Medi[t]ations: On the purposeful use of technology in higher education. The experience of the Columbia Center for New Media Teaching and Learning

Pinto, Liliana N Teachers College, Columbia University 2007 해외박사(DDOD)

This study aims at understanding and discussing the institutional and pedagogical processes involved in the integration of technology in the educational programs of Columbia University during the last decade. Through a qualitative analysis of pedagogical and organizational practices, primary and secondary documents, and in-depth semi-structure interviews with actors involved in the introduction of new media in Columbia University, it develops a detailed historical-interpretative analysis of the creation and evolution of the Columbia Center for New Media Teaching and Learning, and organization focused on the purposeful use of new media in higher education pedagogy. We argue that practices concerning the use of technology in higher education pedagogy constitute mediational strategies that provide opportunities for articulating relationships and innovation across the University's teaching culture. However, these mediational strategies also involve a complex dialectical process of both articulation and dislocation of assumptions and pedagogical practices in order to open up a space for the new to emerge. The Columbia Center for New Media Teaching and Learning works in the intersection of technology and pedagogy at Columbia. In a very interesting way, it mediates this intersection by providing the academic community with mechanisms to understand, interact with, and transform the discourse and possibilities of new media in education. One of the most powerful of these mediational mechanisms is the one that provides faculty with the opportunity to become producers and researchers of educational technology projects, altering the dynamics of consumption and reproduction characteristic of a market-driven technological environment. The story of CCNMTL at Columbia University offers an interesting case of converging vision and historical opportunity shaping innovation in higher education. New media provides a transformed landscape of opportunities to generate an institutional project of change in educational practices. When brought together, pedagogical vision, new media, and institutional commitment provide a unique opportunity to build a space where innovation can be nurtured and sustained. Understanding the processes involved in these mediational strategies will shed light on the intersection of technology, pedagogy, and change in higher education.

Impact of international foundations on the internationalization of Chinese research universities: A case study of Peking University and the Nippon Foundation Group

Yu, Zhan Columbia University 2010 해외박사(DDOD)

This study investigates two cooperative programs made by Peking University, a leading Chinese research university and the Nippon Foundation Group, an international foundation based in Japan. It attempts to examine the process through which the University collaborates with the Foundation, and explore to what extent the cooperation influenced the University's strategy for internationalization and the quality of learning. The study adopted a case study approach and a mixed-methods research design that combines qualitative and quantitative methods in research objectives, data collection and data analysis. In the qualitative portion, the study used data obtained from interviews with Chinese and Japanese personnel who were involved in the cooperative programs, and documents and records kept by the University and the Foundation. Using the qualitative data, it documented the context, implementation process, and outcome of the cooperation in a thorough manner. In the quantitative portion, the study used data gathered from a survey conducted in four schools of the University that participated in the Foundation-supported programs. It employed data display, Wilcoxon Mann-Whitney test, t-test, and probit estimation to examine the impact of the cooperation on student learning. The study found that the cooperative programs had positive impacts on the University's internationalization strategy. It highlighted four main channels through which the university-foundation cooperation influences the institutional internationalization strategy: (1) directly involving university and department leaders, (2) transmitting up-to-date information on international exchange, (3) introducing mechanisms that encourage leadership and creative abilities, and (4) creating models to signal directions for human resource development. In addition, the qualitative and quantitative results provided strong empirical evidence to suggest that the university-foundation cooperation had a positive impact on student learning. The impact can be observed from two angles: first, it improved the internationalized learning condition; second, it enhanced the program participants with learning capability. The study ends with a discussion of limitations of the research and a set of recommendation for further research on university-foundation cooperation.

Essays on the economics of university patenting and licensing

Sampat, Bhavan Niru Columbia University 2001 해외박사(DDOD)

For more than a century, both the rate and direction of technological change in American industry have depended on the scientific and technological research conducted in the nation's universities. Despite this long history, recent developments in university-industry research relationships—in particular the growth of patenting and licensing by universities over the past two decades—have attracted considerable attention from economists, and are regarded by many as major changes to the American system of innovation. These essays explore the economic causes and consequences of the recent rise in patenting and licensing by American research universities, and consider various econometric issues that arise in attempting to assess the social welfare implications of these changes. Chapters Two and Three are historical, and provide a light on what has changed about universities, and what has not changed, over the past two decades. They histories show that universities have, throughout their history, done research of interest to industry. However, their attitudes towards patents has changed. For most of the century, universities feared involvement in patents; today this fear has been replaced by enthusiasm. This change in attitudes suggests that recent concerns about the determintal social welfare effects of increased university involvement in patenting and licensing should be taken seriously. Chapter Four examines econometric issues that arise in using patent citation data to assess whether the growth of university involvement in patenting and licensing has been accompanied by a shift to applied research. It shows that recent work suggesting that there may indeed have been such a shift is not robust to using a longer stream of citation data. This has implications not only for thinking about the social welfare implications of increased university patenting and licensing, but also for thinking about patent citations as economic indicators. Chapter Five examines the economic meaning of patent citations, using data on citations and license outcomes and revenues from two major universities. In particular, it examines whether citations can predict various measures of the value of university technologies. The results shows that citations are a good measure of the value of university patents, at least in an expected value sense.

The program in mathematics at National Taiwan Normal University: Origin and influences

Lin, Chia-ling Columbia University Teachers College 2001 해외박사(DDOD)

This study examined the origin of the Mathematics Program at the National Taiwan Normal University (NTNU) and its influences on mathematics education in Taiwan. It traced the evolution of the Mathematics Program at NTNU from its establishment in 1946 to the present time. The study identified the internal and external influences and the major curricular trends that may have affected Taiwanese mathematics education. Five questions guided the research. First, what was the origin of the Mathematics Program at the National Taiwan Normal University? After Japanese colonization, the Republic of China government insisted on overhauling the educational institutions. Provincial Taiwan Normal College (later renamed National Taiwan Normal University) was established in 1946. Since mathematics has always been an important area of study, the Mathematics Program and the College were established concurrently. Second, what have been the major curricular trends in the Mathematics Program at National Taiwan Normal University? One of the first trends was the implementation of fundamental geometry courses. The next trend involved courses related to computing and technology. Meanwhile, the notion of a “mathematics education” field began to develop. The most recent trends focused on strengthening the field of mathematics education and integrating technology and media as components of teaching and learning mathematics. Third, what influence does the Mathematics Program at National Taiwan Normal University have on secondary school mathematics instruction? The mathematics content curriculum was to broaden the content knowledge of prospective teachers. The emphasis on mathematics education provided prospective teachers with knowledge of children's and secondary students' mathematical thinking. Fourth, how has the Ministry of Education in Taiwan, influenced by National Taiwan Normal University, affected secondary-school mathematics education? The NTNU mathematics faculty serving on research committees within the National Science Council of the Ministry of Education influenced the directions of the educational research throughout Taiwan. Fifth, what were the external influences that have affected the Mathematics Program at National Taiwan Normal University? Most NTNU alumni who studied mathematics in the United States returned to become NTNU faculty members. Nearly all of the Program's external influences have been from the United States.

Time-Resolved Cryo-EM Studies on Translation and Cryo-EM Studies on Membrane Proteins

Fu, Ziao Columbia University ProQuest Dissertations & These 2019 해외박사(DDOD)

Single-particle reconstruction technique is one of the major approaches to studying ribosome structure and membrane proteins. In this thesis, I report the use of time-resolved cryo-EM technique to study the structure of short-lived ribosome complexes and conventional cryo-EM technique to study the structure of ribosome complexes and membrane proteins. The thesis consists three parts. The first part is the development of time-resolved cryo-EM technique. I document the protocol for how to capture short-lived states of the molecules with time-resolved cryo-EM technique using microfluidic chip. Working closely with Dr. Lin's lab at Columbia University Engineering Department, I designed and tested a well-controlled and effective microspraying-plunging method to prepare cryo-grids. I demonstrated the performance of this device by a 3-A reconstruction from about 4000 particles collected on grids sprayed with apoferritin suspension. The second part is the application of time-resolved cryo-EM technique for studying short-lived ribosome complexes in bacteria translation processes on the time-scale of 10-1000 ms. I document three applications on bacterial translation processes. The initiation project is collaborated with Dr. Gonzalez's lab at Chemistry Department, Columbia University. The termination and recycling projects are collaborated with Dr. Ehrenberg's lab at Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, Uppsala University. I captured and solved short-lived ribosome intermediates complexes in these processes. The results demonstrate the power of time-resolved cryo-EM to determine how a time-ordered series of conformational changes contribute to the mechanism and regulation of one of the most fundamental processes in biology. The last part is the application of conventional cryo-EM technique to study ribosome complexes and membrane proteins. This part includes five collaboration projects. Human GABA(B) receptor project is the collaboration with Dr. Fan at Department of Pharmacology, Columbia University. Cyclic nucleotide-gated (CNG) channels project is the collaboration with Dr. Yang at Department of Biological Sciences, Columbia University. The cryo-EM study of Ybit-70S ribosome complex and Cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) project are the collaboration with Dr. Hunt at Department of Biological Sciences, Columbia University. The cryo-EM study of native lipid bilayer in membrane protein transporter is the collaboration with Dr. Hendrickson at Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics, Columbia University and Dr. Guo at Department of Medicinal Chemistry, Virginia Commonwealth University.

Health Status During College Students' Transition to Adulthood: Health Behaviors, Negative Experiences, and the Mediating Effects of Personal Development

Kenzig, Melissa Columbia University 2013 해외박사(DDOD)

University attendance includes various activities and experiences that can have a unique impact on psychosocial development and adult health behaviors, and can influence life course outcomes such as short- and long-term health and quality of life. College attendance and health are cyclical and reinforcing factors. Healthier students do better while at college, which allows them to effectively progress through university. College graduation is closely associated with improved health status in later life. In addition, students' personal development as part of their transition to adulthood during college, which includes psychosocial and interpersonal growth, is associated with greater gains in health and personal success in later life. Identifying the factors associated with enhanced health status while in college would ensure that a greater number of the overall population has access to the potential health benefits of progressing through and graduating from an institution of higher education. Because health behaviors can have a significant impact on how well a student progresses through college, as well as future quality of life, colleges and universities should recognize the role health is playing in the student experience. This study explored the connection of how factors such as student sub-group participation, health behaviors, and particular negative experiences affect the health status of college students attending a large, urban, top-tier university. It investigated which students were at an increased risk for negative mental health symptoms and overall lower general health and how students' participation in various groups (student athletes, students who are members of sororities and fraternities, and students who volunteer) is associated with health behavior (alcohol and other drug use, sexual behavior, and sleep), negative experiences (bias/discrimination and interpersonal violence), and health outcomes. In addition, the study analyzed how personal development at college mediates those relationships. This study is based on non-experimental cross-sectional survey data from the National College Health Assessment that was collected in collaboration with the American College Health Association at Columbia University (CU). All enrolled undergraduate students at CU in Columbia College or the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences in the spring semester of 2009 (n=5708) were invited to participate in the survey, and 31.8% of the sample responded. This research used the Baron and Kenny model to examine the mediation effects of personal development on general health and mental health via a series of bivariate and regression analyses. While the overall general and mental health of respondents was good, particular groups were less likely to report overall excellent or very good general health and more likely to report mental health symptoms. Negative experiences and health behaviors varied significantly between student sub-groups. Health behaviors and negative experiences were predictive of overall general health and mental health symptoms. Sleep, drug use, and experiences of bias/discrimination and interpersonal violence (IPV) were most predictive of health. Personal development was found to partially mediate the relationship between IPV, sleep and overall general health. In addition, personal development was found to partially mediate the relationship between IPV, drug use other than or in addition to marijuana, and sleep and mental health symptoms. The findings from this study suggest that college and university administrators should consider directing resources into targeting particular groups of students for focused health promotion interventions related to specific topics as a method for improving overall general health and reducing mental health symptoms of students. College and university administrators are encouraged to consider the role of personal development as a unique factor in improving student health.

Sounding "Black": An Ethnography of Racialized Vocality at Fisk University

Newland, Marti K Columbia University 2014 해외박사(DDOD)

Through the example of students at Fisk University, a historically black university in Nashville, Tennessee, this dissertation ethnographically examines how vocality is racialized as "black" in the United States. For students at Fisk, voice serves as a mechanism of speaking and singing, and mediates ideological, discursive, embodied and affective constructions of blackness. Fisk built its legacy by cultivating and promoting a specific kind of New World blackness through vocal expression, and the indispensability of Fisk's historical legacy shapes how the university continues to promote the self-worth of its students as well as a remembrance of and recommitment to the social justice and citizenship journey of black people through the 21st century. The relationships between expressive culture, the politics of racial inequality, and higher education experiences overdetermine Fisk students' vocality in relation to blackness, in addition to students' agentive choices to express and (re)form black racial identity. This dissertation traces the differences between curricular and non-curricular vocality to foreground the ways that students resist 21st century forms of racial violence and create paths towards the world they desire. The project opens with an analysis of the role of diction in the performance practice of the Fisk Jubilee SingersRTM. The following chapter compares the repertoire and rehearsal style of the two primary choral ensembles at Fisk. The dissertation then explores how the neo soul genre figures in the Fisk Idol vocal competition. The concluding chapter describes students' different renditions of singing the university's alma mater, "The Gold and the Blue." These analyses of students' embodied, ritualized vocality show how Fisk students' voices performatively (re)construct blackness, gender, class, genre and institutionality.

Historical Perspectives on the Crisis of the University

Schapira, Michael Columbia University ProQuest Dissertations & These 2014 해외박사(DDOD)

The beginning of the 21th century has not been a particularly stable period for the university, at least if you trust the steady stream of books, articles, jeremiads and statements from public officials lamenting its fallen status and calling for bold reforms. Such a state of affairs has allowed critics and reformers alike to axiomatically evoke the "crisis" of the university, but this begs several questions: Are universities in a genuine state of crisis? If so, what are the root causes of this situation and what are its salient features? Are there historical antecedents that shed light on our present moment? In this dissertation I investigate the "crisis of the university" theme by revisiting two prior crises - the worldwide student movements of 1960s and the crisis of German universities in the opening decades of the 20th century. In both cases I argue that the "crisis of the university" is derivative of a broader shift in the nature of the economy and the nation-state, wherein once-popular justifications for the university are called into question, particularly when the scale and complexity of universities have rapidly increased. Returning to the present "crisis," I argue that current debates should focus on rehabilitating "public" nature of the university, which has undergone significant degradation in effects of neoliberalism on the nation-state, the "knowledge economy," and the nature of academic work itself.

Three Essays on the Economics of Higher Education

Xia, Xing Columbia University ProQuest Dissertations & These 2016 해외박사(DDOD)

As the primary transmitter of advanced skills and incubators of new knowledge, colleges and universities play a crucial role in modern economies. In the U.S., the higher education sector consists of a diverse set of institutions. Public, private non-profit, and private for- profit organizations coexist in this market. Although large research universities constitute what we usually think of as higher education institutions, the vast majority of colleges and universities do not follow the model of the research university. Some are two-year institutions with Associate's degrees as their highest degree offering. Some are Baccalaureate institutions offering undergraduate education only. Some are Master's universities who offer some graduate instruction but do not engage in research as much as research universities do. Unlike traditional firms that rely on sales revenue to cover their costs, many colleges and universities rely on external funding from the government and private donors. Like other non-profit institutions, many of them have large amounts of endowment funds that general investment income to support the institution. Given the diversity of organizations in this sector, how well do conventional economic theory describe their behavior? Do non-profit and for-profit institutions face the same incentives? How does the profit status affect the behavior of the university? What is the role of endowments in higher education finance? How does the performance of the endowment affect the real operations of the university? Are instructions at two-year and four-year colleges of similar quality? Is it wise for some students to start in two-year colleges and transfer to a four-year college rather than starting in a four-year college directly? These are the questions I attempt to answer in this dissertation. Chapter 1 investigates whether for-profit and public community colleges respond differently to increases in demand for occupational education. I exploit a regulatory change, which broadened the scope of practice for dental assistants (DAs) and led to significant in- creases in DAs' wages and employment. In response to this change, for-profit universities substantially expanded their DA programs, whereas most community college DA programs maintained their existing size. Moreover, community colleges that charged a high premium for the DA program expanded their DA programs, whereas those that did not charge a premium downsized their DA programs. These results are consistent with a for-profit sector that maximizes profits and a public sector that sets capacity to balance its budget. Chapter 2 studies how universities responded to the large and negative financial shocks to their endowments induced by the Great Recession. Exploiting variations across universities in the relative size of their investment losses during the Great Recession, I found sharp contrasts among Doctoral, Master's, and Baccalaureate Universities both in how they responded to the endowment shocks and in how their students fared after the Great Recession. In response to large, negative endowment shocks, Doctoral Universities cut down on instructional expenses and reduced faculty and staff of all types; Baccalaureate Colleges cut down on administrative and supportive expenses and reduced non-tenure-track instructors and staff; Master's Universities reduced research expenses and size of the tenure-track faculty. Meanwhile, Doctoral Universities cut student financial aid and admitted fewer low-income and Hispanic students. Master's and Baccalaureate institutions also admitted fewer low- income students. Most notably, the negative endowment shocks led to significant reductions in student persistence and graduation rates at Doctoral and Master's Universities, while having no such effects on Baccalaureate Colleges. As the tuition and living expenses of four-year colleges continue to rise, spending the first two years of college at a community college and transferring to a four-year college has become a more cost-effective way to obtain a university degree. In Chapter 3, a joint paper with Zach Brown, we examine the labor market outcomes of transfer students relative to students who attend a four-year institution directly in the United States. We find a large negative effect on wages driven by selection on unobservables. Instrumental variable estimates using data from the National Education Longitudinal Study imply a 27% reduction in wages from attending a two-year college conditional on eventually attending a four-year institution. This is true regardless of whether we control for four-year college quality. Since students who obtain a bachelor's degree have no reason to reveal their transfer status to employers, this is evidence that college quality has important implications for labor market returns independent of signaling effects. We also find some evidence that the negative effect of transferring is largest for women as well as students at the lowest and highest ends of the ability distribution.

Literacy instruction in teacher education: A comparison of teacher education in Australia, New Zealand and the United States of America

Hill, Holly Baker Columbia University Teachers College 2000 해외박사(DDOD)

We know that teacher knowledge is one of the most powerful forces in student learning in the classroom today. To that end, this study examines pre-service teacher education in literacy instruction in three universities in Australia, New Zealand and the United States. The universities that participated in this study were University A located in the southern half of the United States, University B in Australia, and University C in New Zealand. This study used the method of explicit comparison to examine the United States system in light of the New Zealand and Australian systems to learn from their strengths and weaknesses. This study recorded and described each universities' decision making process regarding the content and focus of the required literacy courses in each elementary education program. It also documented and compared the number, delivery, content and focus of the required literacy courses in each program. And finally, the study examined the pre-service teachers' views and needs in regard to the universities' required literacy courses. The methods used in the study included a pre-service teacher survey, interviews with pre-service teachers, interviews with teacher educators, classroom observations and document analysis. The findings from this study show a striking difference between Universities' B (AU) and C (NZ) teacher educator team approach to literacy course content, focus and delivery to that of University A's (US) individual teacher educator driven course focus and content. The results indicated that University A (US) was inconsistent in the areas of course content, focus, structure, and delivery whereby Universities B (AU) and C (NZ) were consistent in all areas. The researcher also found a deficit in course content in the area of the structure of the English language at all three universities. From this study we can conclude that further research needs to be done in the area of literacy instruction for pre-service teachers. A longitudinal study that looks at the team approach to pre-service teacher literacy education would further the research undertaken in this study. We must continue research in this important area of pre-service teacher education so that we can insure quality teaching for every child.