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In summer 2020, we invited the 6761 undergraduate students who took a Spring 2020 math course at the University of Arizona to participate in a survey, with 13% responding. We asked about their experience with the emergency transition to remote learning and measured their math anxiety before and after the transition using the well-established Abbreviated Math Anxiety Scale(AMAS). “Unmotivated, depressed, anxious” are the words one undergraduate used to describe their emergency transition to remote learning. Our results indicate that limited access to quality technology and inadequate communication with an instructor were the two greatest predictors for an increase in math anxiety after the emergency transition to remote learning. These results may encourage instructors to foster community with their students, especially during emergency remote learning.

Although fractional powers of non-negative operators have received much attention in recent years, there is still little known about their behavior if real-valued exponents are greater than one. In this article, we define and study the discrete fractional Laplace operator of arbitrary real-valued positive order. A series representation of the discrete fractional Laplace operator for positive non-integer powers is developed. Its convergence to a series representation of a known case of positive integer powers is proven as the power tends to the integer value. Furthermore, we show that the new representation for arbitrary real-valued positive powers of the discrete Laplace operator is consistent with existing theoretical results., Comment: 36 pages

More than 150 years after the 13th amendment was ratified to end slavery, nearly 3 out of 4 Black adults and more than half of White adults describe race relations as “bad,” and that the legacy of slavery still has a considerable impact on Black people in American society. It is within this context that policies designed to address racial inequalities continue to face strong opposition. In this context, the authors provide arguments for why race-conscious policies that are designed to eliminate racism are necessary. They share data that explains why a focus on income alone may not close gaps in opportunity and outcomes for students of color, particularly Black students and families. Finally, they offer strategies on how leaders and policymakers can design and implement race-conscious policies in higher education.

More than 150 years after the 13th amendment was ratified to end slavery, nearly 3 out of 4 Black adults and more than half of White adults describe race relations as “bad,” and that the legacy of slavery still has a considerable impact on Black people in American society. It is within this context that policies designed to address racial inequalities continue to face strong opposition. In this context, the authors provide arguments for why race-conscious policies that are designed to eliminate racism are necessary. They share data that explains why a focus on income alone may not close gaps in opportunity and outcomes for students of color, particularly Black students and families. Finally, they offer strategies on how leaders and policymakers can design and implement race-conscious policies in higher education.

Joan Flasch Artists' Book Collection

While the share of Black and Latino adults with a college degree has climbed a bit over the last decade, the increases haven’t been enough to narrow the racial degree attainment gap. The U.S. education system, from preschool through college, continues to serve students of color worse than their White peers. In such a diverse nation, this educational inequality is a threat to a healthy economy, which depends on well-trained workers, as well as to a healthy democracy, which depends on well-informed citizens. This report offers a primer on statewide college degree attainment goals and ideas for what to demand from policymakers to ensure students of color are prioritized as part of statewide higher education strategies.

This book chapter explores the possibility of doing G&S education and research differently by re-doing teaching. Specifically, it challenges teachers’ conceptions of their work in this area, including the assumption teachers should not engage with gender or sexuality at all. The chapter argues cisgender and heterosexual norms are so inherently promoted in schools and so visibly engaged with by teachers; that non-engagement implicitly supports traditional G&S positions. It outlines relevant curricula and policies on sex education endorsing a critical teaching approach, and data showing some teachers take pleasure in a critical approach regardless of curriculum requirements.

Working in gender and sexuality (G&S) education and research can be a meaningful, impactful and ultimately uplifting experience. However, efforts at stymying G&S work, research and research careers have been seen both historically and recently amongst multiple contexts for many different reasons.

While the share of Black and Latino adults with a college degree has climbed a bit over the last decade, the increases haven’t been enough to narrow the racial degree attainment gap. The U.S. education system, from preschool through college, continues to serve students of color worse than their White peers. In such a diverse nation, this educational inequality is a threat to a healthy economy, which depends on well-trained workers, as well as to a healthy democracy, which depends on well-informed citizens. This report offers a primer on statewide college degree attainment goals and ideas for what to demand from policymakers to ensure students of color are prioritized as part of statewide higher education strategies.

This report provides a framework for analyzing and pushing for equity-driven free college policy. The purpose is not to challenge the momentum around free college, but to understand how programs can be designed to advance opportunity and success for the students most challenged by the affordability crisis. Whereas poorly designed free college programs may fail to benefit students who are already disadvantaged by the current system, threaten to exacerbate existing inequities, and distract from significant affordability issues unrelated to tuition, well-designed programs could increase the ability of all students to pay for the full cost of attendance, without relying on student debt that they will struggle to repay.

This report provides a framework for analyzing and pushing for equity-driven free college policy. The purpose is not to challenge the momentum around free college, but to understand how programs can be designed to advance opportunity and success for the students most challenged by the affordability crisis. Whereas poorly designed free college programs may fail to benefit students who are already disadvantaged by the current system, threaten to exacerbate existing inequities, and distract from significant affordability issues unrelated to tuition, well-designed programs could increase the ability of all students to pay for the full cost of attendance, without relying on student debt that they will struggle to repay.

Improving teacher quality has become the hallmark of Australian education reform with a plethora of measures introduced in teacher education to improve future teachers’ instructional competencies. This policy focus has also changed the discussion of strategies for addressing disadvantages in schools; improving teacher quality, as opposed to addressing structural inequalities in the system and larger society, has become the “solution.” This paper looks at the National Exceptional Teaching for Disadvantaged Schools (NETDS), which aims to channel high performing teacher education students to disadvantaged schools. Using the taxonomy of conservative, liberal and critical approaches to education reform, the paper first identifies the ideological contradictions inherent in the program, and then discusses, drawing on post-qualitative research literature, how the program coordinators negotiated the tensions and the moral/ethical dilemmas as we designed and implemented the program for a group of external students at University of New England.

Improving teacher quality has become the hallmark of Australian education reform with a plethora of measures introduced in teacher education to improve future teachers’ instructional competencies. This policy focus has also changed the discussion of strategies for addressing disadvantages in schools; improving teacher quality, as opposed to addressing structural inequalities in the system and larger society, has become the “solution.” This paper looks at the National Exceptional Teaching for Disadvantaged Schools (NETDS), which aims to channel high performing teacher education students to disadvantaged schools. Using the taxonomy of conservative, liberal and critical approaches to education reform, the paper first identifies the ideological contradictions inherent in the program, and then discusses, drawing on post-qualitative research literature, how the program coordinators negotiated the tensions and the moral/ethical dilemmas as we designed and implemented the program for a group of external students at University of New England.

The Southern Education Foundation (SEF) has engaged five Minority-Serving Institutions (MSIs) to test the efficacy of developmental education (DE) interventions. These institutions are uniquely poised to address pursuing more equitable achievement goals in the post-secondary space. This report targets the persistent problem that DE poses for many, as both an impediment to degree attainment as well as an issue that disproportionately impacts low-income students and students of color. This project sought to improve developmental education outcomes through exploring more effective methods to measure impact, diminish costs, and save time in efforts to reduce barriers to college completion.

The Southern Education Foundation (SEF) has engaged five Minority-Serving Institutions (MSIs) to test the efficacy of developmental education (DE) interventions. These institutions are uniquely poised to address pursuing more equitable achievement goals in the post-secondary space. This report targets the persistent problem that DE poses for many, as both an impediment to degree attainment as well as an issue that disproportionately impacts low-income students and students of color. This project sought to improve developmental education outcomes through exploring more effective methods to measure impact, diminish costs, and save time in efforts to reduce barriers to college completion.

In this thesis we use optimal parameter selection techniques to optimise parameters for mathematical models describing both non-cancerous and cancerous growths. We use computational methods to implement the optimal parameter selection models and discuss our results. We develop a novel model to describe melanoma growth using a set of ordinary differential equations. We incorporate into our model the mutated Braf protein which to our knowledge has not been included in a modelling sense until now.

This study explored the experiences of Black Queer women working in higher education and how these women navigated the challenges associated with their multiple marginalized identities. This study further highlights the impact of these challenges on these women as marginalized employees, as well as their recommendations for higher education leadership. Black Queer women in higher education are hyperinvisible (Brassel, et al., 2020; Brown, 2021; Jones, 2006; Miles, 2012). Much of the current literature discusses both Black women and Queer women; however, it is uncommon to find studies investigating women whose intersectional identities are also Black and Queer. Using a phenomenological approach, in-depth, semi-structured interviews were conducted to explore the workplace experiences of ten Black Queer women in higher education. Participants submitted photos, as well. Interpretative phenomenological analysis was used to code data to understand their lived experiences. Four major themes emerged, with corresponding subordinate themes. Findings show that Black Queer women experience challenges and stress associated with emotional labor, being overworked, isolated, tokenized, and engaging in respectability politics. Recommendations are that higher education leadership use resources to hire and compensate more Black Queer women, facilitate safe spaces to foster belonging, create unique professional development opportunities, and acknowledge Black Queer women's contributions as a way to encourage authentic voices.

This study examines family support, self-esteem, and life satisfaction among minors in Children Have Rights in Society (CHRIS) group homes located in the metropolitan area of Atlanta, Georgia, and surrounding cities. Thirty participants were chosen for the study utilizing non-random sampling. All survey participants are minors in the foster care system who were all under the age of 21. The participants completed a survey that indicated self-esteem, life satisfaction, and family support. The findings of the study indicated that of the minors in the Atlanta group homes, 60% indicated self-esteem, 76.7% minors indicated life satisfaction. However, only 30% ofthe minors indicated family support.