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Full-Text Articles in Education
Portfolio For Soci 346: Environmental Sociology, Gwendwr Meredith
Portfolio For Soci 346: Environmental Sociology, Gwendwr Meredith
UNL Faculty Course Portfolios
Environmental sociology, SOCI 346, is the study of how social systems interact with ecosystems. As such, it is a very broad course that is tasked with understanding complex and often controversial questions about the social causes, consequences, and responses to environmental disruption. In this teaching portfolio, I enumerate how I use a backward design for crafting assessments that cater to my specific teaching goals and learning objectives for the course. In the first stage of this process, I reflected on what learning outcomes I wished to achieve and determined that structuring the course in modules aligned with the learning objectives …
Making Open Scholarship More Equitable And Inclusive, Paul L. Arthur, Lydia Hearn, John C. Ryan, Nirmala Menon, Langa Khumalo
Making Open Scholarship More Equitable And Inclusive, Paul L. Arthur, Lydia Hearn, John C. Ryan, Nirmala Menon, Langa Khumalo
Research outputs 2022 to 2026
Democratizing access to information is an enabler for our digital future. It can transform how knowledge is created, preserved, and shared, and strengthen the connection between academics and the communities they serve. Yet, open scholarship is influenced by history and politics. This article explores the foundations underlying open scholarship as a quest for more just, equitable, and inclusive societies. It analyzes the origins of the open scholarship movement and explores how systemic factors have impacted equality and equity of knowledge access and production according to location, nationality, race, age, gender, and socio-economic circumstances. It highlights how the privileges of the …
Environmental Activism, Ellen Dexter, Lydia Dexter
Environmental Activism, Ellen Dexter, Lydia Dexter
Honors Expanded Learning Clubs
An after school book club that follows Greta Thunberg's book of speeches No One is Too Small to Make a Difference , as well as uses hands-on activities to teach the importance of environmental activism.
Visualization And Analysis Of Environmental Data, Sean Macdonald
Visualization And Analysis Of Environmental Data, Sean Macdonald
Publications and Research
The virtual exploration of place has been employed in a variety of learning environments across many disciplines, creatively expanding upon the experience of place. This chapter explores the value of mapping environmental data as a tool that can enhance students’ virtual exploration of place as they investigate local environmental policies and problems within their own urban surroundings. This visualization project engages students in making meaningful connections between the theoretical study of local and global environmental problems and the “observation” and investigation of these data using mapped data. The virtual learning environment is viewed as one that is interactive, exploring how …
Delay Discounting As An Index Of Sustainable Behavior: Devaluation Of Future Air Quality And Implications For Public Health, Meredith S. Berry, Norma P. Nickerson, Amy L. Odum
Delay Discounting As An Index Of Sustainable Behavior: Devaluation Of Future Air Quality And Implications For Public Health, Meredith S. Berry, Norma P. Nickerson, Amy L. Odum
Psychology Faculty Publications
Poor air quality and resulting annual deaths represent significant public health concerns. Recently, rapid delay discounting (the devaluation of future outcomes) of air quality has been considered a potential barrier for engaging in long term, sustainable behaviors that might help to reduce emissions (e.g., reducing private car use, societal support for clean air initiatives). Delay discounting has been shown to be predictive of real world behavior outside of laboratory settings, and therefore may offer an important framework beyond traditional variables thought to measure sustainable behavior such as importance of an environmental issue, or environmental attitudes/values, although more research is needed …
Have You Counted The Ingredients On Your Child's Lunch Tray?: An Economic Analysis Of Sustainability Initiatives Within The School Lunch Program, Vanessa R. Scalora
Have You Counted The Ingredients On Your Child's Lunch Tray?: An Economic Analysis Of Sustainability Initiatives Within The School Lunch Program, Vanessa R. Scalora
Business and Economics Summer Fellows
In 2010, President Obama signed the Healthy Hunger Free Kids Act, establishing a monetary incentive for schools that served meals following a more rigorous nutritional requirement than standard guidelines. This act is a step in the right direction towards placing more importance on school lunches, however America’s lunchroom practices continue to be environmentally unsustainable, and students absorb this message. The production and transportation of processed cafeteria food contributes to climate change, its packaging is polluting, and its consumption contributes to obesity. The use of premade foods and sales from vending machines increase as lunch times grow ever shorter. In addition, …
Avoiding The Manufacture Of 'Sameness': First-In-Family Students, Cultural Capital And The Higher Education Environment, Sarah Elizabeth O'Shea
Avoiding The Manufacture Of 'Sameness': First-In-Family Students, Cultural Capital And The Higher Education Environment, Sarah Elizabeth O'Shea
Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)
Drawing upon Bourdieu's theories of social and cultural capital, a number of studies of the higher education environment have indicated that students who are first-in-family to come to university may lack the necessary capitals to enact success. To address this issue, university transition strategies often have the primary objective of 'filling students up' with legitimate forms of cultural capital required by the institution. However, this article argues that such an approach is fundamentally flawed, as students can be either framed as deficit or replete in capitals depending on how their particular background and capabilities are perceived. Drawing on interviews conducted …
"I 'Feel' Like I Am At University Even Though I Am Online." Exploring How Students Narrate Their Engagement With Higher Education Institutions In An Online Learning Environment, Sarah Elizabeth O'Shea, Cathy Stone, Janine Delahunty
"I 'Feel' Like I Am At University Even Though I Am Online." Exploring How Students Narrate Their Engagement With Higher Education Institutions In An Online Learning Environment, Sarah Elizabeth O'Shea, Cathy Stone, Janine Delahunty
Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)
This article outlines a collaborative study between higher education institutions in Australia, which qualitatively explored the online learning experience for undergraduate and postgraduate students. The project adopted a narrative inquiry approach and encouraged students to story their experiences of this virtual environment, providing a snapshot of how learning is experienced by those undertaking online studies. The study explores what impacted upon students' engagement in this environment and how different facets of their learning experience made a qualitative difference to how individuals enacted engagement. Drawing upon Sharon Pittaway's engagement framework, the article seeks to foreground student voice as the learners define …
The Case Studies: Chat In Use - Case Study 13.1 Designing An Effective Undergraduate Vocal Pedagogy Environment: A Case Of Cultural-Historical Activity Approach In A Singing Course, Irina Verenikina, Lotte Latukefu
The Case Studies: Chat In Use - Case Study 13.1 Designing An Effective Undergraduate Vocal Pedagogy Environment: A Case Of Cultural-Historical Activity Approach In A Singing Course, Irina Verenikina, Lotte Latukefu
Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)
This chapter draws on six case studies of pedagogy with technology in Higher Education. The studies are chosen because they illustrate how the use of technology impacts on pedagogy in these contexts. While the cases are drawn from different levels of higher education (undergraduate to postgraduate) they are woven together by a shared framework: namely, the use of CHAT to explore pedagogical innovation with technology. One of the significant strengths of CHAT, all studies will argue, lies in its ability to situate goal-directed action within the larger context of a motive-directed activity. That is, its explanatory power lies in situating …
Oh, Behave! Behavior As An Interaction Between Genes & The Environment, Emily G. Weigel, Michael Denieu, Andrew J. Gall
Oh, Behave! Behavior As An Interaction Between Genes & The Environment, Emily G. Weigel, Michael Denieu, Andrew J. Gall
Faculty Publications
This lesson is designed to teach students that behavior is a trait shaped by both genes and the environment. Students will read a scientific paper, discuss and generate predictions based on the ideas and data therein, and model the relationships between genes, the environment, and behavior. The lesson is targeted to meet the educational goals of undergraduate introductory biology, evolution, and animal behavior courses, but it is also suitable for advanced high school biology students. This lesson meets the criteria for the Next Generation Science Standard HS-LS4, Biological Evolution: Unity and Diversity (NGSS Lead States, 2013).
A Multimodal Analysis Of The Environment Beat In A Music Video, Carmen Daniela Maier, Judith Leah Cross
A Multimodal Analysis Of The Environment Beat In A Music Video, Carmen Daniela Maier, Judith Leah Cross
Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)
The global impact of demanding environmental concerns is visible in almost all contexts of contemporary communication and across geographical borders. An increasing range of multimodal texts surface continuously in various media in order to facilitate public understanding of irreversible environmental changes, to educate future generations in ecoliteracy, to promote green or disclose greenwashed corporate images and practices, or to entertain and facilitate appropriate actions as well as responses. Simultaneously, research in environmental communication tries to keep up with this rapid pace by examining environment-focused multimodal texts from the context of journalism (Doyle, 2011; Lester & Cottle, 2009), education (Maier, 2010; …
Human Geography Without A Map, William E. Demars, Laurel Rosenberger, Jimmy Rogers, Trent Hardee
Human Geography Without A Map, William E. Demars, Laurel Rosenberger, Jimmy Rogers, Trent Hardee
Arthur Vining Davis High Impact Fellows Projects
Course materials developed for a 9th grade course on human geography, focusing on human rights, terrorism, and globalization.
Manipulation Of The Self-Determined Learning Environment On Student Motivation And Affect Within Secondary Physical Education, Dana Perlman
Manipulation Of The Self-Determined Learning Environment On Student Motivation And Affect Within Secondary Physical Education, Dana Perlman
Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)
Secondary physical education (PE) has become a popular area of inquiry because students are not meeting overarching goals of PE programs, are less motivated, and demonstrate negative affect while in class. As such, teachers and researchers are starting to examine pedagogical approaches that support student motivation as a means to alleviate some of the aforementioned issues. The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of two different learning contexts based within self-determination theory on the motivation and affect of secondary PE students. Seventy-nine secondary PE students were randomly assigned to a unit of basketball taught in either a …
Effect Of Air Pollution And Racism On Ethnic Differences In Respiratory Health Among Adolescents Living In An Urban Environment, Thomas E. Astell-Burt, Maria J. Maynard, Erik Lenguerrand, Melissa Whitrow, Oarabile R. Molaodi, Seeromanie Harding
Effect Of Air Pollution And Racism On Ethnic Differences In Respiratory Health Among Adolescents Living In An Urban Environment, Thomas E. Astell-Burt, Maria J. Maynard, Erik Lenguerrand, Melissa Whitrow, Oarabile R. Molaodi, Seeromanie Harding
Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)
Recent studies suggest that stress can amplify the harm of air pollution. We examined whether experience of racism and exposure to particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter of less than 2.5 µm and 10 µm (PM2.5 and PM10) had a synergistic influence on ethnic differences in asthma and lung function across adolescence. Analyses using multilevel models showed lower forced expiratory volume (FEV1), forced vital capacity (FVC) and lower rates of asthma among some ethnic minorities compared to Whites, but higher exposure to PM2.5, PM10 and racism. Racism appeared to amplify the relationship …
Australia’S Rich Talk About Saving The Environment; The Poor Bear The Burden Of Doing It, Lesley Head
Australia’S Rich Talk About Saving The Environment; The Poor Bear The Burden Of Doing It, Lesley Head
Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)
Public housing tenants struggling with their bills will well understand NSW Community Services Minister Goward’s concern over the rising costs of nails and pots of paint. According to the minister, the carbon tax will push the price of household maintenance up; this is the reasoning behind an increase in public housing rents. But what’s fair about the state government passing its own carbon tax costs on to those least able to afford it?
Neoliberalism And The Biophysical Environment 3: Putting Theory Into Practice, Noel Castree
Neoliberalism And The Biophysical Environment 3: Putting Theory Into Practice, Noel Castree
Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)
There now exists a significant body of theoretically informed empirical research into 'neoliberal environments'. It comprises numerous studies which together explore the connections between neoliberal principles and policies, on the one side, and the biophysical world on the other. However, making sense of them is by no means straightforward, despite their common focus on neoliberal environments. It is currently left to readers of these studies to synthesize them into a wider, joined-up account of neoliberal environments. This and two companion articles aim for precisely this sort of broad and coherent understanding. The contribution of this third instalment is twofold. First, …
Sustainability Through Profitability: The Triple Bottom Line, Connie I. Reimers-Hild
Sustainability Through Profitability: The Triple Bottom Line, Connie I. Reimers-Hild
Kimmel Education and Research Center: Presentations and White Papers
Today’s highly competitive, globalized world requires organizations and businesses to think differently about how they are going to stay in business. Businesses can no longer afford to focus on profits as their sole purpose for existence. Organizations must instead think about the “Triple Bottom Line” and its implications for their ability to grow their brand, customer loyalty and profits.
Impact Of The Home Learning Environment On Child Cognitive Development: Secondary Analysis Of Data From 'Growing Up In Scotland', Edward Melhuish
Impact Of The Home Learning Environment On Child Cognitive Development: Secondary Analysis Of Data From 'Growing Up In Scotland', Edward Melhuish
Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)
This study aims to investigate whether interview-based measures of children’s activities are associated with cognitive ability at age 34 months, and whether they have independent effects once socio-demographic factors have been taken into account.
Neoliberalism And The Biophysical Environment: A Synthesis And Evaluation Of The Research, Noel Castree
Neoliberalism And The Biophysical Environment: A Synthesis And Evaluation Of The Research, Noel Castree
Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)
This article both synthesizes and critically evaluates a now large, multi-disciplinary body of published research that examines the neoliberalization of environmental regulation, management, and governance. Since the late 1970s, neoliberal ideas and ideals have gradually made their way into the domain of environmental policy as part of a wider change in the global political economy. While the volume of empirical research is now such that we can draw some conclusions about this policy shift, the fact that the research has evolved piecemeal across so many different disciplines has made identifying points of similarity and difference in the findings more difficult. …
Healing The Planet And Its People: The Need To Create A Global Vision Of Leadership For The Planet, Connie I. Reimers-Hild
Healing The Planet And Its People: The Need To Create A Global Vision Of Leadership For The Planet, Connie I. Reimers-Hild
Kimmel Education and Research Center: Presentations and White Papers
No abstract provided.
The Challenge Of Environmental Protection, Jennifer Mattei
The Challenge Of Environmental Protection, Jennifer Mattei
Biology Faculty Publications
Connecticut is in the midst of a demographic transition to a period of lower population growth. These demographic changes will help check the pressures exerted on the state's natural resources by population growth. Water, air, soil, energy sources, food, fisheries, forests, and biodiversity are common pool resources upon which we depend in ways that transcend political boundaries. Those governing Connecticut should help turn the state into a model of how to manage natural resources by halting forest fragmentation, reducing pollution, and promoting environmental science education.
Integrating Environmentally Focused Experiential Learning Into The Curriculum: An Interdisciplinary Case Study, Bridget M. Lyons, Marion Calabrese, Teresa Ralabate
Integrating Environmentally Focused Experiential Learning Into The Curriculum: An Interdisciplinary Case Study, Bridget M. Lyons, Marion Calabrese, Teresa Ralabate
WCBT Faculty Publications
This paper details the use of a local environmental issue as a case study for an interdisciplinary project in an Economics and an English course.
How Do We Know There Is A Population-Environment Problem?, Peter J. Taylor
How Do We Know There Is A Population-Environment Problem?, Peter J. Taylor
Working Papers on Science in a Changing World
Five fictional friends of the author have agreed to meet and talk, hoping that he was right when he claimed that discussion crossing the usual boundaries of their fields would enrich their different inquiries and concerns. Ecolo, a natural and human ecologist, breaks the ice. He wants to marshall scientific knowledge to persuade others of the seriousness of the population problem. He is questioned by Philoso, whose philosophical bent leads her to observe the models that people use and to ask how they support the claims they make. In turn, the other three join in: Activo, an activist who is …
Preservice Teachers' Understanding And Representation Of Equality Of Fractions In A Javabars Environment, Mohan Chinnappan
Preservice Teachers' Understanding And Representation Of Equality Of Fractions In A Javabars Environment, Mohan Chinnappan
Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)
In recent years, considerable research effort has been invested in identifying the nature of the knowledge that drives mathematics teachers’ actions in the classroom. While this investigation has generated a useful body of information, there has been little information about changes in the character of this knowledge when teaching involves the use of technology. In this paper, I address this issue by examining a group of preservice primary mathematics teachers’ understanding of fractions. The participants were required to order fractions within software called JavaBars. The results suggest that, while the preservice teachers had built up robust knowledge about fractions, they …
A Potpourri Of Institutional Research Issues In A Planning Environment, Jim S. Tognolini, Peter Mccormack
A Potpourri Of Institutional Research Issues In A Planning Environment, Jim S. Tognolini, Peter Mccormack
Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)
The need for institutional research in Australian tertiary institutions appears to be expanding. It is spurred on by the increased demands for institutional accountability and assessment, coupled with developments in planning and policy analysis, in a climate of diminishing resources. It is in this context that we thought it might be interesting, and timely, to prepare a paper to consider some of the practical issues confronted by an institutional research unit which is centrally involved in a university's integrated strategic planning and budgeting processes. In this presentation we will discuss issues such as role identity and the plight of institutional …