Search DU CTLAT Blog

Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Social Media: A Guide for Researchers

Social media is an important technological trend that has big implications for how researchers (and people in general) communicate and collaborate. Researchers have a huge amount to gain from engaging with social media in various aspects of their work.

This guide has been produced by the International Centre for Guidance Studies, and aims to provide the information needed to make an informed decision about using social media and select from the vast range of tools that are available.



One of the most important things that researchers do is to find, use and disseminate information, and social media offers a range of tools which can facilitate this. The guide discusses the use of social media for research and academic purposes and will not be examining the many other uses that social media is put to across society.


Social media can change the way in which you undertake research, and can also open up new forms of communication and dissemination. It has the power to enable researchers to engage in a wide range of dissemination in a highly efficient way.

Social media: A guide for researchers (links and resources)
This page provides the list of resources outlined in the publication Social media: A guide for researchers. http://www.rin.ac.uk/node/1009
Share/Bookmark

University Business: College Graduation Rates Are Stagnant Even as Enrollment Rises, a Study Finds

The group, Complete College America, is a nonprofit founded two years ago with financing from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Lumina Foundation and others. Its report, which had the cooperation of 33 governors, showed how many of the students in states completed their degrees, broken down into different categories , including whether enrollment is full- or part-time, or at a two- or four-year institution.



The numbers are stark: In Texas, for example, of every 100 students who enrolled in a public college, 79 started at a community college, and only 2 of them earned a two-year degree on time; even after four years, only 7 of them graduated. Of the 21 of those 100 who enrolled at a four-year college, 5 graduated on time; after eight years, only 13 had earned a degree.


Similarly, in Utah, for 100 students who enrolled in a public college, 71 chose a community college, 45 enrolling full time and 26 part time; after four years, only 14 of the full-time students and one of the part-time students graduated. Of the 29 who started at a four-year college, only 13 got their degree within eight years.


The New York Times
Share/Bookmark

The Chronicle of Higher Education: Controversial Bake Sale at Berkeley Stirs Debate Over Affirmative Action

September 27, 2011
A controversial bake sale at the University of California at Berkeley on Tuesday that was designed to satirize affirmative action drew allegations of racism and a wave of media attention.
The sale, by the Berkeley College Republicans, charged customers different prices for cupcakes and cookies based on race and gender. White males paid $2, black men paid 75 cents, and Native American men paid 25 cents. Women got 25 cents off. The group sold 300 cupcakes.
"There were some aggressive people who came up with angry things to say, but there was no violence," Shawn Lewis, president of the Republican student group, told CNN.
The sale resembled events that have taken place or have been blocked at other campuses across the country. But the Berkeley event captured national media attention, in part because it was timed to protest recent California legislation that, if signed into law by Gov. Edmund G. Brown Jr., would allow state universities to consider race, gender, ethnicity, and national origin in their admissions decisions.
Opponents of the bill, SB 185, say it would violate Proposition 209, an amendment to the California Constitution that bans the use of affirmative-action preference by public colleges and other state and local agencies. But supporters say the bill does not call for preferential treatment and is not unconstitutional.
As the Berkeley Republican group's bake sale was under way on Tuesday, other students held counterdemonstrations urging Governor Brown, a Democrat, to sign the bill. The student government set up a phone bank where students could call the governor's office to express their support for the bill.
The bake sale was denounced by many as racist soon after it was advertised. One student told CNN she was "appalled" not only by the different prices, but also by the implied ranking of races. "It trivializes the struggles that people have been through and their histories," she said.
In a written response to such complaints, Mr. Lewis, the group's president, agreed that the event was inherently racist, but he said that was the point. "It is no more racist than giving an individual an advantage in college admissions based solely on their race or gender," he wrote.
The university is not taking an official position on the bill, Steve Montiel, a spokesman for the system's Office of the President, told The Daily Californian. "We support its underlying goal and would welcome additional tools to achieve a more diverse student body," he said, "but we are neutral."

Share/Bookmark