Moral impasses in sustainability education? Empirical results from school geography in Austria and Germany

Abstract

The expert-driven and normative character of sustainability education aims to promote societal transformation and global change. While some authors underline the ethical claims of education, others have criticized that there is a problematic tendency to prescribe certain actions beyond ethical education. The article aims to provide an empirical contribution, including students’ and teachers’ perspectives, and geography textbooks, to the debate. Based on the results of an empirical study with 1001 secondary school students in Austria and Germany, we discuss the “ethical turn” and the moral code in sustainability education. The questionnaires are completed with students’ drawings, qualitative interviews with geography teachers and an analysis of geography textbooks. We argue that most students have a precise idea what sustainability and sustainable behavior means, but they harbor right-wrong binary perceptions of sustainable lifestyles. Many students lack knowledge of the interdependence of consumption and production networks, which impedes the understanding of complex sustainability patterns. Therefore, we recommend pluralistic and interconnected perspectives in sustainability, in the frame of school geography. A more democratic classroom contributes to develop an own moral compass. Additionally, passion and participatory approaches can help students reflect on their affective relationships with consumer goods and consider alternative consumption-production paradigms.     

Feedback multilevel control for continuous dynamic systems

An iterative technique for the derivation of a nearly optimal feedback control law for continuous dynamic systems with separable cost functions is developed based on the fundamental concepts of multilevel control. The developed technique comprises two major and subsequent stages. In the first stage, a two-level optimization structure is devised using the coordination by control method. An identification processthen follows in order to determine the constant gains of the dynamic controller utilizing the discrete quasilinearization algorithm. A three-level control structure is thus provided for the overall technique which can adaptively compute the unknown gains of the dynamic controller.     

Amplifying John Muir’s life: a third sector intervention in providing alternative narrative resources to secondary schools*

In 2014, Scottish Book Trust (SBT) published and distributed classroom sets of a graphic novel about the life of pioneering environmental activist John Muir to all secondary schools in Scotland, where he is still relatively unknown. This paper outlines the collaborative process SBT used in producing the graphic novel and sets out to trace the impact of this intervention through teacher and pupil surveys. The former survey reveals that not all teachers were able to make use of the classroom sets but that those who did found it useful in bringing up environmental issues in a range of disciplinary and cross-disciplinary contexts. The book served as a narrative resource for some teachers in designing lesson plans and even in designing entire courses. The pupil survey found significant mean shifts in the New Environmental Paradigm Scale for Children and the Inclusion of Nature in Self Scale in participating classes and across all classes. Building on insights from narrative therapy and narrative ethics, we argue that shifting attitudes and values requires new narratives alongside new experiences and the space in which to dialogue about the two in community. Further research into reading and environmental education is advocated.     

Implicit and explicit attitudes towards sport among young elite athletes with high versus low burnout symptoms

The development of cynical attitudes towards elite sport is a core symptom of athlete burnout and has been associated with dropout from elite sport. To date, this phenomenon has mainly been studied by investigating explicit attitudes towards sport, whereas athletes’ automatic evaluations (i.e. implicit attitudes) that have been shown to influence behavior as well were not considered. This study aimed to compare explicit and implicit attitudes towards sport of young elite athletes with high (N = 24) versus low (N = 26) burnout symptoms. Using self-reported measures, general and athlete burnout symptoms were assessed. Additionally, a single-target implicit association test was administered to examine participants’ automatic evaluation of sport. Statistical analysis revealed greater emotional/physical exhaustion and sport devaluation in athletes reporting high compared to low burnout symptoms. Implicit attitudes towards sport did not significantly differ between the groups. Furthermore, no significant correlations were observed between different athlete burnout symptoms and implicit attitudes. Athletes with high burnout symptoms show a tendency to explicitly detach themselves from sport, thus fostering sport devaluation as a core symptom of athlete burnout. However, this process does not seem to be reflected in their implicit attitudes towards sport.     

Is remote stretching based on myofascial chains as effective as local exercise? A randomised-controlled trial

Lower limb stretching based on myofascial chains has been demonstrated to increase cervical range of motion (ROM) in the sagittal plane. It is, however, unknown whether such remote exercise is as effective as local stretching. To resolve this research deficit, 63 healthy participants (36 ± 13 years, ♂32) were randomly assigned to one of three groups: remote stretching of the lower limb (LLS), local stretching of the cervical spine (CSS) or inactive control (CON). Prior (M1), immediately post (M2) and 5 min following intervention (M3), maximal cervical ROM was assessed. Non-parametric data analysis (Kruskal–Wallis tests and adjusted post hoc Dunn tests) revealed significant differences between the disposed conditions. With one exception (cervical spine rotation after CSS at M2, P > .05), both LLS and CSS increased cervical ROM compared to the control group in all movement planes and at all measurements (P < .05). Between LLS and CSS, no statistical differences were found (P > .05). Lower limb stretching based on myofascial chains induces similar acute improvements in cervical ROM as local exercise. Therapists might consequently consider its use in programme design. However, as the attained effects do not seem to be direction-specific, further research is warranted in order to provide evidence-based recommendations.     

Correction to: Mechanisms mediating the relation between reading self-concept and reading comprehension

European Journal of Psychology of Education - The article Mechanisms mediating the relation between reading self-concept and reading comprehension, written by Franziska Maria Locher, Sarah Becker,...     

Fusion Via a Linear Combination of Scores

We present a thorough analysis of the capabilities of the linear combination (LC) model for fusion of information retrieval systems. The LC model combines the results lists of multiple IR systems by scoring each document using a weighted sum of the scores from each of the component systems. We first present both empirical and analytical justification for the hypotheses that such a model should only be used when the systems involved have high performance, a large overlap of relevant documents, and a small overlap of nonrelevant documents. The empirical approach allows us to very accurately predict the performance of a combined system. We also derive a formula for a theoretically optimal weighting scheme for combining 2 systems. We introduce d—the difference between the average score on relevant documents and the average score on nonrelevant documents—as a performance measure which not only allows mathematical reasoning about system performance, but also allows the selection of weights which generalize well to new documents. We describe a number of experiments involving large numbers of different IR systems which support these findings.     

Cycling power output produced during flat and mountain stages in the Giro d'Italia: a case study

Until recently, the physiological demands of cycling competitions were mostly reflected by the measurement of heart rate and the indirect estimation of exercise intensity. The purpose of this case study was to illustrate the varying power output of a professional cyclist during flat and mountain stages of a Grand Tour (Giro d'Italia). Nine stage recordings of a cyclist of the 2005 Giro d'Italia were monitored using a mobile power measurement device (SRM Trainingssystem, Julich, Germany), which recorded direct power output and heart rate. Stages were categorized into flat (n = 5) and mountain stages (n = 4). Data were processed electronically, and the overall mean power in flat and mountain stages and maximal mean power for various durations were calculated. Mean power output was 132 W +/- 26 (2.0 W x kg(-1) +/- 0.4) for the flat and 235 W +/- 10 (3.5 W x kg(-1) +/- 0.1) for the mountain stages. Mountain stages showed higher maximal mean power (367 W) for longer durations (1800 s) than flat stages (239 W). Flat stages are characterized by a large variability of power output with short bursts of high power and long periods with reduced intensity of exercise, whereas mountain stages mostly require submaximal, constant power output over longer periods.