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In this work we use the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster as a model to identify bacterial genes that help bacteria to persist in their animal hosts. Early work on this model system established that dietary replenishment drives the composition of the D. melanogaster gut microbiota, and subsequent research has shown that some bacterial strains can colonize the fly for much longer than the flow of bulk diet through the gut. In this work we reveal that bacterial genes influence bacterial persistence by studying the correlation between bacterial genotype and persistence in the D. melanogaster gut microbiota. We performed an initial assay with 7 bacterial strains to establish that different bacterial strains persist differently independent of ingestion in the fly. We then repeated the assay with 41 different strains of bacteria in order to perform a metagenome wide association (MGWA) to find distinct bacterial genes that are significantly correlated with persistence. Based on the MGWA, we tested if 44 mutants from 6 gene categories affect bacterial persistence in the flies. We identified that transposon insertions in four flagellar genes (fliF, flgH, fliI, and flgE), one urea carboxylase gene, one phosphatidyl inositol gene, one bacterial secretion gene, and one antimicrobial peptide (AMP) resistance gene each significantly lowered colonization forming units (CFUs) that resulted from plating the gut content in Drosophila melanogaster. Follow-up experiments with the flagellar gene mutants revealed that each significant flagellar mutant was non-motile compared with the wild type. Taken together, these results reveal that there are bacterial genes that are involved in mechanisms, like bacterial motility, that help bacteria to persist in the fly gut.

Empirical research is inexact and error-prone leading researchers to agree that replication of experiments is a necessary step to validating empirical results. Unfortunately, replicating experiments requires substantial investments in manpower and time. These resource requirements can be reduced by incorporating component reuse when building tools for empirical experimentation. Bokeo is an initiative within the Sequoia Lab of the BYU Computer Science Department to develop a platform to assist in the empirical study of software engineering. The i3Persistence Framework is a component of Bokeo which enables researchers to easily build and rapidly deploy tools for empirical experiments by providing an easy-to-use database management service. We introduce the i3Persistence Framework of Bokeo to assist in the development of software to replicate experiments and conduct studies on data from open-source repositories.

This study explores the phenomenon of Puerto Rican women who have achieved a Ph.D. degree. The researcher utilized a qualitative research methodology to investigate the social aspects that influenced Puerto Rican women to persist in their doctoral programs. Due to the national pool of potential participants, interviews were conducted with Puerto Rican women using video chat software. The researcher utilizes 5 tenets of Critical Race Theory (CRT) as the framework for this study, in an effort to address the varying aspects that contribute to the persistence of Puerto Rican women in graduate study, despite the challenges often cited in the literature as deterrents to academic achievement. The participants’ experiences are examined on an individual, interactional, and institutional level, in order to gain insight into their persistence. This study captures the stories of Puerto Rican women raised in the mainland U.S. as well as those raised on the island itself. Ultimately, this study addresses two main gaps in the literature: (1) research is lacking on Latinas who are successful in higher education, and (2) traditional research tends to describe Latino/a academic achievement as a collective, with little attention given to the cultural distinctions of Latino subgroups in their educational trajectories.

Latinos consistently have the lowest degree completion rate throughout the United States (Kurlaender & Flores, 2005). At the same time, Latinos are the fastest growing sector of the U.S. population. Taken together, these facts demonstrate an ongoing and growing inequity in educational opportunities and outcomes for a significant portion of the nation's population. The findings of this study provide additional knowledge regarding how Latino students perceive interaction with faculty and how affirming relationships with faculty can develop Latino students' sense of belonging. In addition, the study identifies three main support sources for Latino student persistence, which include family support, collegiate self-efficacy, and a sense of belonging to the campus. This study presents five recommendations for policy and practice based upon the findings of this study, for campus leaders to address the low number of Latino students persisting in their college journeys. Furthermore, it provides three suggested areas for future research.

<p>Persistence and graduation rates continue to be important student success outcomes for engineering programs. In part, these outcomes reflect the effectiveness of the educational experience that has been delivered to the students. This educational experience is shaped by three main factors: 1) the organizational context, 2) the peer environment, and 3) the individual student experience. Prior research on student persistence in engineering has primarily focused on peer interactions and individual student experiences, while the organizational context has not received as much attention. Yet, engineering colleges and departments have a large degree of control over their organizational contexts which can be strategically managed to promote student success.</p> <p><br></p> <p>This work investigated the relationship between organizational features of engineering programs and two student success outcomes: 1) program persistence after one academic year and, 2) engineering graduation. Student data included sociodemographics and academic records for the 2011 and 2012 engineering cohorts at a single institution. Organizational features that were evaluated included compositional diversity of students and instructors, gateway courses, program size and scale, and the curriculum. To operationalize the organizational features of the curriculum, the curricular complexity framework was used (Heileman et al., 2018). To enhance this framework, a novel method to measure the instructional complexity of a curriculum was proposed. This method determined the difficulty of a course using a performance metric called grade anomaly rather than the traditional DFW rate (the percentage of students who earn grades of D, F or withdraw). A student’s grade anomaly in a specific course is calculated relative to their performance in their other courses. A course grade anomaly is the mean grade anomaly of students in a course, and a curricular grade anomaly is the mean course grade anomaly across a curriculum. Results showed that course grade anomaly measured a different aspect of the curriculum than DFW rate and was more robust.</p> <p><br></p> <p>Multilevel models were used to determine which organizational variables influenced a student’s likelihood of program persistence and engineering graduation after accounting for individual-level factors. Program size was positively associated with both outcomes, but class size</p> <p>had no effect. Gender and racial diversity in the student population had positive effects as well. More gateway courses in the curriculum had a negative impact on both outcomes, and a larger curricular DFW rate had a negative impact on engineering graduation only. The structural complexity of a curriculum had no influence on either outcome. Lastly, curricular grade anomaly had a negative effect on both outcomes, meaning students in more difficult programs were more likely to persist in the program and graduate from engineering.</p> <p><br></p> <p>These results indicate that organizational features can affect student success, and engineering faculty should consider these features when evaluating their students’ outcomes. Gender and racial diversity should be prioritized because it is beneficial for all students. The number of gateway courses should be minimized, and students should be given proper academic support to pass their difficult courses. The finding that students in more difficult programs had higher likelihoods of program persistence and engineering graduation was unexpected, and it</p> <p>raised questions about the properties of curricular grade anomaly and the cultural influences of engineering education. In this work, this finding was interpreted as evidence for the meritocracy of difficulty in engineering, where students place value on academic hardship which can affect their motivation to succeed. This interpretation raises further questions about how cultures in engineering education impact the organizational features of engineering programs. Furthermore, it invites scholars to investigate other organizational features that may play a role in student persistence.</p>

In the state of Utah, adult education students often leave their programs before 100 hours of instruction. This can leave students without the necessary academic knowledge, skills, and credentials to move forward with postsecondary education and training or employment opportunities. This phenomenological study examines the key factors of persistence in non-traditional students ages 25 and over in an urban adult education program who continued beyond 100 hours of instruction. Fourteen students were interviewed using a semi-structured interview protocol to identify factors that caused them to stay in an adult education program. The interviews with students examined dispositional, institutional, situational, and motivational factors through a student involvement lens. Findings of this study indicate that students who persist generally have high degrees of involvement. While students had fears and concerns about engaging with adult education, the personnel and culture of the program helped them overcome their unease. Students also had a growth mindset that created expectations of discomfort and effort. Institutional factors such as allowing students to choose the modality of instruction and schedule, having focused and relevant instruction, feeling seen, being treated with respect, communicating regularly with students, tracking progress, and providing quality instruction all helped students persist in the program. Students were motivated to persist because of family and a personal desire to move forward. As programs intentionally impact the institutional factors identified in this study, students will be more likely to persist in adult education programs long enough to build the knowledge and skills necessary to find personal success and sustainable employment.

The aim of this study was to understand the factors that affect returning students' ability to complete their degrees through online degree programs. Logistic regression was used to determine which factors had a significant relationship with persistence to graduation and how they contributed to the odds of students graduating. The findings show that academic locus of control and academic self-efficacy had a significant positive relationship with returning student persistence to graduation, with the locus of control contributing to the odds of graduation more than self-efficacy. Additionally, the amount of time between the student's initial dropout and subsequent return to complete their degree generally had a negative relationship with graduation. The reason for re-enrollment also affected the likelihood of graduation. This study informs educational leaders of the unique needs of students who have completed some college and informs them of interventions that will increase their likelihood of graduating.

The purpose of this dissertation was to explore African American community college transfer student experiences through baccalaureate degree completion. The current study used qualitative methods to examine the experiences and perceptions of eighteen African American community college transfer students who recently graduated or were within 30 credit hours of graduating from a four-year university in Texas. Ten female and eight male students, ranging in age from 21 to 56 years old, with an average age of 28, composed the sample. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews which were transcribed and analyzed based on an integrated conceptual model of Padilla’s (1999) Model of Minority Student Success and Yosso’s (2005) Community Cultural Wealth Model. Findings suggest that African American community college transfer student experiences are very similar to transfer student experiences revealed in current literature. However, findings indicate students perceive their experiences differ from student of other races/ethnicities when dealing with negative stereotypes, lack of role models, and racial bias. Findings also suggest African American community college transfer student persist by employing transfer student capital, familial, aspirational, and resistant capital to learn how the traverse transfer, transition, and persistence through baccalaureate degree attainment.

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