Considering research paradigms in environmental education

The benefits of qualitative, quantitative, and mixed research methodologies are often emphasized in undergraduate and graduate training about producing and analysing data. Less often discussed are the philosophies of research that can be used to explore environmental education. To help introduce students to the ways such paradigms lead to different insights and lines of inquiry, we offer a supplementary reading of a natural resource management program seen through the lenses of four different research philosophies. The program engages biological and social scientists as they work to increase native biodiversity in Hawke's Bay region of New Zealand and share successes with other regions. We argue that the benefits of training students to appreciate research possibilities via multiple research paradigms could improve the way we work together and collaborate with colleagues in other disciplines. Students are better equipped to select, develop, and defend appropriate research questions and paradigms. Also, the potential for environmental education research activity that complements project-specific data collection is great, as with most natural resource projects. In sum, improving our collective awareness of paradigmatic perspectives will help improve communication and understanding as we all work in the transformation of education, ecosystems and human communities.     

Development of temporal-reconstructive abilities

In a study of the ability to reconstruct the times of past events, 86 children from 4 to 13 years recalled the times of 2 in-class demonstrations that had occurred 3 months earlier and judged the times of hypothetical events. Many of the abilities needed to reconstruct the times of events were present by 6 years, including the capacity to interpret many temporally relevant cues, but there were substantial changes well into middle childhood in the availability of temporally useful episodic information. Children were poor at remembering the events' proximity or order with respect to a major holiday, but the order of the 2 target events was well recalled by 6 years.     

Japanese and United States Preschool Children's Responses to Conflict and Distress

Japanese and U.S. preschool children's responses to hypothetical interpersonal dilemmas were examined as a function of culture, gender, and maternal child-rearing values. U.S. children showed more anger, more aggressive behavior and language, and underregulation of emotion than Japanese children, across different contexts of assessment. Children from the 2 cultures appeared more similar on prosocial and avoidant patterns, though in some contexts U.S. children also showed more prosocial themes. Girls from both cultures expressed more prosocial themes and sometimes more anger than boys. Maternal encouragement of children's emotional expressivity was correlated with anger and aggression in children. It was more characteristic of U.S. than Japanese mothers, while emphasis on psychological discipline (reasoning; guilt and anxiety induction) was more characteristic of Japanese than U.S. mothers. The relevance of a conceptual framework that focuses on differences in Eastern and Western cultures in self-construals regarding independence and interdependence is considered.     

A Case Study in the Integration of Assessment and General Education: Lessons learned from a complex process

This paper tracks an ongoing, 15-year initiative to reform and assess a general education programme at a regional comprehensive university in the US. The paper identifies four key phases in the process, chronicling emergent challenges, describing key setbacks and highlighting noteworthy successes. The authors identify five key lessons that may prove useful to other institutions planning or currently attempting to integrate assessment into their general education programme, and conclude that designing and implementing general education assessment is more challenging than assessing other programmes in post-secondary settings because it is influenced by more internal and external constituencies than any other assessment process.     

Checking the United Nations: A Checklist Evaluation of United Nations Specialized Agencies Serial Publications

During the spring and summer of 2008 the University of Kansas (KU) Libraries conducted a collection evaluation study on the serial sales publications issued by United Nations (UN) specialized agencies. After a checklist was compiled, KU holdings were compared to the list to develop a record of UN specialized agency serial publication holdings at KU. The goal was to identify both electronic and print holdings within this specific collection. The project also sought publications that were freely available electronically for the purpose of expanding the KU international government information collection while increasing neither the serials budget nor the physical size of the collection.     

Why are we here? Managing the meaning of an organizational mission statement

The purpose of this study was to identify and test the influences that lead individuals to actively manage the meaning of a company Mission Statement. Communication about a company Mission Statement was hypothesized to be a function of an individual's information environment, level of work unit commitment, trust in management, and organizational role. The Management of Meaning Scale (MMS) was developed to assess specific meaning management behaviors. The MMS was cast as the chief dependent variable in a path analysis using LISREL. The general model was well supported. Implications for practices associated with Mission Statement implementation are discussed.     

Machine‐mediated instruction for work‐force training and education

Abstract

This paper reviews developments in the work force as they bear on training needs from entry level skills through professional continuing education. It summarizes the state of the art in various categories of information technology as they apply to education and training, including interactive videodisc, satellite communications systems, videotex, and artificial intelligence methods. These technologies and their potential are illustrated through case study examples. Policy recommendations are presented for governmental, industrial, and higher educational institution initiatives.     

A numerical study on distributions during cryoprotectant loading caused by laminar flow in a microchannel

In this work, we conduct a computational study on the loading of cryoprotective agents into cells in preparation for cryopreservation. The advantages of microfluidics in cryopreserving cells include control of fluid flow parameters for reliable cryoprotectant loading and reproducible streamlined processing of samples. A 0.25 m long, three inlet T-junction microchannel serves as an idealized environment for this process. The flow field and concentration distribution are determined from a computational fluid dynamics study and cells are tracked as inert particles in a Lagrangian frame. These particles are not confined to streamlines but can migrate laterally due to the Segre-Sildeberg effect for particles in a shear flow. During this tracking, the local concentration field surrounding the cell is monitored. This data are used as input into the Kedem-Katchalsky equations to numerically study passive solute transport across the cell membrane. As a result of the laminar flow, each cell has a unique pathline in the flow field resulting in different residence times and a unique external concentration field along its path. However, in most previous studies, the effect of a spatially varying concentration field on the transport across the cell membrane is ignored. The dynamics of this process are investigated for a population of cells released from the inlet. Using dimensional analysis, we find a governing parameter α, which is the ratio of the time scale for membrane transport to the average residence time in the channel. For α <  = 0.224, cryoprotectant loading is completed to within 5% of the target concentration for all of the cells. However, for α > 0.224, we find the population of cells does not achieve complete loading and there is a distribution of intracellular cryoprotective agent concentration amongst the population. Further increasing α beyond a value of 2 leads to negligible cryoprotectant loading. These simulations on populations of cells may lead to improved microfluidic cryopreservation protocols where more consistent cryoprotective agent loading and freezing can be achieved, thus increasing cell survival.     

Use of Intellective and Non-Intellective Factors in Classifying Female Elementary and Secondary Teacher Trainees

Undergraduates (N = 94) enrolled in an educational psychology course read an assigned article of about 3, 700 words. A 30-item multiple-choice test was then administered and followed by one of four treatments: 1.) no feedback, 2.) immediate feedback, 3.) one day or, 4.) seven days delayed feedback. A retention test, consisting of the original items and distractors randomly reordered, was administered seven days after the feedback. No overall differences in performance were observed. Likewise, there were no significant differences for the test items analyzed according to initial performance or according to item difficulty. Questionnaire data indicated that immediate feedback stimulated the most rereading. These results bring into question the importance of controlling feedback intervals carefully in applied instructional settings.