Is students’ energy literacy related to their university’s position in a sustainability ranking?

Abstract

University rankings are increasingly important internationally, and in the UK include a sustainability ‘Green League’. However, there is little evidence about experiences of studying in ‘sustainable universities’. We report an empirical study at five universities in varied positions in the Green League, exploring students’ energy literacy, environmental attitudes and perceptions of their institution’s energy-saving efforts. Although the link to energy literacy is not clear, findings suggest that there are significant differences between students’ environmental attitudes at universities placed at different points in the league. In addition, students at higher ranked universities are more positive about their university’s energy-saving efforts, suggesting that these institutions may exhibit more overt manifestations of sustainability. This is important since students report being more likely to choose energy-conservation behaviours if there is visible representation of energy use. The study is the first to attempt a comparison between universities at different positions in a sustainability ranking.     

Psychological adjustment and family functioning of boys with learning disabilities

This study examined parent reports of behavioral and family functioning for 59 boys with learning disabilities (LD) and 65 nondisabled boys (NLD) of ages 6 to 12 years. Parents completed the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) and the Family Adaptability and Cohesion Evaluation Scale (FACES III). Boys with LD were reported as having significantly more behavior problems of both the Internalizing and Externalizing types than NLD boys. Individual scales yielded group differences indicating higher scores (more problems) for the group with LD on the Hyperactive, Schizoid or Anxious, Depressed, and Obsessive Compulsive scales, but no differences on the Aggressive or Social Withdrawal scales. Furthermore, families of boys with LD tended to score more frequently in the extreme (disturbed) range of family functioning. However, boys of families in the extreme range did not have more behavior problems than the boys of other families. The findings suggest that a greater than average proportion of boys with LD are at risk for developing psychological adjustment problems.     

Comparison of student performance using web and paper‐based homework in college‐level physics

Homework gives students an opportunity to practice important college‐level physics skills. A switch to Web‐based homework alters the nature of feedback received, potentially changing the pedagogical benefit. Calculus‐ and algebra‐based introductory physics students enrolled in large paired lecture sections at a public university completed homework of standard end‐of‐the‐chapter exercises using either the Web or paper. Comparison of their performances on regular exams, conceptual exams, quizzes, laboratory, and homework showed no significant differences between groups; other measures were found to be strong predictors of performance. This indicates that the change in medium itself has limited effect on student learning. Ways in which Web‐based homework could enable exercises with greater pedagogical value are discussed. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 40: 1050–1071, 2003     

Curious sex ratios and cytoplasmic genes

Evolutionary theory predicts that most populations should consist of roughly as many males as females. Recently, a variety of populations have been described which show very different proportions of the two sexes, especially in invertebrate species that contain individuals whose offspring are almost all female. Some of these instances can now be explained by the diverse actions of various ‘selfish’ elements residing in the cytoplasm of the individuals, which are transmitted exclusively through the female line. These instances of curious sex ratios exemplify an important principle: the fitness of genes, rather than of individuals, is the primary currency of evolution.     

职业教育基本问题访谈录(Ⅰ)职业教育是什么

全国教育科学“十五”规划国家一般课题《职业教育几个基本问题研究》（BJA010100）课题组就“职业教育的基本问题”对国内外职业教育界的专家、学者进行了访谈，使我们看到了对此问题的不同角度和层面的理解。这是一次思想的碰撞，有利于我们深化对职业教育基本问题的认识。本刊特将访谈记录分专题编辑处理，并从本期起连续刊发，本期论题为“职业教育是什么？”[编者按]     

Predictors of College Attendance Patterns of Rural Youth

This study investigated patterns of college attendance using data from a nationwide and contemporary sample of 2112 rural youth. We found that more than half of rural youth attended two-year institutions at some point during their college career and about a fourth initially enrolled in a two-year college before enrolling in a four-year college. Results also revealed that parental education, college preparatory track and preparation experiences, and teacher expectations predicted students’ college attendance patterns. Our findings point to the importance of two-year colleges and highlight the influence of family characteristics and students’ schooling experiences in the postsecondary trajectories of rural youth.     

The relation of parenting style to adolescent school performance

This article develops and tests a reformation of Baumrind's typology of authoritarian, permissive, and authoritative parenting styles in the context of adolescent school performance. Using a large and diverse sample of San Francisco Bay Area high school students (N = 7,836), we found that both authoritarian and permissive parenting styles were negatively associated with grades, and authoritative parenting was positively associated with grades. Parenting styles generally showed the expected relation to grades across gender, age, parental education, ethnic, and family structure categories. Authoritarian parenting tended to have a stronger association with grades than did the other 2 parenting styles, except among Hispanic males. The full typology best predicted grades among white students. Pure authoritative families (high on authoritative but not high on the other 2 indices) had the highest mean grades, while inconsistent families that combine authoritarian parenting with other parenting styles had the lowest grades.