Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Expanding knowledge in the environmental sciences'
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Farnung, Caitlin M. "Understanding the Challenges of Expanding Community Forestry in Northwest Cameroon." FIU Digital Commons, 2015. http://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/etd/2011.
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The tropical afro-montane forest of the Northwest region is unique and under direct threat from the high population density of the region. Community-based forestry management is an opportunity to sustainably manage the remaining forest fragments.
Community forestry was introduced to Cameroon with the legislation of the 1994 Forestry Law. Over two decades later little research has been conducted in the Northwest region of Cameroon. Twenty-four semi-structured interviews were conducted, and samples of forestry records were analyzed as exploratory research that would act as a base for further research.
This research found that the tenure of the community over the community forest needed to be strengthened, marginalized populations needed to be empowered to participate, and governance needed to be improved both nationally, and locally. Further research will strengthen these conclusions and help Cameroon, and community forests around the world, be effectively established and managed.
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Liss, Katie. "Expanding the use of the ecosystem services framework in applied settings: challenges and solutions for quantifying ecosystem services." Thesis, McGill University, 2013. http://digitool.Library.McGill.CA:80/R/?func=dbin-jump-full&object_id=114585.
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Quantification of ecosystem services (ES) – the benefits that people obtain from ecosystems – can be valuable for managing multifunctional landscapes and promoting practical conservation measures. However, despite extensive academic attention, actual implementation of ES assessment for management has been limited. Consistent measurement methods and accurate modeling tools are crucial to support successful ES-informed management strategies and ensure the confidence of managers and policy makers in the ES framework. In this thesis, I present two major impediments to ES operationalization, and propose measures to mitigate them. First, a case study reviewing the methods used to measure pollination ecosystem services highlights the extreme variability in approaches to quantifying a single ES. Across 121 studies, 62 unique combinations of indicators were used, suggesting that no accepted conventions or standards are directing indicator selection. This lack of consistency impairs our ability to compare results across studies, and may lead to ineffective ES-based management. In addition to issues associated with ES indicators, quantification using ES models can also be problematic. The models most often used to estimate ES use landuse/landcover (LULC) datasets as their primary inputs, and rely on information about the LULC composition, characterizing the type and amount of each LULC class, without regard for the spatial distribution of the LULC classes. Projections based primarily on composition, however, have been shown to poorly represent service provision. Estimates derived from composition neglect the critical role of landscape configuration (spatial arrangement of LULC types) in the flow and quality of benefits, assuming that two equally sized units of a given LULC type produce the same magnitude of each service, regardless of characteristics such as shape or connectivity with other similar patches. To investigate the relative importance of these spatial attributes in the relationship between LULC and ES provision, I calculated landscape metrics characterizing both landscape configuration and composition, along with provision of 10 ES for 136 municipalities in Southern Quebec. I used structural equation models to combine statistical relationships with hypothesized causal pathways and identify mechanisms and interactions responsible for observed relationships. The proportion of all model-explained variation that was attributable to configuration exceeded that of composition for seven of ten ES. The higher relative influence of configuration suggests that models incorporating LULC information beyond composition can provide more reliable projections to contribute to management and policy decisions. Since landscape configuration can be manipulated independent of changes in composition, ES models that incorporate configuration can be used both to more accurately quantify ES provision and to identify scenarios that minimize environmental impacts of LULC change, simply by altering the spatial pattern of planned changes in land use. The ES framework has potential to support more efficient and effective environmental management. However, in order to move forward within this rapidly growing field and make ES practical for use in management, it is critical to adopt strategies to properly measure and model ES, such as those proposed in this thesis.La quantification des services écologiques (SE), définie comme les avantages que les gens tirent des écosystèmes, peut être utile pour la gestion des paysages multifonctionnels ainsi que pour promouvoir des mesures pratiques de conservation des écosystèmes. Toutefois, en dépit de l'attention des universitaires, une mise en œuvre efficace de l'évaluation des SE, dans le cadre de la gestion sur le terrain, a été limitée. Des méthodes de mesure cohérentes et des outils de modélisation précis sont essentiels pour favoriser l'implémentation des stratégies de gestions informées par les SE et pour s'assurer de la confiance des gestionnaires et des politiciens dans l'utilité du concept des SE. Dans cette thèse, je présente deux obstacles majeurs à l'opérationnalisation des SE et je propose des mesures pour atténuer ces obstacles. Tout d'abord, je présente une étude de cas sur les méthodes utilisées pour mesurer le service écosystémique de pollinisation dans la littérature. Cette étude souligne l'extrême variabilité dans les approches de quantification d'un seul SE. À travers les 121 études, 62 combinaisons uniques d'indicateurs ont été utilisées, ce qui suggère qu'il n'y a pas de conventions acceptées ou de normes pour diriger la sélection des indicateurs. Ce manque de cohérence nuit à notre capacité de comparer les résultats entre les études, et peut conduire à une gestion inefficace basée sur les SE. Deuxièmement, la quantification utilisant des modèles de SE peut également être problématique. Les modèles les plus souvent utilisés pour estimer les SE proviennent des bases de données sur l'utilisation actuelle des terres/le couvert terrestre (UT/CT) comme entrée de données primaires, et s'appuient sur des informations sur la composition UT/UC, caractérisant le type et la quantité de chaque classe UT/UC, sans égard à la répartition spatiale des classes de UT/UC. Cependant, il a déjà été démontré que les projections fondées principalement sur la composition représentent mal la provision de SE. Les estimations basées sur la composition du paysage néglige le rôle critique de la configuration du paysage (l'arrangement spatial des classes de UT/UC) dans le flux et la qualité des prestations de SE, car les estimations supposent que deux unités de même taille, d'un type d'UT/UC donné, produisent le même ordre de grandeur de chaque service. Afin d'évaluer l'importance relative de ces deux attributs spatiaux sur la relation entre la UT/UC et la provision de SE, j'ai calculé des métriques paysagères qui caractérisent à la fois la composition et la configuration du paysage, de même que la fourniture de 10 SE pour 136 municipalités du sud de la province du Québec. J'ai utilisé des modèles d'équations pour d'identifier les mécanismes et les interactions responsables des relations observées. La proportion de la variation expliquée par les modèles est plus attribuable à la configuration qu'à la composition dans sept des dix modèles de SE. L'influence relativement plus élevée de la configuration suggère que les modèles incorporant des informations au-delà de la composition de l'UT/UC peuvent fournir des prévisions plus fiables pour contribuer aux décisions de gestion. Parce que la configuration du paysage peut être manipulée indépendamment des changements dans la composition, les modèles de SE qui intègrent la configuration peuvent être utilisés à la fois pour quantifier avec précision la provision de SE et pour identifier des scénarios qui minimisent les impacts environnementaux du changement d'UT/UC simplement en modifiant la répartition spatiale des changements prévus à travers le paysage. Le concept des SE a le potentiel de contribuer à une gestion environnementale plus efficace. Afin d'aller de l'avant dans ce domaine en pleine expansion et faire des SE un concept pratique dans la gestion, il est essentiel d'adopter des stratégies qui mesurent et créent des modèles de SE adéquats, telles que celles proposées dans cette thèse.
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Gardner, Charlie J. "Reconciling conservation and development in Madagascar's rapidly-expanding protected area system." Thesis, University of Kent, 2014. https://kar.kent.ac.uk/48581/.
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The creation and management of protected areas is our principal approach to conserving biodiversity worldwide. Management and governance models for these diverse institutions have become more pluralistic in recent decades, moving away from the traditional exclusionary protected area model that has proliferated historically. Indeed, most new protected areas are being established for ‘multiple-use’ and, therefore, permit a range of human livelihood activities to occur within their boundaries. However, we know little about how such sites can be effectively managed. In this thesis, I use an interdisciplinary mixed-methods approach to investigate the implementation of new multiple-use protected areas in Madagascar. Madagascar is a global conservation priority characterised by high levels of endemism, and has a largely forest-dependent biota. Since most of the human population is rural and dependent on natural resources for subsistence and income to differing extents, the expanded protected area system is managed for both conservation and socioeconomic goals (poverty alleviation and development). However, these objectives may be conflicting since human resource use can be a significant driver of biodiversity loss. I begin by examining trends in new protected area establishment at the nationwide-level to generate insights into protected area categorisation, and the role of natural resources and protected areas in poverty alleviation. I then consider the impacts of forest use on biodiversity, through a literature review and empirical study of bird and reptile communities across a degradation gradient. The findings indicate that habitat change arising from forest use may impact the high-value, endemic component of the fauna most negatively. In addition, I develop a simple index to enumerate the conservation value of different species. This is then used to determine how degradation influences the conservation value of exploited habitats, as well as assessing if the index is a suitable tool that can be used to prioritise conservation investment across a portfolio of sites. Finally, I seek to understand the drivers of natural resource use by rural communities within the Ranobe PK32 protected area, and discover that both bushmeat hunting and charcoal production are fallback activities or supplements to other livelihoods. The evidence collated in the thesis, derived from both ecological and social perspectives, suggests that managing new protected areas in Madagascar for conservation and development is overambitious, and that, at least in forest areas, management cannot be optimised towards both goals simultaneously.
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Grover, David. "Knowledge in pollution-saving technological change." Thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science (University of London), 2012. http://etheses.lse.ac.uk/517/.
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This thesis looks at the role that technical knowledge plays in the transition in industry away from pollution-intensive production methods. It uses econometric techniques and qualitative analysis to test three aspects of the relationship between knowledge and pollution-saving technological change-related outcomes, all in the context of US industry, and all with respect to conventional pollutants. The first paper observes that the level of industrial environmental R&D spending steadily declined from the late 1970s onward. Employing an estimation model with industry fixed effects, the hypothesis is tested that this decline was the result of the conditioning effect of greater flexibility in the design of the environmental policy on the environmental regulatory burden born by industry. The second paper investigates the sources of the change in SO2 intensity of electricity production undergone by electric power plants under the SO2 cap and trade program. Mixed methods including quantile regression are used to compare the effect of frontier technical knowledge on the extent of change undergone, relative to the effect of knowledge un-intensive techniques. The third paper investigates why a small number of inventions aimed at controlling pollution from automobiles turned out to be so much more technologically influential than the great majority of comparable inventions, which exerted very little technological influence at all. Negative binomial regression is used to test the effect of the composition of the stock of knowledge that the automobile companies brought to bear on the inventive process. These studies find that pollution-saving technological change is characterised more by the repurposing and adaptation of existing knowledge and by the churn among existing technologies, than by universal technological advance in dedicated environmental technologies. The implications for climate mitigation policy are discussed in the conclusions.
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Gutto, Bassett Priscilla Pambana. "Handcraft and Environmental Knowledge: Mapuche Women Weavers." Scholarship @ Claremont, 2013. http://scholarship.claremont.edu/scripps_theses/146.
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Beginning in a small informal collective of Mapuche women weavers in Puerto Saavedra, Chile, I explore how ecological knowledge has survived through textile handcraft, passed down from mother to daughter . Through analysis of interviews and observations with the women as weavers , I reflect on the importance of centering Indigenous women's knowledge, systematically excluded from the environmental cannon. The weavers maintain and shape traditions that have survived colonization and its disruption of Indigenous access to land and ways of living. They produce and transmit environmental knowledge on which they depend for subsistence and cultural expression. Using ecofeminism as a framework, I argue that the Mapuche women weavers' knowledge is counternarrative and expert knowledge. Through these stories told by hand and through oral story-telling it becomes clear that it is not enough to simply celebrate their beautiful craft and sustainable ways of interacting with the more-than-human environment; it is essential, also, to engage in activist work towards environmental and social justice.
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DuCoff, David. "Recycling: Knowledge, Demographic & Motivational Factors Which Differentiate Behavior." TopSCHOLAR®, 1991. https://digitalcommons.wku.edu/theses/2287.
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This study focuses on motivation -Involved in recycling behavior among residents of Muhlenberg County, Kentucky. Knowledge of recycling and how it was acquired, and the variables of environmental concern, economic incentive and the peer pressure were compared so that behavior could be distinguished that separated recyclers from nonrecyclers. Talcott Parsons' work in action theory and George Homans' work in exchange theory provide the theoretical foundation for my study. The research was approached in a qualitatively based design with interviews of twenty area residents. Demographic factors of age, sex, religious affiliation, church attendance, education and income of respondents were solicited. In addition to interviews, I administered a demographic survey.
Recycling behavior was correlated positively with older age, convenience, female sex, higher levels of education, higher income, affiliation with liberal church denominations, and urban residence. It was negativley correlated with church attendance. Recyclers were better informed about environmental topics, especially those pertaining to recycling. Peer pressure was shown to have a positive effect on recyclers and recycling behavior. Recyclers were concerned about the quality of their environment, while nonrecyclers felt that the quality of the local environment was above average.
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Figus, Elizabeth Carroll. "Using Local Knowledge to Inform Commercial Fisheries Science and Management in Poland and Alaska." Thesis, University of Alaska Fairbanks, 2018. http://pqdtopen.proquest.com/#viewpdf?dispub=10747800.
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Science and decision making in commercial fisheries management take place in the context of uncertainty. This research demonstrates ways that local knowledge held by fishermen can be used to mitigate that uncertainty. This dissertation documents local knowledge of fishermen in Poland and Alaska, and contributes to the development of methods for utilizing that local knowledge in commercial fisheries management. Specific case study examples were developed through exploratory interviews with fishermen in the two study regions. Interviews were conducted with Baltic cod (Gadus morhua) fishermen in Poland and Pacific halibut (Hippoglossus stenolepis) fishermen in Alaska. Qualitative and quantitative methods were used to analyze local knowledge about ecosystems, as well as preferences held by fishermen about regulations. Cultural consensus analysis was used to quantify agreement among fishermen in Poland about the abundance and condition of cod, and generalized additive modeling was used to show how fishermen and scientists attributed different causes to similar observed phenomena. Multiple factor analysis and logistic regression were used to demonstrate how fishing characteristics influence encounters with incidental catch in the commercial fishery for halibut in Southeast Alaska. Finally, an analytic hierarchy process model was used to shed light on preferences halibut fishermen have about data collection methods on their vessels. All findings show how the inclusion of fishermen’s local knowledge in fisheries management need not be limited to informal conversations or public testimony at meetings in order to be meaningfully interpretable by managers.
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Sharman, Amelia. "Climate change as a knowledge controversy : investigating debates over science and policy." Thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science (University of London), 2015. http://etheses.lse.ac.uk/3239/.
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Understanding climate change as a knowledge controversy, this thesis provides new insights into the form, value and impact of the climate change debate on science and policy processes. Based on 99 interviews in New Zealand and the United Kingdom as well as social network analysis, it provides an original contribution to knowledge by identifying previously unknown sites of knowledge contestation within the climate change debate, in addition to contributory factors, and potential solutions to, debate polarisation. It also addresses a fundamental gap in the literature regarding the impact of controversy on the production of scientific knowledge and policy decision-making. This thesis comprises five standalone papers (Chapters 2-6) which together explore climate change as a knowledge controversy using frameworks from science and technology studies, sociology and geography. Chapter 2 finds that the most central blogs within the climate sceptical blogosphere predominantly focus on the scientific element of the climate debate. It argues that by acting as an alternative public site of expertise, the blogosphere may be playing a central role in perpetuating doubt regarding the scientific basis for climate change policymaking. Chapter 3 suggests that the binary and dualistic format of labels used within the climate debate such as “denier” or “alarmist” contribute towards polarisation by reducing possibilities for constructive dialogue. Chapter 4 investigates rationales for debate participation and argues that identifying and emphasising commonalities between previously polarised individuals may serve to reduce antagonism within the climate change debate. Chapter 5 investigates the impact of controversy on the production of scientific knowledge and finds that climate scientists identify substantial impacts on their agency as scientists, but not on scientific practice. It argues that this distinction indicates that boundarymaking may be understood as a more active and explicit process under conditions of controversy. Finally, Chapter 6 introduces the concept of post-decisional logics of inaction, emphasising the role of place in determining the influence of controversial knowledge claims on climate change policymaking. These findings make explicit the underlying politics of knowledge inherent within the climate change debate, and emphasise the need for a more attentive consideration of the role of knowledge, place and performativity in contested science and policy environments.
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Lee, Jeongseok. "Knowledge management in preserving ecosystems the case of Seoul /." [Bloomington, Ind.] : Indiana University, 2009. http://gateway.proquest.com/openurl?url_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:dissertation&res_dat=xri:pqdiss&rft_dat=xri:pqdiss:3380098.
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Thesis (Ph.D.)--Indiana University, School of Public and Environmental Affairs, 2009.Title from PDF t.p. (viewed on Jul 13, 2010). Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 70-12, Section: A, page: 4849. Adviser: Robert Agranoff.
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McElroy, Charles Patrick. "HOW ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES BUILD INTERDISCIPLINARY KNOWLEDGE CLAIMS: CYBERINFRASTRUCTURE AFFORDANCES UNDER CONFLICTING INSTITUTIONAL LOGICS." Case Western Reserve University School of Graduate Studies / OhioLINK, 2017. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=case1493172605970172.
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Cureton, Shava T. "A study of social workers knowledge of environmental living conditions and health disparities." DigitalCommons@Robert W. Woodruff Library, Atlanta University Center, 2012. http://digitalcommons.auctr.edu/dissertations/210.
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It has been proven that there is a connection between the physical environment and health outcomes. Low income and minority communities live in hazardous environments and bear a disproportionate burden of environmental health disparities. Environmental hazards imposed on low income and minority communities require the immediate attention of social workers. Social workers are in a unique position to ensure that the health and well being of oppressed groups is not compromised by environmental factors. This study examined the environmental health awareness of 90 licensed social workers. More specifically, this study assessed the following information from social workers: (1) familiarity with environmental hazards, (2) knowledge of environmental health problems, (3) knowledge of environmental legislation, (4) professional practice of screening clients for past and present exposure to environmental pollutants, (5) professional experiences with receiving environmental concerns from clients, (6) professional practice of advocating for the environmental health of clients, and (7) professional opinions about the need to train and educate social work students and professionals on environmental health. This study asserts that social workers can protect the environmental health of distressed communities across the micro-macro spectrum.
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Ingram, Julie Anne. "Agricultural advisers and the transition to sustainable soil management in England : an analysis of the role of knowledge and knowledge processes." Thesis, University of Gloucestershire, 2004. http://eprints.glos.ac.uk/2071/.
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This research is concerned with the dynamic relationship between agricultural advisers, knowledge and soil in England. On the basis that agricultural advisers have always played a central role in linking research and farming practice and implementing policy on the farm, the thesis explores the role of the adviser in facilitating a shift towards sustainable soil management (which encompasses a range of complex and knowledge intensive practices) and to the realisation of policy objectives in this domain. Specifically it aims to provide detailed empirical evidence of the role that agricultural advisers play in the acquisition, utilisation, generation and transfer of knowledge about soil best management practice and to elicit the factors that enable and constrain these knowledge processes. Conceptually, the research draws on approaches to knowledge and knowledge processes in agriculture from the allied disciplines of rural geography, rural sociology and extension science. An actor-oriented Agricultural Knowledge and Information System (AKIS) approach provides the basis for examining adviser interactions with both the research and farming communities. While the AKIS describes the factors that enable and constrain how advisers engage in knowledge processes in terms of connections across institutional interfaces between research, advice and farming, an actororiented approach, which understands knowledge processes as social processes operating across social interfaces, enables exploration of how individual advisers behaving as autonomous agents resolve these constraining and enabling factors. The- study, combining quantitative and qualitative methods, employs an extensive postal questionnaire survey of a 163 agricultural advisers from across England and three detailed case studies where sustainable soil management is a central theme, namely: the Landcare Project; the UK Soil Management Initiative; and the SUNDIAL Fertiliser Recommendation System. The data describe an advisory community with a range of involvement, concerns and competence in soil management. Patterns of acquisition and utilisation of knowledge about soil best management practice revealed by the questionnaire data suggest that advisers are actively seeking and using knowledge about soil management, although some are more constrained than others in accessing it. These patterns, however, only provide a partial understanding of the complex knowledge processes in which advisers engage as they operate at the boundaries between science and practice. As such, qualitative data from the case studies are used to reveal that, in bridging the different institutional cultures and life worlds of research and practice, advisers encounter different understandings and expectations of soil best management practices. Rather than simply acquiring, utilising and transferring knowledge, the data reveal that advisers negotiate, adapt, transform, generate and integrate knowledge about soil as they struggle to reconcile the principles of research-based soil best management practice with the practical and business constraints of the farm. In doing this advisers, and agronomists in particular, tend to closely align themselves with the interests of the farming community and as such are more likely to reject or question soil best management practice. In addition the apparent lack of advisers' competence and skills in certain knowledge intensive soil best management practices and their reliance on experiential knowledge further explains their reluctance to engage in soil best management practices derived from national research. Integration of knowledge through dialogue and understanding emerges as key to overcoming these tensions and providing the basis for facilitating sustainable soil management. Advisers are shown to have a central role in integrating knowledge from research and from farmers. The processes and relationships that enable this integration are identified. The thesis concludes with some policy relevant suggestions to improve the effectiveness of advisers' participation in the transition to sustainable soil management in England. These include: exploiting a diverse and flexible advisory community; improving advisers' skills and expertise; instilling in them confidence to provide credible and practical soil best management practice; and improving the quality of communication between the advisers, researchers and farmers. Future research directions are reviewed in the context of the proposed implementation of Soil Management Plans on all farms in England as a component of cross compliance within CAP reforms.
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Karlsson, Sandra, and Alexandra Lindström. "Is knowledge enough? : A qualitative study investigating the knowledge-action gap of environmental science students." Thesis, Linköpings universitet, Tema Miljöförändring, 2020. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:liu:diva-167185.
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In order to slow down, if not stop, climate change, we all need to contribute to reducing our greenhouse gas emissions. This knowledge has been with us for a long time, but nevertheless emissions have not decreased, but rather increased. To understand the reason why we don't act in line with what we know, we need to study behaviors. In this paper we focus on behaviors at the individual level. The gap that exists between what we know and what we do has many names where it is studied from different perspectives, and to understand what creates this gap is very complex. There is therefore not just one answer to this question and many different complementary theories and models are needed. The majority of the studies carried out on the subject examine perceptionsof the gap among people without higher education in environmental science, which has contributed to knowledge being, in many cases,seen as one of the main contributing factors to inaction.In our study, we want to contribute with a perspective on the gapin people who already have a higher education in environmental science. We conducted a qualitative study with three focus group interviews with environmental science students at Linköping University. The results show that, despite higher education and knowledge, there are variousindividual, structural and responsibility factors thathinder individuals fromactingenvironmentally friendly. Throughout the analysis the situational aspect comes into play and that knowledge of the complexity of environmental and climate issues can in many cases contribute to inaction.För att kunna bromsa, om inte stoppa, klimatförändringarna behöver vi alla bidra till att minska våra växthusgasutsläpp. Denna vetskap har funnits med oss länge, men trots det har inte utsläppen minskat utan snarare ökat. För att förstå orsaken till varför vi inte agerar i linje med vad vi vet behöver vi studera beteenden. I denna uppsats fokuserar vi på beteenden på individnivå. Det gap som finns mellan vad vi vet och vad vi gör har många namn (e.g. value-action gap, attitude-behavior gap) där man studerar det utifrån olika perspektiv. Att förstå vad som skapar detta gap är mycket komplext. Det finns därmed inte ett rätt svar på denna fråga utan det behövs många olika kompletterande teorier och modeller. Majoriteten av de studier som gjorts undersöker uppfattningar om gapet hos personer utan högre utbildning inom miljövetenskap. Vilket har bidragit till att bristande kunskap i många fall setts som en av de största bidragande faktorerna till overksamhet. Vi vill därmed i vår studie bidra med ett perspektiv på gapet utifrån personer som redan har en högre utbildning inom miljövetenskap, och kallar således gapet för knowledge-action gap. Vi genomförde en kvalitativ studie med tre fokusgruppsintervjuer med miljövetarstudenter från Linköpings universitet. Resultatet visar på att det, trots en högre utbildning och kunskap, finns många olika, individuella, strukturella och ansvarsrelaterade, faktorer som gör att en individ inte agerar miljövänligt. Genomgående i analysen för dessa är att den situationella aspekten spelar in samt att kunskapen om miljö-och klimatfrågans komplexitet i många fall kan bidra till overksamhet.
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Schreiber, Raphael, and Moisin Monica Bota. "Rebranding “Made in India” through Cultural Sustainability : Exploring and Expanding Indian Perspectives." Thesis, Högskolan i Borås, Akademin för textil, teknik och ekonomi, 2021. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:hb:diva-25395.
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This exploratory study is a first attempt to translate the Indian cultural context from a socio-cultural, and legal perspective by identifying the values attributed to Indian textile craftsmanship by Indian textile and fashion stakeholders, and how their perspective is influenced by the global recognition and perception of Indian textile crafts and connotation of “Made in India”. At the same time the study investigates the meaning of “sustainability” in the Indian cultural context, in relation to textile craftsmanship, and how this relates to the Western concept of “sustainability”. Through field research in conjunction with a series of in-depth unstructured interviews, this study reveals that Cultural Sustainability is the dominating narrative in the Indian cultural context due to the prevalence of culturally embedded sustainability practices and the role of textile craftsmanship in sustaining livelihood, being a unique exercise of positioning Indian textile craftsmanship within a framework of cultural heritage as a valuable source of knowledge for sustainable practices in the fashion and textile industry. Unique about this study are the India-centric approach combined with the ethnicity of the subjects interviewed - who are, without exception, Indian nationals, whose work, voice and reputation are shaping India's contemporary textile craft -sustainability narrative (being referred to as the “Indian textiles and fashion elite”) and the framing of traditional craftsmanship from a legal perspective, introducing the notion of legal protection of traditional textile knowledge and traditional cultural expressions.
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Hillers, Bianca. "Parental Knowledge & Experience Regarding Their Children's Dental Insurance Following Enactment of the Affordable Care Act." Thesis, NSUWorks, 2015. https://nsuworks.nova.edu/hpd_cdm_stuetd/14.
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Goal and Objectives: The goal of this study is to assess parental knowledge and experience regarding children's dental insurance, following enactment of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). The ACA emphasizes the importance of oral health, making pediatric dental services one of ten essential health benefits. With this major change in health care reform, parents should be equipped to make informed decisions regarding their children's dental care and insurance. Data from the first open enrollment period show lack of true mandate and subsequent lack of compliance to this pediatric dental objective. One of our aims was to assess uptake of pediatric dental benefits, type selected and effects on experience related to utilization, scheduling timeliness, and cost satisfaction. This study would allow dental professionals to better assist parents in navigating children's dental insurance and assist policymakers in improving access to care. Methods: The 28-question survey was administered to a national sample of 421 parents, of children ages 18 and younger. The states included were those operating through the Federally-Facilitated Marketplace (37 states). Data was collected by SurveyMonkey® via online survey and analyzed by an NSU statistical consultant. The data identified pediatric dental insurance status, source and type, parental knowledge of the marketplaces and pediatric dental benefits being an essential health benefit, issues in utilization, access to care, changes in providers, cost, satisfaction, and quality of care. Results: The majority of the sample respondents had incomes above the federal poverty level and had a Bachelor's degree or higher level of education. The majority of the sample respondents had pediatric dental benefits. For those who didn't, a major reason was due to plans being too expensive. The majority of the sample respondents selected pediatric dental benefits through their employer and selected a qualified health plan that included dental coverage (embedded plan) or a stand-alone dental plan. Regarding knowledge of the ACA, many didn't know that dental care for children is one of ten essential services covered. In reference to experience, the majority were satisfied with their child's pediatric dental benefits. There was a moderately strong association between having pediatric dental benefits and making a dental appointment (p=0.00, Cramer's V of 35%). Discussion: Results show that a majority of respondents had pediatric dental benefits. For those people who did not, cost still remains a main barrier. Since the majority didn't know that dental care for children is one of ten essential services, it appears that the public needs to be better informed about this major health insurance change. Regardless of whether one had pediatric dental benefits, pediatric dental services were used by the majority. This survey administered through SurveyMonkey ® identified some inherent limitations. The low sample size makes it difficult to generalize the results to the national population. This study, however, can assist in developing larger studies that will investigate the ACA's impact on families as they select a pediatric dental benefit plan.
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Singh, Michelle Kaiser. "Effect of knowledge of the recipient on the willingness to donate organs." Scholarly Commons, 2000. https://scholarlycommons.pacific.edu/uop_etds/2730.
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Over the last 30 years, organ transplantation has become a common life saving surgery. However, organ transplantation is still limited by a lack of viable organs due to the small number of individuals who sign a donor card or agree to donate their next-of-kin's organs. What has been found to be effective to increase donation rates is to bring donation “closer to home” by using public awareness campaigns, and by increasing the emotional connect between the donor and the recipient. The current study attempted to increase the emotional connection between the donor and the recipient by providing the donor family with general, anonymous demographic information about potential recipients at the time of the request for a next-of-kin's organs. Both the control group ( N = 169) and the experimental group ( N = 162) viewed an educational video about organ donation, followed by a dramatization of an organ procurement coordinator requesting participants to donate their next-of-kin's organs. The dramatization for the experimental group contained general, anonymous demographic information (e.g., age, gender, number of children) about potential recipients. The control group dramatization did not contain any demographic information about potential recipients, which is similar to the actual request process currently used by the organ procurement coordinators. As hypothesized, providing general, anonymous demographic information about potential recipients increased the willingness of the donor family to donate their next-of-kin's organs as measured by a significantly higher score on the experimental group's Willingness to Donate a Next of Kin's Organs Survey. Furthermore, providing recipient information also increased the willingness for the participants of this study to take action towards becoming organ donors. Finally, both groups showed an increase in knowledge about organ donation as well as an increase in positive attitudes and a decrease in negative attitudes toward organ donation. The implications of these results are discussed.
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White, Holly A. "Teaching medication knowledge to participants diagnosed with a mental illness." Scholarly Commons, 2004. https://scholarlycommons.pacific.edu/uop_etds/2723.
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Using a multiple baseline design, this study examined the effect of preferred items in increasing medication knowledge among individuals diagnosed with a mental illness. Participants were asked questions regarding their Haldol medication. After baseline, participants received the answers and a pharmacy-generated medication profile. During the Repeated Trials intervention, participants were given only verbal feedback. Those who had not reached criterion after 4 weeks entered the Preferred Trials intervention. In this phase, participants received a high, medium, or low preferred item contingent on the number of correct answers. All participants increased their number of correct answers. Although the effects of a contingent preferred item were mixed, this study showed that information regarding medications can be learned with minimal staff intervention.
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Smith, Thomas Aneurin. "At the crux of development? : local knowledge, participation, empowerment and environmental education in Tanzania." Thesis, University of Glasgow, 2012. http://theses.gla.ac.uk/3700/.
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Development appears to have gone through a paradigm shift, from top-down, state-led projects to bottom-up, participatory schemes which seek to take account of local knowledges. Tanzania is a country which, like many others in the ‘Global South’, faces a myriad of interlinked environmental and development problems, particularly as much of the population’s livelihood needs are deeply entwined with local environmental resources. Current environmental policies and conservation practise in Tanzania appear to reflect this new shift in development, and increasingly the Tanzanian state and a number of NGOs have aimed to increase the participation of local people in environmentally sustainable practices. Education about the environment, for both adults and young people, has become key to this approach in Tanzania since the 1990s. This thesis aims to explore the many practical and theoretical questions which remain about the suitability of participatory projects that utilise local knowledges, considering questions which are fundamentally at the heart of how development is and how it should be done, questions which are ultimately at the crux of development itself. Specifically, I aim to answer questions about how participants and communities can become ‘empowered’ through participatory initiatives, and to this end I investigate the important yet presently neglected role of young people. I further explore the nature of ‘local knowledge’, questioning its current use in development projects whilst seeking to re-conceptualise and re-orientate how ‘local knowledge’ is understood and employed. I utilise a qualitative and participatory methodology through three communities in Tanzania, each of which offers a contrasting picture of environmental issues throughout the country. I begin by exploring the current understandings of participation and local knowledges in development, and follow with an explanation of the methodological approach. The empirical chapters are then organised around three main themes: local knowledges, environmental education in Tanzania, and the role of participation in Tanzanian communities. The first of these chapters appraises the concept of ‘local knowledge’ critically by first comparing local and official discourses of the ‘environment’, assessing how far an attention to local knowledges has percolated into official environmental discourses in Tanzania. In light of local understandings of the environment encountered in these three communities, I consider how the current conceptual framework of local knowledge may be limiting our understanding of how these knowledges are constructed and communicated. The second empirical chapter examines environmental education projects in Tanzania, and from this I critically reflect on the role of NGOs and the state in local development. Through an analysis of environmental education, I consider how both local knowledge and participation agendas can be spatialised, in particular by understanding how formal and informal spaces of learning are constructed discursively in communities, and the implications this has for the outcomes of education projects. I go on to examine the notions of participation and community, exploring how participation and inclusion operate at different scales, including those beyond the local. I consider how the current conceptualisation of participation and community, derived from ‘Western’ ideals, can conflict with local understandings of responsibility, volunteerism, participation and community development. Through this, I question the ‘community’ as the necessary site of empowerment, and in particular here I draw attention to the role of young people and how their identities are reproduced at the community scale and beyond. Finally, I conclude by discussing the conceptual and practical application of local knowledge and participation in development in light of this critical appraisal. I consider the role of formal education more broadly in empowering young people, and I question the role of NGOs in the future of locally and nationally orientated development. I end with an examination of the ethics of the current development paradigm in light of the understandings of development uncovered by this study, many of which fundamentally challenge the way that participatory forms of development should be done.
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Mullins, Jo Nell Maynard. "Evaluating the Effectiveness of a Company's Online Health and Safety Training Program by Assessing Its Employees Perceptions and Knowledge." Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University, 2005. https://dc.etsu.edu/etd/1033.
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A cross-sectional study was conducted to evaluate a company’s online H & S training program. The ABC Company’s online 8-hr HAZWOPER refresher course is based on current OSHA standard topics required for certification and principles flexible to fit site- or task-specific situations and conditions.
An 18-question survey was used to evaluate employee perceptions of online training compared to traditional classroom training. Perceptions were compared by demographic variables (e.g. gender, position, race, age and longevity with the ABC Company), which suggested that only age had an influence on employee response. Fifty-five percent of the employees surveyed preferred online training as compared to 45 percent for classroom training. The difference in percent was not significant (p >0.05). Comparing pretest with posttest scores from the online training course identified an increase in retention of knowledge. Therefore, it was determined that the online training program is effective, at least from the company’s perspective.
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Kamoyo, Memory. "A review of the use of scientific knowledge in environmental impact assessment reports for dam construction." Thesis, Uppsala universitet, Institutionen för geovetenskaper, 2020. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-421468.
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It is estimated that 3,700 major dams are either planned or under construction, notably in developing countries. Dams can pose a threat to fish diversity, as one of the biggest impacts of damming is habitat fragmentation. Damming causes the isolation of small fish habitats, which reduces genetic diversity and expose fish species to vulnerability of local extinction, hence habitat fragmentation is one of the causes of biological loss. There are tools, which are used to balance between development and biodiversity conservation. One of the tools, which is commonly used, is environmental impact assessment (EIA). EIA uses both science and political knowledge. Science knowledge is important in EIA process as it is required to generate reliable baseline information, impact prediction and effective proposed mitigation. However, no studies have investigated the extent of the use of science knowledge in EIA for hydropower dams in Southern Africa. The purpose of this study is to examine the usage of scientific knowledge in environmental impact statements (EIS), focusing on EISs of dam construction on the impact of habitat fragmentation in fish. Ten EISs were collected from Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia, Zimbabwe. These countries were chosen because they are the hotspots for hydropower planning. I conducted EIS quality review to answer the research purpose. I adopted and used EIS quality review package, which was developed by Lee and Colley (1991), to assess the content and quality of EISs. The results show that the use of science knowledge varies from one EIS to the other, and from one area of review to the other. The baseline and mitigation areas of EISs aligned with the scientific consensus the best, while the identification, prediction and evaluation of impacts area is generally unsatisfactory. Overall, six EISs out of ten EISs use science in a satisfactory way, and four EISs are unsatisfactory, meaning they attempted or completely omitted methods for assessing the ecological concept of fragmentation. I recommend a comprehensive study to review the use biodiversity concepts and methods in EISs for all the dams in southern Africa.
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Loman, Karen L. "The impact of an experiential science program on fourth-grade students' knowledge of and feelings about ecological science /." free to MU campus, to others for purchase, 1998. http://wwwlib.umi.com/cr/mo/fullcit?p9904878.
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Sheya, Elieser. "Indigenous knowledge and environmental education : a case study of selected schools in Namibia." Thesis, Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2014. http://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/86476.
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ENGLISH ABSTRACT: In some contemporary discourses, a new dimension of knowledge is increasingly being recognised. Sustainable development is no longer the exclusive domain of western science and technology. There is a growing interest in the role that indigenous people and their communities can play in sustainable development. The integration of indigenous knowledge (IK) into formal school curricula, especially environmental education (EE), is seen as a key approach to making education relevant to rural students. This will also promote the intellectual diversity required to manage the scope, complexity and uncertainty of local and global environmental issues.
This study is guided by constructivist approaches and postcolonial perspectives that recognise the differences between IK and western sciences but at the same time concerned with ways in which the two can work together. In particular, this study uses a qualitative case study of selected schools in the Northern part of Namibia to investigate how IK can be used to support EE in rural schools. The National (Namibian) Curriculum for Basic Education and the Life Science curriculum documents have been analysed, focusing specifically on how IK is coupled with EE at school level. The review of the curriculum documents revealed that IK is not only ignored and underutilised in schools, but also systematically undermined as a potential source of knowledge for development. The curriculum continues to reinforce western values at the expense of IK. To gain more insight into existing EE practices in schools and the role that local knowledge can play in school syllabi, six teachers, two advisory teachers and two traditional leaders were carefully selected and interviewed. The basis for this was to possibly challenge and address the needs that learners and their environment have. The participants in this study embraced the inclusion of IK in EE. However, the processes of combining IK with science may be constrained by challenges related to: teachers‟ attitudes, the design of the curriculum, and the way learner-centered education is conceptualised and practiced in schools. The study suggests that, to incorporate IK into EE effectively may require a shift away from the current strong subject-based, content-focused and examination driven EE curriculum. A cross-cultural Science Technology and Society (STS) curricula that includes a broad range of disciplines and provides a context within which all knowledge systems can be equitably compared and contribute to our understanding of the environment is proposed as an alternative curricula framework.
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Goodwin, Dianne Edith. "An exploration of factors facilitating and hindering change in the teaching of botany in primary schools." Thesis, Electronic thesis, 2008. http://upetd.up.ac.za/thesis/available/etd-01152009-134047/.
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Brabham, Deborah Denise. "Senior Nursing Students' Knowledge, Attitudes, and Perceived Competency about Older Adults." Diss., NSUWorks, 2018. https://nsuworks.nova.edu/hpd_con_stuetd/48.
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Background: Nurses entering the workforce may have limited education in gerontological nursing. Therefore, many nurses are unprepared to provide quality care to older adults. An unprepared nursing workforce could negatively influence older adults’ health outcomes and care experience. Purpose: To determine differences in senior nursing students’ knowledge, attitudes, and perceived competency about older adults based on enrollment in a bachelor of science in nursing degree (BSN), associate’s degree nursing (ADN), and practical nursing (PN) program that offers geriatric content in curricula. Theoretical Framework: Bandura’s social cognitive theory, triadic reciprocal determinism model provided the theoretical framework. Methods: A non-experimental, descriptive survey design with a convenience sample of students enrolled in a BSN, ADN and PN program. A total of 178 students participated in this dissertation study. Palmore Facts on Aging Quiz 2, Kogan’s Attitudes Toward Old People Scale, and the Hartford Geriatric Nurse Competency tool was used to collect data. Results: Students enrolled in BSN, ADN, and PN programs demonstrated limited knowledge about facts on aging. Students’ attitudes toward older adults were positive, and a correlation was found between knowledge and attitudes. Students perceived competency about older adults were high, but purely subjective. Students’ preference to work with older adults post graduation in the PN group were higher compared with students in both the BSN and ADN group. Conclusions: This study underscore the need to systematically design an evidence-based curriculum inclusive of geriatric content across (BSN, ADN, and PN) programs to prepare the future nursing workforce to care for older adults.
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Fardales, Daysi. "Health Care Providers' Knowledge of Childhood Obesity Within the Hispanic Community." NSUWorks, 2017. https://nsuworks.nova.edu/hpd_con_stuetd/45.
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Background: Recent studies indicate a rise in the prevalence of obesity in children of various age groups. Obesity was officially recognized as a disease by the American Medical Association (AMA) in June 2013. It has been acknowledged as a progressive epidemic public health crisis in the United States for the past 20 years. This is a health care concern that needs examination and the development of new and more effective prevention and treatment modalities for obesity in children. Environmental, hereditary, behavioral, and socioeconomic factors play a significant role in the prevalence of obesity (Rooney, Mathiason, & Schauberger, 2011). Childhood obesity can generate serious emotional and physical consequences, thereby compromising the quality of life among children. Purpose: The purpose of this capstone project was to assess health care providers’ cultural competency by assessing the management of Hispanic parents with children diagnosed with obesity. A culturally diverse survey was developed to evaluate pediatric health care providers’ daily practice and management of Hispanic parents of children with obesity. Theoretical Framework: Madeleine Leininger’s Theory of Culture Care Diversity and Universality and the Health Belief Model constitute the theoretical framework of this capstone project. Methods: The research project gained support from the private pediatric primary care office for the completion of a questionnaire to assess health care providers’ knowledge of childhood obesity. Results: The data analysis revealed that the health care providers surveyed had at times omitted the evaluation of parameters that were vital in managing the health care of obese or overweight children. Certain parameters, such as weight, were always considered. The data analysis revealed gaps in the care of Hispanic pediatric overweight or obese patients and Hispanic caregivers. As a result of the findings, a better understanding of the importance of providing culturally competent health care was gained. Conclusion: This survey increased health care providers’ awareness of the importance of taking culture into consideration. It identified the gaps, and measures are now being evaluated to improve the quality of care provided to these children.
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Momiroski, Toni Ross William. "Knowing and acting in the environment : the relationship between knowledge, beliefs and actions in environmental students and alumni /." Abstract, 2009. http://mulinet3.li.mahidol.ac.th/thesis/2552/cd425/4936030.pdf.
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Fogelström, Emma. "The role of consumer knowledge towards more sustainable consumption patterns: The thoughts and attitudes of consumer information and knowledge among consumers." Thesis, Malmö högskola, Fakulteten för kultur och samhälle (KS), 2014. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:mau:diva-23105.
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Denna kandidatuppsats fokuserar på relationen mellan konsumtion, konsumenter och miljöförändringar från ett holistiskt synsätt. Syftet är att undersöka konsumenters attityd och kunskap om konsumtion, välbefinnande, och miljöproblem. För min studie har jag använt mig av kvalitativa semistrukturella intervjuer och litteraturstudier. Resultatet av min studie visar att många av intervjupersonerna inte är bekanta med begreppet hållbar utveckling. Detta till trots hade dem kunskap om klimatförändringar samt miljömässiga och sociala problem relaterade till konsumtion. Välbefinnande beskrivs av intervju personerna, främst som ”att ha tillräckligt”, ex. boende, jobb, mat och speciellt att ha god hälsa. Ingen av de tillfrågade konsumenterna var nöjda med den tillgängliga informationen om konsumtion och olika varor, men de hade alla idéer om hur man bättre kan informera om konsumtion. De av konsumenterna mest upplevda barriärerna var tid för att planera inköp, avsaknad av information eller privat ekonomi.This study focuses on the relations between consumption, consumers and environmental change seen from a holistic perspective. The purpose of the study is to examine the attitudes and knowledge among consumers, about consumption, well-being, and environmental issues. To study these questions, I did personal qualitative semi-structural interviews and literature studies. My research showed that now many of the interviewed persons were familiar with the concept of sustainable development. However, the subjects showed to have good knowledge on climate change and other environmental and social problems related to consumption. To most of the interviewed persons, well-being meant to have “enough”, explained as housing, work, food, and especially good health. None of the consumers were satisfied with the information about different commodities and they all had different ideas of how information about consumption could be improved. The most experienced barrier to the consumer’s possibility to consume more sustainable, was time or rather lack of time in everyday life to plan the purchases, as well as personal economy.
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Tütüncü, Deniz. "Killing a tree is the same as killing a part of Creation : A comparative study of Western and Indigenous’ worldviews, views of nature and knowledge systems." Thesis, Linköpings universitet, Institutionen för tema, 2013. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:liu:diva-93315.
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Nowadays there is a great deal of concern for global warming. Researchers and politicians all over the world are urgently trying to find solutions to it. However, most of the solutions which consider sustainable development have a technical perspective to environmental problems. The alarm of global warming might open up for new ways of solving problems. Indigenous peoples live close to nature and their specific ecosystems which give them a unique understanding for the complexity of nature. However, indigenous people and their knowledge are rarely integrated in international regimes, the Arctic Climate Impact Assessment is the most inclusive regime. Integration of Indigenous Knowledge have been successful in Western environmental management, such as in EIA’s. This ignorance to indigenous knowledge as a source to knowledge illustrates a Eurocentrism in environmental management (McGregor, 2004; Tsuji & Ho, 2002; Berkes, 1999; Smith & Sharp, 2012; Battiste & Henderson, 2000). This study has several aims. Firstly I will compare what has been interpreted as a holistic worldview with the atomistic one. Secondly, I will compare the organic view of nature to the technocratic view of nature. Thirdly, a comparison of the positivist-reductionist approach to the term “Indigenous Knowledge” as McGregor (2004) describes it will be done. Furthermore, the aim of this study is to understand if and if so how IK challenges the positivist-reductionist approach and whether these knowledge systems are compatible with each other. At last, a new analytical framework will be developed to support my theories and clarify them. This study concludes that while there are fundamental differences between the worldviews, views of nature and knowledge systems. This study stress that indigenous knowledge is compatible with the positivist-reductionist approach. Furthermore it is desirable to include IK in Western society further because Western society can make benefits from indigenous peoples view on nature and their view on knowledge from an environmental management perspective.
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Kojic, Tijana. "The Environmental Benefits of Veganism in the Context of Responsible Tourism : (Quantitative KAB Survey)." Thesis, Uppsala universitet, Institutionen för teknikvetenskaper, 2020. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-412475.
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Responsible tourism is tourism which aims at minimizing negative environmental, social, and economic impacts, and benefits the local community. One crucial aspect is being neglected in the context of responsible tourism – the environmental impacts of food consumption. The impacts on the environment may vary depending on the dietary lifestyle. According to research, a vegan diet is generally less taxing on the environment than for example vegetarian or omnivorous ones. In this quantitative study, 161 participants, who consider themselves responsible tourists, were asked about their knowledge, attitudes, and behaviour regarding the environmental benefits of veganism. The data were analysed using linear regressions within the mediation model and two-sample t- tests. I found that attitudes partly mediate the relationship between knowledge and behaviour. Vegans are more knowledgeable about the environmental benefits of veganism than omnivores. Besides, vegans showed the most pro-environmental attitudes and behaviour, followed by vegetarians and omnivores. Less than half of the sample perceive veganism as a part of responsible tourism. Those respondents who perceive it so are mainly vegans and vegetarians. A campaign that would raise awareness of the environmental benefits of veganism in the context of responsible travel needs to be implemented. A qualitative study should follow, and further research needs to be done among additional samples, such as typical mass tourists.
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Cecconi, Carla. "Beach clean-up as a practical implementation of ESD: effects in students’ knowledge, awareness and behavioural intentions." Thesis, Uppsala universitet, Institutionen för geovetenskaper, 2019. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-387304.
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In the context of the critical sustainability problem of marine plastic pollution, the present paper presents a quasiexperimental research that explores the effects that participating on beach clean-up has on students’ knowledge,awareness and behavioural intentions. Considering this intervention as an outside of school practical implementation of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD), this research aims to determine if the addition of direct experiences with nature within ESD programs can lead to a behavioural change in favour of the environment. Analysing the factors that influence pro-environmental behaviour and the role that ESD has on transforming society towards a more sustainable one, a one-time pre-test post-test research with non-equivalent groups was performed. A questionnaire on beach litter and self-reported behaviour, implemented in two schools of the Amalfi Coast, Italy, indicate that in comparison to a group which only received a lecture, a group that participated in a beach clean-up increased their knowledge and awareness towards marine plastic pollution, in addition to their willingness to participate in another beach clean-up. This supports the theory that learning in nature can have a higher influence in shaping pro-environmental behaviour, and therefore the inclusion of this type of activities within ESD programs can help beat marine plastic pollution.
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Miller, Blanca E. "Senior nursing students' knowledge, attitudes, and confidence with end-of-life care." Diss., NSUWorks, 2016. https://nsuworks.nova.edu/hpd_con_stuetd/40.
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Background: Advance directives allow patients to put in writing the type of health care they want if they are unable to make decisions due to their medical condition. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to determine if there were differences in senior nursing students’ knowledge, attitudes, and confidence based on when the information is positioned in the curriculum. Theoretical: Social cognitive learning theory and Zimmerman’s self-regulation model provided the theoretical framework. Methods: This study reflected a non-experimental, exploratory design, with a convenience sample of senior nursing students from 2 different nursing programs in central Illinois. One program offers advance directive education in the first year and the other program offers the information in the second year. A total of 131 students participated in the study that used subscales of the Knowledge, Attitudinal, Experiential Survey on Advance Directives. Results: The group that received the information the second year rated themselves as having more confidence with advance directives. However, both groups scored low in the area of knowledge of advance directives, the Patient Self-Determination Act, and Illinois law. Students who reported higher knowledge levels had higher attitudes about end-of-life care. There was no difference in attitudes between the two groups. Conclusion: The results of this study highlight the need to review nursing curricula specifically relating to end-of-life care content and its placement in the curriculum.
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Hou, Shan. "An investigation into the development of low/zero carbon design training programmes for the purpose of disseminating the knowledge and skills of low/zero carbon design to architects in practice in England and Wales." Thesis, Cardiff University, 2014. http://orca.cf.ac.uk/66068/.
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The research aims to investigate the development of low/ zero carbon design training programmes for the purpose of disseminating the knowledge and skills of low/ zero carbon design to architects in practice in England and Wales. There are three stages: 1) Literature review This research starts with a review on low/ zero carbon design, architectural education, learning styles, and adult learning. The initial models of low/ zero carbon design and architects’ learning preference are developed to reflect the initial understanding of the research topic. 2) Case studies Three low/ zero carbon design training programmes are chosen as case studies with the acknowledgement of the limitations. The revised models are established with the feedback from the discussions and the survey results in the case studies to reflect architects’ current perspectives. 3) Questionnaire survey Based on the revised models, a nationwide questionnaire survey is conducted. Adding the survey results to the revised models, the final models are developed to inform the content and dissemination methods of low/ zero carbon design training programmes. The final model of low/ zero carbon design reflects the iterative process and the holistic approach to achieve low/ zero carbon goal, identifies that the knowledge and skills that architects require are associated with new active technologies, the updated Building Regulations and standard, and tasks in construction, hand over and close out stages, and reveals the importance to raise architects’ awareness of the importance of waste management, the legislation and regulations, and cost and value. The final model of architects’ learning preference points out the importance of workplace follow-up sessions, indicates that architects prefer different learning styles and share the characteristics of adult learning except wanting to be involved in the planning of the future training programmes, and supports that presentational styles influence the knowledge transfer processes for architects.
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Narasimhan, Yamini. "The Link Between Green Purchasing Decisions And Measures Of Environmental Consciousness." Ohio University / OhioLINK, 2003. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1082121508.
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Hao, Jianjun. "Residents’ knowledge, perceptions, attitudes, and willingness to pay for non-point source pollution control: a study of Nansihu Lake Watershed, China." The Ohio State University, 2008. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1197949499.
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de, Barros Gelli Raquel. "EIAs in the Mining Industry: Analysis of the Use of Scientific Knowledge and the Incorporation of the SDGs." Thesis, Uppsala universitet, Institutionen för geovetenskaper, 2021. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-444520.
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Sethusha, Mantsose Jane. "How primary school learners conceptualize the environment and environmental education." Diss., Pretoria : [s.n.], 2006. http://upetd.up.ac.za/thesis/available/etd-10022007-134249/.
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Al-Busaidi, Mohammed. "The struggle between nature and development : linking local knowledge with sustainable natural resources management in Al-Jabal Al-Akhdar Region, Oman." Thesis, University of Glasgow, 2012. http://theses.gla.ac.uk/3906/.
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Increasing awareness about the necessity for natural resources protection represents worldwide recognition of its importance as an important tool in mainstream development. This growing recognition is accompanied by a growing awareness about the importance of activating natural resource management systems to achieve greater sustainability. At present, experiences and studies in this field show the need for the participation of all stakeholders in the processes of decision making in natural resource management. There is also a need to initiate natural resource governance that ensures effective management to benefit sustainable development, the later representing a key foundation for environmental and natural resources management. Moreover, investigations of the prospects of applying traditional knowledge systems and their integration with Western scientific knowledge produces numerous calls to revisit this knowledge where it has proven useful in environmental and natural resources management, both in theory and practice. In this spirit, this thesis investigates the effectiveness of the natural resources management system in Oman using Al-Jabal Al-Akhdar Region (AAR) as a case study, and linking this management system with the local people’s practices, which rely on their traditional environmental knowledge. Based on theories and concepts of natural resource management and sustainability, multiple research methods were used to explore the strengths and weaknesses in the system of natural resources management in the region, to analyze the advantages of traditional practices and knowledge systems, and thus, to deepen the understanding of the continuous struggle between nature and development. Results indicated that although Oman is rich in environmental policies, represented by laws and legislation that theoretically govern protection of the environment, the transformation of these policies into practice is troubled by practical obstacles. On the natural side, there are volatile climatic conditions, and on the human side, there is inefficiency of planning and a lack of means and tools to implement sustainable natural resources management programmes. Both obstacles expose environmental sustainability to uncertainty. However, as this research points out, traditional environmental knowledge and management practices systems used by local people in the AAR are characterized by useful interpretations of environmental dynamics to guide the direction of resource utilisation and management, and to address any uncertainty on the course toward sustainability.
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Karlsson, Viktoria, and Emma Mörlin. "Participatory climate research : impacts on the medium-sized city Kota, India." Thesis, Linköpings universitet, Tema Miljöförändring, 2019. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:liu:diva-157311.
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This thesis aims at increasing knowledge about climate research in developing countries and how research can be constructed, implemented and evaluated to be useful for local capacity building and climate action. This has been achieved by studying a concrete research project in Kota, India. Semi-structured interviews and one workshop has been conducted with researchers, stakeholders and one research financier to identify their perspectives on the studied research project as well as future participatory climate research. In the analysis, some identified opportunities for climate research were local knowledge and engagement, stakeholder awareness about the studies issues, a common platform to discuss research outcomes and research that presents possible solutions to local problems. Identified barriers were a lack of representation of specific groups, organizational problems among stakeholders, complex texts and a lack of policies or guidelines. This thesis also suggests some important factors to consider when performing participatory projects, such as planning the project carefully with a thought about timing, evaluation and involvement of many societal groups.
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Hanisi, Nosipho. "Nguni fermented foods: working with indigenous knowledge in the Life Sciences: a case study." Thesis, Rhodes University, 2007. http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1008372.
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This study examines learning interactions around indigenous ways of knowing associated with fermented grain foods (the making of umqombothi) and the concept of alcoholic fermentation in the Grade 11 Life Sciences curriculum. As an environmental education study it also investigates the cultural significances of the fermented grain food and how learners might make better lifestyle choices. The inclusion of indigenous ways of knowing in the Life Sciences curriculum (FET band) created spaces and opportunities for the use of both knowledge's in sociocultural context and the structured propositions of the learning area in order to construct knowledge. This stimulated learners' understanding of fermentation and also led to a valuing of social context as well as the cultural capital embedded in the indigenous ways of knowing. The study suggests that parental involvement contributed to this valuing of intergenerational ways of knowing. Learners also deliberated how colonial interpretations of Nguni culture and the religious beliefs of Christians had served to marginalise and foster a widening urban rejection of isiXhosa cultural practices related to fermented foods. In their learning and discussion, learners developed new insights and respect for isiXhosa fermentation practices (ukudidiyela) that bring out the food value and nutrition in the grain. The data illustrates that lesson activity that drew on relevant Learning Outcomes and Assessment Standards to integrate Indigenous Knowledge practices in a Life Sciences learning programme, served to enhance learner understanding of alcoholic fermentation. They also document a revaluing of cultural heritage and learners bringing up the problem of alcohol abuse in the community. Curriculum work with Indigenous Knowledge thus not only assisted learners to grasp the science but to use this alongside a valued cultural knowledge capital to deliberate and act on a local concern.
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Nakamoto, Christine Machiko. "California psychologists' knowledge of medicinal herbs as it relates to discussions and recommendations of them when counseling clients." Scholarly Commons, 2004. https://scholarlycommons.pacific.edu/uop_etds/2430.
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There has been a tremendous growth in popularity in the use of herbs especially those designed to assist with mental wellness and to reduce psychological ailments. Clients' widespread usage of medicinal herbs for psychologically related symptoms has created a need for psychologists to become more informed about the health risks associated with taking medicinal herbs. It is important that psychologists be familiar with the most current information regarding medicinal herbs to be able to initiate discussions about medicinal herbs with their clients to help mitigate potential health risks. This study was conducted to increase knowledge about psychologist's perceptions and knowledge about medicinal herbs and about psychologist's practices regarding discussions and recommendation of medicinal herbs with their clients. A total of 1963 questionnaires were responded to by licensed psychologists in the state of California. Most psychologists felt they either did not have enough knowledge or that more knowledge was needed about medicinal herbs. The results show that there is a positive association between psychologist's perceived knowledge of medicinal herbs and their willingness to initiate discussions about them. It was also shown that the more perceived knowledge of medicinal herbs by psychologists, the more willing the psychologists were to recommend them. There was hesitancy among some psychologists to talk about herbs as they felt they either did not have the expertise or that it was beyond the scope of their practice to do so. As many medicinal herbs have significant pharmacological activity and thus potential adverse effects and drug interactions, psychologists should be familiar with herbs, their therapeutic modalities, and safety, so they will be better able to discuss these issues with their clients.
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Andrews, Jean Marie Shady. "“So Here I Am:” An Eyewitness Account of the Beginning of the Wayne National Forest in Appalachian Ohio as told by Ora E Anderson." Ohio University / OhioLINK, 2005. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1121272350.
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Ortelli, Tracy. "Evaluating the knowledge of those who teach : an analysis of candidates' performance on the certified nurse educator (CNE) examination." Thesis, NSUWorks, 2012. https://nsuworks.nova.edu/hpd_con_stuetd/8.
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This quantitative, retrospective, multivariate, non-experimental study examined the first-time performance of 2,673 academic nurse educators who took the CNE examination between September 28, 2005 and September 30, 2011. Post-positivism and Abbott's system of the professions theory served as the philosophical and theoretical underpinnings of this original research which attempted to determine if a relationship existed between educational preparation or years of full-time faculty employment (independent variables) and first-time pass/fail performance on the CNE examination and in each of content areas (dependent variables). The Chi-square test of independence revealed the lack of a statistically significant relationship between educational preparation and first-time pass/fail performance on the CNE examination. Independent t-tests revealed a statistically significant relationship between Option B study participants and content area three (use assessment and evaluation strategies), (t[2,671] = -2.20, p = .03); four (participate in curriculum design and evaluation of program outcomes), (t[2,671] = -2.06, p = .04); and six (engage in scholarship, service, and leadership), (t[2,671] = -2.34, p = .02). Binary logistic regression revealed that a one year increase in full-time employment resulted in a 1.05 times greater likelihood of passing the CNE examination (OR = 1.05; 95% CI 1.03, 1.06; p = .00). Last, simple linear regression revealed that years of full-time faculty employment contributed to 3.2% of the variability within content area four, 2.8% within content area six, and 2.1% within content area three. The results of this study provide insight about faculty development and mentoring needs, present evidence to policy makers and nursing education leaders, and offer guidance to curricula developers.
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Rosén, Sjökvist Thea. "Palmolja - en gömd bov? : En enkätundersökning om konsumenters miljömedvetenhet och deras kunskap om palmolja i livsmedel." Thesis, Karlstads universitet, Fakulteten för hälsa, natur- och teknikvetenskap (from 2013), 2019. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:kau:diva-71772.
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Sedan mitten av 1900-talet har jordbruket genomgått stora förändringar. Det har lett till att mycket av den mat som produceras idag inte är hållbar att konsumera. Oljepalmen är en gröda vars produktion ökat avsevärt de senaste åren och som har stor negativ påverkan på ekosystemen. Dess låga pris och många användningsområden har gjort den populär. För att odla oljepalmer avverkas enorma ytor regnskogar, vilket påverkar klimatet och den biologiska mångfalden negativt. Konsumentens roll är avgörande för produktionen och konsumtionen av palmolja, därför är det viktigt att veta vilka faktorer som påverkar konsumtionen och vilken kunskap konsumenter har. En kvantitativ enkätundersökning har genomförts med syftet att undersöka vilken kunskap konsumenter har om palmolja i livsmedel. Undersökningen visar hur miljömedvetna de är, om de agerar utifrån sin kunskap och om det skiljer sig beroende på kön och ålder. Resultatet visade att konsumenter har en grundläggande kunskap om palmolja i livsmedel och ser sig själva som relativt miljömedvetna. Resultatet visade också att det fanns skillnader i svaren mellan kön och ålder. Kvinnor och gruppen över 31 år i undersökningen hade högre kunskap och var mer miljömedvetna. Slutsatsen är dock att kunskapen om palmolja i livsmedel är för låg, det avgörande vid konsumtion blir därför andra faktorer.Since the mid-1900s, agriculture has gone through a major change. As a result, much of the food that is produced today is not sustainable to consume. The oil palm is a crop whose production has increased significantly in recent years and which has a major negative impact on ecosystems. It’s low price and many uses have made it popular. In order to grow oil palm trees, huge areas of rainforests are cut down, which affects the climate and biodiversity negative. The role of the consumer is crucial for the production and consumption of palm oil, therefore it is important to know which factors that affects consumption and what knowledge consumers have. A quantitative questionnaire survey has been conducted whit the purpose to investigate what knowledge consumers have about palm oil in food. The survey will show how environmentally conscious they are, whether they act on the basis of their knowledge and whether it differs depending on gender and age. The result showed that consumers have a basic knowledge of palm oil in food and see themselves as relative environmentally conscious. The results also showed that there were differences in the responses between sex and age. Women and the group over 31 in the survey had higher knowledge and were more environmentally aware. The conclusion is that the knowledge of palm oil in groceries is too low, so the decisive factor in consumption is other factors.
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Cimino, Samuel Anthony. "An Investigation of Invasion: Boater Knowledge Concerning Aquatic Invasive Species and the Influence of the New Zealand Mud Snail on Benthic Food Webs." PDXScholar, 2016. http://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/open_access_etds/2992.
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Invasive species are second only to habitat loss as a leading cause of native species displacement and the management of invasive species costs hundreds of billions annually. Invasion is often conceptualized as a series of stages (Transport, Introduction, Establishment, and Spread), which encourages ecologists to isolate factors that might enable a species to pass from one stage to another and therefore guide prevention or impact management. This thesis addresses each stage of invasion and attempts to determine where management might succeed in preventing invasion or minimizing impacts. The transport and introduction of aquatic invasive species (AIS) was analyzed by conducting a three tier human subjects survey at Tenmile Lake, Oregon over a two year period in which a public boat wash station was built and installed. Assessing boater knowledge of AIS and understanding proper boat cleaning procedure is useful in determining the threat of transport and introduction as overland boater movements is a major vector of AIS. The comparison between pre- and post- boat wash surveys indicate that there is a disconnect between what boaters say they will do and how they actually behave. While 75.9% of boaters from the pre-survey claimed they would use a boat wash station at Tenmile Lake, only 38.5% of post-survey boaters were observed using the station. Furthermore, the surveys identified knowledge gaps of boaters' awareness of AIS. More than 20.0% of boaters surveyed could not verbally name any AIS. To better understand the establishment and spread stages of invasion, I examined the influence of a specific AIS, the New Zealand mud snail (Potamopyrgus antipodarum; NZMS), on benthic food webs throughout three very different aquatic ecosystems (lakes, rivers, and estuaries). Samples of benthic lake, river, and estuarine invertebrates were collected, identified, and counted, and stable isotope analyses (SIA) were conducted on several components of the food web. NZMS densities were found to be dynamic, with population densities fluctuating over time and between locations. A significant negative relationship between NZMS density and community diversity across all ecosystems was found. However, the densities of specific feeding groups had varying positive (omnivores) and negative (herbivores) correlations with NZMS densities. Furthermore, SIA indicated that NZMS don't appear to be competing with native macroinvertebrates for the same food source. NZMS were found to have different influences on each invaded ecosystem, thus management of this particular AIS is difficult once established and spreading. The results of this thesis suggest that prevention of the transport and introduction of NZMS needs to be the focus for future management. Preventative management should include public outreach regarding AIS and proper boat cleaning procedure, and management should also emphasize the need for regional policies and regulations on the transport of AIS rather than site or state specific policies and regulations.
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Gordon, Louise. "An investigation of prior knowledge about amphibians amongst Grade 7 learners : towards the development of a resource pack." Thesis, Rhodes University, 2010. http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003523.
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The value of frogs is compared to the value of canaries used in coalmines: they are indicators of the environmental status of our environments, thus crucial to our survival. One third of all frogs worldwide are threatened with extinction. Frogs are found in our immediate environment. Are our Natural Science educators, teaching the Life and Living curriculum aware of this threat, the possible impact that the extinction of frogs will have on our welfare? Are our educators making use of the resources in their immediate environment? This study aimed to investigate the prior knowledge in both the horizontal and vertical discourse, in Grade7 learners and their educators, to inform the design of an amphibian resource pack. By investigating their prior knowledge an insight would be gained in their knowledge of Natural Science concepts as well as their everyday knowledge of their immediate natural environment. It would also highlight any misconceptions formed as well as alternative concepts within both educator and learner groups. These insights would be used to inform the contents of said resource pack.
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Gadiraju, Tejaswini. "Investigating the Determinants of Recycling Behavior in Youth by Using Theory of Planned Behavior." Scholar Commons, 2016. http://scholarcommons.usf.edu/etd/6085.
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The aim of this study is to understand the determinants that influence the youth recycling behavior intention. In other words, this study wants to know the motivations and barriers behind university students’ recycling behavior. The Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB), which provides a theoretical framework for systematically identifying the determinants of recycling behavior, is the basis for this study. Along with the TPB variables, additional predictor variables (moral norm, past experience, knowledge of how and what to recycle, knowledge of consequences, and inconvenience) that can influence behavior intentions were tested in the study. Online survey was used to collect the required information and the sample consists of 172 students from University of South Florida. The findings suggest that past recycling experience is the major contributor to recycling behavior. Moral norm, knowledge of how and what to recycle and knowledge of consequences are also significant predictors of recycling behavior. In other words, students are more likely to form the intention to recycle, when they have prior experience with recycling on campus, if they personally feel recycling is the right thing to do, when they have appropriate knowledge of recycling and when they are aware of consequences of recycling. Recommendations to promote recycling behavior among students are discussed in this study.
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Chitsiga, Christina. "An examination of teaching strategies for mediating the construction of environmental content knowledge: a case of Grade 11 Life Sciences teaching in two Eastern Cape schools." Thesis, Rhodes University, 2016. http://hdl.handle.net/10962/361.
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In South Africa the new Curriculum Assessment and Policy Statement (CAPS) introduced a more strongly content referenced curriculum which has commitments to active and critical approaches to learning, and to environment and sustainability content. Successful implementation of CAPS requires that teachers attain the requisite knowledge and pedagogical content knowledge for working with environmental and sustainability content. The study examined teachers’ knowledge of environmental content as well as how teachers are mediating learning, through exploring the classroom techniques used by teachers working with environmental content. This was to examine how teachers are through their teaching bridging the gap in the understanding, investigation and application of environmental content in the curriculum. The study used a number of approaches from the field of environmental education which offer different lenses (or pedagogical sensitizing constructs) for viewing mediation processes as a relational process of knowledge construction. These pedagogical constructs were: knowledge co-construction where perspectives and understandings are shared in the process of social relations (deliberation); relating environmental content knowledge to cultural historical context (situated learning); relating environmental content knowledge to everyday and intergenerational knowledge through hands on experience (proximity experience) and developing an iterative relationship between environmental content knowledge and sustainability practices (practical reasoning). Practice theory as suggested by Schatzki (2005) and a theory of practice architectures elaborating on Schatzki’s practice theory (Kemmis & Heikkinen, 2011) was used as the ontological lens to help in understanding the mediation of environmental content knowledge. Practice theory was used for exploring pedagogical practice in terms of sayings, doings and relatings by teachers, and practice architectures that represent enabling or constraining factors of teachers practice. This research was an interpretive case study drawing on findings from lesson observations, semi structured interviews, stimulated recall interviews and document analysis. The research found that teachers used different strategies to enhance their environmental content and pedagogical content knowledge to present the mediation. Teachers are supporting situated learning and deliberation in environmental learning. Another finding was that teachers could be enabled to enhance proximity experiences and practical reason in their mediating approaches in environmental learning. The research further showed that teachers could benefit from teacher professional development programmes that explicitly develop pedagogical content knowledge to support critical deliberation, proximity encounters, situated learning and practical reasoning in order to work with the diverse complex places-based, socio-cultural-historical nature of environmental curriculum content in the context of sustainability practices. Findings also showed that there were constraining factors to mediation of environmental learning. These constraining factors from the research were firstly in material economic arrangements of timetable compliance in CAPS, ability to find internet resources and availability of resources. Secondly, present were constraining factors of socio-political arrangements of CAPS curriculum document prescriptiveness, multiculturalism, learning institution management and governance. Thirdly, cultural discursive arrangements of teacher learner language, knowledge of the language of the field affected mediation. Teachers passion for environmental content topics, the ability of teachers’ to improvise resources in mediating environmental content lessons and the ability of teachers’ to navigate a stringent CAPS timetable were found in this research to be enabling mediation. Recommendations from the research are ongoing teacher refresher workshops on the environmental content in the CAPS curriculum, teachers’ need more input on strategies to mediate environmental content, teachers’ prior knowledge of new knowledge can be used to strengthen teacher professional development processes, teachers’ prior knowledge needs to be deepened and reinforced, there is need to develop quality educational resources encompassing a variety of pedagogical sensitizing constructs and support needs to be given for familiarising teachers with teaching materials and their appropriate use . These could help to strengthen mediation of environmental content knowledge in the Grade 11 CAPS Life Sciences and inform South African teacher professional development programmes seeking to understand classroom practices in relation to environmental content.
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Sævarsdóttir, Bergrós Arna. "A study on early-stage transport planning in the Nordic countries : With special focus on collaboration and integration of environmental aspects." Thesis, KTH, Hållbarhet och miljöteknik, 2020. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:kth:diva-285797.
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In today‘s society, transport between places plays an important role in people‘s everyday life resulting in unavoidable effect on the environment. Emissions from the transport sector in the Nordic Region are expected to increase the coming years because of growing urbanization and population, so it becomes apparent that transport planners today are facing a complex system that requires to change in order to reach sustainability. Therefore, it is necessary to understand the planning systems and processes to enable improvements. The aim of this study is to analyse and compare how environmental aspects are incorporated in the process of defining measures at early stages in transport planning in the Nordic countries: Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden, with the focus on each country‘s capital region. The focus is set on where and how collaboration between stakeholders and expert knowledge are included in the planning processes in the different countries. To meet the aim, a case study approach was chosen where semi-structured interviews with planning practitioners from all the countries were conducted to gather data, together with literature review and document analysis to set the scope of the study. The interview results showed that early-stage transport planning is practiced differently in the five countries. In Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden transport authorities or administrations are responsible for long-term strategic development of the transport system at a national and regional level, and they have defined how transport planning processes should be conducted. In these cases, collaboration between stakeholders and with experts occurs through workshops or working groups created at early stages. In Denmark, there is no longterm strategic transport planning at national or regional level. There, collaboration occurs at project level where experts and stakeholders are included when a project is being planned. Environmental assessment tools and methods were shown to be used at early stages and the interview results showed that CBA had a prominent role in Denmark and Norway, SEA and EIA had prominent roles in Iceland and an environmental assessment model in Finland. In Sweden, CBA and SEA are also used in transport planning, but in this study the focus was on Strategic Choice of Measures (SCM) which does not include those tools. In SCM, experts are included at early stages to incorporate environmental aspects and review chosen measures. Generally, the early-stage planning processes in the five countries are perceived as flexible which provides opportunities to adjust the processes to each case. Yet, planners need to motivate why a specific project or a solution is suggested and to do that they often use environmental assessment tools or expert knowledge.Integration of environmental concern in early planning stages has been identified as important in terms of reducing environmental problems in later stages. A suggestion for future studies is to investigate more in detail how different environmental assessment tools are used in the Nordic countries, as on what levels and stages they are applied.Transporter spelar en viktig roll i människors vardag i dagens samhälle och bidrar till en oundviklig påverkan på miljön. Under de kommande åren förväntas utsläppen från transportsektorn i Norden öka till följd av urbanisering och stigande befolkningsmängd. Det bidrar till att transportplanerare idag står inför ett komplext system som kräver förändring för att kunna skapa en hållbar sektor. För att det ska ske är det viktigt att man förstår de bakomliggande planeringssystemen och processerna som kan bidra till förbättringar. Syftet med den här studien är att analysera och jämföra hur miljöaspekter integreras i ett tidigt skede där åtgärder definieras inom transportplaneringen i de nordiska länderna: Danmark, Finland, Island, Norge och Sverige, där fokus ligger på respektive lands huvudstadsregion. Fokus ligger även på var och hur samarbete sker mellan intressenter och experter i planeringsprocessen i de olika länderna. För att nå målen med studien har en fallstudie genomförts, där semistrukturerade intervjuermed planerare från samtliga länder har gjorts för att samla data, samt litteraturstudie och dokumentanalys för att bestämma studiens avgränsningar. Resultaten från intervjuerna visade att transportplaneringen i ett tidigt skede såg olika ut i de fem länderna. I Finland, Island, Norge och Sverige är transportmyndigheter eller styrelser ansvariga för att utveckla ett långsiktigt strategiskt transportsystem på national och regional nivå. De har även definierat hur transportplaneringsprocesser bör genomföras. I dessa fall sker samarbete mellan intressenter och experter genom seminarium eller arbetsgrupper skapade i ett tidigt skede. I Danmark finns ingen långsiktigt plan för strategiskt transportplanerande på nationell eller regional nivå. Samarbete mellan intressenter och experter sker istället på projektnivå. Olika verktyg och metoder för miljöbedömningar används i tidiga skeden, där kostnads-nyttoanalys används till största del i Danmark och Norge, strategisk miljöbedömning och miljökonsekvensbeskrivning används på Island och miljöbedömningsmodeller används i Finland. I Sverige genomförsocksåstrategisk miljöbedömningoch kostnads-nyttoanalys, meniden här studien är fokus på åtgärdsvalsstudier(ÅVS) i den svenska transportplaneringensom inte inkluderar de verktygen. I ÅVS är experter inkluderade från ett tidigt stadie för att inkludera miljöaspekter och utvärderaföreslagnaåtgärder. I de nordiska länderna uppfattas planering i ett tidigt skede under planeringsprocessen somflexibelvilket gör det möjligt att göra anpassningar till rådande planeringssituation. Trots flexibilitet behöverplanerare motiveravarför ett specifikt projekt eller lösningsförslag är framtagetoch för at göra det använder de ofta miljöbedömningsverktyg eller expertkunskap.Integrering av miljöhänsyn i tidiga planeringsstadier har identifierats som viktigt när det gäller att minska miljöproblem i senare skeden och för att åstadkomma ett hållbart transportsystem. Ett förslag för framtida studier är att undersöka mer i detalj hur olika miljöbedömningsverktyg används i de nordiska länderna, på vilka nivåer och stadier de används.
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Mowder-Tinney, J. J. "Development, Implementation, and Evaluation of a Continuing Professional Development Module on Physical Therapists Use of Standardized Balance Measures: A Knowledge Translation Study." Thesis, NSUWorks, 2008. https://nsuworks.nova.edu/hpd_pt_stuetd/11.
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Purpose: This study had three objectives. The first objective was to develop the contents of a continuing professional development module (CPDM) for physical therapists geared toward increasing the use of standardized balance measures examine patients with balance dysfunction. The second objective was to assess the impact of the CPDM by measuring change in the clinicians' choice of measures using a patient case as well as the degree to which they changed their practice. The final purpose was to identify barriers and facilitators of knowledge translation using a CPDM. Subjects: A sample of convenience was used to recruit therapists through two home care agencies. Forty therapists participated in a one-day continuing professional development module (CPDM) regarding the use of standardized balance measures for patients with balance dysfunction. Method: A CPDM was designed based on the literature on adult learning, knowledge translation, and continuing professional development formats. Overlapping themes derived from this literature were combined to develop and present the module. Balance measures chosen for the content of the course were based on the literature and clinical relevance. Several tools were developed and administered to collect data on four levels of evaluation including: 1) participation using return rate of commitment to change forms, 2) satisfaction using a 5-point Likert evaluation form, 3) change in learning using change in pre/post case study scoring and a self assessment tool, and 4) change in performance using a commitment to change form and interview themes. Statistical tests used included descriptive, paired t-tests, and wilcoxon ranked sign test. In addition, semi-structured interviews were utilized. Results: Subjects satisfaction in the module was excellent and there was an 80% return rate of the commitment to change (CTC) forms. Statistically significant change scores were found in pre/post case study testing and self-assessment questions in regards to learning occurring following the module. Commitment to change forms and interview themes supported an actual change in clinicians' performance. Conclusion: Knowledge transfer can occur in a CPDM. The changes appeared to result from utilizing principles including accountability, multiple teaching strategies and facility support. The results of this study support the development of a CPDM to facilitate knowledge transfer in this specific area of physical therapy practice, as well as provide a model for other knowledge translation studies in the profession of physical therapy.
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Thompson, Ruthanne. "The Effect of a Laboratory-based, In-context, Constructivist Teaching Approach on Preservice Teachers' Science Knowledge and Teaching Efficacy." Thesis, University of North Texas, 2003. https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc4174/.
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This study began with a concern about elementary teachers, as a whole, avoiding the teaching of science in the elementary classroom. The three main factors noted as reasons for this avoidance were: (1) minimum science requirements to reach certification, leading to a lack of preparedness; (2) lack of exposure to science in elementary school; and (3) general dislike for and understanding of science leading to a low self-efficacy in science teaching. The goal of the Environmental Science Lab for Elementary Educators (ESLEE) was to conduct an intervention. The intervention was lab-based and utilized in-context, constructivist approaches to positively influence participants' abilities to retain science content knowledge and to affect their belief in themselves as teachers.
This intervention was created to respond to all three of the main avoidance factors noted above. The research utilized a quasi-experimental, pretest-posttest control group design. Two pretests and two posttests (science teaching efficacy and content knowledge) were given to all 1,100 environmental science lab students at the participating institution over two long semesters. Three experimental/control groups were formed from this population. The Experimental Group was comprised of 46 students who participated in the ESLEE Intervention. Control Group 1 was comprised of 232 self-described preservice educators (SDPEEs) in "regular" labs. Control Group 2 was comprised of 62 nonSDPEEs taught by ESLEE instructors in "regular" lab settings.
A DM MANOVA was used to analyze the data. The results demonstrated that the ESLEE Intervention was statistically significant at the p> .05 level for science teaching efficacy between the Experimental Group and Control Group 1, and was statistically significant for both content knowledge and efficacy between the Experimental Group and Control Group 2. More notably, the effect size (delta) results ranged from .19 to .71 and .06 to .55 (partial eta squared) and demonstrated the practical significance of implementing the ESLEE Intervention.