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Descriptors:
Ecology; Selection Criteria; Urban Environment; Public Policy; Public Administration; Multivariate Analysis; Sustainable Development; Social Indicators; Measurement; Sociometric Techniques; Comparative Analysis; Systems Approach

Abstract:
This paper advances a composite indicator called urban environmental virtuosity index (UEVI), in order to measure the efforts made by public local bodies in applying an ecosystem approach to urban management. UEVI employs the less exploited process-based selection criteria for representing the original concept of virtuosity, providing makes a cross cities comparison. In developing such a framework the main technical issue of constructing a composite indicator, involving the weighting and the aggregation phases, will be overcome by using a multivariate approach. Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Ecology; Scientific Concepts; Critical Thinking; Oceanography; Science Education; Science Instruction; Scientific Literacy

Abstract:
The value of mangroves and mangrove ecosystems has not always been recognized. In fact, mangroves were historically regarded largely as wastelands with little or no value. Over time, humans began to recognize the multiple ways in which they could be used, particularly through development, making the mangrove ecosystem vulnerable to destruction and depletion, a globally alarming issue. Mangrove depletion is presented here as socioscientific issue cases with activities designed to promote and strengthen ocean literacy. Through these activities, students can explore scientific concepts relating to mangrove ecosystems while fostering moral and ethical reasoning to determine what is affected and valued, and who shares responsibility. (Contains 4 figures, 9 tables and 2 notes.) Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Foreign Countries; Transformative Learning; Adult Education; Environmental Education; Science History; Ecology; Group Behavior; Social Change; Case Studies; Biographies; Reputation; North Americans; Scientists; Wildlife; Death; Conservation (Environment); Poisoning; Consciousness Raising; Genetics; Racial Discrimination; Change Agents

Abstract:
This historical study identifies catalysts for transformative learning in the lives of three scientist-environmentalists important to the 20th-century environmental movement: Aldo Leopold, Rachel Carson, and David Suzuki. Following a brief review of theoretical perspectives on transformative learning, the article argues that transformative learning for these scientists was catalyzed by certain "disorienting dilemmas" and was both rational and emotional. Moreover, the personal transformative learning of each scientist helped provoke a process of transformative learning in society at large: Leopold's contribution to the founding of the disciplines of wildlife conservation and restoration ecology, and his "land ethic" fostered the development an ecological consciousness in the 1940s; Carson's "Silent Spring" helped provoke the environmental consciousness of the 1960s; and Suzuki's public environmental education and activism from the 1970s to the present-day played an influential role in North American environmental movement. Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Ecology; High School Students; Biology; Quasiexperimental Design; Long Term Memory; Foreign Countries; Outdoor Education; Mathematics Instruction; Interviews; Essay Tests; Concept Formation; Scientific Concepts; Classification; Neurosciences

Abstract:
This research suggests that learning biology in an outdoor environment has a positive cognitive and affective impact on 13-15-year-old, Swedish high school pupils. Eighty-five pupils in four classes participated in a quasi-experimental design. Half the pupils, taking a biology course in ecology or diversity of life, had several lessons outdoors and the other half were taught indoors. All of the classes, but one, also had mathematics lessons outdoors once a week. Twenty-one pupils were interviewed five months after the course and all were positive towards the new learning environment they had experienced outdoors in biology and/or mathematics. They also valued the higher degree of interaction among the pupils. Other findings from the interviews were that the pupils from the outdoor classes showed a higher degree of long-term knowledge retention. They remembered both activities and contents better than the pupils in the indoor classes. An essay-type question assessing their biological understanding qualitatively according to the Structure of Observed Learning Outcome taxonomy revealed no differences between the groups. The results are discussed in the light of neurocognitive models of long-term memory. (Contains 1 table and 1 figure.) Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Ecology; Middle School Students; Secondary School Students; College Students; Animal Behavior; Field Instruction; Models; Outdoor Education; Environmental Education; Science Activities; Science Instruction; Teaching Methods; Entomology

Abstract:
Predator-prey dynamics are an important concept in ecology, often serving as an introduction to the field of community ecology. However, these dynamics are difficult for students to observe directly. We describe a methodology that employs model caterpillars made of clay to estimate rates of predator attack on a prey species. This approach can be implemented as a field laboratory in almost any natural or seminatural setting, and is designed to allow educators to pursue any number of student-generated hypotheses representing varying degrees of scientific sophistication ranging from middle school to college level. Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Disabilities; Physical Education; Intervention; Ecology; Decision Making; Inclusion; Attitudes toward Disabilities; Athletics; Models; Bias; Mainstreaming; Heuristics; Adapted Physical Education; Teacher Attitudes; Administrator Attitudes; Athletic Coaches; Educational Practices; Participation

Abstract:
The purpose of this article is to describe a theoretical model and practice examples of judgment and decision making bias within the context of inclusion in physical education and sports. After presenting the context of adapting for inclusion, the theoretical roots of judgment and decision are described, and are linked to the practice of physical education and sports. The specific concepts of judgment and decision making are then imported into selected examples of inclusive contexts, where events and processes of interest are reconceptualized in judgment and decision making terminology. Intervention strategies for reducing bias among practitioners while engaging in judgment and decision making during inclusive practice are recommended, and research studies aiming at validating and quantifying the distribution of decision making bias in physical education and sports are suggested. Finally, an ecological model is proposed, as well as a framework for identifying biases within professional preparation and service delivery in physical education and sports. (Contains 1 table and 2 figures.) Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Well Being; Ecology; Environmental Education; Natural Resources; Social Values; Recreational Activities; Social Change; Disproportionate Representation; Use Studies; Trend Analysis; Social Indicators; Physical Environment; Public Policy; Policy Analysis; Measurement; Sociometric Techniques; Comparative Analysis; Conservation (Environment); Wildlife; Forestry

Abstract:
A societal decision to protect over 9 million acres of land and water for its wilderness character in the early 1960s reflected US wealth in natural resources, pride in the nation's cultural history and our commitment to the well-being of future generations to both experience wild nature and enjoy benefits flowing from these natural ecosystems. There is no question that our relationship with wilderness has changed. Individually it is probably quite easy to examine differences in the role wilderness plays in the quality of our lives today compared to some previous time. But how the role of wilderness protection has changed for society is more difficult to describe. In only a few places do we have data across multiple decades that would allow us to even examine how users or their use may have changed over time. At the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness in northern Minnesota we are fortunate to have multiple studies that can give us some 40 years of insight into how some aspects of use have changed there. For example, an analysis of results of visitor studies at the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness in 1969, 1991 and 2007 reveal some big differences in who is out there today, most notably the presence of a much older, more experienced and better educated user population, almost exclusively white and predominantly male. It is time to decide whether the best thing for wilderness and or society is to try to restore historic patterns of use (to include younger people, the less wealthy and lower educated) in greater numbers, to try to identify new markets within growing underrepresented populations, or adapt our perception of wilderness stewardship to better include planning for emerging social values of a new generation with other indicators of well-being. A growing population with greater dependence on ecosystem services provided by protected nature could lead to wilderness protection becoming an important quantitative and qualitative element of quality of life indices in the very near future. Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Teacher Education Programs; College Instruction; Foundations of Education; Educational Policy; Academic Standards; Educational Research; Advocacy; Interdisciplinary Approach; Social Environment; Social Cognition; Social Influences; Ecology; Sustainability; Educational Finance; Politics of Education

Abstract:
This third edition of the "Standards for Academic and Professional Instruction in Foundations of Education, Educational Studies, and Educational Policy Studies" is presented to the educational community by the American Educational Studies Association's Committee on Academic Standards and Accreditation. The Standards were first developed and published in 1977-1978 by the American Educational Studies Association, and the Council of Learned Societies in Education (CLSE) assumed proprietorship and responsibility for dissemination and advocacy of the Standards following adoption of the document by each of its member societies in the early 1980s. In 1986, the original "Standards" were republished with a new introduction by CLSE and were widely circulated at colleges of education, state departments of education, and national accreditation agencies. In response to development in the field of teacher preparation, licensure, and assessment, the standards were revised, resulting in the publication of the second edition of the "Standards," published in 1996 by CLSE (now called the Council for Social Foundations). This third edition of the "Social Foundations Standards" aims to revitalize educators' commitment to empower future generations to confront and resolve the ecological, social, economic, and political challenges of the 21st century. (Contains 1 figure.) Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Difficulty Level; Cognitive Processes; Academic Support Services; Discovery Learning; Ecology; Data Interpretation; Grade 8; Computer Simulation; Intervention; Self Control; Science Instruction; Science Education; Science Curriculum; Outcomes of Education

Abstract:
The study examined the effects of two different instructional interventions as support for scientific discovery learning using computer simulations. In two well-known categories of difficulty, data interpretation and self-regulation, instructional interventions for learning with computer simulations on the topic "ecosystem water" were developed and tested using a sample of 124 eighth graders in science classes. The results demonstrate the effectiveness of instructional support for domain-specific factual, conceptual, and procedural knowledge acquisition. Students who received either only instructional support for data interpretation or only for self-regulation achieved the highest learning outcomes. However, a combination of instructional support for data interpretation and self-regulation seemed detrimental for knowledge acquisition. Students who received instructional interventions for both data interpretation and self-regulation also showed the highest values of perceived cognitive load. High cognitive load could be a reason for why a combination of particular instructional interventions does not lead to the expected positive learning outcomes. Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Foreign Countries; Environmental Education; Ecology; Teacher Attitudes; Sustainable Development; Conservation (Environment); Elementary Secondary Education

Abstract:
This study based on a theoretical framework of three main environmental perspectives in the human-nature relationship (anthropocentrism, biocentrism and ecocentrism), aimed to identify their incidence in teachers involved with environmental projects when confronted with diverse environmental issues. 60 teachers drawn from four school cycles in Portugal (creche; 1st cycle, 6-9 years old; 2nd cycle, 10-11 years old; 3rd cycle and Secondary school, 12-17 years old) were interviewed and divided into two groups: generalist teachers (creche and 1st cycle) and specialists in different subjects (2nd and 3rd cycles and secondary). The results showed a higher occurrence of biocentric perceptions in all teachers (more significantly in those from the 1st group). Comparatively, the teachers from the 2nd group showed more ecocentric perceptions. These differences can be explained by the models of teacher education (initial and inservice) and by the influence of the specific characteristics of the cycles in question. In contrast, the teachers' environmental projects were mostly centred on sustainable use of resources, which inevitably favours anthropocentric arguments. The results allow us to conclude that different environmental approaches are possible, especially if teachers are aware of the importance of dealing with more controversial environmental issues. Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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