Category: Technology News

2021 Best Undergraduate Computer Science Programs

by Ashley Gerlach on February 28, 2021 in Technology News

Auburn, Alabama, has been ranked one of the best places to live, and life at Auburn University can be similarly enjoyable for students. Football is a particularly big attraction in the fall, as fans support the Auburn Tigers with the help of school mascot Aubie the Tiger. The Tiger sports teams compete in the NCAA Division I Southeastern Conference, and the influx of football fans makes Auburn the fifth-largest city in the state on game days. Pep rallies are held in the downtown Toomer’s Corner, and the area is covered in toilet paper by fans after every big victory. There

Underrepresented college students benefit more from ‘active learning’ techniques in STEM

by Ashley Gerlach on February 25, 2021 in Technology News

Students from different backgrounds in the United States enter college with equal interest in STEM fields—science, technology, engineering and mathematics. But that equal interest does not result in equal outcomes. Six years after starting an undergraduate STEM degree, roughly twice as many white students finished it compared to African American students.

A new study by researchers at the University of Washington shows that teaching techniques in undergraduate STEM courses can significantly narrow gaps in course performance between students who are overrepresented and underrepresented in STEM. In a paper published the week of March 9 in the

How COVID-19 hurt college enrollment numbers this fall

by Ashley Gerlach on February 23, 2021 in Technology News

The number of students enrolling in college immediately after high school plunged nearly 22% this fall over last year, hitting high-poverty, urban schools hardest — a likely reflection of the coronavirus-related toll on higher education plans, according to a national survey released Thursday.

The survey by the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center found that the drop-off varied substantially by institution, with community colleges showing the largest enrollment decline among low-income students and public four-year universities the lowest.

In California, that pattern appears to hold, although not as dramatically. The report did not break out state data, but California’s higher education

Wall Street Journal/Times Higher Education College Rankings 2020

by Ashley Gerlach on February 21, 2021 in Technology News

The Wall Street Journal/Times Higher Education College Rankings gives students and their families the information that they need to help them choose where to study.

The ranking of more than 800 universities is based on 15 individual performance indicators and responses from more than 170,000 current college students, collected through THE’s annual US Student Survey.

It is designed to answer the questions that matter most to students and their families: How likely am I to graduate, pay off my loans and get a good job? Does the college have plenty of resources to teach me properly? Will I be

Here’s How Colleges Should Help Close the Digital Divide in the COVID-Era

by Ashley Gerlach on February 15, 2021 in Technology News

San Antonio, Texas, the place my family currently calls home, ranks high among major cities with the fastest-growing number of COVID-19 infections. Add in Houston, Austin, and Dallas, and Texas now accounts for over 7 percent of the nation’s 3 million cases. It’s a harsh and disastrous reality that is wreaking havoc on families, local economies and the education system.

One key problem prevalent in many low-socioeconomic communities around the nation—like San Antonio, which now has the highest poverty rate of the country’s 25 largest metro areas—is the digital divide. Digital divide is a term used to describe