Making sense of carbon footprints: how carbon literacy and quantitative literacy affects information gathering and decision-making

Abstract

Popular media often reports on the carbon footprint of certain activities, items or people. We were curious to explore how people make sense of these news pieces, and specifically, whether and how carbon literacy (CL) and quantitative literacy (QL) influences their reasoning. We interviewed and surveyed students of various backgrounds using simulated news pieces of three carbon footprints: that of Facebook, that of the US dairy industry, and that of the US chocolate industry. We found that being highly carbon or quantitatively literate influenced participants’ reaction – but only while they were gathering information about the prompts. The effect of literacies disappeared when they were asked to decide whether the carbon footprint was worrisome or which they would tackle first as a policy-maker. We describe and categorize the strategies students used to make sense of carbon footprints, and link the frequency of using particular strategies to their carbon and quantitative literacy. Implications for future research and environmental education are discussed.     

Making a class act: as seen in one Year 8 English lesson

This article reports on active teaching and learning approaches taken by one English teacher and a secondary PGCE student‐teacher to bring about changes to the work culture in a Year 8 mixed‐ability class. It is written by the PGCE tutor, student‐teacher, class teacher and external examiner, following an observation of one lesson, in a series of lessons, given by the student‐teacher. This lesson is analysed through its motivating content, approach to critical reading, inherent creativity and active approaches to learning. It indicates how a challenging class has been changed by approaches that provide alternatives to currently advocated objectives‐driven and direct instructional approaches.     

Inferring teacher epistemological framing from local patterns in teacher noticing

In this work we use research from science education on teacher framing and work from mathematics education on teacher noticing to develop new approaches to modeling teacher cognition. The framing literature proposes a dynamic cognitive model of teaching in which teacher epistemological framing, or moment‐to‐moment understanding of what is going on with respect to knowledge and learning in the classroom, drives much of teacher practice. The teacher noticing literature documents patterns and trends in teachers' attention during instruction. We suggest first that noticing patterns, particularly local noticing patterns, can be leveraged to make inferences about teacher framing that maintain sensitivity to its dynamics but are also more reliable than existing analytic approaches. Second, we suggest that understanding noticing as driven by framing requires researchers to anticipate, allow for, and capitalize on the fact that teachers are capable of multiple, internally consistent variations in noticing at any given time. To illustrate these claims we present an analysis of one high school biology teacher who implemented a new digital recording technology in her classroom. Using the data from that implementation we identify two distinct local patterns in the teacher's noticing and from those patterns infer two different epistemological frames, one that she adopts during lab work and another during class discussions. We also discuss implications of these multiple framings for the study and training of teacher noticing more broadly. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 50:284–314, 2013     

The Influence of Communication Apprehension on Superiors' Propensity for and Practice of Participative Decision Making

This investigation examined if traitlike communication apprehension (CA) serves as a significant predictor of superiors' propensity for and practice of participative decision making (PDM)—that is, involving others in decision-making processes. A total of 219 superiors recruited from a variety of organizations served as participants in this study. Results revealed that traitlike CA is a significant determinant of variation in superiors' inclination for, as well as their actual practice of, PDM. These findings suggest that superiors with lower CA possess favorable perceptions of PDM and are more inclined to involve others in decision-making processes than their colleagues with higher CA. Conversely, results suggest that superiors with higher CA typically possess less favorable perceptions of PDM and are less likely to involve others when making decisions. Theoretical and practical implications underpinning these results are explored. Future research directions are also proposed.     

Invented Science: A Framework for Discussing a Persistent Problem of Practice

A central goal of science education reform is for students to participate in scientific sense making rather than to merely acquire science facts. However, even in classrooms utilizing reform-based pedagogies, students are typically allowed to construct knowledge only insofar as they construct expected knowledge. In this report and reflection, we use activity theory to demonstrate how this pervasive tension between learning correct ideas and constructing one’s own ideas often results in unacknowledged slippage between competing activity systems within reform efforts. We use an analogy to the domain of spelling to introduce invented science—a framework for describing the activity of science learning that reduces this slippage by giving knowledge construction true priority over the canon. We describe the origins and purposes of invented spelling to theorize the nature of learning in invented science. We conclude by articulating the theoretical and practical implications of this analogy for science teaching and learning.     

Effects of Pretend Imagery on Learning Dance in Preschool Children

Play is important in child development and learning. The intent of this study was to assess the effects of play, using physical movement and pretend imagery, on learning dance. Four preschool dance classes, encompassing 32 children ages 3–6, were randomly divided into pretend imagery groups and traditional teaching groups. The classes were videotaped over 3 weeks and rated for speed of learning new motor skills, future recall of the skills, attentiveness to the task, and enjoyment during the task. As hypothesized, results found that children in the pretend imagery group had significantly better visual fixation on the instructor, engagement in and enjoyment during the task, and needed less prompting and time to recall and a shorter amount of time to learn the skill than children in the traditional teaching group. There is little research in this area of learning and play, but the results of this study suggest more is warranted.     

Improving Schools in Socioeconomically Disadvantaged Areas – A Review of Research Evidence

Schools in difficult and challenging circumstances have received increasing policy and to some extent research attention in recent years. Improving schools in these circumstances is likely to prove a difficult process. This literature review has attempted to collect research on improving schools in these areas. Themes emerging from the literature include: a focus on teaching and learning, leadership, creating an information-rich environment, creating a positive school culture, building a learning community, continuous professional development, involving parents, external support and resources. The crucial issue of sustaining improvement is also discussed.     

FACULTY DEVELOPMENT AND EVALUATION IN TEXAS COMMUNITY COLLEGES

This study surveyed Texas community colleges to assess the extent of faculty development programs and the means, the purpose, and degree to which they were evaluated. Ninety percent of the 62 community colleges responded to the Fall 1985 survey with 93% of the respondents indicating that they had organized faculty development programs. The data gathered revealed that most programs were group oriented, perceived as effective, and offered at higher rates than previous studies have indicated. However, the methods used to determine effectiveness were, on the whole, not measures of changes in teacher or student behavior. In addition, there is little evidence that the programs are being used as a major instrument for institutional change and improvement that is linked to the accomplishment of college goals and the establishment of accountability. It is suggested that faculty development programs can improve by being more diligent in the pursuit of opportunities to effectively evaluate outcomes and by focusing on more individual than group activities.     

Measuring social capital among youth: applications in environmental education

Although critiqued for circular reasoning and lack of definitional and analytic clarity, social capital has garnered widespread interest in two areas relevant to environmental education (EE): the impact of family and community-level social capital on positive youth development and of community-level social capital in fostering collective action to manage natural resources. Although EE is normally considered for its value relative to environmental outcomes or natural capital, intergenerational, community, and other approaches to EE may also foster social capital. Drawing on Putnam’s definition of social capital, which emphasizes civic engagement, we developed and tested for reliability a survey to measure cognitive and structural attributes of social capital among youth. We conclude that although several attributes of our instrument are useful for use with youth aged 10–18 years in EE contexts, much more work needs to be done on conceptualizing and developing measures of social capital that are relevant to EE. Further, we suggest that social capital presents a framework for how EE programs can bring youth and adults together to create the conditions that enable collective action, as a complement to ongoing work in EE focusing on individual behaviors.