three out of a thousand kids who are ready in all three areas, the answer is not necessarily to start them early, but to ask yourself the question, “What would the different outcomes be in starting them early versus waiting a year.” There are three possible answers: Starting them a year later would be worse for them, about the same for them, or better for them. I know of no research that really answers this question, mainly because it would be very difficult to do good research on this topic. So, assuming an equal split among those three possible outcomes, we’re now down to one in a thousand kids who should start early. The question to ask, “Is your kid that one in a thousand?”
   
3. From a “risk management” perspective, it also makes sense to wait. There is little or no downside to waiting (perhaps better for one in a thousand), and lots and lots of possible upsides. There is little upside to starting early (perhaps one in a thousand), and lots and lots of possible downsides. Statistically, it’s a no brainer.
   
4. This one falls under philosophical or, if you prefer, my pinko commie liberal bias. What are we “accelerating” them toward? They start Kindergarten a year younger, so what? That means they start first grade a year younger. Then second grade. They graduate a year younger from high school and, if they go to college, perhaps a year younger from college. Which means they start a full time job a year younger. Which means they conceivably retire a year earlier sometime after 2090… What’s the effin point? The Hurried Child by Elkind is an oldie but a goodie, and I think even more relevant today given the rapid pace of change today and going forward. Let kids be kids, there’s plenty of time for them to have a good life.

---

Hi,

Okay, my personal opinion (and I know that Karl feels even stronger about this than I do and he agrees) is that I would wait. My experience has been that it has been better for those kids who do wait than for those who go early but again every child is different. I am also heavily influenced by the research coming out of Finland that shows great results in holding off on school until later and then even when they do start, not beginning reading instruction until age 7. However, there are many people who disagree with that.

Here is a list of things to consider that might be more personal to you:

1. the emotional, social and academic maturity of the child
2. your local school's thoughts on this issue
3. what the child will do instead of going to Kindergarten for that year
4. your reasons for going either way - some parents hold boys out a year so that they are bigger for sports, some parents start earlier because they feel like their child is gifted and would be bored if they waited a year, etc.
5. how your child fits into the neighborhood social group if he will be going to a neighborhood school
6. how interested your child is in school
7. your child's size - will they be very small in their class or if they wait will they be very large
8. how does it impact your family - other siblings, cost of daycare, convenience of drop off and pick up, length of day (either in school or daycare), financial benefit of not going to daycare, mature enough to feel comfortable on a daycare bus to and from school

Malcolm Gladwell wrote a book called Outliers and he had a section on "redshirting" kids for Kindergarten. He did lots of research and feels like it is always better to wait but there are plenty of people who disagree with him. Here is a link to my search for his thoughts, research and the research of those who disagree with him - good place to start.

Hope this helps! Let me know if I can answer more questions or explain my thinking better.

Source: http://thefischbowl.blogspot.com/2017/07/should-my-child-start-kindergarten-early.html

Our library of Common Craft videos continues to grow. Today we published a new video (our 105th) that explains URLs and Web Addresses. We're more convinced than ever that short, animated videos have real power in helping learners feel confident about using technology and the internet.

New: URLs and Web Addresses - Explained

What it Teaches:

It’s easy to take URLs, or web addresses, for granted because they work behind the scenes in helping us jump around the web. By taking a closer look, we can learn about how websites work and what happens when we click. This video explains URLs and teaches: 

• How URLs are connected to web servers
• What each element in a URL can tell us
• How to tell if a website is secure
• How URLs can represent how files are organized on a server
• How anchors work in navigating to a specific part of a page

Watch the Video 

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We now have 105 explainer videos in our library. Each video is designed to explain a subject so you don't have to. Common Craft videos can help save time in your classroom, course, training session or presentation. Here are the most recent additions:

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