Towards climate resilient urban energy systems: a review

Climate change and increased urban population are two major concerns for society. Moving towards more sustainable energy solutions in the urban context by integrating renewable energy technologies supports decarbonizing the energy sector and climate change mitigation. A successful transition also needs adequate consideration of climate change including extreme events to ensure the reliable performance of energy systems in the long run. This review provides an overview of and insight into the progress achieved in the energy sector to adapt to climate change, focusing on the climate resilience of urban energy systems. The state-of-the-art methodology to assess impacts of climate change including extreme events and uncertainties on the design and performance of energy systems is described and discussed. Climate resilience is an emerging concept that is increasingly used to represent the durability and stable performance of energy systems against extreme climate events. However, it has not yet been adequately explored and widely used, as its definition has not been clearly articulated and assessment is mostly based on qualitative aspects. This study reveals that a major limitation in the state-of-the-art is the inadequacy of climate change adaptation approaches in designing and preparing urban energy systems to satisfactorily address plausible extreme climate events. Furthermore, the complexity of the climate and energy models and the mismatch between their temporal and spatial resolutions are the major limitations in linking these models. Therefore, few studies have focused on the design and operation of urban energy infrastructure in terms of climate resilience. Considering the occurrence of extreme climate events and increasing demand for implementing climate adaptation strategies, the study highlights the importance of improving energy system models to consider future climate variations including extreme events to identify climate resilient energy transition pathways.     

Parents' Attitudes Towards Science and their Children's Science Achievement

Although countries worldwide are emphasizing the importance of science education for technological development and global economic competition, comparative findings from standardized international student assessments reveal a huge gap in science scores between developed and developing countries. Certain developed economies too have made little progress in raising science achievement over the past decade. Despite school improvement being placed high on the policy agenda, the results of such actions have been poor. Therefore, there is a need to explore additional ways in which science achievement can be enhanced. This study focuses on the family and examines whether parents' attitudes towards science (how much they value science and the importance they place on it) can influence their children's science achievement. Individual- and school-level data are obtained from the Program for International Student Assessment 2006 survey for 15 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and non-OECD countries. Hierarchical linear modelling is employed to estimate the equations. The findings indicate that parents' attitudes towards science have a positive and statistically significant effect on science achievement, after controlling for other important student- and school-level variables. Moreover, students from poor backgrounds appear to benefit from more positive parental science attitudes as much as students from high socioeconomic status, such that equality of student achievement is not affected. This study recommends that schools and teachers encourage parents to play a more pro-active role in their children's science education, as well as educate parents about the importance of science and strategies that can be adopted to support their children's science learning.     

Exploring students’ competence,autonomy and relatedness in the flipped classroom pedagogical model

This study aimed at identifying the differences between a flipped classroom and a non-flipped classroom instructional model, based on the Self-Determination Theory (SDT). This study employed a mixed-method research approach, using post-tests, questionnaires and focus group interviews during the data collection process. Sixty-one students were the respondents involved in a non-randomised experiment with a control group design, while 10 representative students participated in a focus-group discussion. The results reported that post-test 1 showed no significant difference between the two groups of flipped and non-flipped classroom instruction (t = 1.68, p = .474), while post-tests 2 and 3 were significantly different (t = 5.54, p = .007 < .05) and (t = 10.17, p = .001 < .05). This finding shows that students in the flipped learning environment were more competent handling online tasks and activities, and were able to control their learning outcomes. The survey results showed that the flip-class setting fostered better peer interaction and autonomous learning skills among the students. The flip-class environment had also a positive influence on students’ intrinsic motivation. The qualitative findings from the students’ interviews revealed that students were motivated by the video-recorded lectures, self-regulated learning environments, engagement in class activities and peer interaction. Conclusions from this study showed that the flip-class setting had successfully established the basic psychological needs of SDT, namely: competency, autonomy and relatedness in a flipped classroom model.     

Impact of teachers’ career adaptability and family on professional learning

Teachers’ engagement in professional learning is vital to the profession’s sustainability. Their professional learning is influenced by the demands of balancing work, family, and the strain of balancing the two. This challenge is addressed through the notion resilience, operationalized as career adaptability. In a sample of teachers (N = 193), the present research explored the relations between career adaptability, family-to-work conflict (time-based and strain-based), and engagement in professional learning. Structural equation modelling revealed that time-based conflict mediated the relation between career adaptability and strain-based conflict. Strain-based conflict, in turn, negatively predicted engagement with professional development studies. It is recommended that strategies for teachers’ professional learning are inclusive of contextual factors, such as family-to-work conflict, and focused on enhancing their career adaptability.     

Factors that influence the decision of Spanish faculty members to retire

Recent reports confirm that the European Higher Education Area is conditioning the satisfaction of Spanish faculty members, resulting in a greater number of early retirements. The present study, framed within the context of the research, development and innovation project ‘Fuga de Talentos: Un estudio sobre los motivos que han condicionado a profesores universitarios con experiencia a abandonar la profesión docente. Diseño de una propuesta (EDU2012-37068)’, intends to understand the factors that influence their decision to retire early. This study is based on the mixed sequential explanatory strategy, using logistic regression analysis techniques with a sample of 311 faculty members. The results showed differences in the factors that influence the decision-making of active faculty members who are near (aged 51–60) or approaching (aged 61–65) retirement. Their professional satisfaction, feelings and the reasons for retiring influence their decision about retiring, explaining the culture of early retirement and the loss of human capital in Spanish universities.     

教育与人的发展

从“教育”与“人的发展”这两个术语的定义，以及“人的发展”这一术语近来多次出现的背景及其所带来的对教育的不同规定，论述教育与个体发展的相互作用、个体发展的两个尺度，以及在这一问题研究方面所取得的成就与面临的挑战。鉴于目前人们对教育的看法过于狭隘，建议扩大教育的范围，将价值观念、性格、责任感和情感文化等也纳入教育的范畴。     

Microanalytic case studies of individual participation patterns in an asynchronous online discussion in an undergraduate blended course

This study presents three case studies of students' participation patterns in an online discussion to address the gap in our current understanding of how individuals experience asynchronous learning environments. Cases were constructed via microanalysis of log-file data, post contents, and the evolving discussion structure. The first student was Thorough, reading all the posts in the forum in sequence, revisiting different posts multiple times, and creating posts outside of the discussion tool. The second student was Self-Monitoring, revisiting his own posts multiple times, checking the discussion frequently for replies, and replying to or editing his posts in response. Finally, the third student was Independent, using the forum as a tool for her own individual reflection. The behaviors found for these cases are aligned with a theoretical taxonomy for participation proposed by Knowlton (2005). The value and limitations of the microanalytic case study approach are discussed, and implications for research and practice are suggested.