The purpose of this quantitative study was to identify and explore the relationship between state appropriations and freshman to sophomore retention at public, four year institutions of higher education. Additional questions concerning the users of retention programming learning centers, summer bridge programs, and freshman seminars emerged during the analysis of the initial question. Data sources included the College Board annual survey of institutions, WebCASPAR, Barron's Profiles of American Colleges, and email surveying of the 271 institutions included in the sample for the years 1991 and 1996. The data was used in a series of multiple regressions and fixed effects regressions. The fixed effects method was viable since the same institutions provided observations for two points in time. The choice of independent variables was informed by retention theory and prior quantitative research into the retention question, as well as by the small body of literature addressing the efficacy of retention interventions. The new independent variable was the state dollars allocated per FTE student at each institution in 1991 and 1996.The multiple regression analyses confirmed that state dollars have a statistical impact on freshman to sophomore retention. In addition, the analyses suggested that summer bridge programming is the most effective of the three retention interventions considered, despite the small size of these programs relative to learning centers and freshman seminars. However, learning centers were the most numerous of the three programs and freshman seminars were the fastest growing. Descriptive statistics suggested that institutions using these three programs have higher populations of students of color and also were more selective than those institutions not using the programs.The fixed effects regressions, however, returned very different results, with freshman seminars showing a strong, negative effect on retention rates and state appropriations no apparent effect. Data limitations may have resulted in these disparate results. Implications of this work include a stronger case for institutions to lobby the states and the suggestion to implement summer bridge programming prior to the other two interventions while additional research should employ a more robust data set and focus on disaggregating state money into its primary beneficiaries.

Last year, the whole world shuttered in a response to COVID -19. While the world population was impacted, significant socio-economical damage resulted in particular regions. In many transition countries comprised of disproportional density of population and services between urban and rural areas, socioeconomic problems were pervasive. In this framework, major importance should be given to services that are needed in these ar-eas. In suburban zones a sizable percentage of the land is not used, and there is a lack of services, educational buildings, and recreational spaces. My main objective is to consider inclusive design in these peri-urban areas, to aid future development while providing a critical facility. In this context, designing a Learning Center that also provides services offers a possible solution to this prob-lem. Considering the larger scale of educational buildings, students will be able to learn, and apply that learn-ing as an offering to the community. Several functions are combined in the same facility: learning, creating, and practical application. The proposed design provides a 3-floor building with an inner courtyard and outside pavilions that are con-nected to the underground floor of the building. Serving as both a boundary that offers services to the com-munity and separates it from the school building itself, the building is distributed in three levels for each group of students. While several group ages are combined 10 – 18 years old, they still maintain their independence in two different floors. On the main floor are the learning spaces are classrooms, reading areas, library, and meeting rooms. The un-derground floor is comprised of workshops where students engage in strategies for creating and making. On the edges of the site facing the city are a series of pavilions serving as an interface between the school and the urban context. Here, students offer services of what they learn to the community. Additionally, a community center, a cafe, an inner courtyard, a library, a gym, and meeting rooms are open to the public as spaces for the entire community. The building is accessible by the community and learners into two different schedules (8 am – 5 pm for students, 6 pm – 12 pm for community) and turns into an opportuni-ty for the rehabilitation of peripheral urban areas. The Learning center takes into consideration 5 relationships (a symbol to the community; relationship home/ institution; relationship student/community; relationship indoor/ outdoor; relationship human/ nature) by creating a sustainable building that is connected to nature and serves the community. / Master of Architecture / Last year, the whole world shuttered in a response to COVID -19. While the world population was impacted, significant socio-economical damage resulted in particular regions. In many transition countries comprised of disproportional density of population and services between urban and rural areas, socioeconomic problems were pervasive. In this framework, major importance should be given to services that are needed in these areas. In suburban zones a sizable percentage of the land is not used, and there is a lack of services, educational buildings, and recreational spaces. My main objective is to consider inclusive design in these peri-urban areas, to aid future development while providing a critical facility. In this context, designing a Learning Center that also provides services offers a possible solution to this problem. Considering the larger scale of educational buildings, students will be able to learn, and apply that learn-ing as an offering to the community. Several functions are combined in the same facility: learning, creating, and practical application. The proposed design provides a 3-floor building with an inner courtyard and outside pavilions that are connected to the underground floor of the building. Serving as both a boundary that offers services to the community and separates it from the school building itself, the building is distributed in three levels for each group of students. While several group ages are combined 10 – 18 years old, they still maintain their independence in two different floors. On the main floor are the learning spaces are classrooms, reading areas, library, and meeting rooms. The underground floor is comprised of workshops where students engage in strategies for creating and making. On the edges of the site facing the city are a series of pavilions serving as an interface between the school and the urban context. Here, students offer services of what they learn to the community. Additionally, a community center, a cafe, an inner courtyard, a library, a gym, and meeting rooms are open to the public as spaces for the entire community. The building is accessible by the community and learners into two different schedules (8 am – 5 pm for students, 6 pm – 12 pm for community) and turns into an opportunity for the rehabilitation of peripheral urban areas. The Learning center takes into consideration 5 relationships (a symbol to the community; relationship home/ institution; relationship student/community; relationship indoor/ outdoor; relationship human/ nature) by creating a sustainable building that is connected to nature and serves the community.

This research aims to construct a brand-new teaching and learning environment called Transportable Digital Learning Center (TDLC) which contains three important features: mobility, ready-made and self-contained features. TDLC is constructed for providing learning opportunities to (a) people in disaster areas with a temporary teaching and learning environment before their reconstructions finished; (b) people in undeveloped countries who do not have learning opportunities due to the lack of financial resources; (c) people in geographically isolated places like deserts or high mountain areas who do not have learning opportunities due to the isolation of their geographic locations. The mobility feature means that it can be transported to different geographic locations easily; The ready-made feature means that all the components of a TDLC such as access point, TDLC Server, power supply, Tablet PCs and charging devices used to provide a teaching and learning environment are all equipped inside the TDLC in advance; Self-contained feature means that it is unnecessary to provide it with any other resources like network connections and electricity to sustain its operation. Therefore, once a TDLC has been transported to its destination, it can be used to conduct teaching and learning activities immediately. In this paper, we describe the overall concepts, main components, system design and implementation, and teaching & learning activity design of TDLC. We also conducted an experimental English Situated Learning activity to evaluate the effects of using TDLC in the teaching and learning activity. Finally, some future research topics of TDLC are proposed.

No description available.

Success is a something that every organization strives for, yet not all accomplish. This investigator reviewed the literature on organizational communication. Specifically, the study examined the use of communication audits as a management tool.The investigator conducted a study of the external publics/ customers, and publics/ staff members of a private, non-profit center. Additionally, the investigator- did an survey of Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) members who are with Fortune 500 companies throughout USA. The purpose was to probe the state of communication research in our country. Result's of the data showed that the use of research has slightly increased. However there is some skepticism regarding the value of public research. / Department of Journalism

Thesis (M.Ed.)--York University, 2007. Graduate Programme in Education. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 166-169). Also available on the Internet. MODE OF ACCESS via web browser by entering the following URL: http://gateway.proquest.com/openurl?url_ver=Z39.88-2004&res_dat=xri:pqdiss&rft_val_fmt=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:dissertation&rft_dat=xri:pqdiss:MR29629

Thesis (M.A.)--University of North Carolina at Wilmington, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves: [49]-51)

This work describes the realization of economic and analytical modules of information system of a learning center. It handles about the development and perspectives of its further development. The main part of it is dedicated to the development of system architecture, specification, creation of models and diagrams. An other part handles about the implementation, usage of processing and programming methods and techniques. Highly stressed are analyses and optimalization of processes. The realization of important processes is described in details. A part of the work describes analyses and evaluation of data gained from the IS. Also stressed is the application of modules and its efficiency. Mentioned are advantages and risks brought by this system.

This thesis is focused on learning center customer satisfaction. The object of research is surveys filled by courses' participants. Artificial intelligence methods are used for data processing. The courses' quality measurement is achieved by fuzzy logic. Customer clustering is achieved by neural networks. At the end of document is data evaluation and proposals for economics effectives increase.

This study describes how a larger investment by a private company in the northern interior can affect a municipality’s economy. The mobility to the municipality is expected to increase and some of the direct and indirect effects that this investment can implicate on their economy are discussed.   The method for this study is qualitative. Interviews have been made with the initiative owner of the company LHG Learning Center and with civil servants in the municipality of Lycksele.   The conclusions drawn in this study are that the establishment of LHG Learning Centers in Lycksele will include both opportunities and risks for the municipality’s future. The indirect impact of LHG establishment on Lycksele economy is unknown today. Therefore the municipality can be vulnerable when a dependence is emerging, which make the community planning process hard. If the municipality of Lycksele can’t provide for LHG the needs, can the opportunities to develop be lost if the company choose to relocate. / Denna studie belyser hur en större investering av ett privat företag i en kommun i Norrlands inland kan påverka det lokala näringslivet och kommunen. Mobiliteten till kommunen väntas stiga och några direkta och indirekta effekter som detta kan innebära för näringslivet analyseras.   Metoden för denna studie är kvalitativ. Intervjuer har genomförts med initiativtagaren och ägaren av företaget LHG Learning Center och kommunala tjänstemän i Lycksele kommun.   De slutsatser som framkommer av denna studie är att LHG Learning Centrets etablering i Lycksele innebär både möjligheter och risker för kommunens framtid. Idag vet man inte hur omfattande de indirekta effekterna kommer att bli av LHG:s etablering för kommunens näringsliv. Därav kan man bli sårbar när samhällsplaneringen ska göras. Kan kommunen inte tillgodose de behov LHG Learning Center har, kan utvecklingsmöjligheterna med LHG i värsta fall försvinna om företaget väljer att omlokalisera sig.