WorldWideScience

Sample records for sustainable learning communities

  1. Effective Strategies for Sustaining Professional Learning Communities

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bennett, Patricia R.

    2010-01-01

    Professional Learning Communities (PLCs), in which educators work collaboratively to improve learning for students, need effective strategies to sustain them. PLCs promote continuous improvement in student learning and build academic success with increased teacher expertise. Grounded in organizational systems theory, participative leadership…

  2. Enhancing Sustainability Curricula through Faculty Learning Communities

    Science.gov (United States)

    Natkin, L. W.; Kolbe, Tammy

    2016-01-01

    Purpose: Although the number of higher education institutions adopting sustainability-focused faculty learning communities (FLCs) has grown, very few of these programs have published evaluation research. This paper aims to report findings from an evaluation of the University of Vermont's (UVM's) sustainability faculty fellows (SFF) program. It…

  3. Communities in Action: Lifelong Learning for Sustainable Development

    Science.gov (United States)

    Noguchi, Fumiko; Guevara, Jose Roberto; Yorozu, Rika

    2015-01-01

    This handbook identifies principles and policy mechanisms to advance community-based learning for sustainable development based on the commitments endorsed by the participants of the "Kominkan-CLC International Conference on Education for Sustainable Development," which took place in Okayama City, Japan, in October 2014. To inform…

  4. School-community learning partnerships for sustainability: Recommended best practice and reality

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wheeler, Leone; Guevara, Jose Roberto; Smith, Jodi-Anne

    2018-05-01

    Effective partnerships across different stakeholders are essential to the collaboration required for learning cities to contribute to sustainable development. Through partnerships, formal educational institutions, such as schools and universities, play a vital role in establishing and sustaining learning cities, often by facilitating the meaningful participation of different local community members. The research presented in this article examines the characteristics of effective school-community partnerships in the literature and compares it to the results of a three-year research study which examined 16 case studies of school-community partnerships in the state of Victoria in Australia. Using participatory action research, the researchers identified four approaches to implementing partnerships for sustainability, explored challenges to achieving an idealised partnership, and made recommendations for establishing successful partnership networks. The researchers propose that partnerships be viewed as a dynamic resource rather than merely a transactional arrangement that addresses the identified challenges of time, funding, skills and personnel. Furthermore, the use of "partnership brokers", such as local government or non-government organisations, is recommended to expand the current school-centred approach to partnerships. These insights aim to contribute to providing quality education and lifelong learning through partnerships - outcomes crucial for establishing and sustaining learning cities.

  5. Mapping a sustainable future: Community learning in dialogue at the science-society interface

    Science.gov (United States)

    Barth, Matthias; Lang, Daniel J.; Luthardt, Philip; Vilsmaier, Ulli

    2017-12-01

    In 2015, the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) announced that the Science Year 2015 would focus on the "City of the Future". It called for innovative projects from cities and communities in Germany dedicated to exploring future options and scenarios for sustainable development. Among the successful respondents was the city of Lüneburg, located in the north of Germany, which was awarded funding to establish a community learning project to envision a sustainable future ("City of the Future Lüneburg 2030+"). What made Lüneburg's approach unique was that the city itself initiated the project and invited a broad range of stakeholders to participate in a community learning process for sustainable development. The authors of this article use the project as a blueprint for sustainable city development. Presenting a reflexive case study, they report on the process and outcomes of the project and investigate community learning processes amongst different stakeholders as an opportunity for transformative social learning. They discuss outputs and outcomes (intended as well as unintended) in relation to the specific starting points of the project to provide a context-sensitive yet rich narrative of the case and to overcome typical criticisms of case studies in the field.

  6. Transgressing the norm: Transformative agency in community-based learning for sustainability in southern African contexts

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lotz-Sisitka, Heila; Mukute, Mutizwa; Chikunda, Charles; Baloi, Aristides; Pesanayi, Tichaona

    2017-12-01

    Environment and sustainability education processes are often oriented to change and transformation, and frequently involve the emergence of new forms of human activity. However, not much is known about how such change emerges from the learning process, or how it contributes to the development of transformative agency in community contexts. The authors of this article present four cross-case perspectives of expansive learning and transformative agency development in community-based education in southern Africa, studying communities pursuing new activities that are more socially just and sustainable. The four cases of community learning and transformative agency focus on the following activities: (1) sustainable agriculture in Lesotho; (2) seed saving and rainwater harvesting in Zimbabwe; (3) community-based irrigation scheme management in Mozambique; and (4) biodiversity conservation co-management in South Africa. The case studies all draw on cultural-historical activity theory to guide learning and change processes, especially third-generation cultural-historical activity theory (CHAT), which emphasises expansive learning in collectives across interacting activity systems. CHAT researchers, such as the authors of this article, argue that expansive learning can lead to the emergence of transformative agency. The authors extend their transformative agency analysis to probe if and how expansive learning might also facilitate instances of transgressing norms - viewed here as embedded practices which need to be reframed and changed in order for sustainability to emerge.

  7. Sustaining Community-University Partnerships: Lessons learned from a participatory research project with elderly Chinese

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    XinQi Dong

    2011-11-01

    Full Text Available The strength of community-engaged research has been well documented in public health literature. It is recognised as a useful approach for eliminating health disparities by linking research and practice. While the framework of community-engaged research encompasses a broad range of research collaborations, community-based participatory research (CBPR places most emphasis on involving the community as a full, equitable partner throughout the collaboration. Despite growing interest in and demand for community-university partnerships, less attention is given to the issue of partnership sustainability. The purpose of this article is to present the challenges faced in sustaining a community-university partnership when conducting a CBPR project with an elderly Chinese population in Chicago’s Chinatown. Lessons and strategies learned from the cultural and linguistic complexities of the Chinese community are also detailed. In addition, based on a well-accepted sustainability conceptual framework, we reflect on the initial stage, mid-term actions and long-term goals of developing partnership sustainability. Working with the Chinese community required trust and respect for its unique cultural values and diversity. The cultural, social and environmental contexts within which the partnership operated served as critical forces for long-term sustainability: a culturally sensitive approach is instrumental in sustaining community-university partnership. Also discussed are the significant implications for evidence-based, impact-driven partnerships to develop culturally appropriate strategies to meet the needs of diverse populations. Keywords Community-based participatory research, community health partnerships, health promotion, Chinese Americans, ageing

  8. Community capacity building and sustainability: outcomes of community-based participatory research.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hacker, Karen; Tendulkar, Shalini A; Rideout, Catlin; Bhuiya, Nazmim; Trinh-Shevrin, Chau; Savage, Clara P; Grullon, Milagro; Strelnick, Hal; Leung, Carolyn; DiGirolamo, Ann

    2012-01-01

    For communities, the value of community-based participatory research (CBPR) is often manifested in the outcomes of increased capacity and sustainable adoption of evidence-based practices for social change. Educational opportunities that promote discourse between community and academic partners can help to advance CBPR and better define these outcomes. This paper describes a community-academic conference to develop shared definitions of community capacity building and sustainability related to CBPR and to identify obstacles and facilitators to both. "Taking It to the Curbside: Engaging Communities to Create Sustainable Change for Health" was planned by five Clinical Translational Science Institutes and four community organizations. After a keynote presentation, breakout groups of community and academic members met to define community capacity building and sustainability, and to identify facilitators and barriers to achieving both. Groups were facilitated by researcher-community partner teams and conversations were recorded and transcribed. Qualitative analysis for thematic content was conducted by a subset of the planning committee. Important findings included learning that (1) the concepts of capacity and sustainability were considered interconnected; (2) partnership was perceived as both a facilitator and an outcome of CBPR; (3) sustainability was linked to "transfer of knowledge" from one generation to another within a community; and (4) capacity and sustainability were enhanced when goals were shared and health outcomes were achieved. Community capacity building and sustainability are key outcomes of CBPR for communities. Co-learning opportunities that engage and mutually educate both community members and academics can be useful strategies for identifying meaningful strategies to achieve these outcomes.

  9. Finding the community in sustainable online community engagement: Not-for-profit organisation websites, service-learning and research

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Alice Dodd

    2017-06-01

    Full Text Available This article explores the use of action research (2008–2014 based on a case study of the Sustainable Online Community Engagement (SOCE Project, a service-learning project in which University of South Australia students build websites for not-for-profit (NFP organisations, to demonstrate that effective teaching, public service and research are interdependent. A significant problem experienced in the SOCE project was that, despite some training and ongoing assistance, the community organisations reported that they found it difficult to make effective use of their websites. One of the proposed solutions was to develop an online community of the participating organisations that would be self-supporting, member-driven and collaborative, and enable the organisations to share information about web-based technology. The research reported here explored the usefulness of developing such an online community for the organisations involved and sought alternative ways to assist the organisations to maintain an effective and sustainable web presence. The research used a three-phase ethnographic action research approach. The first phase was a content analysis and review of the editing records of 135 organisational websites hosted by the SOCE project. The second phase was an online survey sent to 145 community organisation members responsible for the management of these websites, resulting in 48 responses. The third phase consisted of semi-structured, in-depth interviews with 18 of the website managers from 12 of these organisations. The research revealed the extent to which organisations were unable to manage their websites and found that the proposed solution of an online community would not be useful. More importantly, it suggested other useful strategies which have been implemented. In Furco’s (2010 model of the engaged campus, public engagement can be used to advance the public service, teaching and research components of higher education’s tripartite

  10. Actualizing Communities of Practice (COPs and Situated Learning for A Sustainable Eco-Village

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Maria Victoria Pineda

    2016-05-01

    Full Text Available An eco-village as defined by Robert Gilman is a “human-scale, full-featured settlement where you feel you know the others, and human activities are integrated with natural, biological systems.” Roland Mayerl argued that this maybe ideal, but there are huge challenges. He claims the challenges are at different levels—there is the physical layer that constitutes food production, animals, water and wastewater treatment. Other layers will be the built environment, the economic system and the governance in the village.This paper argues that one of the challenging layers is the human layer that was excluded in the modeling of many eco-village works. While there are many good models of an eco-village, sustainability will primarily be laid on the shoulders of the members of the community or the village for that matter. Sustainability should be espoused by the members of the eco-village. But how can sustainability be attained? What sustainability approach or strategy can be employed?“Communities of practice (COP are formed by people who engage in a process of collective learning in a shared domain of human endeavor.“ (Wenger, 2004 COPs are concepts commonly applied in organizations and virtual communities. Using this approach together with periphery participation and situated learning, this paper presents a human-based model of a sustainable eco-village and some useful examples.The paper also argues that an eco-village necessitates the support of technology in enhancing and preserving the shared practices. Hence, use of social media deployed in the web is one of the recommended ways that also permit collective action among members of the eco-village.

  11. Finding the community in sustainable online community engagement: Not-for-profit organisation websites, service-learning and research

    OpenAIRE

    Dodd, Alice

    2017-01-01

    This article explores the use of action research (2008–2014) based on a case study of the Sustainable Online Community Engagement (SOCE) Project, a service-learning project in which University of South Australia students build websites for not-for-profit (NFP) organisations, to demonstrate that effective teaching, public service and research are interdependent. A significant problem experienced in the SOCE project was that, despite some training and ongoing assistance, the community organisat...

  12. Editorial: Creating, Supporting, Sustaining and Evaluating Virtual Learning Communities

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Xun Ge

    2011-12-01

    Full Text Available This special issue is dedicated to creating, building, supporting, sustaining and evaluating virtual learning communities (VLCs using emerging technologies. The contributors from diverse disciplines have come together to share their valuable experiences and findings through their research in the following themes: (a instructional models, strategies, approaches for building, supporting and evaluating VLCs, (b designing effective use of tools to promote discourse and scaffold peer interactions among members, (c iterative processes and models of designing and evaluating VLCs; and (d various variables concerning VLCs, such as virtual community behaviors, cultural factors, adoption patterns of tools. It is hoped that these articles will provide practical guidance and offer valuable experience to both educators and researchers who are interested in designing effective VLCs and examining various aspects of VLCs to advance our understanding of VLCs.

  13. Community knowledge and sustainable natural resources management: learning from the Monpa of Arunachal Pradesh

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ranjay K. Singh

    2006-04-01

    Full Text Available Community knowledge and local institutions play a significant role in sustainable comanagement, use and conservation of natural resources. Looking to the importance of these resources, a project, funded by the National Innovation Foundation (NIF, Ahmedabad, India was implemented to document the community knowledge associated with agriculture and natural resources in few selected Monpa tribe dominating villages of West Kameng and Tawang Districts of Arunachal Pradesh, India. Dynamics of various indigenous practices, gender role, culture and informal rural social institutions, cultural edges significantly contribute in managing and using the natural resources sustainably. Experiential learning and location specific knowledge play a pivotal role in ecosystem sustainability. Study also indicates the synergistic relation existing between local knowledge and ecological edges, thereby helping in sustaining livelihood in high altitude. Indigenous resource management systems are not mere traditions but adaptive responses that have evolved over time.

  14. Green Richland: Building Sustainable Local and World Community

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lester, Carole N.

    2008-01-01

    This article shares the college's experiences and the lessons learned in the creation of the GREENRichland Program and the other approaches to building sustainability. These programs directly support the college's vision to be the best place to learn, teach, and build sustainable local and world community. This discussion features details…

  15. Creating sustainable empowering learning environments through ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    ... as these impede optimal learning especially among rural and immigrant communities in South Africa, Canada and the world over. The primary focus of all papers herein therefore is on the creation of sustainable empowering learning environments through engaged scholarship spearheaded by the university.

  16. Impacts of Sustained Institutional Participation in Service-Learning: Perspectives from faculty, staff and administrators

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Amanda L. Vogel

    2011-11-01

    Full Text Available The movement for greater civic engagement in higher education in the United States has taken hold across the core academic missions of teaching, research and service. One manifestation of this movement has been growing participation in service-learning, a teaching method grounded in community-university partnerships in which students provide services that simultaneously address community-identified concerns and meet key learning objectives. In order to assess the benefits of long-term sustained institutional involvement in service-learning, in 2007–2008 we interviewed 23 faculty members, staff and administrators from 16 academic institutions that had participated in a national demonstration program for service-learning, which ended in 1998. We found that 15 of these institutions had sustained service-learning to some degree and 12 had integrated service-learning into the curriculum, with varying degrees of institutional support. Interview participants described five main impacts of their institutions’ sustained participation in service-learning: 1 increased community engagement and community-engaged scholarship, and increased valuation of both, among participating faculty members; 2 greater capacity for community-university partnerships among academic and community partners; 3 improved community-university relations; 4 diffusion of service-learning and/or principles of community-university partnerships to other departments and schools; and 5 recruitment of students seeking community engagement opportunities. This study provides evidence that sustained institutional participation in service-learning can foster an understanding of the scholarly value of community-engaged teaching and research among participating faculty, and increase community-engaged activities at participating academic institutions. These findings suggest that funding agencies, faculty members and academic administrators can use service-learning as a strategy to foster a

  17. Learning for Sustainability Among Faith-Based Organizations in Kenya

    Science.gov (United States)

    Moyer, Joanne M.; Sinclair, A. John; Diduck, Alan P.

    2014-08-01

    The complex and unpredictable contexts in which environmental and development work take place require an adaptable, learning approach. Faith-based organizations (FBOs) play a significant role in sustainability work around the world, and provide a unique setting in which to study learning. This paper explores individual learning for sustainability within two FBOs engaged in sustainability work in Kenya. Learning outcomes covered a broad range of areas, including the sustainability framework, environment/conservation, skills, community work, interpersonal engagement, and personal and faith development. These outcomes were acquired through embodied experience and activity, facilitation by the workplace, interpersonal interaction, personal reflection, and Bible study and worship. Grounded categories were compared to learning domains and processes described by Mezirow's transformative learning theory. The findings indicate that for learning in the sustainability field, instrumental learning and embodied learning processes are particularly important, and consequently they require greater attention in the theory when applied in this field.

  18. Promoting Community Socio-Ecological Sustainability through Technology: A Case Study from Chile

    Science.gov (United States)

    Aguayo, Claudio; Eames, Chris

    2017-01-01

    The importance of community learning in effecting social change towards ecological sustainability has been recognised for some time. More recently, the use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) tools to promote socio-ecological sustainability has been shown to have potential in community education for sustainable development (ESD). The…

  19. Community Health Global Network and Sustainable Development

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Rebekah Young

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available With the achievements, failures and passing of the Millennium Development Goals (MDG, the world has turned its eyes to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG, designed to foster sustainable social, economic and environmental development over the next 15 years.(1 Community-led initiatives are increasingly being recognised as playing a key role in realising sustainable community development and in the aspirations of universal healthcare.(2 In many parts of the world, faith-based organisations are some of the main players in community-led development and health care.(3 Community Health Global Network (CHGN creates links between organisations, with the purpose being to encourage communities to recognise their assets and abilities, identify shared concerns and discover solutions together, in order to define and lead their futures in sustainable ways.(4 CHGN has facilitated the development of collaborative groups of health and development initiatives called ‘Clusters’ in several countries including India, Bangladesh, Kenya, Tanzania, Zambia and Myanmar. In March 2016 these Clusters met together in an International Forum, to share learnings, experiences, challenges, achievements and to encourage one another. Discussions held throughout the forum suggest that the CHGN model is helping to promote effective, sustainable development and health care provision on both a local and a global scale.

  20. Promoting community socio-ecological sustainability through technology: A case study from Chile

    Science.gov (United States)

    Aguayo, Claudio; Eames, Chris

    2017-12-01

    The importance of community learning in effecting social change towards ecological sustainability has been recognised for some time. More recently, the use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) tools to promote socio-ecological sustainability has been shown to have potential in community education for sustainable development (ESD). The effective design and use of technology for community learning implies an understanding of a range of cross-dimensional factors including: socio-cultural characteristics and needs of the target audience; considerations of available and culturally responsive types of technology; and non-formal pedagogical ESD strategies for community empowerment. In addition, both technology itself and social communities are dynamically evolving and complex entities. This article presents a case study which evaluated the potential of ICT for promoting ecological literacy and action competence amongst community members in southern Chile. The case study addressed the ecological deterioration of a lake, which is having deep social, economic, recreational and cultural implications locally. The authors' research involved developing a theoretical framework for the design, implementation and use of ICT for community learning for sustainability. The framework was based on key ideas from ESD, ICT and community education, and was underpinned by a systems thinking approach to account for the dynamism and complexity of such settings. Activity theory provided a frame to address overarching socio-cultural elements when using technology as a mediating tool for community learning. The authors' findings suggest that the use of an ICT tool, such as a website, can enhance ecological literacy in relation to a local socio-ecological issue.

  1. Social learning as a key factor in sustainability transitions: The case of Okayama City

    Science.gov (United States)

    Didham, Robert J.; Ofei-Manu, Paul; Nagareo, Masaaki

    2017-12-01

    The Okayama Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) Project is an ongoing initiative in Okayama City, Japan, established in 2005 by the Regional Centre of Expertise (RCE) Okayama and the Okayama Municipal Government with the aim "to create a community where people learn, think and act together towards realising a sustainable society". With a diverse participant base of over 240 organisations - including community learning centres ( kominkans), schools, universities and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) - this initiative has administered numerous programmes. It has engaged a large and diverse group of citizens from Okayama City in exploring sustainability issues through collective discussion, envisioning and practice with the aim of living more sustainable lives. The decade-long experience of the Okayama ESD Project has gained international attention, and the "Okayama Model" is considered an inspiring example of community-based ESD due to the positive changes it has supported. In this article, the Okayama ESD Project is presented as a case study on effective social learning for sustainability. In particular, the practical efforts made are examined to provide insights into how various elements of a social learning process were strengthened and linked to create active learning cycles among community members. In addition, the conditions for creating an effective learning community are investigated, while the practical actions taken are examined in relation to creating an effective social learning process. Finally, this article presents the important role which social learning has played in Okayama City's transition to sustainability and identifies the key efforts made to address and link each of these elements of social learning into a dynamic cycle.

  2. Sustainable school development: professional learning communities

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Prof.Dr. E. Verbiest

    2008-01-01

    In this contribution we report about a project about Professional Learning Communities.This project combines development and research. In this contribution we pay attention to the effect of the organisational capacity of a school on the personal and interpersonal capacity and to the impact of a

  3. Partnership for Sustainable Communities: Five Years of Learning from Communities and Coordinating Federal Investments

    Science.gov (United States)

    This report commemorating the fifth anniversary of the HUD-DOT-EPA Partnership for Sustainable Communities shows how the three agencies are changing their policies and removing barriers to help communities.

  4. Beyond the ivory tower: service-learning for sustainable community ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Teaching, research and community service have since earliest times been regarded as the three core functions of the university. The concept and practice of service-learning has succeeded in uniting these core functions. Whereas the quality of student learning resulting from service-learning experiences is of crucial ...

  5. Sustainable Learning Organizations

    Science.gov (United States)

    Velazquez, Luis E.; Esquer, Javier; Munguia, Nora E.; Moure-Eraso, Rafael

    2011-01-01

    Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to debate how companies may better become a sustainable learning organization by offering the most used and insightful concepts of sustainability. Design/methodology/approach: Through literature review, learning organization and sustainability perspectives are explored and compared. Findings: Learning…

  6. Aligning Needs, Expectations, and Learning Outcomes to Sustain Self-Efficacy through Transfer Learning Community Programs

    Science.gov (United States)

    Leptien, Jennifer R.

    2015-01-01

    This chapter addresses strengths and difficulties encountered in implementing transfer learning community models and how efficacy is supported through transfer learning community programming. Transfer programming best practices and recommendations for program improvements are presented.

  7. Greener on the Other Side: Cultivating Community and Improvement through Sustainability Practices

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sterrett, William L.; Kensler, Lisa; McKey, Tania

    2016-01-01

    Sustainability practices that lead to greener schools are often overlooked in leadership preparation programs and in school improvement efforts. An urban middle school principal recognizes the potential to build community, foster a healthy learning environment, and redefine her school through focusing on sustainability practices in a collaborative…

  8. Service-Learning in the Environmental Sciences for Teaching Sustainability Science

    Science.gov (United States)

    Truebe, S.; Strong, A. L.

    2016-12-01

    Understanding and developing effective strategies for the use of community-engaged learning (service-learning) approaches in the environmental geosciences is an important research need in curricular and pedagogical innovation for sustainability. In 2015, we designed and implemented a new community-engaged learning practicum course through the Earth Systems Program in the School of Earth, Energy and Environmental Sciences at Stanford University focused on regional open space management and land stewardship. Undergraduate and graduate students partnered with three different regional land trust and environmental stewardship organizations to conduct quarter-long research projects ranging from remote sensing studies of historical land use, to fire ecology, to ranchland management, to volunteer retention strategies. Throughout the course, students reflected on the decision-making processes and stewardship actions of the organizations. Two iterations of the course were run in Winter and Fall 2015. Using coded and analyzed pre- and post-course student surveys from the two course iterations, we evaluate undergraduate and graduate student learning outcomes and changes in perceptions and understanding of sustainability science. We find that engagement with community partners to conduct research projects on a wide variety of aspects of open space management, land management, and environmental stewardship (1) increased an understanding of trade-offs inherent in sustainability and resource management and (2) altered student perceptions of the role of scientific information and research in environmental management and decision-making. Furthermore, students initially conceived of open space as purely ecological/biophysical, but by the end of the course, (3) their understanding was of open space as a coupled human/ecological system. This shift is crucial for student development as sustainability scientists.

  9. A Sustainability Assessment Framework For Waterfront Communities

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sally Said Eldeeb

    2015-08-01

    Full Text Available It is predicted that the global phenomena of Climate change will have far reaching effects and implications on different local urban systems. For incidence, global average sea levels are expected to rise between 7 and 36 cm by the 2050s, and between 9 and 69 cm by the 2080s. Waterfront communities are the first to be affected by such impacts putting them at high risk. Planning tools are needed to assist these communities and increase their adaptive and learning capacities in the face of diverse challenges to their urban sub-systems.  The research investigates a number of sustainability frameworks and assessment rating systems for neighbourhoods and communities. It investigates the sustainable evaluation criteria carried out by three assessment rating systems. First is the LEED (Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design, USA, the second is BREEAM (Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method, UK, and the third is the Estidama PEARL rating system (UAE.Examples of waterfront communities which applied the previous rating systemsare analyzed in order to determine the applicability and relevance of these systems to waterfront communities in particular.  The research concludes with a proposed framework of indicators for waterfront communities. The similarities and differences between the different rating systems and featured indicators specific to waterfront planning applied in the analyzed examples, yet absent in the three rating systems, have informed the selection of indicators in the proposed assessment framework. The proposed framework could be an effective tool for the planning and development of a waterfront community in the MENA region. In order to validate the framework, theset of environmental and physical indicators were applied on the case study of Abu Qir waterfront, Alexandria, Egypt. Conclusions and recommendations  are made that would enhance the resilience of this waterfront community and provide a comprehensive

  10. Integrating Methods for Developing Sustainability Indicators to Facilitate Learning and Action

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mark Reed

    2005-06-01

    Full Text Available Bossel's (2001 systems-based approach for deriving comprehensive indicator sets provides one of the most holistic frameworks for developing sustainability indicators. It ensures that indicators cover all important aspects of system viability, performance, and sustainability, and recognizes that a system cannot be assessed in isolation from the systems upon which it depends and which in turn depend upon it. In this reply, we show how Bossel's approach is part of a wider convergence toward integrating participatory and reductionist approaches to measure progress toward sustainable development. However, we also show that further integration of these approaches may be able to improve the accuracy and reliability of indicators to better stimulate community learning and action. Only through active community involvement can indicators facilitate progress toward sustainable development goals. To engage communities effectively in the application of indicators, these communities must be actively involved in developing, and even in proposing, indicators. The accuracy, reliability, and sensitivity of the indicators derived from local communities can be ensured through an iterative process of empirical and community evaluation. Communities are unlikely to invest in measuring sustainability indicators unless monitoring provides immediate and clear benefits. However, in the context of goals, targets, and/or baselines, sustainability indicators can more effectively contribute to a process of development that matches local priorities and engages the interests of local people.

  11. Sustaining knowledge in the neutron generator community and benchmarking study.

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Barrentine, Tameka C.; Kennedy, Bryan C.; Saba, Anthony W.; Turgeon, Jennifer L.; Schneider, Julia Teresa; Stubblefield, William Anthony; Baldonado, Esther

    2008-03-01

    In 2004, the Responsive Neutron Generator Product Deployment department embarked upon a partnership with the Systems Engineering and Analysis knowledge management (KM) team to develop knowledge management systems for the neutron generator (NG) community. This partnership continues today. The most recent challenge was to improve the current KM system (KMS) development approach by identifying a process that will allow staff members to capture knowledge as they learn it. This 'as-you-go' approach will lead to a sustainable KM process for the NG community. This paper presents a historical overview of NG KMSs, as well as research conducted to move toward sustainable KM.

  12. Implementing Quality Service-Learning Programs in Community Colleges

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vaknin, Lauren Weiner; Bresciani, Marilee J.

    2013-01-01

    This cross-case comparative study at Western Community College and the University of the Coast explored through a constructive lens the characteristics that lead to sustainable, high quality service-learning programs and how they are implemented at institutions of higher education. The researchers determined that both Western Community College and…

  13. Enhancing Community Service Learning Via Practical Learning Communities

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ilana Ronen

    2015-02-01

    Full Text Available The advantages of learning communities focused on analyzing social issues and educational repercussions in the field are presented in this study. The research examines the contribution of a learning community to enhancing student teachers' responsibility and their social involvement. The assumption was that participating in learning community would further implement student teachers' community social involvement while enhancing responsibility in their field of action. A questionnaire aimed to present the student teachers' attitudes involving all aspects of studying in the learning community and their social activity in the community was conducted. The findings pinpointed that there were positive contributions of the learning communities from a personal aspect such as developing self-learning, and learning about “me”, as well as broaden their teaching skills, through methodology for teacher training, and developing reflective thought. These insights can also be implemented in various educational frameworks and during service learning as part of teacher training.

  14. Community Foresight for Urban Sustainability

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Mortensen, Jonas Egmose; Eames, Malcolm

    2011-01-01

    be necessary to deliver sustainability. In so doing, however, backcasting may run the risk of obscuring significant differences in current lived experience, negating alternative problem framings and normatively derived views of what constitutes sustainability. This paper reports an innovative UK attempt...... to develop an inclusive 'bottom-up' Community Foresight process for urban sustainability research. Unlike most backcasting studies, the methodology was initially grounded in an exploration of the community participants' current lived experience and understandings of sustainability. Given the particular...... purpose of the study the primary outcome from the work was structured around the articulation of a 'community-led' agenda for urban sustainability research, rather than an explicit normative vision and transition pathway. However, the methodology could easily be adapted for use in other contexts...

  15. SUSTAIN: a network model of category learning.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Love, Bradley C; Medin, Douglas L; Gureckis, Todd M

    2004-04-01

    SUSTAIN (Supervised and Unsupervised STratified Adaptive Incremental Network) is a model of how humans learn categories from examples. SUSTAIN initially assumes a simple category structure. If simple solutions prove inadequate and SUSTAIN is confronted with a surprising event (e.g., it is told that a bat is a mammal instead of a bird), SUSTAIN recruits an additional cluster to represent the surprising event. Newly recruited clusters are available to explain future events and can themselves evolve into prototypes-attractors-rules. SUSTAIN's discovery of category substructure is affected not only by the structure of the world but by the nature of the learning task and the learner's goals. SUSTAIN successfully extends category learning models to studies of inference learning, unsupervised learning, category construction, and contexts in which identification learning is faster than classification learning.

  16. Premises of Sustainable Development on Rural Communities

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Anca Turtureanu

    2011-05-01

    Full Text Available In this paper the authors want to highlight the opportunity on rural areas and development in termsof durability. The content of sustainable development offers to local communities real and lasting solutions.In this sense for a community to be truly sustainable, it must adopt a holistic approach, taking into accountshort-term environmental and economic sustainability of natural and cultural resources. The authors believethat a sustainable community among its objectives to include their major environmental issues, povertyeradication, improvement of quality of life, developing and maintaining an effective and viable localeconomies, leading to a global vision of sustainable development of all sectors of the community.

  17. Theories of willpower affect sustained learning.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Miller, Eric M; Walton, Gregory M; Dweck, Carol S; Job, Veronika; Trzesniewski, Kali H; McClure, Samuel M

    2012-01-01

    Building cognitive abilities often requires sustained engagement with effortful tasks. We demonstrate that beliefs about willpower-whether willpower is viewed as a limited or non-limited resource-impact sustained learning on a strenuous mental task. As predicted, beliefs about willpower did not affect accuracy or improvement during the initial phases of learning; however, participants who were led to view willpower as non-limited showed greater sustained learning over the full duration of the task. These findings highlight the interactive nature of motivational and cognitive processes: motivational factors can substantially affect people's ability to recruit their cognitive resources to sustain learning over time.

  18. Sustainability Transdisciplinary Education Model: Interface of Arts, Science, and Community (STEM)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Clark, Barbara; Button, Charles

    2011-01-01

    Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to describe the components of a sustainability transdisciplinary education model (STEM), a contemporary approach linking art, science, and community, that were developed to provide university and K-12 students, and society at large shared learning opportunities. The goals and application of the STEM curriculum…

  19. Seizing Community Participation in Sustainable Development

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Balslev Clausen, Helene; Gyimóthy, Szilvia

    2015-01-01

    and cultural sustainability defined in the Mexican national tourism program Pueblos Mágicos are put into practice. The analysis is focused on how citizenship, local participation and democracy are operationalized and what are the local consequences of this governmental program in the community of Álamos...... migrant community in shaping sustainable tourism development as cultural brokers, social entrepreneurs and mediators of market knowledge. The paper criticizes the notion of homogenous local communities as an instrumental condition of sustainable and participatory development....

  20. Building a community of practice for sustainability: strengthening learning and collective action of Canadian biosphere reserves through a national partnership.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Reed, Maureen G; Godmaire, Hélène; Abernethy, Paivi; Guertin, Marc-André

    2014-12-01

    Deliberation, dialogue and systematic learning are now considered attributes of good practice for organizations seeking to advance sustainability. Yet we do not know whether organizations that span spatial scales and governance responsibilities can establish effective communities of practice to facilitate learning and action. The purpose of this paper is to generate a framework that specifies actions and processes of a community of practice designed to instill collective learning and action strategies across a multi-level, multi-partner network. The framework is then used to describe and analyze a partnership among practitioners of Canada's 16 UNESCO biosphere reserves, and additional researchers and government representatives from across Canada. The framework is a cycle of seven action steps, beginning and ending with reflecting on and evaluating present practice. It is supported by seven characteristics of collaborative environmental management that are used to gauge the success of the partnership. Our results show that the partnership successfully built trust, established shared norms and common interest, created incentives to participate, generated value in information sharing and willingness to engage, demonstrated effective flow of information, and provided leadership and facilitation. Key to success was the presence of a multi-lingual facilitator who could bridge cultural differences across regions and academia-practitioner expectations. The project succeeded in establishing common goals, setting mutual expectations and building relations of trust and respect, and co-creating knowledge. It is too soon to determine whether changes in practices that support sustainability will be maintained over the long term and without the help of an outside facilitator. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  1. Theories of willpower affect sustained learning.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Eric M Miller

    Full Text Available Building cognitive abilities often requires sustained engagement with effortful tasks. We demonstrate that beliefs about willpower-whether willpower is viewed as a limited or non-limited resource-impact sustained learning on a strenuous mental task. As predicted, beliefs about willpower did not affect accuracy or improvement during the initial phases of learning; however, participants who were led to view willpower as non-limited showed greater sustained learning over the full duration of the task. These findings highlight the interactive nature of motivational and cognitive processes: motivational factors can substantially affect people's ability to recruit their cognitive resources to sustain learning over time.

  2. Evaluating the engagement of universities in capacity building for sustainable development in local communities.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shiel, Chris; Leal Filho, Walter; do Paço, Arminda; Brandli, Luciana

    2016-02-01

    Universities have the potential to play a leading role in enabling communities to develop more sustainable ways of living and working however, sustainable communities may only emerge with facilitation, community learning and continual efforts to build their capacities. Elements of programme planning and evaluation on the one hand, and capacity building on the other, are needed. The latter entails approaches and processes that may contribute to community empowerment; universities may either lead such approaches, or be key partners in an endeavour to empower communities to address the challenges posed by the need for sustainable development. Although capacity building and the promotion of sustainable development locally, are on the agenda for universities who take seriously regional engagement, very little is published that illustrates or describes the various forms of activities that take place. Further, there is a paucity of studies that have evaluated the work performed by universities in building capacity for sustainable development at the local level. This paper is an attempt to address this need, and entails an empirical study based on a sample of universities in the United Kingdom, Germany, Portugal and Brazil. The paper examines the extent to which capacity building for sustainable development is being undertaken, suggests the forms that this might take and evaluates some of the benefits for local communities. The paper concludes by reinforcing that universities have a critical role to play in community development; that role has to prioritise the sustainability agenda. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  3. Space for innovation for sustainable community-based biofuel production and use: Lessons learned for policy from Nhambita community, Mozambique

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Schut, Marc; Paassen, Annemarie van; Leeuwis, Cees; Bos, Sandra; Leonardo, Wilson; Lerner, Anna

    2011-01-01

    This paper provides insights and recommendations for policy on the opportunities and constrains that influence the space for innovation for sustainable community-based biofuel production and use. Promoted by the Mozambican government, Nhambita community established jatropha trials in 2005. Initial results were promising, but crop failure and the absence of organized markets led to scepticism amongst farmers. We start from the idea that the promotion of community-based biofuel production and use requires taking interactions between social-cultural, biophysical, economic, political and legal subsystems across different scales and levels of analysis through time into account. Our analysis demonstrates that heterogeneous farming strategies and their synergies at community level should be carefully assessed. Furthermore, national and international political and legal developments, such as the development of biofuel sustainability criteria, influence the local space in which community-based biofuel developments take place. We conclude that ex-ante integrated assessment and creating an enabling environment can enhance space for sustainable community-based biofuel production and use. It may provide insights into the opportunities and constraints for different types of smallholders, and promote the development of adequate policy mechanisms to prevent biofuels from becoming a threat rather than an opportunity for smallholders. - Highlights: → This paper explores space for innovation for community-based biofuel production and use. → Heterogeneous farming strategies and their synergies at community level are key. → Farmers have little trust in jatropha due to crop failure and absence of markets. → (Inter)national biofuel policies influence space for local biofuel production and use. → Policies should focus on ex-ante integrated assessment and creating an enabling environment.

  4. Beneath Our Eyes: An Exploration of the Relationship between Technology Enhanced Learning and Socio-Ecological Sustainability in Art and Design Higher Education

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sclater, Madeleine

    2016-01-01

    This article uses published research to explore how Technology Enhanced Learning (TEL) can help to sustain learning communities to engage in creative exploration and open investigation. It then draws on this research to ask: how could we use TEL to support pedagogies of socio-ecological sustainability in the Art and Design education community?…

  5. Social education, human rights and sustainability in community development

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    José Antonio CARIDE GÓMEZ

    2017-06-01

    Full Text Available The article places its contributions in a reflection of a pedagogical and social nature about the links that are established between social education, human rights and sustainability in community development. In this regard, in a historical and prospective key, it places emphasis on the need to promote educational actions that, being consistent with the principles of equity and justice, make it possible to build a more democratic, inclusive and cohesive local-global society.A future expectation that must be confined to educational theories and practices where local communities assume the role they play in their own development processes, with an alternative vision to the ways of educating people and themselves on a daily basis, respectful of human and ecological rights. A line of action that coincides with the commitments made at the Global Action Programme on Education for Sustainable Development, adopted by UNESCO, and Resolution A/70/1 adopted by the General Assembly in 2015, Transform our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, guaranteeing lifelong learning for all.In this objective beats a decisive, although not explicit, of a pedagogical-social vocation: to train citizens that, individually and collectively being aware of their role in socio-environmental changes, assume the responsibilities inherent to the values that sustain life in all its diversity. Social education and community development that, by projecting initiatives in different times and social spaces, allows formative opportunities to be expanded beyond the school system and its curricular practices. The Environmental Education and the Local Agenda 21 continue being two references main for the reflection-action educational and community.

  6. A template for integrated community sustainability planning.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ling, Christopher; Hanna, Kevin; Dale, Ann

    2009-08-01

    This article describes a template for implementing an integrated community sustainability plan. The template emphasizes community engagement and outlines the components of a basic framework for integrating ecological, social and economic dynamics into a community plan. The framework is a series of steps that support a sustainable community development process. While it reflects the Canadian experience, the tools and techniques have applied value for a range of environmental planning contexts around the world. The research is case study based and draws from a diverse range of communities representing many types of infrastructure, demographics and ecological and geographical contexts. A critical path for moving local governments to sustainable community development is the creation and implementation of integrated planning approaches. To be effective and to be implemented, a requisite shift to sustainability requires active community engagement processes, political will, and a commitment to political and administrative accountability, and measurement.

  7. Enhancing Self-Efficacy in Elementary Science Teaching with Professional Learning Communities

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mintzes, Joel J.; Marcum, Bev; Messerschmidt-Yates, Christl; Mark, Andrew

    2013-01-01

    Emerging from Bandura's Social Learning Theory, this study of in-service elementary school teachers examined the effects of sustained Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) on self-efficacy in science teaching. Based on mixed research methods, and a non-equivalent control group experimental design, the investigation explored changes in…

  8. The Applicability of eLearning in Community-Based Rehabilitation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Karly Michelle Dagys

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available Community-based rehabilitation (CBR strives to enhance quality of life for individuals with disabilities and their families by increasing social participation and equalizing opportunities in the global south. Aligning with the Sustainable Development Goals, CBR also aims to address the high rates of poverty faced by individuals with disability. Empowerment, a pillar of CBR, involves strengthening the capacity of people with disabilities, their families, and their communities to ensure reduction of disparities. This article outlines a scoping review that guided by the question: “What is known from the existing literature about the applicability of eLearning for capacity building in CBR?” This review did not uncover literature related to eLearning in CBR; however findings suggest that other disciplines, not explicitly tied to CBR, currently use eLearning to educate and empower professionals in the global south. We argue that eLearning technology could be an effective and sustainable solution for CBR programming in the global south for capacity development. Such technology could increase individuals with disabilities’ access to education and could provide opportunities for wider dissemination of knowledge, beyond typical funding cycles. With a goal of informing future CBR practice in eLearning, this article concludes by highlighting key lessons taken from other disciplines that have utilized eLearning in the global south.

  9. Building Blocks for Sustainable Communities: Assistance from Grantees

    Science.gov (United States)

    EPA awarded Building Blocks for Sustainable Communities grants to four nonprofit organizations with extensive expertise in community sustainability. These organizations deliver technical assistance to communities.

  10. Assessing the Change Process in Comprehensive High Schools Implementing Professional Learning Communities

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shaner, Robert G.

    2009-01-01

    Professional learning communities (PLC) have been identified as scaffolds that can facilitate, support, and sustain systemic change focused on improving student achievement. PLCs represent the application of the theoretical constructs of the learning organization within the framework of schools and school systems. Little is known about the change…

  11. Why Did Zika Not Explode in Cuba? The Role of Active Community Participation to Sustain Control of Vector-Borne Diseases.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Castro, Marta; Pérez, Dennis; Guzman, Maria G; Barrington, Clare

    2017-08-01

    As the global public health community develops strategies for sustainable Zika prevention and control, assessment of the Cuban response to Zika provides critical lessons learned. Cuba's early and successful response to Zika, grounded in the country's long-standing dengue prevention and control program, serves as a model of rapid mobilization of intersectoral efforts. Sustaining this response requires applying the evidence generated within the Cuban dengue program that active community participation improves outcomes and is sustainable and cost-effective. There is also a need for implementation science efforts to assess the transferability of lessons learned from Zika prevention and control to other pathogens and from one context to another in addition to how to take these efforts to scale.

  12. Building a design community for sustainable homes through configuration and open innovation

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Thuesen, Christian Langhoff; Jespersen, Kristina Risom

    2009-01-01

    . Furthermore will an idea space collect and rate ideas from the users. Through a combination of technical and user driven innovation the design community will act as a learning tool for the users and producers and thereby facilitate the development of a market for sustainable homes.......This paper presents a development project which aims to create a market place for sustainable homes – around a design community where the uses and producers collectively can develop new energy efficient solutions and thereby reduce the emmisson of CO2. The core functionality of the design community...... is a configurator where the users based on the produceres templates can design their own home at a selected address visualizing and estimating the energy consumption, total cost, CO2 emission etc. All the designs will be collected and rated in a design space creating transparency over the market and technologies...

  13. Aboriginal health learning in the forest and cultivated gardens: building a nutritious and sustainable food system.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stroink, Mirella L; Nelson, Connie H

    2009-01-01

    Sustainable food systems are those in which diverse foods are produced in close proximity to a market. A dynamic, adaptive knowledge base that is grounded in local culture and geography and connected to outside knowledge resources is essential for such food systems to thrive. Sustainable food systems are particularly important to remote and Aboriginal communities, where extensive transportation makes food expensive and of poorer nutritional value. The Learning Garden program was developed and run with two First Nation communities in northwestern Ontario. With this program, the team adopted a holistic and experiential model of learning to begin rebuilding a knowledge base that would support a sustainable local food system. The program involved a series of workshops held in each community and facilitated by a community-based coordinator. Topics included cultivated gardening and forest foods. Results of survey data collected from 20 Aboriginal workshop participants are presented, revealing a moderate to low level of baseline knowledge of the traditional food system, and a reliance on the mainstream food system that is supported by food values that place convenience, ease, and price above the localness or cultural connectedness of the food. Preliminary findings from qualitative data are also presented on the process of learning that occurred in the program and some of the insights we have gained that are relevant to future adaptations of this program.

  14. Network-Based Community Brings forth Sustainable Society

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kikuchi, Toshiko

    It has already been shown that an artificial society based on the three relations of social configuration (market, communal, and obligatory relations) functioning in balance with each other formed a sustainable society which the social reproduction is possible. In this artificial society model, communal relations exist in a network-based community with alternating members rather than a conventional community with cooperative mutual assistance practiced in some agricultural communities. In this paper, using the comparison between network-based communities with alternating members and conventional communities with fixed members, the significance of a network-based community is considered. In concrete terms, the difference in appearance rate for sustainable society, economic activity and asset inequality between network-based communities and conventional communities is analyzed. The appearance rate for a sustainable society of network-based community is higher than that of conventional community. Moreover, most of network-based communities had a larger total number of trade volume than conventional communities. But, the value of Gini coefficient in conventional community is smaller than that of network-based community. These results show that communal relations based on a network-based community is significant for the social reproduction and economic efficiency. However, in such an artificial society, the inequality is sacrificed.

  15. Community-based research in action: tales from the Ktunaxa community learning centres project.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stacy, Elizabeth; Wisener, Katherine; Liman, Yolanda; Beznosova, Olga; Lauscher, Helen Novak; Ho, Kendall; Jarvis-Selinger, Sandra

    2014-01-01

    Rural communities, particularly Aboriginal communities, often have limited access to health information, a situation that can have significant negative consequences. To address the lack of culturally and geographically relevant health information, a community-university partnership was formed to develop, implement, and evaluate Aboriginal Community Learning Centres (CLCs). The objective of this paper is to evaluate the community-based research process used in the development of the CLCs. It focuses on the process of building relationships among partners and the CLC's value and sustainability. Semistructured interviews were conducted with key stakeholders, including principal investigators, community research leads, and supervisors. The interview transcripts were analyzed using an open-coding process to identify themes. Key challenges included enacting shared project governance, negotiating different working styles, and hiring practices based on commitment to project objectives rather than skill set. Technological access provided by the CLCs increased capacity for learning and collective community initiatives, as well as building community leads' skills, knowledge, and self-efficacy. An important lesson was to meet all partners "where they are" in building trusting relationships and adapting research methods to fit the project's context and strengths. Successful results were dependent upon persistence and patience in working through differences, and breaking the project into achievable goals, which collectively contributed to trust and capacity building. The process of building these partnerships resulted in increased capacity of communities to facilitate learning and change initiatives, and the capacity of the university to engage in successful research partnerships with Aboriginal communities in the future.

  16. Sustainability of healthcare improvement: what can we learn from learning theory?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hovlid Einar

    2012-08-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Changes that improve the quality of health care should be sustained. Falling back to old, unsatisfactory ways of working is a waste of resources and can in the worst case increase resistance to later initiatives to improve care. Quality improvement relies on changing the clinical system yet factors that influence the sustainability of quality improvements are poorly understood. Theoretical frameworks can guide further research on the sustainability of quality improvements. Theories of organizational learning have contributed to a better understanding of organizational change in other contexts. To identify factors contributing to sustainability of improvements, we use learning theory to explore a case that had displayed sustained improvement. Methods Førde Hospital redesigned the pathway for elective surgery and achieved sustained reduction of cancellation rates. We used a qualitative case study design informed by theory to explore factors that contributed to sustain the improvements at Førde Hospital. The model Evidence in the Learning Organization describes how organizational learning contributes to change in healthcare institutions. This model constituted the framework for data collection and analysis. We interviewed a strategic sample of 20 employees. The in-depth interviews covered themes identified through our theoretical framework. Through a process of coding and condensing, we identified common themes that were interpreted in relation to our theoretical framework. Results Clinicians and leaders shared information about their everyday work and related this knowledge to how the entire clinical pathway could be improved. In this way they developed a revised and deeper understanding of their clinical system and its interdependencies. They became increasingly aware of how different elements needed to interact to enhance the performance and how their own efforts could contribute. Conclusions The improved understanding of

  17. Sustainability of healthcare improvement: what can we learn from learning theory?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hovlid, Einar; Bukve, Oddbjørn; Haug, Kjell; Aslaksen, Aslak Bjarne; von Plessen, Christian

    2012-08-03

    Changes that improve the quality of health care should be sustained. Falling back to old, unsatisfactory ways of working is a waste of resources and can in the worst case increase resistance to later initiatives to improve care. Quality improvement relies on changing the clinical system yet factors that influence the sustainability of quality improvements are poorly understood. Theoretical frameworks can guide further research on the sustainability of quality improvements. Theories of organizational learning have contributed to a better understanding of organizational change in other contexts. To identify factors contributing to sustainability of improvements, we use learning theory to explore a case that had displayed sustained improvement. Førde Hospital redesigned the pathway for elective surgery and achieved sustained reduction of cancellation rates. We used a qualitative case study design informed by theory to explore factors that contributed to sustain the improvements at Førde Hospital. The model Evidence in the Learning Organization describes how organizational learning contributes to change in healthcare institutions. This model constituted the framework for data collection and analysis. We interviewed a strategic sample of 20 employees. The in-depth interviews covered themes identified through our theoretical framework. Through a process of coding and condensing, we identified common themes that were interpreted in relation to our theoretical framework. Clinicians and leaders shared information about their everyday work and related this knowledge to how the entire clinical pathway could be improved. In this way they developed a revised and deeper understanding of their clinical system and its interdependencies. They became increasingly aware of how different elements needed to interact to enhance the performance and how their own efforts could contribute. The improved understanding of the clinical system represented a change in mental models of

  18. Ties That Bind: Creating and sustaining community-academic partnerships

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kynna N. Wright

    2011-11-01

    Full Text Available Growing interest among academics and health professionals in finding new ways to study and address complex health and social problems has manifested in recent years with increasing community demands for research and program implementation that is community-based, rather than merely community placed. In the United States, community-based participatory research (CBPR, with its emphasis on the creation and use of community-university or community-academic partnerships, is the prevailing paradigm to address these complex problems, especially those concerning racial/ethnic disparities in health and health care. While the need to strengthen the relationship between researchers and the community has been recognised, often from the viewpoint of the university partner, discussions on sustainability of partnerships have been few. The aim of this paper is to share reflections, through the eyes of the community members, on the core elements that tie community and academic members together and the challenges in understanding and nurturing those ties so that the community-academic partnership is sustained over time, and to offer possible recommendations for sustainability. This article speaks from the community’s perspective and reflects on the vital elements/components that tie together community-university partnerships and the challenges that may occur when trying to sustain and grow the partnership. It is based on a research CBPR study that was conducted to (1 evaluate the functioning and future sustainability of the community-university partnership of the Community Child Health Network Study Los Angeles (CCHN-LA community-university partnership, and (2 evaluate the experience and beliefs of the current CCHN-LA community-university partnership members in their understanding of current functioning. Keywords Community-academic partnerships; sustainability; challenges; solutions

  19. Sustainability Learning in Natural Resource Use and Management

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    J. David Tàbara

    2007-12-01

    Full Text Available We contribute to the normative discussion on sustainability learning and provide a theoretical integrative framework intended to underlie the main components and interrelations of what learning is required for social learning to become sustainability learning. We demonstrate how this framework has been operationalized in a participatory modeling interface to support processes of natural resource integrated assessment and management. The key modeling components of our view are: structure (S, energy and resources (E, information and knowledge (I, social-ecological change (C, and the size, thresholds, and connections of different social-ecological systems. Our approach attempts to overcome many of the cultural dualisms that exist in the way social and ecological systems are perceived and affect many of the most common definitions of sustainability. Our approach also emphasizes the issue of limits within a total social-ecological system and takes a multiscale, agent-based perspective. Sustainability learning is different from social learning insofar as not all of the outcomes of social learning processes necessarily improve what we consider as essential for the long-term sustainability of social-ecological systems, namely, the co-adaptive systemic capacity of agents to anticipate and deal with the unintended, undesired, and irreversible negative effects of development. Hence, the main difference of sustainability learning from social learning is the content of what is learned and the criteria used to assess such content; these are necessarily related to increasing the capacity of agents to manage, in an integrative and organic way, the total social-ecological system of which they form a part. The concept of sustainability learning and the SEIC social-ecological framework can be useful to assess and communicate the effectiveness of multiple agents to halt or reverse the destructive trends affecting the life-support systems upon which all humans

  20. SUSTAINABLE URBAN COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT THROUGH AGENDA 21

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zainal Md Zan

    2015-08-01

    Full Text Available The much-talked about issues such as the rising of heavy crime cases, problems in solid waste management, air and water pollution as well as traffic congestion detering the quality of life among urban community members. Urgent and proactive measure is highly desireable in order to preserve and maintain the integral parts of urban’s higher quality of life. All parties should take part in ongoing efforts to achieve sustainable development through various means. Local Agenda 21 (LA21 serves as one of the efforts in achieveing the ultimate goal of sustainable development through better collaboration and cooperation among stakeholders including local government, non-governmental organisations and the community at large. The core principle of the LA21 program lies in the spirit of cooperation among community members, local authorities and the private sectors. This could be achieved through various activities including from the beginning such as through a comprehensive planning for the local area to achieve the sustainable development. Community members should be involved in brainstorming of the ideas and expressing their views so that authorities would be able to identify the real and arising issues in the community. Through this way a sustainable town and municipal planning could be developed and initiated. This paper discusses the importance of urbancommunity participation in achieving sustainable development as practicedthrough LA21 in Seberang Perai Municipal Council, Penang.

  1. The Sustainability of Community-Based Adaptation Projects in the Blue Nile Highlands of Ethiopia

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Belay Simane

    2014-07-01

    Full Text Available Climate resilience in subsistence agricultural communities depends strongly on the robustness and effective management of the agricultural natural resource base. For this reason, adaptation planning efforts frequently focus on natural resource conservation as the primary motivation for and primary outcome of adaptation activities. Here, we present an analysis of the sustainability of community based adaptation (CBA activities in 20 community based organizations (CBO that were established in the Blue Nile Highlands of Ethiopia in order to promote resilience to climate change. CBA sustainability was assessed through multi-criteria analysis using the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP. Sustainability was considered for social, institutional, technical, financial, and environmental dimensions, with second-order indicators or factors defined for each dimension. According to this analysis, CBA efforts of two thirds of the COBs studied were found to be unsustainable in all dimensions and CBA efforts of the remaining CBOs were found to be at risk of unsustainability. A number of barriers to CBA sustainability were identified, including inadequacies in community participation, training of local community members, local government commitment, farmer capacity, and bureaucratic efficiency. Participatory evaluation of CBA, however, revealed that many of these barriers can be attributed to the decision to use conservation of natural resources as the primary framework for CBA activities. Based on this evaluation, new efforts have been developed that use markets as the entry and exit points for sustainability activities. Lessons learned in this project are relevant for CBA efforts in other agricultural regions of the developing world.

  2. Community-Based Rural Tourism: A Proposed Sustainability Framework

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kayat Kalsom

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available Many tourism projects run by community in the rural areas are labelled as Community-based Rural Tourism (CBRT, a type of a more ‘responsible’ tourism that contributes to sustainable development. However, a framework is needed to enable planners and managers to understand its criteria thus ensuring that the CBRTs fulfil the sustainability requirement. This paper presents findings from a literature review on previous writings in this topic. Findings from an analysis on the criteria of a sustainable CBRT product are discussed. It is found that in order for it to play a role in sustainable development, a CBRT product must focus on competitive management, resource conservation, and benefit creation to the community. The three elements need to be supported, in turn, by community involvement and commitment. As the proposed conceptual framework of sustainable CBRT product can be a basis for further research in CBRT, it offers producing theoretical and practical implications.

  3. The Learning Festival: Pathway to Sustainable Learning Cities?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kearns, Peter; Lane, Yvonne; Neylon, Tina; Osborne, Michael

    2013-01-01

    Cork and Limerick have conducted Lifelong Learning Festivals, Cork for ten years and Limerick for the past three years. This paper reviews aspects of this experience and considers the question of whether successful Lifelong Learning Festivals can be seen as a pathway to building sustainable learning cities. Discussed in the context of an…

  4. Professional Learning Community Process in the United States: Conceptualization of the Process and District Support for Schools

    Science.gov (United States)

    Olivier, Dianne F.; Huffman, Jane B.

    2016-01-01

    As the Professional Learning Community (PLC) process becomes embedded within schools, the level of district support has a direct impact on whether schools have the ability to re-culture and sustain highly effective collaborative practices. The purpose of this article is to share a professional learning community conceptual framework from the US,…

  5. Implementation of Transformative Sustainability Learning into Engineering Curricular

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    Yuliana Lavrysh

    2018-04-01

    Full Text Available Nowadays an engineering profession is the most promising in terms of sustainability. Yet, there is a question if higher educational establishments are ready and possess necessary resources to prepare graduates in a sufficient way to create a life-sustainable future. Therefore, universities recognize the education for sustainable development as an essential and timely process of engineering training. The paper presents the characteristics of transformative sustainability learning as a key factor of advanced life-learning engineering education. The analysis of theoretical background signifies that the transformative sustainability learning concept is based on the theory of person’s transformations depending on such personality traits as the life experience, cognitive development, and critical reflection skills which foster personality changes towards sustainability. Thus, we can state that transformative sustainability learning (TSL integrates such fields as transformative learning and Education for Sustainable Development and the combination impacts personal and societal transformations. This fact provides us with the opportunity to suggest the (TSL concepts implementation into engineering educational process as an approach that enhances students’ motivation to studying, understanding of sustainability issues and high order thinking skills. If students experience personality transformations, we can find out the pedagogical strategy attributed to these transformations. Having conducted interviews and observations the teaching process at the university, we outlined the most used TSL pedagogical strategies at technical university (placed-based, problem-based, enquiry and service learning assessed their efficacy, found out the barriers to successful implementation and suggested recommendations to overcome the barriers. Our paper demonstrates potential of TSL implementation as it not only benefits for students but also enhances sustainability

  6. Sustaining health education research programs in Aboriginal communities.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wisener, Katherine; Shapka, Jennifer; Jarvis-Selinger, Sandra

    2017-09-01

    Despite evidence supporting the ongoing provision of health education interventions in First Nations communities, there is a paucity of research that specifically addresses how these programs should be designed to ensure sustainability and long-term effects. Using a Community-Based Research approach, a collective case study was completed with three Canadian First Nations communities to address the following research question: What factors are related to sustainable health education programs, and how do they contribute to and/or inhibit program success in an Aboriginal context? Semi-structured interviews and a sharing circle were completed with 19 participants, including members of community leadership, external partners, and program staff and users. Seven factors were identified to either promote or inhibit program sustainability, including: 1) community uptake; 2) environmental factors; 3) stakeholder awareness and support; 4) presence of a champion; 5) availability of funding; 6) fit and flexibility; and 7) capacity and capacity building. Each factor is provided with a working definition, influential moderators, and key evaluation questions. This study is grounded in, and builds on existing research, and can be used by First Nations communities and universities to support effective sustainability planning for community-based health education interventions.

  7. Building online learning communities in a graduate dental hygiene program.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rogo, Ellen J; Portillo, Karen M

    2014-08-01

    The literature abounds with research related to building online communities in a single course; however, limited evidence is available on this phenomenon from a program perspective. The intent of this qualitative case study inquiry was to explore student experiences in a graduate dental hygiene program contributing or impeding the development and sustainability of online learning communities. Approval from the IRB was received. A purposive sampling technique was used to recruit participants from a stratification of students and graduates. A total of 17 participants completed semi-structured interviews. Data analysis was completed through 2 rounds - 1 for coding responses and 1 to construct categories of experiences. The participants' collective definition of an online learning community was a complex synergistic network of interconnected people who create positive energy. The findings indicated the development of this network began during the program orientation and was beneficial for building a foundation for the community. Students felt socially connected and supported by the network. Course design was another important category for participation in weekly discussions and group activities. Instructors were viewed as active participants in the community, offering helpful feedback and being a facilitator in discussions. Experiences impeding the development of online learning communities related to the poor performance of peers and instructors. Specific categories of experiences supported and impeded the development of online learning communities related to the program itself, course design, students and faculty. These factors are important to consider in order to maximize student learning potential in this environment. Copyright © 2014 The American Dental Hygienists’ Association.

  8. Sustainability Matters for Undergraduate Teaching and Learning

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fry, Catherine L.; Wei, Cynthia A.

    2015-01-01

    A growing body of evidence shows that infusing sustainability into undergraduate courses and programs can simultaneously benefit institutional goals, student learning outcomes, and society at large. In addition to being a globally relevant and urgent topic, sustainability can enhance learning of disciplinary concepts and development of broad…

  9. Establishing a community of practice of researchers, practitioners, policy-makers and communities to sustainably manage environmental health risks in Ecuador.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Spiegel, Jerry M; Breilh, Jaime; Beltran, Efrain; Parra, Jorge; Solis, Fernanda; Yassi, Annalee; Rojas, Alejandro; Orrego, Elena; Henry, Bonnie; Bowie, William R; Pearce, Laurie; Gaibor, Juan; Velasquez, Patricio; Concepcion, Miriam; Parkes, Margot

    2011-11-08

    The Sustainably Managing Environmental Health Risk in Ecuador project was launched in 2004 as a partnership linking a large Canadian university with leading Cuban and Mexican institutes to strengthen the capacities of four Ecuadorian universities for leading community-based learning and research in areas as diverse as pesticide poisoning, dengue control, water and sanitation, and disaster preparedness. In implementing curriculum and complementary innovations through application of an ecosystem approach to health, our interdisciplinary international team focused on the question: "Can strengthening of institutional capacities to support a community of practice of researchers, practitioners, policy-makers and communities produce positive health outcomes and improved capacities to sustainably translate knowledge?" To assess progress in achieving desired outcomes, we review results associated with the logic framework analysis used to guide the project, focusing on how a community of practice network has strengthened implementation, including follow-up tracking of program trainees and presentation of two specific case studies. By 2009, train-the-trainer project initiation involved 27 participatory action research Master's theses in 15 communities where 1200 community learners participated in the implementation of associated interventions. This led to establishment of innovative Ecuadorian-led master's and doctoral programs, and a Population Health Observatory on Collective Health, Environment and Society for the Andean region based at the Universidad Andina Simon Bolivar. Building on this network, numerous initiatives were begun, such as an internationally funded research project to strengthen dengue control in the coastal community of Machala, and establishment of a local community eco-health centre focusing on determinants of health near Cuenca. Strengthening capabilities for producing and applying knowledge through direct engagement with affected populations and

  10. Establishing a community of practice of researchers, practitioners, policy-makers and communities to sustainably manage environmental health risks in Ecuador

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Henry Bonnie

    2011-11-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background The Sustainably Managing Environmental Health Risk in Ecuador project was launched in 2004 as a partnership linking a large Canadian university with leading Cuban and Mexican institutes to strengthen the capacities of four Ecuadorian universities for leading community-based learning and research in areas as diverse as pesticide poisoning, dengue control, water and sanitation, and disaster preparedness. Methods In implementing curriculum and complementary innovations through application of an ecosystem approach to health, our interdisciplinary international team focused on the question: “Can strengthening of institutional capacities to support a community of practice of researchers, practitioners, policy-makers and communities produce positive health outcomes and improved capacities to sustainably translate knowledge?” To assess progress in achieving desired outcomes, we review results associated with the logic framework analysis used to guide the project, focusing on how a community of practice network has strengthened implementation, including follow-up tracking of program trainees and presentation of two specific case studies. Results By 2009, train-the-trainer project initiation involved 27 participatory action research Master’s theses in 15 communities where 1200 community learners participated in the implementation of associated interventions. This led to establishment of innovative Ecuadorian-led master’s and doctoral programs, and a Population Health Observatory on Collective Health, Environment and Society for the Andean region based at the Universidad Andina Simon Bolivar. Building on this network, numerous initiatives were begun, such as an internationally funded research project to strengthen dengue control in the coastal community of Machala, and establishment of a local community eco-health centre focusing on determinants of health near Cuenca. Discussion Strengthening capabilities for producing and

  11. Learning challenges and sustainable development: A methodological perspective.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Seppänen, Laura

    2017-01-01

    Sustainable development requires learning, but the contents of learning are often complex and ambiguous. This requires new integrated approaches from research. It is argued that investigation of people's learning challenges in every-day work is beneficial for research on sustainable development. The aim of the paper is to describe a research method for examining learning challenges in promoting sustainable development. This method is illustrated with a case example from organic vegetable farming in Finland. The method, based on Activity Theory, combines historical analysis with qualitative analysis of need expressions in discourse data. The method linking local and subjective need expressions with general historical analysis is a promising way to overcome the gap between the individual and society, so much needed in research for sustainable development. Dialectically informed historical frameworks have practical value as tools in collaborative negotiations and participatory designs for sustainable development. The simultaneous use of systemic and subjective perspectives allows researchers to manage the complexity of practical work activities and to avoid too simplistic presumptions about sustainable development.

  12. Energy sustainable communities - social and psychological aspects

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Schweizer-Ries, P.; Baasch, St.; Jagszent, J.

    2004-01-01

    Besides technical, political and economic aspects of energy sustainability there are several social, behavioural and psychological dimensions of vital importance for a successful implementation of Renewable Energy Systems (RES) and Rational Use of Energy (RUE) within communities. The European Project ''Sustainable Communities-on the energy dimension'' pursues an interdisciplinary approach to detect essential success and facilitating factors. In the last years social and psychological aspects in the process of sustainability came to the fore more and more. Not only as a complementary science to facilitate the technical aims in the change process but also as an essential part for success. (authors)

  13. Development and application of a community sustainability visualization tool through integration of US EPA’s Sustainable and Health Community Research Program tasks

    Science.gov (United States)

    Maintaining a harmonious balance between economic, social, and environmental well-being is paramount to community sustainability. Communities need a practical/usable suite of measures to assess their current position on a "surface" of sustainability created from the interaction ...

  14. Community Vitality: The Role of Community-Level Resilience Adaptation and Innovation in Sustainable Development

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lenore Newman

    2010-01-01

    Full Text Available Community level action towards sustainable development has emerged as a key scale of intervention in the effort to address our many serious environmental issues. This is hindered by the large-scale destruction of both urban neighbourhoods and rural villages in the second half of the twentieth century. Communities, whether they are small or large, hubs of experimentation or loci of traditional techniques and methods, can be said to have a level of community vitality that acts as a site of resilience, adaptation and innovation in the face of environmental challenges. This paper outlines how community vitality acts as a cornerstone of sustainable development and suggests some courses for future research. A meta-case analysis of thirty-five Canadian communities reveals the characteristics of community vitality emerging from sustainable development experiments and its relationship to resilience, applied specifically to community development.

  15. Contributions to Sustainability by Communities and Individuals: Problems and Prospects

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    MacGregor, D.; Tonn, B.E.

    1998-11-01

    This report examines relationships between a comprehensive set of definitions of and viewpoints on the concept of Sustainability and the abilities of communities and individuals in the United States to meet the behavioral prescriptions inherent in these definitions and viewpoints. This research is timely because sustainability is becoming a cornerstone of national and international environmental strategies designed to simultaneously achieve environmental, economic, and social goals. In the United States, many communities have adopted sustainability principles as the foundation for both their environmental protection efforts and their socioeconomic development initiatives. This research is important because it highlights serious problems communities and inviduals may have in achieving sustainability expectations, and illustrates how much work is needed to help communities and individuals overcome numerous considerable and complex constraints to sustainability.

  16. Building mathematics cellular phone learning communities

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Wajeeh M. Daher

    2011-04-01

    Full Text Available Researchers emphasize the importance of maintaining learning communities and environments. This article describes the building and nourishment of a learning community, one comprised of middle school students who learned mathematics out-of-class using the cellular phone. The building of the learning community was led by three third year pre-service teachers majoring in mathematics and computers. The pre-service teachers selected thirty 8th grade students to learn mathematics with the cellular phone and be part of a learning community experimenting with this learning. To analyze the building and development stages of the cellular phone learning community, two models of community building stages were used; first the team development model developed by Tuckman (1965, second the life cycle model of a virtual learning community developed by Garber (2004. The research findings indicate that a learning community which is centered on a new technology has five 'life' phases of development: Pre-birth, birth, formation, performing, and maturity. Further, the research finding indicate that the norms that were encouraged by the preservice teachers who initiated the cellular phone learning community resulted in a community which developed, nourished and matured to be similar to a community of experienced applied mathematicians who use mathematical formulae to study everyday phenomena.

  17. Acttention – Influencing Communities of Practice with Persuasive Learning Designs

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hansen, Sandra Burri Gram; Ryberg, Thomas

    2015-01-01

    design within this more established field of research and development. Rather than focus on improving learning technologies or motivating the interest in a subject, persuasive designs may be more efficient when used to influence the communities of practice in educational institutions.......Based on the preliminary results of implementing and testing a persuasive learning initiative in the Danish Military, this paper discusses and develops the notion of persuasive learning designs. It is suggested that the acquirement of new knowledge is fundamental to persuasion, and that persuasive...... learning designs distinguish themselves by leading to sustainable change to the learner’s attitude and/or behaviour. A practical example of persuasive learning designs is provided in terms of the interactive location-based learning game Acttention, which has been developed and tested on behalf...

  18. Factors influencing perceived sustainability of Dutch community health programs

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Vermeer, A. J. M.; van Assema, P.; Hesdahl, B.; Harting, J.; de Vries, N. K.

    2015-01-01

    We assessed the perceived sustainability of community health programs organized by local intersectoral coalitions, as well as the factors that collaborating partners think might influence sustainability. Semi-structured interviews were conducted among 31 collaborating partners of 5 community health

  19. What's the VALUE of Information Literacy? Comparing Learning Community and Non-Learning Community Student Learning Outcomes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rapchak, Marcia E.; Brungard, Allison B.; Bergfelt, Theodore W.

    2016-01-01

    Using the Information Literacy VALUE Rubric provided by the AAC&U, this study compares thirty final capstone assignments in a research course in a learning community with thirty final assignments in from students not in learning communities. Results indicated higher performance of the non-learning community students; however, transfer skills…

  20. Unveiling scientific communities about sustainability and innovation. A bibliometric journey around sustainable terms

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Franceschini, Simone; Faria, Lourenco; Jurowetzki, Roman

    2016-01-01

    innovation), and they concluded that such terms are mostly interchangeable. These findings surprise in light of the different positions shown in the innovation for sustainability debate. Our bibliometric analysis tracks meanings and communities associated with these four terms and indicates some overlaps......, especially between eco-innovation and environmental innovation. However, we found relevant differences of meanings and communities that reflect the different positions in the innovation for sustainability debate....

  1. Sharing Place, Learning Together: Perspectives and Reflections on an Educational Partnership Formation with a Remote Indigenous Community School

    Science.gov (United States)

    Godinho, Sally Caroline; Woolley, Marilyn; Webb, Jessie; Winkel, Kenneth Daniel

    2015-01-01

    Sustainable partnership formation in a remote Indigenous community involves social, cultural and political considerations. This article reports on the project, "Sharing Place, Learning Together: Supporting Sustainable Educational Partnerships to Advance Social Equity," funded by the Melbourne Social Equity Institute (MSEI) at the…

  2. Sustainable Development: The Challenge for Community Development.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gamble, Dorothy N.; Weil, Marie O.

    1997-01-01

    Five areas of inquiry shape the sustainable development movement: environmental movement, women's movement, overpopulation concerns, critique of development models, and new indicators of social progress. Community development workers are challenged to prepare local development projects within a sustainable development framework. (SK)

  3. Community Based Learning and Civic Engagement: Informal Learning among Adult Volunteers in Community Organizations

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mundel, Karsten; Schugurensky, Daniel

    2008-01-01

    Many iterations of community based learning employ models, such as consciousness raising groups, cultural circles, and participatory action research. In all of them, learning is a deliberate part of an explicit educational activity. This article explores another realm of community learning: the informal learning that results from volunteering in…

  4. Creating A Sustainable Model of Spine Care in Underserved Communities

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Haldeman, Scott; Nordin, Margareta; Outerbridge, Geoff

    2015-01-01

    The world lacks sustainable models of care to manage spinal disorders in poor and underserved communities. The purpose of this article is to: (1) review the rationale and importance of developing a sustainable evidence-based model of care at low cost for people with spinal disorders in underserved...... adequate care, World Spine Care (WSC) was established to "improve lives in underserved communities through sustainable, integrated, evidence-based, spinal care." WSC is comprised of volunteers and institutions from 6 continents and several countries, and incorporates a Board of Directors, an executive...... are adapted to and integrated within each community in collaboration with local decision makers, existing health care workers and traditional healers. Cornerstones of WSC's emphasis on long-term sustainability are (1) education of community partners, governments and local health professionals, and (2...

  5. Stakeholder's perspective: Sustainability of a community health worker program in Afghanistan.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Najafizada, Said Ahmad Maisam; Labonté, Ronald; Bourgeault, Ivy Lynn

    2017-02-01

    The objectives of this study were two-fold: 1) to examine how different stakeholders define sustainability, and 2) to identify barriers to and facilitators of the sustainability of the Afghan CHW program. We interviewed 63 individual key informants, and conducted 11 focus groups [35 people] with policymakers, health managers, community health workers, and community members across Afghanistan. The participants were purposefully selected to provide a wide range of perspectives. Different stakeholders define sustainability differently. Policymakers emphasize financial resources; health managers, organizational operations; and community-level stakeholders, routine frontline activities. The facilitators they identify include integration into the health system, community support, and capable human resources. Barriers they noted include lack of financial resources, poor program design and implementation, and poor quality of services. Measures to ensure sustainability could be national revenue allocation, health-specific taxation, and community financing. Sustainability is complicated and has multiple facets. The plurality of understanding of sustainability among stakeholders should be addressed explicitly in the program design. To ensure sustainability, there is a need for a coordinated effort amongst all stakeholders. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  6. Sustainable Communities Regional Planning Grantees (NGDA)

    Data.gov (United States)

    Department of Housing and Urban Development — The Sustainable Communities Regional Planning (SCRP) Grant Program supports locally-led collaborative efforts that bring together diverse interests from the many...

  7. Partnership for Sustainable Communities - Grants Map -

    Data.gov (United States)

    Department of Transportation — The Partnership for Sustainable Communities is comprised of the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), the US Department of Transportation (DOT), and the...

  8. Learning from Sustainable Development: Education in the Light of Public Issues

    Science.gov (United States)

    Van Poeck, Katrien; Vandenabeele, Joke

    2012-01-01

    Education for sustainable development plays an increasing role in environmental education policy and practice. In this article, we show how sustainable development is mainly seen as a goal that can be achieved by applying the proper processes of learning and how this learning perspective translates sustainability issues into learning problems of…

  9. Creating and Sustaining University-Community Partnerships in Science Education (Invited)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Finkelstein, N.

    2009-12-01

    Despite years of research and investment, we have yet to see the widespread implementation of a myriad research-proven instructional strategies in STEM education[1]. To address this challenge, we present and analyze one such strategy, a theoretically-grounded model of university-community partnership [2] that engages university students and children in a collective enterprise that has the potential to improve the participation and education of all. We document the impact of this effort on: university participants who learn about education, the community and science; children in the community who learn about science, the nature of science and develop their identities and attitudes towards science; and, shifts in institutional structures which may allow these programs to be part of standard practice. This project is designed to be sustained and scaled, and is analyzed through the application of a new framework [3] which brings together theories of STEM change that come from studies in higher education, faculty development and disciplinary-based education research in STEM. [1] National Research Council. (2003). Improving Undergraduate Instruction in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics: Report of A Workshop. Washington, D.C.: The National Academies Press. [2] Finkelstein, N. and Mayhew, L. (2008). Acting in Our Own Self-Interest: Blending University and Community. Proceedings of the 2008 Physics Education Research Conf, AIP Press. Melville NY, 1064, 19-22. [3] Henderson, C., Finkelstein, N. & Beach A. (to appear). Beyond Dissemination in College science teaching: An Introduction to Four Core Change Strategies. Accepted May 2009 in Journal of College Science Teaching.

  10. Social Sustainability through Social Interaction—A National Survey on Community Gardens in Germany

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nicole Rogge

    2018-04-01

    Full Text Available Community gardening has become a growing movement in cities all over the world, where these diverse collectively managed spaces provide various economic, ecological, and social benefits for urban residents. Particularly in developed countries such as Germany, social benefits are the motivation to participate in community gardens more so than the harvests. Although research on community gardens has grown, including the question of their benefits to a sustainable development, there is little literature studying the social importance and social sustainability of community gardens. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to examine social interaction, participation, and perceived success as a concept to assess social sustainability. The paper further aims to examine the conditions influencing social sustainability within community gardens. With the help of an online survey, we collect data from 123 community gardens throughout Germany, with which we assess diverse degrees of social sustainability. Causalities of gardens’ social sustainability are analyzed with a multiple linear regression model. Results indicate that there is no significant relationship between size of community and social sustainability, rather aspects of trust and management have a strong effect on social sustainability. Findings like these lead to a better understanding of social interaction in urban communities that contribute to more social sustainability.

  11. Collaborative distance learning: Developing an online learning community

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stoytcheva, Maria

    2017-12-01

    The method of collaborative distance learning has been applied for years in a number of distance learning courses, but they are relatively few in foreign language learning. The context of this research is a hybrid distance learning of French for specific purposes, delivered through the platform UNIV-RcT (Strasbourg University), which combines collaborative activities for the realization of a common problem-solving task online. The study focuses on a couple of aspects: on-line interactions carried out in small, tutored groups and the process of community building online. By analyzing the learner's perceptions of community and collaborative learning, we have tried to understand the process of building and maintenance of online learning community and to see to what extent the collaborative distance learning contribute to the development of the competence expectations at the end of the course. The analysis of the results allows us to distinguish the advantages and limitations of this type of e-learning and thus evaluate their pertinence.

  12. Experience Learning and Community Development

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nena Mijoč

    1996-12-01

    Full Text Available Research in the field of education, carried out in living and working environment, which has undergone so profound changes recently, is of extreme importance. In schools, courses and seminars, one cannot prepare him/herself for the changes as these are often so rapid that it is impossible to foresee them. Therefore, one can only learn by experience. In defining the term 'experience learning', the teoreticians vary greatly. In this paper, experience learning is understood as a process of learning taking part mainly outside the planned educational process and including an active and participative attitude towards environment and people. Original and direct experience can thus serve as a basis for gaining new comprehensions, for planning future activities as well as for a reinterpretation of the past experiences. Let us first mention the basic factors of successful experience learning, such as an individual's character features, possibilities for learning, learning atmosphere and positive stimulations. It has been estimated that local community can increase or decrease the possibilities for experience learning. However, the relation is active in other direction too: the more experience learning bas been asserted in a community, the greater its influence on social and cultural development of the community. On has to bear in mind that well-planned education for local community and stimulating sociocultural animation can facilitate the development of local community.

  13. Nurturing social responsibility through community service-learning: Lessons learned from a pilot project.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dharamsi, Shafik; Espinoza, Nancy; Cramer, Carl; Amin, Maryam; Bainbridge, Lesley; Poole, Gary

    2010-01-01

    Community service-learning (CSL) has been proposed as one way to enrich medical and dental students' sense of social responsibility toward people who are marginalized in society. We developed and implemented a new CSL option in the integrated medical/dental curriculum and assessed its educational impact. Focus groups, individual open-ended interviews, and a survey were used to assess dental students', faculty tutors' and community partners' experiences with CSL. CSL enabled a deeper appreciation for the vulnerabilities that people who are marginalized experience; students gained a greater insight into the social determinants of health and the related importance of community engagement; and they developed useful skills in health promotion project planning, implementation and evaluation. Community partners and faculty tutors indicated that equal partnership, greater collaboration, and a participatory approach to course development are essential to sustainability in CSL. CSL can play an important role in nurturing a purposeful sense of social responsibility among future practitioners. Our study enabled the implementation of an innovative longitudinal course (professionalism and community service) in all 4 years of the dental curriculum.

  14. Species succession and sustainability of the Great Lakes fish community

    Science.gov (United States)

    Eshenroder, Randy L.; Burnham-Curtis, Mary K.; Taylor, William W.; Ferreri, C. Paola

    1999-01-01

    This article concentrates on the sustainability of the offshore pelagic and deepwater fish communities that were historically dominated by lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush). The causes of alteration in these fish communities (i.e., overfishing, introductions, and cultural eutrophication) were identified by Loftus and Regier (1972). Here we look at the ecology of these altered communities in relation to sustainability and discuss the need for restoration.

  15. Energy sustainable communities: Environmental psychological investigations

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Schweizer-Ries, Petra

    2008-01-01

    Energy sustainability is becoming an increasing issue-or rather 'the' issue in our society. Often it is reduced to a purely technical problem. Renewable energies and energy-efficient technologies are developed to solve the problem, but finally the end-users will 'decide' how much and what kind of energy they are going to consume. This article is targeted on showing the environmental psychological aspects of the change of energy demand and supply. It builds upon a transactional model of human technology interchange and summarises environmental psychological work done during more than 5 years. It refers to the idea of energy sustainable communities (ESCs), shows the development of one example community and concentrates on one aspect of the social dimension of ESCs, the 'acceptance of renewable energy technology', its definition and measurement in Germany

  16. Building global learning communities

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Averill Gordon

    2013-09-01

    Full Text Available Within the background where education is increasingly driven by the economies of scale and research funding, we propose an alternative online open and connected framework (OOC for building global learning communities using mobile social media. We critique a three year action research case study involving building collaborative global learning communities around a community of practice of learning researchers and practitioners. The results include the development of a framework for utilising mobile social media to support collaborative curriculum development across international boundaries. We conclude that this framework is potentially transferrable to a range of educational contexts where the focus is upon student-generated mobile social media projects.

  17. Toward a Social Approach to Learning in Community Service Learning

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cooks, Leda; Scharrer, Erica; Paredes, Mari Castaneda

    2004-01-01

    The authors describe a social approach to learning in community service learning that extends the contributions of three theoretical bodies of scholarship on learning: social constructionism, critical pedagogy, and community service learning. Building on the assumptions about learning described in each of these areas, engagement, identity, and…

  18. Sustained Professional Development on Cooperative Learning: Impact on Six Teachers' Practices and Students' Learning.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Goodyear, Victoria A

    2017-03-01

    It has been argued, extensively and internationally, that sustained school-based continuous professional development (CPD) has the potential to overcome some of the shortcomings of traditional one-off CPD programs. Yet, the evidence base on more effective or less effective forms of CPD is contradictory. The mechanisms by which sustained support should be offered are unclear, and the impacts on teachers' and students' learning are complex and difficult to track. The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of a sustained school-based, tailored, and supported CPD program on teachers' practices and students' learning. Data are reported from 6 case studies of individual teachers engaged in a yearlong CPD program focused on cooperative learning. The CPD program involved participatory action research and frequent interaction/support from a boundary spanner (researcher/facilitator). Data were gathered from 29 video-recorded lessons, 108 interviews, and 35 field journal entries. (a) Individualized (external) support, (b) departmental (internal) support, and (c) sustained support impacted teachers' practices of cooperative learning. The teachers adapted their practices of cooperative learning in response to their students' learning needs. Teachers began to develop a level of pedagogical fluency, and in doing so, teachers advanced students' learning. Because this study demonstrates impact, it contributes to international literature on effective CPD. The key contribution is the detailed evidence about how and why CPD supported 6 individual teachers to learn-differently-and the complexity of the learning support required to engage in ongoing curriculum development to positively impact student learning.

  19. Lessons learned from the PMI case study: the community perspective.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hare, M L; Orians, C E; Kennedy, M G; Goodman, K J; Wijesinha, S; Seals, B F

    2000-03-01

    This summary report presents the lessons learned during the two-part qualitative case study on the efficacy of the Prevention Marketing Initiative (PMI) in its implementation of an HIV prevention program. About 179 community participants were included in the PMI program, which discussed topics ranging from organizing initial planning committees to financially sustaining federal demonstration programs. One of the successes observed was the development of rapport with schools and churches; however, during the course of its implementation, the program realized the necessity of 1) approaching the program as an ongoing process; 2) going beyond studying the target population through formative research; 3) changing the role of a community coalition as the project matures; 4) reexamining the composition of coalition in the light of the target audience; 5) advocating the project as a community resource that promotes collaboration; 6) attending the needs of coalition members; and 7) using the media in the campaign. Likewise, several lessons were also learned in the areas of youth involvement, intervention development, program implementation, and maintenance of PMI activities.

  20. The Learning Community.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Boo, Mary Richardson; Decker, Larry E.

    This guide to community education offers strategies and suggestions for responding to the call for more community involvement in partnership efforts that will benefit education and society. First, a brief introduction summarizes the philosophy of community education, defining it as a belief that learning is lifelong and that self-help efforts…

  1. E-Model for Online Learning Communities.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rogo, Ellen J; Portillo, Karen M

    2015-10-01

    The purpose of this study was to explore the students' perspectives on the phenomenon of online learning communities while enrolled in a graduate dental hygiene program. A qualitative case study method was designed to investigate the learners' experiences with communities in an online environment. A cross-sectional purposive sampling method was used. Interviews were the data collection method. As the original data were being analyzed, the researchers noted a pattern evolved indicating the phenomenon developed in stages. The data were re-analyzed and validated by 2 member checks. The participants' experiences revealed an e-model consisting of 3 stages of formal learning community development as core courses in the curriculum were completed and 1 stage related to transmuting the community to an informal entity as students experienced the independent coursework in the program. The development of the formal learning communities followed 3 stages: Building a Foundation for the Learning Community, Building a Supportive Network within the Learning Community and Investing in the Community to Enhance Learning. The last stage, Transforming the Learning Community, signaled a transition to an informal network of learners. The e-model was represented by 3 key elements: metamorphosis of relationships, metamorphosis through the affective domain and metamorphosis through the cognitive domain, with the most influential element being the affective development. The e-model describes a 4 stage process through which learners experience a metamorphosis in their affective, relationship and cognitive development. Synergistic learning was possible based on the interaction between synergistic relationships and affective actions. Copyright © 2015 The American Dental Hygienists’ Association.

  2. Sustainability indicator system and policy processes in Malaysia: a framework for utilisation and learning.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hezri, A A

    2004-12-01

    Formulation of effective sustainability indicators for national assessment demands a comprehensive understanding of the utilisation, diffusion and dissemination of information in policy processes. To illustrate the dynamic of sustainability assessment within the context of policy processes, this paper uses a case study of national sustainability indicators development in Malaysia. Subsequently, this paper ascribes the limited achievement of national sustainability assessment in Malaysia to four types of constraints: meta-policy issues; technical capacities; communication concerns; and the inherent knowledge gaps within the indicator developer community vis-a-vis their theoretical limitations. It is proposed that such constraints will be encountered in many countries. Drawing from the literature on public policy, this paper outlines a framework for investigating indicator behaviour within policy processes based on well-established concepts such as knowledge utilisation and policy learning. I conclude this paper by elaborating on the corresponding future challenges that must be addressed before effective integration of sustainability indicators within policy systems can occur.

  3. Community action for sustainable housing: Building a low-carbon future

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Seyfang, Gill

    2010-01-01

    This paper presents a new analytical framework of 'grassroots innovations' which views community-led initiatives for sustainable development as strategic green niches with the potential for wider transformation of mainstream society. This framework is applied to a low-carbon, low-impact, community-based sustainable housing initiative in the USA that pioneers straw bale housing techniques within a strong community-building ethos. The project is evaluated according to New Economics criteria of sustainable consumption, and is found to be successful at localising the construction supply chain, reducing ecological footprints, community-building, enabling collective action and building new institutions and systems of provision around housebuilding. However, viewing it as a strategic niche with aim to influence wider society, it is clear that it faces significant challenges in diffusing its ideas and practices beyond the niche. Its model is not necessarily suitable for scaling up or widespread replication; however, the scope for niche lessons to be adopted by mainstream builders is greater, given a supportive policy environment. Recognising the innovative nature of green niches at the policy level could lead to new approaches to governance of bottom-up community action for sustainable development.

  4. Community-Based Rural Tourism in Inter-Organizational Collaboration: How Does It Work Sustainably? Lessons Learned from Nglanggeran Tourism Village, Gunungkidul Regency, Yogyakarta, Indonesia

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Asnawi Manaf

    2018-06-01

    Full Text Available In recent years, socio-economic disparities, especially between rural and urban areas (Gini index up to 0.4 have attracted significant concern from the Government of Indonesia, which developed a community-based rural tourism program as one of the attempts to overcome this problem. Though the program seems quite promising, the implementation was challenging, especially regarding sustainability. Therefore, successful and sustainable practical examples are needed. This paper analyzes the results of a case study from the experiences of community-based tourism implementation in Nglanggeran Tourism Village, Gunungkidul Regency, Yogyakarta, Indonesia, which was considered as successful and sustainable. The main focus of this research is on how the collaboration and involvement of the related inter-organizational stakeholders, initiated by the local community, particularly the youth, has contributed to the program sustainability. Data and information for this study were obtained through in-depth interviews, observation, and documents review. This study found that the local community has a major role in implementing the program, among those various entities of stakeholders. Hence, the paper states this is the key to the success and sustainability of the program.

  5. New forms of dwelling – sustainable urban communities

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mojca Šašek Divjak

    2000-01-01

    Full Text Available Various new forms of settlements composed of sustainable communities are emerging all around the World as answers to the urban crises in great cities. These settlements differ, especially when comparing the countries where they appear. However they also have many common features, such as the humane scale and social community cohesion, public participation in their management, enforcing new societal values and sustainable orientation of activities. These settlements where developed following development of information and communication technology and correspond to the introduction of new styles of life and employment.

  6. Community Gardens as a Platform for Education for Sustainability

    Science.gov (United States)

    Corkery, Linda

    2004-01-01

    Community gardens fulfil many roles, including the reclamation of public space, community building, and the facilitation of social and cultural expression. This paper discusses a nexus between research and education for sustainability that evolved out of an examination of the role of community gardens in fostering community development and…

  7. Building Sustainable Futures: Emerging Understandings of the Significant Contribution of the Professional Learning Community

    Science.gov (United States)

    Andrews, Dorothy; Lewis, Marian

    2004-01-01

    This article draws on the experiences of a range of Australian schools engaging with a teacher-centred process of whole-school renewal known as IDEAS (Innovative Designs for Enhancing Achievement in Schools). IDEAS enhances the professional capacity of teachers to improve school outcomes such as student learning, relationships with the community,…

  8. Supporting communities of practice: A reflection on the benefits and challenges facing communities of practice for research and engagement in nursing

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Maretha De Waal

    2016-09-01

    Full Text Available Because of its potential self-sustainability, communities of practice may serve as useful practice-based knowledge sharing platforms for collaborative research and training, and thereby enhance development of human resources in the health sector. However, communities of practice are complex structures and need support from their host organisations and commitment from their members.  This article examines the diverse ways in which communities of nurse educators and practitioners who were part of a funded program in Tshwane District, South Africa evolved over a period of seven years. Adopting an ethnographic approach of reflexivity and learning, we compared and analysed the ways in which the communities of practice became sustainable over time. Our recommendations for institutional support of communities of practice in the health sector are based on the lessons we learned during the program that contributed to the configuration and reconfiguration of some of our communities of practice and the disengagement of others. We believe that our findings may have implications for replicability and sustainability of other communities of practice. Keywords: collaborative learning, collective knowledge, self-sustainability

  9. A Professional Learning Community Journey

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Diana Maliszewski

    2008-06-01

    Full Text Available Four teachers (three classroom teachers and a teacher-librarian explain how their school applied a professional learning community framework to its operational practices. They discuss the process, the benefits, and the challenges of professional learning communities.

  10. The Model of Community Learning Center Development: A Case Study of PKBM Assolahiyah in West Java

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ferdinal Asmin

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available Sustaining community learning center (CLC as a community activity centerby increasing the community capacity and skill to deal with socio-economics challenges is an important focus to ensure the success of CLC. This study was aimed to describe the sustainability elements of CLC development and analyze the policy elements that influence the sustainability of CLC program, particularly in related to CSR program. This study approach was combining a qualitative approach and quantitative approach with analytic decision method which is never conducted in the previous studies on CLC. Data and information were collected through document studies, observations and structured interviews through questionnaires, then they were analyzed using descriptive analysis and interpretive structural modeling (ISM analysis. From ten elements of CLC sustainability were analyzed, the result of study emphasized to the importance of CLC management capacity enhancement in PKBM Assolahiyah. The result was synthesized into a policy model of CLC development through CSR program. The policy model should involve the roles of government, scientist, and non-governmental organization (NGO to strengthen the CLC development

  11. Classifying Adoption of Sustainability Policies and Programs: Quantitative and Qualitative Methods for the Development of a Community Sustainability Typology

    Science.gov (United States)

    Understanding how and why different communities engage with sustainability policies and actions is of critical importance for furthering implementation of innovative and conventional sustainability strategies. Despite this importance, an understanding of how and why communities a...

  12. THE USE OF CONSUMER COMMUNITIES TO CREATE SUSTAINABLE CONSUMPTION

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Monika Skorek

    2015-09-01

    Full Text Available The paper presents an explanation of the essence of creation of consumer communities that have been developing for several years on the marketing market. A hypothesis was made that says that the mechanism of interdependence existing in the consumer community can be used to create sustainable consumption on the market. The method of literature study was used in the article. In the introduction it was proved that regardless of whether a community is formed independently around the brand or not, its existence is initiated by a company and its members interact by providing one another with the patterns of consumption. The reasons for consumers’ belonging to communities around the brand were described. The presented literature analysis revealed that the appropriate management of the community around the brand can serve the company to create a sustainable product consumption. 

  13. Accounting for Sustainability: An Active Learning Assignment

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gusc, Joanna; van Veen-Dirks, Paula

    2017-01-01

    Purpose: Sustainability is one of the newer topics in the accounting courses taught in university teaching programs. The active learning assignment as described in this paper was developed for use in an accounting course in an undergraduate program. The aim was to enhance teaching about sustainability within such a course. The purpose of this…

  14. Endogenously and exogenously driven selective sustained attention: Contributions to learning in kindergarten children.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Erickson, Lucy C; Thiessen, Erik D; Godwin, Karrie E; Dickerson, John P; Fisher, Anna V

    2015-10-01

    Selective sustained attention is vital for higher order cognition. Although endogenous and exogenous factors influence selective sustained attention, assessment of the degree to which these factors influence performance and learning is often challenging. We report findings from the Track-It task, a paradigm that aims to assess the contribution of endogenous and exogenous factors to selective sustained attention within the same task. Behavioral accuracy and eye-tracking data on the Track-It task were correlated with performance on an explicit learning task. Behavioral accuracy and fixations to distractors during the Track-It task did not predict learning when exogenous factors supported selective sustained attention. In contrast, when endogenous factors supported selective sustained attention, fixations to distractors were negatively correlated with learning. Similarly, when endogenous factors supported selective sustained attention, higher behavioral accuracy was correlated with greater learning. These findings suggest that endogenously and exogenously driven selective sustained attention, as measured through different conditions of the Track-It task, may support different kinds of learning. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  15. Adaptive Management and Social Learning in Collaborative and Community-Based Monitoring: a Study of Five Community-Based Forestry Organizations in the western USA

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Maria E. Fernandez-Gimenez

    2008-12-01

    Full Text Available Collaborative and community-based monitoring are becoming more frequent, yet few studies have examined the process and outcomes of these monitoring approaches. We studied 18 collaborative or community-based ecological assessment or monitoring projects undertaken by five community-based forestry organizations (CBFs, to investigate the objectives, process, and outcomes of collaborative ecological monitoring by CBF organizations. We found that collaborative monitoring can lead to shared ecological understanding among diverse participants, build trust internally and credibility externally, foster social learning and community-building, and advance adaptive management. The CBFs experienced challenges in recruiting and sustaining community participation in monitoring, building needed technical capacity for monitoring, and communicating monitoring results back to the broader community. Our results suggest that involving diverse and sometimes adversarial interests at key points in the monitoring process can help resolve conflicts and advance social learning, while also strengthening the link between social and ecological systems by improving the information base for management and increasing collective awareness of the interdependence of human and natural forest communities.

  16. Enhancing Self-Efficacy in Elementary Science Teaching With Professional Learning Communities

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mintzes, Joel J.; Marcum, Bev; Messerschmidt-Yates, Christl; Mark, Andrew

    2013-11-01

    Emerging from Bandura's Social Learning Theory, this study of in-service elementary school teachers examined the effects of sustained Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) on self-efficacy in science teaching. Based on mixed research methods, and a non-equivalent control group experimental design, the investigation explored changes in personal self-efficacy and outcome expectancy among teachers engaged in PLCs that featured Demonstration Laboratories, Lesson Study, and annual Summer Institutes. Significant changes favoring the experimental group were found on all quantitative measures of self-efficacy. Structured clinical interviews revealed that observed changes were largely attributable to a wide range of direct (mastery) and vicarious experiences, as well as emotional reinforcement and social persuasion.

  17. Partnering for a greener community, Virginia Tech, the Town of Blacksburg, and Sustainable Blacksburg present Sustainability Week 2008

    OpenAIRE

    Harris, Jennifer

    2008-01-01

    Virginia Tech, the Town of Blacksburg and Sustainable Blacksburg have partnered to present Sustainability Week 2008, Oct. 20 through 25. During Sustainability Week more than 20 activities, events and tours, focused on building and sustaining a greener community, have been scheduled.

  18. Promoting sustainable regeneration: learning from a case study in participatory HIA

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Greig, Sue; Parry, Neil; Rimmington, Barbara

    2004-01-01

    The object of the health impact assessment (HIA) was to inform economic development of a neighbourhood in Sheffield (England) and to use HIA as a tool to increase the participation of local communities in strategic development decisions. Community profiling and literature review was followed by analysis and prioritisation of policy and health impacts, and recommendations for policy change. A series of Standing Conferences were used to bring community, statutory and private sector perspectives together for debate. The paper reflects upon the extent to which the economic, environmental, and social HIA recommendations have been implemented, 2 years on. It concludes that most progress has been made where lobbying and action by local groups has been able to bring about change. Unsurprisingly regional and national policy making has proved harder to influence. Involvement of two community partnership groups was important in building community involvement. The learning is summarised in a 10 point list of factors which enable HIA to make a difference. It is concluded that participatory HIA can not only assist in identifying the integrated solutions which sustainable development requires, but also helps form the partnerships and alliances required to realise such solutions

  19. Problem Based Learning and sustainability

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Pizzol, Massimo; Løkke, Søren; Schmidt, Jannick Højrup

    and challenges that the PBL model offers for developing five key competences in sustainability: (i) system thinking, (ii) interpersonal competence, (iii) anticipatory competence, (iv) strategic competence, (v) normative competences. The study draws on the experiences from PBL activities performed at Aalborg...... University (AAU), Denmark, and focuses on the teaching of Life Cycle Assessment as a method for sustainability assessment. The objective is providing recommendations for future LCA teaching and learning. PBL activites performed at AAU were evaluated critically to detemine to what extent they addressed...... of how PBL-approaches were used to develop five specific competences in sustainability. It is concluded that -for the case fo LCA teaching at AAU- the PBL model included activities to develop system thinking, interpersonal competence, and normative competence. However, the PBL approach should...

  20. Promoting sustainable living in the borderless world through blended learning platforms

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Khar Thoe Ng

    2013-11-01

    Full Text Available Student-centred learning approaches like collaborative learning are needed to facilitate meaningful learning among self-motivated lifelong learners within educational institutions through interorganizational Open and Distant Learning (ODL approaches. The purpose of this study is to develop blended learning platforms to promote sustainable living, building on an e-hub with sub-portals in SEARCH to facilitate activities such as “Education for Sustainable Development” (ESD, webinars, authentic learning, and the role of m-/e-learning. Survey questionnaires and mixed-research approach with mixed-mode of data analysis were used including some survey findings of in-service teachers’ understanding and attitudes towards ESD and three essential skills for sustainable living. Case studies were reported in telecollaborative project on “Disaster Risk Reduction Education” (DR RED in Malaysia, Germany and Philippines. These activities were organized internationally to facilitate communication through e-platforms among participants across national borders using digital tools to build relationships, promote students’ Higher Order Thinking (HOT skills and innate ability to learn independently.

  1. Trajectories of Attaining and Sustaining Quality in E-learning ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Trajectories of Attaining and Sustaining Quality in E-learning. ... Log in or Register to get access to full text downloads. ... Experts must be employed who will evaluate appropriateness of e-learning procedures, accuracy of e-learning content ...

  2. An Integrated Approach to “Sustainable Community-Based Tourism”

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tek B. Dangi

    2016-05-01

    Full Text Available Two rich knowledge domains have been evolving along parallel pathways in tourism studies: sustainable tourism (ST and community-based tourism (CBT. Within both lie diverse definitions, principles, criteria, critical success factors and benefits sought or outcomes desired, advocated by different stakeholders ranging from quasi-governmental and non-profit organizations to public-private sector and academic interests. This poses significant challenges to those interested in theory building, research and practice in the sustainable development and management of tourism. The paper builds on a previous article published in Sustainability by presenting an integrated framework based on a comprehensive, in-depth review and analysis of the tourism-related literature. The study reveals not just common ground and differences that might be anticipated, but also important sustainability dimensions that are lagging or require much greater attention, such as equity, justice, ethical and governance issues. A preliminary framework of “sustainable community-based tourism” (SCBT is forwarded that attempts to bridge the disparate literature on ST and CBT. Critical directions forward are offered to progress research and sustainability-oriented practices towards more effective development and management of tourism in the 21st century.

  3. Environmental Sustainability Change Management in SMEs: Learning from Sustainability Champions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chadee, Doren; Wiesner, Retha; Roxas, Banjo

    2011-01-01

    This study identifies the change management processes involved in undertaking environmental sustainability (ES) initiatives within Small and Medium Size Enterprises (SMEs) and relate these to the main attributes of learning organisations. Using case study techniques, the study draws from the change management experiences of a sample of 12 ES…

  4. Evolving prosocial and sustainable neighborhoods and communities.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Biglan, Anthony; Hinds, Erika

    2009-01-01

    In this review, we examine randomized controlled trials of community interventions to affect health. The evidence supports the efficacy of community interventions for preventing tobacco, alcohol, and other drug use; several recent trials have shown the benefits of community interventions for preventing multiple problems of young people, including antisocial behavior. However, the next generation of community intervention research needs to reflect more fully the fact that most psychological and behavioral problems of humans are interrelated and result from the same environmental conditions. The evidence supports testing new comprehensive community interventions that focus on increasing nurturance in communities. Nurturing communities will be ones in which families, schools, neighborhoods, and workplaces (a) minimize biologically and socially toxic events, (b) richly reinforce prosocial behavior, and (c) foster psychological acceptance. Such interventions also have the potential to make neighborhoods more sustainable.

  5. Factors influencing perceived sustainability of Dutch community health programs.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vermeer, A J M; Van Assema, P; Hesdahl, B; Harting, J; De Vries, N K

    2015-09-01

    We assessed the perceived sustainability of community health programs organized by local intersectoral coalitions, as well as the factors that collaborating partners think might influence sustainability. Semi-structured interviews were conducted among 31 collaborating partners of 5 community health programs in deprived neighborhoods in the southern part of the Netherlands. The interview guide was based on a conceptual framework that includes factors related to the context, the leading organization, leadership, the coalition, collaborating partners, interventions and outcomes. Interviews were recorded, transcribed and content analyzed using NVivo 8.0. Participants in each of the programs varied in their perceptions of the sustainability of the program, but those people collaborating in pre-existing neighborhood structures expressed relatively high faith in their continuation. The participating citizens in particular believed that these structures would continue to address the health of the community in the future. We found factors from all categories of the conceptual framework that were perceived to influence sustainability. The program leaders appeared to be crucial to the programs, as they were frequently mentioned in close interaction with other factors. Program leaders should use a motivating and supportive leadership style and should act as 'program champions'. © The Author (2013). Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

  6. Crowd-sourcing higher education architecting the sustainable design and development of E-Learning in Africa

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Griff Richards

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available Post-secondary access in Africa hovers around 6%, in part because there is a lack of access to physical campuses. In Phase I of the African Virtual University’s Multinational Project, 73 undergraduate courses were developed and published as OERs in English, French and Portuguese. These in turn were adopted and localized by African universities. While over 1.3 million downloads of the materials have taken place in the last 5 years, no attempt was made to harness the input of user to maintain or improve the courses. Seven years later, the African Virtual University will renew these courses along with another 50 or so in disciplines of high demand. But this time the AVU architecture will call for a sustainable approach to e-learning that challenges the 22 universities in 15 countries to not only help further develop the courses, but also to maintain them and sustain them across multiple languages.This article discusses the potential role of crowd-sourcing in curriculum development, and sketches a preliminary architecture for building a community of practice to sustain e-Learning in Africa. 

  7. Four Stories: People, Communities and Sustainability. Environments for Life Conservation Issues Forum Series.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pearson, Andrew

    Education about sustainability is the foundation of conservation efforts. This publication was designed to inform and inspire individuals and communities that may be contemplating or already undertaking efforts to promote community sustainability. The four stories in this booklet are: (1) "Coastal Community Connections"; (2) "Cultivating Farm…

  8. Learning and Best Practices for Learning in Open-Source Software Communities

    Science.gov (United States)

    Singh, Vandana; Holt, Lila

    2013-01-01

    This research is about participants who use open-source software (OSS) discussion forums for learning. Learning in online communities of education as well as non-education-related online communities has been studied under the lens of social learning theory and situated learning for a long time. In this research, we draw parallels among these two…

  9. Sustainable School Leadership: The Teachers' Perspective

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cook, John W.

    2014-01-01

    Sustainable school leadership is essential to the academic growth of students and professional growth of faculty and staff. Shedding light on what constitutes sustainable leadership from the perspective of teachers will increase our understanding of how specific leadership practices and processes impact those in the learning community who are…

  10. THE SCHOOL AS A LEARNING COMMUNITY

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Cintya Arely Hernández-López

    2015-07-01

    Full Text Available In the present study is to weight the learning communities, starting to know the approach that has a school in the Chihuahua state to become a learning community, expecting describe how the school gathers the elements to operate as such. The method that was in use was the study of case, resting on the technologies of observation, interview and survey, same that complemented each other with the information that came from the survey and from the analysis of the “portafolio”. The case of study though it presents characteristics that demonstrate inside a community of learning as quality, collaborative work however the institution does not possess the opening and the participation of the involved ones, being an obstacle for the consolidation and benefit of the educational community; ith what there meets distant the possibility that this politics to turn to the school in a community of learning could be consolidate.

  11. Learning Our Way to Sustainability

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wals, Arjen E. J.

    2011-01-01

    Should environmental education (EE) and education for sustainable development (ESD) try to change students' behaviours or should it focus on capacity building and critical thinking? The latter is more likely to lead to a citizenry that can examine new challenges and act wisely. New forms of learning are entering the arena of EE and ESD such as…

  12. The Sustainable and Healthy Communities Research Program: The Environmental Protection Agency’s Research Approach to Assisting Community Decision-Making

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kevin Summers

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available A sustainable world is one in which human needs are met equitably and without sacrificing the ability of future generations to meet their needs on environmental, economic, and social fronts. The United States (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Sustainable and Healthy Communities Research Program aims to assist communities (large and small to make decisions for their long term sustainability with respect to the three pillars of human well-being—environmental, economic and social—and are tempered in a way that ensures social equity, environmental justice and intergenerational equity. The primary tool being developed by the Sustainable and Healthy Communities (SHC research program to enhance sustainable decision making is called TRIO (Total Resources Impacts and Outcomes. The conceptual development of this tool and the SHC program attributes are discussed.

  13. Virtual learning networks for sustainable development

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    De Kraker, Joop; Cörvers, Ron

    2010-01-01

    Sustainable development is a participatory, multi-actor process. In this process, learning plays a major role as participants have to exchange and integrate a diversity of perspectives and types of knowledge and expertise in order to arrive at innovative, jointly supported solutions. Virtual

  14. Role of community acceptance in sustainable bioenergy projects in India

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Eswarlal, Vimal Kumar; Vasudevan, Geoffrey; Dey, Prasanta Kumar; Vasudevan, Padma

    2014-01-01

    Community acceptance has been identified as one of the key requirements for a sustainable bioenergy project. However less attention has been paid to this aspect from developing nations and small projects perspective. Therefore this research examines the role of community acceptance for sustainable small scale bioenergy projects in India. While addressing the aim, this work identifies influence of community over bioenergy projects, major concerns of communities regarding bioenergy projects and factors influencing perceptions of communities about bioenergy projects. The empirical research was carried out on four bioenergy companies in India as case studies. It has been identified that communities have significant influence over bioenergy projects in India. Local air pollution, inappropriate storage of by-products and credibility of developer are identified as some of the important concerns. Local energy needs, benefits to community from bioenergy companies, level of trust on company and relationship between company and the community are some of the prime factors which influence community's perception on bioenergy projects. This research sheds light on important aspects related to community acceptance of bioenergy projects, and this information would help practitioners in understanding the community perceptions and take appropriate actions to satisfy them

  15. Incorporating Sustainability into Engineering and Chemical Education Using E-Learning

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Edmond Sanganyado

    2018-03-01

    Full Text Available The purpose of this study was to develop e-learning activities that could facilitate the integration of sustainability concepts and practices in engineering and chemical education. Using an online learning management system (LMS, undergraduate students in an applied chemistry program at a public university in Zimbabwe participated in an online discussion on the role of chemical reaction engineering in achieving environmental sustainability goals. In the second activity, the students were instructed to prepare a design report for a cost-effective and innovative wastewater treatment plant for a rural hospital. The design report was evaluated through peer review online. Quantitative and qualitative analyses were performed on the two online activities to evaluate student engagement, quality of responses and the incorporation of sustainability into their learning. In the online discussion, 97 comments were made averaging 120 words per comment. Furthermore, the students averaged 3.88 comments, with the majority of comments exhibiting simple and complex argumentation, a deep reflection and widespread use of terms associated with sustainability such as recycling, pollution, waste and the environment. Furthermore, the evaluation of peer reviews revealed that participants demonstrated they could identify the strengths and shortcomings in the design reports. Therefore, this study demonstrated that e-learning, particularly peer review and online discussion, could help chemistry and engineering students appreciate the need for chemical and engineering activities that encourage sustainable development.

  16. Defining sustainable practice in community-based health promotion: a Delphi study of practitioner perspectives.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Harris, Neil; Sandor, Maria

    2013-04-01

    Sustainability of practice must be a central imperative in the practice of community-based health promotion to achieve population health and attract a greater share of public health spending. Although there has been some consideration of sustainability at the project or program levels, often understood as intervention longevity, very limited attention has been given to understanding sustainable practice. The present study develops a definition and features of sustainable practice in community-based health promotion through a Delphi method with health promotion practitioners in Queensland, Australia. The study presents a consensus definition and features of sustainable practice. The definition highlights the importance of collaboration, health determinants and aspirations, processes and outcomes. The four features of sustainable practice identified in the study are: (1) effective relationships and partnerships; (2) evidence-based decision making and practice; (3) emphasis on building community capacity; and (4) supportive context for practice. The definition and features are, to a large extent, consistent with the limited literature around sustainability at the project and program levels of health promotion. Together, they provide insight into a form of community-based health promotion that will be both viable and productive. So what? This consensus understanding of sustainable practice articulates the foundations of working effectively with local communities in achieving improved population health within global limits.

  17. A Framework for Sustainable Mobile Learning in Schools

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ng, Wan; Nicholas, Howard

    2013-01-01

    While there are studies that have looked at the implementation of mobile learning in educational institutions, particularly the identification of issues encountered, few studies have explored holistically the elements that sustain mobile learning. This study dissects the findings of a longitudinal study of a secondary school adopting a personal…

  18. Sustainable mining, local communities and environmental regulation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kokko Kai

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available Sustainable mining is an objective as well as a tool for balancing economic, social, and environmental considerations. Each of these three dimensions of mining – and sustainable development – has many components, some of which were chosen for closer study in the SUMILCERE project. While there is no single component that in itself provides a definitive argument for or against sustainable mining, the research reveals some that have proven valuable in the process of balancing the different dimensions of sustainability. In the SUMILCERE project, comparative studies enabled us to identify factors such as the following, which are essential when discussing the balancing in practice of the three dimensions of sustainable mining cited above: the framework and functionality of environmental regulation to protect the environment (environmental sustainability; competitiveness of the mining industry in light of environmental regulation and its enforcement (economic sustainability; public participation and the opportunities local communities have to influence their surroundings, as well as communities’ acceptance of projects (social sustainability before and during operations; and the protection of Sámi cultural rights in mining projects (social and cultural sustainability. Although each of the three dimensions of sustainability leaves room for discretion in the weight assigned to it, ecological sustainability, protected by smart environmental regulation and minimum standards, sets essential boundaries that leave no room for compromises. Economic and social sustainability are possible only within these limits. Details of the analyses in the Kolarctic area and accounts of the methods used can befound in the cited SUMILCERE articles.

  19. EDUCATING ENGINEERS FOR/IN SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT? WHAT WE KNEW, WHAT WE LEARNED, AND WHAT WE SHOULD LEARN

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Karel F Mulder

    2010-01-01

    Full Text Available In the past decade, several engineering universities, mainly in Europe, but also in Australia, North America, and Japan, have been addressing the issue of sustainable development. Engineering education in sustainable development has been discussed at many occasions. What questions have been addressed, what answers have been provided, and what are the main remaining topics for research into engineering education in sustainable development? What should engineers learn regarding sustainable development? How to trigger institutional change within engineering schools: top-down or bottom-up? How to trigger cultural change, how to win the hearts and souls of the faculty? Curriculum change: starting new programs or changing existing ones? The contribution of active learning and project based learning? The role of external stakeholders, external cooperation? How to measure sustainable development learning effects? Practice what you preach: how to green the campus, diminish resource consumption and sustainabilise procurement? How to teach normative content in an academic context? The paper, based mainly on the European literature on EESD of the last decade, discusses the answers that were provided and present an agenda for further research in EESD (This paper has mainly a European perspective. An overview of sustainable development engineering education in the USA can be found in [80].

  20. Using a multi-state Learning Community as an implementation strategy for immediate postpartum long-acting reversible contraception.

    Science.gov (United States)

    DeSisto, Carla L; Estrich, Cameron; Kroelinger, Charlan D; Goodman, David A; Pliska, Ellen; Mackie, Christine N; Waddell, Lisa F; Rankin, Kristin M

    2017-11-21

    Implementation strategies are imperative for the successful adoption and sustainability of complex evidence-based public health practices. Creating a learning collaborative is one strategy that was part of a recently published compilation of implementation strategy terms and definitions. In partnership with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other partner agencies, the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials recently convened a multi-state Learning Community to support cross-state collaboration and provide technical assistance for improving state capacity to increase access to long-acting reversible contraception (LARC) in the immediate postpartum period, an evidence-based practice with the potential for reducing unintended pregnancy and improving maternal and child health outcomes. During 2015-2016, the Learning Community included multi-disciplinary, multi-agency teams of state health officials, payers, clinicians, and health department staff from 13 states. This qualitative study was conducted to better understand the successes, challenges, and strategies that the 13 US states in the Learning Community used for increasing access to immediate postpartum LARC. We conducted telephone interviews with each team in the Learning Community. Interviews were semi-structured and organized by the eight domains of the Learning Community. We coded transcribed interviews for facilitators, barriers, and implementation strategies, using a recent compilation of expert-defined implementation strategies as a foundation for coding the latter. Data analysis showed three ways that the activities of the Learning Community helped in policy implementation work: structure and accountability, validity, and preparing for potential challenges and opportunities. Further, the qualitative data demonstrated that the Learning Community integrated six other implementation strategies from the literature: organize clinician implementation team meetings, conduct

  1. Resilient Communities: From Sustainable to Secure

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bragdon, Clifford R.

    2009-07-01

    A sustainable biosphere is an absolute necessity to support the world's growing population, (now exceeding 6.2 billion persons), as civilization advances through the 21st century. Sustainability primarily refers to a bio-physical environment that is not a risk, which can provide the necessary support system for both plant and human habitat involving the earth's lithosphere, hydrosphere and atmosphere. However, that alone will not provide the necessary protection, since our human habitat must also be safe and secure. A more operable term should be resilient, rather than sustainable, since a climate positive community, with an on-site CO2 emission near zero, does not mean the population is protected from both natural and manmade disasters. Effective neoteric planning of our biosphere is necessary as it involves spatial, temporal, and sensory aspects of the community habitat. Two-dimensional planning that addresses just the surface (e.g., land), fails to be comprehensive, since both aerial and subsurface features are omitted. Effective neoteric planning of our biosphere is necessary as it involves spatial, temporal, and sensory aspects of the community habitat. Two-dimensional planning that addresses just the surface (e.g., land), is not comprehensive, since aerial and subsurface features are omitted. A three dimensional approach is needed, which involves the combination of the x, y and z axis, in order to be spatially accurate. Our personal transportation based mobility systems, along with its accompanying infrastructure, has resulted in a drive-thru society that is becoming supersized. Urban obesity in terms of modes of transport and today's living environment has resulted in McMansions and mega-vehicles have created an energy demand that if unchecked could create a carhenge by the year 3000. Infrastructure gridlock besides global warming is costing the world's economy, approximately 6% of the gross domestic product (GDP). Impaired global mobility which threatens

  2. Pedagogies to Achieve Sustainability Learning Outcomes in Civil and Environmental Engineering Students

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Angela R. Bielefeldt

    2013-10-01

    Full Text Available The civil and environmental engineering disciplines have identified the levels of knowledge about sustainability that are desirable for students to achieve as they graduate with a bachelor’s degree, as well as sustainability-related competencies to be obtained during a master’s degree, and on-the-job, prior to professional licensure. Different pedagogies are better suited to help students attain these levels of cognitive ability, while also developing affective outcomes. This paper provides examples of different methods that have been used at one institution to educate engineering students about sustainability, supported with data that indicates whether the method successfully achieved the targeted learning outcomes. Lectures, in-class active learning, readings, and appropriately targeted homework assignments can achieve basic sustainability knowledge and comprehension by requiring students to define, identify, and explain aspects of sustainability. Case studies and the application of software tools are good methods to achieve application and analysis competencies. Project-based learning (PBL and project-based service-learning (PBSL design projects can reach the synthesis level and may also develop affective outcomes related to sustainability. The results provide examples that may apply to a wider range of disciplines and suggest sustainability outcomes that are particularly difficult to teach and/or assess.

  3. Perceived sustainability of community telepharmacy in North Dakota.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Scott, David M; Friesner, Daniel L; Undem, Teri; Anderson, Gabrielle; Sem, Kelli; Peterson, Charles D

    To assess the sustainability of the business model underlying the North Dakota Telepharmacy Project (NDTP). Of the 38 community pharmacy organizations (14 central, 24 remote), 27 organizations (11 central and 16 remote sites) in North Dakota provided a useable set of responses (71.1% response rate). A twelfth organization (a community pharmacy) ceased operations over the study's time frame and was not included in the data analysis. Emphasis is placed on NDTP community telepharmacies, because the community telepharmacy business model is more established than hospital telepharmacies. Yet little is known about the long-run financial viability of telepharmacies. Originally funded by a series of federal grants, the goal of the NDTP was to create the infrastructure necessary to support the development of telepharmacy sites. A 48-item questionnaire assessed the self-reported operational, financial, and community impacts of a community telepharmacy. The questionnaire was administered from December 2015 to February 2016 to all NDTP community telepharmacy owners-managers. Thus, 1 participant (owner-manager) addressed both central and remote-site locations served by a pharmacy. Most respondents reported that their telepharmacy sites (especially remote sites) generate small positive financial returns for the organization. Respondents also reported that the closure of their remote sites would significantly harm the communities they serve. NDTP aims of restoration and retention have been achieved via the investment and shared decision making with pharmacy owners in North Dakota. The telepharmacy model is sustainable, even if it does not generate significant economic profit. Copyright © 2017 American Pharmacists Association®. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  4. Collaborative ICT-supported Learning for Sustainable Development ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Information literacy, the ability to search and assess information and use relevant and valid ... as virtual rooms and time management are prerequisites for many employment opportunities. ... Keywords: ICT, e-learning, sustainable development ...

  5. Finding Sustainability: University-community collaborations focused on arts in health

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mike White

    2011-11-01

    Full Text Available This article describes a number of community-based arts in health projects in schools and disadvantaged communities in Northern England that connect with the interdisciplinary research interests of the Centre for Medical Humanities at Durham University (www.dur.ac.uk/cmh. It examines issues about what makes for sustainability in both practice and research of arts in health when operating from a university base and stresses the importance of relationship-based work in health promotion interventions in communities. It attempts to set arts development work in the policy context of how community health has been addressed over the last decade. It provides both practical and metaphorical illustrations of how community cohesion and emotional literacy can be developed and recognised in schools and communities when supported by ethnographic research that is underpinned by theories of social capital, resilience and participatory arts practice. The significance that the artwork can attain as a social gift, with a special meaning for its creators, is examined from an anthropological perspective. Looking historically and comparatively at some longitudinal projects in community-based arts in health, the article assesses what makes for both success and failure in practice, and looks particularly at the significance of the arts in helping to deliver strategies for improving child health and education. In a strategic development context, explanation is given of several strands of university-community collaboration in arts in health, with interlinked project examples drawn from Tyneside and West Yorkshire. Finally, the article looks at the prospects for sustaining arts in health within the coming transfer of the public health function to local government. Keywords Sustainability, arts in community health, resilience, child mental health, social capital

  6. Analyzing Learning in Professional Learning Communities: A Conceptual Framework

    Science.gov (United States)

    Van Lare, Michelle D.; Brazer, S. David

    2013-01-01

    The purpose of this article is to build a conceptual framework that informs current understanding of how professional learning communities (PLCs) function in conjunction with organizational learning. The combination of sociocultural learning theories and organizational learning theories presents a more complete picture of PLC processes that has…

  7. Pediatric obesity community programs: barriers & facilitators toward sustainability.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Po'e, Eli K; Gesell, Sabina B; Lynne Caples, T; Escarfuller, Juan; Barkin, Shari L

    2010-08-01

    Our current generation of young people could become the first generation to live shorter lives than their parents. Families need resources in their community to address this issue. Identifying barriers and facilitators of community organizations to offer obesity-related services is a first step in understanding sustainable community programs. The objective of this study is to identify common barriers and facilitators in community organizational programs designed to prevent or reduce pediatric obesity. We conducted an exploratory qualitative research study based on grounded theory. Thirty-six community organizations were identified based on self-descriptions of goals involving pediatric obesity. Semi-structured, systematic, face-to-face interviews among program directors (n = 24) were recorded, transcribed, and coded for recurrent themes. Relevant themes were abstracted from interviews by a standardized iterative process by two independent reviewers between December 2007 and November 2008. Theme discordance was reconciled by a third reviewer. Seventy percent of organizations indicated that obesity prevention/treatment was their explicit goal with remaining groups indicating healthy lifestyles as a more general goal. Facilitators to provision of these programs included: programmatic enhancements such as improved curriculums (73%), community involvement such as volunteers (62.5%), and partnerships with other programs (54.2%). Barriers that threatened sustainability included lack of consistent funding (43.8%), lack of consistent participation from the target population (41.7%) and lack of support staff (20.8%). New approaches in fostering partnerships between organizations need to be developed. Building coalitions and engaging community members in developing community based programs may be a helpful strategy to strengthen community-based programs to address the pediatric obesity epidemic.

  8. Evaluating School-Community Participation in Developing a Local Sustainability Agenda

    Science.gov (United States)

    Eilam, Efrat; Trop, Tamar

    2013-01-01

    Increasingly, international and national statements are calling for the development of local sustainability scenarios within partnerships between schools and their communities. The present study addresses the question of reciprocity in such partnerships, by comparing the sustainability agendas underlying schools' educational programs to the…

  9. Building Learning Communities: Foundations for Good Practice

    Science.gov (United States)

    Davies, Alison; Ramsay, Jill; Lindfield, Helen; Couperthwaite, John

    2005-01-01

    The School of Health Sciences at the University of Birmingham provided opportunities for the development of student learning communities and online resources within the neurological module of the BSc Physiotherapy degree programme. These learning communities were designed to facilitate peer and independent learning in core aspects underpinning…

  10. Experiential Learning for Engaging Nutrition Undergraduates with Sustainability

    Science.gov (United States)

    Maher, Judith; Burkhart, Sarah

    2017-01-01

    Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to describe students' self-reported learning from engaging in an experiential learning task designed to develop their understanding of sustainable food systems and dietary practices. Design/methodology/approach: In all, 143 first-year students enrolled in an entry level food and nutrition subject undertook a…

  11. 77 FR 10543 - Announcement of Funding Awards for the Capacity Building for Sustainable Communities Program for...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2012-02-22

    ... Awards for the Capacity Building for Sustainable Communities Program for Fiscal Year 2011 AGENCY: Office... INFORMATION: The Capacity Building for Sustainable Communities Program identifies intermediary organizations... announces the allocation total of $5.65 million for Capacity Building for Sustainable Communities grants, of...

  12. Sustainability in CALL Learning Environments: A Systemic Functional Grammar Approach

    Science.gov (United States)

    McDonald, Peter

    2014-01-01

    This research aims to define a sustainable resource in Computer-Assisted Language Learning (CALL). In order for a CALL resource to be sustainable it must work within existing educational curricula. This feature is a necessary prerequisite of sustainability because, despite the potential for educational change that digitalization has offered since…

  13. Community Disaster and Sustainability Teams for Civil Protection

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kelman, I.; Cordonnier, B.

    2009-04-01

    Many examples of community-based teams for civil protection and disaster risk reduction exist. Turkey has a Community Disaster Volunteer Training Program while the USA has Community Emergency Response Teams which have been extended into secondary schools as Teen School Emergency Response Training. The principles and practices of these teams further apply directly to other development and sustainability endeavours, all of which are intricately linked to disaster risk reduction and civil protection. An example is keeping local water courses and storm drains clear from rubbish. That improves community health and cleanliness while assisting rainfall drainage to reduce flood risk. The "community teams" concept, as implemented for civil protection and disaster risk reduction, therefore connects with day-to-day living, such as ensuring that all community members have adequate access to water, food, waste management, shelter, health care, education, and energy. Community teams should be based on the best science and pedagogy available to ensure that concepts, training, skills, and implementation are effective and are maintained over the long-term. That entails going beyond the interest that is commonly generated by highlighting high-profile events, such as hurricanes and earthquakes, or high-profile concerns, such as climate change or terrorism. When community teams are focused on high-profile challenges, maintaining interest can be difficult without specific manifestations of the perceived "number one threat". Incorporating day-to-day concerns into civil protection can overcome that. For example, the community teams' talents and energy could be used for picking up rubbish, for educating about health and waste disposal, and for conducting vulnerability assessments in order to inspire action for continual vulnerability reduction. In addition to the examples given above, Japan's Jishu-bosai-soshiki community activities and Asia's "Townwatch" initiative adopt wider and deeper

  14. Teacher-Community Cooperation to Promote Sustainability of ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    This study was undertaken with 83 teachers from 54 primary schools in Kenya. Its purpose was to establish how teachers relate with the local community and how they harness this interaction to promote sustainability of wetlands within their locality. Data were collected using questionnaires, interviews and observation.

  15. Reciprocity as Sustainability in Campus-Community Partnership

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bloomgarden, Alan

    2013-01-01

    The concept of reciprocity permeates the literature on campus-community partnership as a matter of principle, aspiration, and--ideally--best practice. More recently, principles and practices of sustainability have pervaded scholarly and popular discourse, emerging from and applying to environmental studies, economic development, and social justice…

  16. Community Strategic Relationship and Marketing to Foster the Development of communities and the sustainability of organizations

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Fernando Juárez

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available The purpose of this study was to define community strategic relationship and marketing (CSRM as a relevant tool to foster the development of communities and the sustainability of organizations. The method was rationalist, theoretical, and conceptual; it comprised the analysis of a propositional structure. Articulated propositions provided a framework for analysis, discussion, and conclusions. After giving a definition of CSRM, several analyses were conducted that determined the uniqueness and usefulness of this approach. These analyses were: 1 the usefulness of the community concepts and strategies in CSRM, 2 the existence of a community approach to different strategic areas or marketing, and 3 the relevance of the use of community concepts and strategies to foster the development of communities and the sustainability of organizations. The conclusion was that CSRM and the use of these concepts and strategies have the potential to be a fruitful research and strategic approach in marketing and in all of organization activities

  17. A University-Hosted Program in Pursuit of Coastal Sustainability: The Case of Tokyo Bay

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Osamu Baba

    2013-09-01

    Full Text Available This study presents a unique way by which a university program can contribute to capacity development for coastal sustainability. The program is steered by a working group of volunteer faculty members, having different academic backgrounds, in collaboration with students and marine professionals, including fisherfolk and environment education interpreters. Although the program began with conventional educational ideas and style, its practical framework evolved to include interactive activities with collaborators in the community, all of which were geared toward social learning. The combination of service learning and participatory action research (PAR was proven to be an adequate approach to link higher education for sustainable development (HESD and university-community partnerships and to promote learning for coastal sustainability. Challenges identified include (1 ensuring continuity of learning and (2 reducing the heavy workload of faculty members involved in program preparation and coordination. The authors would like to emphasize the possibilities offered by the engagement of scholarship in the capacity development for coastal sustainability by focusing on community-based efforts.

  18. Twenty-First Century Learning: Communities, Interaction and Ubiquitous Computing

    Science.gov (United States)

    Leh, Amy S.C.; Kouba, Barbara; Davis, Dirk

    2005-01-01

    Advanced technology makes 21st century learning, communities and interactions unique and leads people to an era of ubiquitous computing. The purpose of this article is to contribute to the discussion of learning in the 21st century. The paper will review literature on learning community, community learning, interaction, 21st century learning and…

  19. Sustainable rural learning ecologies- a prolegomenon traversing transcendence of discursive notions of sustainability, social justice, development and food sovereignty

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dipane Hlalele

    2013-12-01

    Full Text Available This paper contributes, through traversing contested notions of sustainability, social justice, development and food sovereignty, to discourses around creation of sustainable rural learning ecologies. There has always been at least in the realm of scientific discourse, an attempt to dissociate the natural or physical environment from the social and human environment. This trend did not only affect the two spheres of existence only. It is further imbued and spawned fragmented and pervasive terminology, practices and human thought. Drawing from the ‘creating sustainable rural learning ecologies’ research project that commenced in 2011, I challenge and contest the use of such discourses and argue for the transcendence of such. This would, in my opinion, create space for harmonious and fluid co-existence between nature and humanity, such that the contribution of learning practices exudes and expedites sustainability in rural ecologies.

  20. Can learning in informal settings mitigate disadvantage and promote urban sustainability? School gardens in Washington, DC

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fisher-Maltese, Carley; Fisher, Dana R.; Ray, Rashawn

    2017-09-01

    This article explores how school gardens provide learning opportunities for school-aged children while concurrently helping cities achieve sustainability. The authors analyse this process in Washington, DC, a particularly innovative metropolis in the United States. This national capital city boasts two of the most progressive examples of legislation aimed at improving environmental awareness and inciting citizens to engage in environmental stewardship, both of which focus on school-aged children: (1) the Healthy Schools Act of 2010 and (2) the Sustainable DC Act of 2012. Together these policies focus on bringing healthy lifestyles and environmental awareness, including meaningful outdoor learning experiences, to students and families in the District of Columbia. This article is organised into three parts. The first part discusses how Washington, DC became a sustainable learning city through the implementation of these specific policies. The next part presents the results of a pilot study conducted in one kindergarten to Grade 5 (K-5) elementary school located in Ward 8, the poorest part of the city. The authors' analysis considers the support and the obstacles teachers and principals in the District of Columbia (DC) are experiencing in their efforts to integrate school gardens into the curriculum and the culture of their schools. Exploring the impacts of the school garden on the students, the local community, and the inter-generational relationships at and beyond schools, the authors aim to shed light on the benefits and the challenges. While Washington, DC is fostering its hope that the benefits prevail as it provides a model for other cities to follow, the authors also candidly present the challenges of implementing these policies. In the final part, they discuss the implications of their findings for school gardens and sustainable learning cities more broadly. They encourage further research to gain more insights into effective ways of promoting environmental

  1. ESD and Lifelong Learning: A Case Study of the Shangri-La Institute's Current Engagement with the Bazhu Community in Diqing, China

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Yunhua; Constable, Alicia

    2010-01-01

    This article argues that ESD should be integrated into lifelong learning and provides an example of how this might be done. It draws on a case study of a joint project between the Shangri-la Institute and the Bazhu community in Diqing, southwest China, to analyse a community-based approach to Education for Sustainable Development and assess its…

  2. Testing the Community-Based Learning Collaborative (CBLC) implementation model: a study protocol.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hanson, Rochelle F; Schoenwald, Sonja; Saunders, Benjamin E; Chapman, Jason; Palinkas, Lawrence A; Moreland, Angela D; Dopp, Alex

    2016-01-01

    High rates of youth exposure to violence, either through direct victimization or witnessing, result in significant health/mental health consequences and high associated lifetime costs. Evidence-based treatments (EBTs), such as Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT), can prevent and/or reduce these negative effects, yet these treatments are not standard practice for therapists working with children identified by child welfare or mental health systems as needing services. While research indicates that collaboration among child welfare and mental health services sectors improves availability and sustainment of EBTs for children, few implementation strategies designed specifically to promote and sustain inter-professional collaboration (IC) and inter-organizational relationships (IOR) have undergone empirical investigation. A potential candidate for evaluation is the Community-Based Learning Collaborative (CBLC) implementation model, an adaptation of the Learning Collaborative which includes strategies designed to develop and strengthen inter-professional relationships between brokers and providers of mental health services to promote IC and IOR and achieve sustained implementation of EBTs for children within a community. This non-experimental, mixed methods study involves two phases: (1) analysis of existing prospective quantitative and qualitative quality improvement and project evaluation data collected pre and post, weekly, and monthly from 998 participants in one of seven CBLCs conducted as part of a statewide initiative; and (2) Phase 2 collection of new quantitative and qualitative (key informant interviews) data during the funded study period to evaluate changes in relations among IC, IOR, social networks and the penetration and sustainment of TF-CBT in targeted communities. Recruitment for Phase 2 is from the pool of 998 CBLC participants to achieve a targeted enrollment of n = 150. Study aims include: (1) Use existing quality improvement

  3. Learning to Learn: A Hidden Dimension within Community Dance Practice

    Science.gov (United States)

    Barr, Sherrie

    2013-01-01

    This article explores ways of learning experienced by university dance students participating in a community dance project. The students were unfamiliar with community-based practices and found themselves needing to remediate held attitudes about dance. How the students came to approach their learning within the dance-making process drew on…

  4. Towards a Community-led Agenda for Urban Sustainability Research

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Eames, Malcolm; Mortensen, Jonas Egmose; Adebowale, Maria

    This report describes the findings from the Citizens Science for Sustainability (SuScit) Project. The report provides an overview of the innovative ‘bottom-up' public engagement and foresight process developed through the SuScit Project, before setting out a ten point agenda for urban...... sustainability research developed through our work with the local community in the Mildmay area of Islington, North London....

  5. Reflective learning in community-based dental education.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Deogade, Suryakant C; Naitam, Dinesh

    2016-01-01

    Community-based dental education (CBDE) is the implementation of dental education in a specific social context, which shifts a substantial part of dental clinical education from dental teaching institutional clinics to mainly public health settings. Dental students gain additional value from CBDE when they are guided through a reflective process of learning. We propose some key elements to the existing CBDE program that support meaningful personal learning experiences. Dental rotations of 'externships' in community-based clinical settings (CBCS) are year-long community-based placements and have proven to be strong learning environments where students develop good communication skills and better clinical reasoning and management skills. We look at the characteristics of CBDE and how the social and personal context provided in communities enhances dental education. Meaningfulness is created by the authentic context, which develops over a period of time. Structured reflection assignments and methods are suggested as key elements in the existing CBDE program. Strategies to enrich community-based learning experiences for dental students include: Photographic documentation; written narratives; critical incident reports; and mentored post-experiential small group discussions. A directed process of reflection is suggested as a way to increase the impact of the community learning experiences. We suggest key elements to the existing CBDE module so that the context-rich environment of CBDE allows for meaningful relations and experiences for dental students and enhanced learning.

  6. Concept Maps for Evaluating Learning of Sustainable Development

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shallcross, David C.

    2016-01-01

    Concept maps are used to assess student and cohort learning of sustainable development. The concept maps of 732 first-year engineering students were individually analyzed to detect patterns of learning and areas that were not well understood. Students were given 20 minutes each to prepare a concept map of at least 20 concepts using paper and pen.…

  7. The sustainability of improvements from continuing professional development in pharmacy practice and learning behaviors.

    Science.gov (United States)

    McConnell, Karen J; Delate, Thomas; Newlon, Carey L

    2015-04-25

    To assess the long-term sustainability of continuing professional development (CPD) training in pharmacy practice and learning behaviors. This was a 3-year posttrial survey of pharmacists who had participated in an unblinded randomized controlled trial of CPD. The online survey assessed participants' perceptions of pharmacy practice, learning behaviors, and sustainability of CPD. Differences between groups on the posttrial survey responses and changes from the trial's follow-up survey to the posttrial survey responses within the intervention group were compared. Of the 91 pharmacists who completed the original trial, 72 (79%) participated in the sustainability survey. Compared to control participants, a higher percentage of intervention participants reported in the sustainability survey that they had utilized the CPD concept (45.7% vs 8.1%) and identified personal learning objectives (68.6% vs 43.2%) during the previous year. Compared to their follow-up survey responses, lower percentages of intervention participants reported identifying personal learning objectives (94.3% vs 68.6%), documenting their learning plan (82.9% vs 22.9%) and participating in learning by doing (42.9% vs 14.3%) in the sustainability survey. In the intervention group, many of the improvements to pharmacy practice items were sustained over the 3-year period but were not significantly different from the control group. Sustainability of a CPD intervention over a 3-year varied. While CPD-trained pharmacists reported utilizing CPD concepts at a higher rate than control pharmacists, their CPD learning behaviors diminished over time.

  8. Organizational Learning and Sustainable Competitive Advantages (SCA): The Nigerian Experience

    OpenAIRE

    Omotayo Oyeniyi

    2011-01-01

    The purpose of this paper is to test for core competencies of organizations in achieving sustainable competitive advantage within the service organizations in a developing economy like Nigeria. The paper specifically deals with the importance of organizational learning on sustainable competitive advantage and how it can be used to achieve sustainable advantage. Despite the wide spread importance attached to building sustainable competitive advantage, the relationship between organizational le...

  9. Teaching & Learning for International Students in a 'Learning Community': Creating, Sharing and Building Knowledge

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Linzi Kemp, PhD

    2010-08-01

    Full Text Available This article considers the culture of learning communities for effective teaching. A learning community is defined here as an environment where learners are brought together to share information, to learn from each other, and to create new knowledge. The individual student develops her/his own learning by building on learning from others. In a learning community approach to teaching, educators can ensure that students gain workplace skills such as collaboration, creativity, critical thinking, and problem solving. In this case study, it is shown how an active learning community, introduced into a blended teaching environment (face-to-face and virtual, effectively supported international undergraduates in the building of knowledge and workplace skills.

  10. Lifelong learning networks for sustainable regional development

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    De Kraker, Joop; Cörvers, Ron; Ruelle, Christine; Valkering, Pieter

    2010-01-01

    Sustainable regional development is a participatory, multi-actor process, involving a diversity of societal stakeholders, administrators, policy makers, practitioners and scientific experts. In this process, mutual and collective learning plays a major role as participants have to exchange and

  11. Fostering Sustained Learning among Undergraduate Students: Emerging Research and Opportunities

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chemosit, Caroline; Rugutt, John; Rugutt, Joseph K.

    2017-01-01

    Keeping students engaged and receptive to learning can, at times, be a challenge. However, by the implementation of new methods and pedagogies, instructors can strengthen the drive to learn among their students. "Fostering Sustained Learning Among Undergraduate Students: Emerging Research and Opportunities" is an essential publication…

  12. Tourism policies and sustainability in traditional communities: conceptual perspectives

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Paulo Moreira Pinto

    2007-04-01

    Full Text Available The public policies of tourism in Brazil and in the Amazon, analyzing its implications in the political and administrative reality of traditional communities and its relationship with the historical sustainability of those populations in relation to the natural environment. It is an exploratory research, and in order to achieve its goal, describes the trajectory of the public policies of tourism in Brazil and, particularly, in the Amazon confronting them with theoretical background that support the formation of public policies, specially of sustainable tourism, which permeates the new programs of tourism and foresees the inclusion of community participation as an important element to carry out the public policies of tourism.

  13. Classroom Active Learning Complemented by an Online Discussion Forum to Teach Sustainability

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dengler, Mary

    2008-01-01

    This paper identifies some of the pedagogical benefits of an active learning course delivery complemented by an online discussion forum to teach sustainability by evaluating the case of a geography master's course. The potential benefits and some challenges of an active learning course delivery to teach sustainability in geography and related…

  14. Improving the quality of learning in science through optimization of lesson study for learning community

    Science.gov (United States)

    Setyaningsih, S.

    2018-03-01

    Lesson Study for Learning Community is one of lecturer profession building system through collaborative and continuous learning study based on the principles of openness, collegiality, and mutual learning to build learning community in order to form professional learning community. To achieve the above, we need a strategy and learning method with specific subscription technique. This paper provides a description of how the quality of learning in the field of science can be improved by implementing strategies and methods accordingly, namely by applying lesson study for learning community optimally. Initially this research was focused on the study of instructional techniques. Learning method used is learning model Contextual teaching and Learning (CTL) and model of Problem Based Learning (PBL). The results showed that there was a significant increase in competence, attitudes, and psychomotor in the four study programs that were modelled. Therefore, it can be concluded that the implementation of learning strategies in Lesson study for Learning Community is needed to be used to improve the competence, attitude and psychomotor of science students.

  15. Sustainability Learning”: An Introduction to the Concept and Its Motivational Aspects

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ralf Hansmann

    2010-09-01

    Full Text Available This theoretical paper clarifies the concept of sustainability learning and specifically analyzes motivational aspects. Mastering the challenges of sustainability requires individual learning as well as learning processes on different levels of human systems ranging from groups and organizations to human societies, and mankind as a whole. Learning processes of individuals play a fundamental role, since individuals constitute and shape the larger social aggregates. Learning processes on the level of social aggregates are important since social systems embed and influence individuals. Therefore, sustainability learning needs to be understood as a multi-level concept, comprising individual learning as well as learning processes of human systems. Transdisciplinarity and mutual learning between science and society are considered fundamental approaches of sustainability learning, and hence increase the capacity of mankind to manage human-environment systems in sustainable ways. Based on systemic considerations, the two-fold role, in which motivations act as determinants and targeted outcomes of sustainability learning processes, is explained together with the outstanding role that cooperation, hence cooperative motivation, plays for sustainable development. Finally, the multifaceted, controversial discourses on what sustainability ultimately means (for the scientific community, for a given cultural or political entity, organization, or individual person are considered.

  16. Forgetting in Reinforcement Learning Links Sustained Dopamine Signals to Motivation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kato, Ayaka; Morita, Kenji

    2016-10-01

    It has been suggested that dopamine (DA) represents reward-prediction-error (RPE) defined in reinforcement learning and therefore DA responds to unpredicted but not predicted reward. However, recent studies have found DA response sustained towards predictable reward in tasks involving self-paced behavior, and suggested that this response represents a motivational signal. We have previously shown that RPE can sustain if there is decay/forgetting of learned-values, which can be implemented as decay of synaptic strengths storing learned-values. This account, however, did not explain the suggested link between tonic/sustained DA and motivation. In the present work, we explored the motivational effects of the value-decay in self-paced approach behavior, modeled as a series of 'Go' or 'No-Go' selections towards a goal. Through simulations, we found that the value-decay can enhance motivation, specifically, facilitate fast goal-reaching, albeit counterintuitively. Mathematical analyses revealed that underlying potential mechanisms are twofold: (1) decay-induced sustained RPE creates a gradient of 'Go' values towards a goal, and (2) value-contrasts between 'Go' and 'No-Go' are generated because while chosen values are continually updated, unchosen values simply decay. Our model provides potential explanations for the key experimental findings that suggest DA's roles in motivation: (i) slowdown of behavior by post-training blockade of DA signaling, (ii) observations that DA blockade severely impairs effortful actions to obtain rewards while largely sparing seeking of easily obtainable rewards, and (iii) relationships between the reward amount, the level of motivation reflected in the speed of behavior, and the average level of DA. These results indicate that reinforcement learning with value-decay, or forgetting, provides a parsimonious mechanistic account for the DA's roles in value-learning and motivation. Our results also suggest that when biological systems for value-learning

  17. Forgetting in Reinforcement Learning Links Sustained Dopamine Signals to Motivation.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ayaka Kato

    2016-10-01

    Full Text Available It has been suggested that dopamine (DA represents reward-prediction-error (RPE defined in reinforcement learning and therefore DA responds to unpredicted but not predicted reward. However, recent studies have found DA response sustained towards predictable reward in tasks involving self-paced behavior, and suggested that this response represents a motivational signal. We have previously shown that RPE can sustain if there is decay/forgetting of learned-values, which can be implemented as decay of synaptic strengths storing learned-values. This account, however, did not explain the suggested link between tonic/sustained DA and motivation. In the present work, we explored the motivational effects of the value-decay in self-paced approach behavior, modeled as a series of 'Go' or 'No-Go' selections towards a goal. Through simulations, we found that the value-decay can enhance motivation, specifically, facilitate fast goal-reaching, albeit counterintuitively. Mathematical analyses revealed that underlying potential mechanisms are twofold: (1 decay-induced sustained RPE creates a gradient of 'Go' values towards a goal, and (2 value-contrasts between 'Go' and 'No-Go' are generated because while chosen values are continually updated, unchosen values simply decay. Our model provides potential explanations for the key experimental findings that suggest DA's roles in motivation: (i slowdown of behavior by post-training blockade of DA signaling, (ii observations that DA blockade severely impairs effortful actions to obtain rewards while largely sparing seeking of easily obtainable rewards, and (iii relationships between the reward amount, the level of motivation reflected in the speed of behavior, and the average level of DA. These results indicate that reinforcement learning with value-decay, or forgetting, provides a parsimonious mechanistic account for the DA's roles in value-learning and motivation. Our results also suggest that when biological systems

  18. ‘Useful, usable and used’: Sustaining an Australian model of cross-faculty service learning by concentrating on shared value creation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lisa Andersen

    2017-06-01

    Full Text Available In recent decades, partnerships between community-based organisations and universities through service-learning programs have proliferated, reflected in an equally energetic growth in the research literature on process, evaluation, benefits and lessons learned. As an example of student experiential education through community engagement, service learning’s potential to contribute to students, community partners and the university is well recognised, although the research has tended to focus on benefits to students rather than the value in engagement for the community sector. UTS Shopfront Community Program is a cross-university initiative that has successfully facilitated curricular service learning in multiple disciplines for 20 years at an Australian university, leading to the completion of more than 1000 community projects. In examining this program, this article aims to describe both a sustainable, generative partnership model for creating shared value and, through analysis of 10 years of evaluation data, define what value is created for community partners and students through this project work. Key components in enabling a shared-value approach include: community-initiated projects based on need; a dedicated cross-university program and an assigned project coordinator; the engagement of faculty expertise through students with developed skills in appropriately structured courses; and community ownership of outcomes. Ongoing challenges include: scoping ‘student-ready’ briefs; managing risk, commitment and workload; designing coursework structures to deliver shared value; and achieving the ‘Holy Grail’ of transdisciplinarity.

  19. Exploring emerging learning needs: a UK-wide consultation on environmental sustainability learning objectives for medical education.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Walpole, Sarah C; Mortimer, Frances; Inman, Alice; Braithwaite, Isobel; Thompson, Trevor

    2015-12-24

    This study aimed to engage wide-ranging stakeholders and develop consensus learning objectives for undergraduate and postgraduate medical education. A UK-wide consultation garnered opinions of healthcare students, healthcare educators and other key stakeholders about environmental sustainability in medical education. The policy Delphi approach informed this study. Draft learning objectives were revised iteratively during three rounds of consultation: online questionnaire or telephone interview, face-to-face seminar and email consultation. Twelve draft learning objectives were developed based on review of relevant literature. In round one, 64 participants' median ratings of the learning objectives were 3.5 for relevance and 3.0 for feasibility on a Likert scale of one to four. Revisions were proposed, e.g. to highlight relevance to public health and professionalism. Thirty three participants attended round two. Conflicting opinions were explored. Added content areas included health benefits of sustainable behaviours. To enhance usability, restructuring provided three overarching learning objectives, each with subsidiary points. All participants from rounds one and two were contacted in round three, and no further edits were required. This is the first attempt to define consensus learning objectives for medical students about environmental sustainability. Allowing a wide range of stakeholders to comment on multiple iterations of the document stimulated their engagement with the issues raised and ownership of the resulting learning objectives.

  20. Public participation in and learning through SEA in Kenya

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Walker, Heidi, E-mail: heidi.mwalker@yahoo.ca [Natural Resources Institute, University of Manitoba, 303-70 Dysart Road, Winnipeg R3T 2M6 (Canada); Sinclair, A. John, E-mail: john.sinclair@ad.umanitoba.ca [Natural Resources Institute, University of Manitoba, 303-70 Dysart Road, Winnipeg R3T 2M6 (Canada); Spaling, Harry, E-mail: harry.spaling@kingsu.ca [Department of Geography and Environmental Studies, The King' s University College, 9125-50 Street, Edmonton, Alberta T6B 2H3 (Canada)

    2014-02-15

    Meaningful public engagement is a challenging, but promising, feature of strategic environmental assessment (SEA) due to its potential for integrating sustainability principles into policies, plans and programs in developing countries such as Kenya. This research examined two selected SEA case studies to identify the extent of participation, learning outcomes attributable to participation, and if any learning outcomes led to social action for sustainability at the community level. Strengths across the two cases were the inclusion of marginalized populations and consideration of socio-economic concerns. Consistent weaknesses included inadequate notice, document inaccessibility, lack of feedback and communication, and late analysis of alternatives. Despite some learning conditions being unfulfilled, examples of instrumental, communicative, and transformative learning were identified through a focus group and semi-structured interviews with community participants and public officials. Some of these learning outcomes led to individual and social actions that contribute to sustainability. -- Highlights: • The strengths and weaknesses of Kenyan SEA public participation processes were identified. • Multiple deficiencies in the SEA process likely frustrate meaningful public engagement. • Participant learning was observed despite process weaknesses. • Participant learning can lead to action for sustainability at the community level.

  1. Public participation in and learning through SEA in Kenya

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Walker, Heidi; Sinclair, A. John; Spaling, Harry

    2014-01-01

    Meaningful public engagement is a challenging, but promising, feature of strategic environmental assessment (SEA) due to its potential for integrating sustainability principles into policies, plans and programs in developing countries such as Kenya. This research examined two selected SEA case studies to identify the extent of participation, learning outcomes attributable to participation, and if any learning outcomes led to social action for sustainability at the community level. Strengths across the two cases were the inclusion of marginalized populations and consideration of socio-economic concerns. Consistent weaknesses included inadequate notice, document inaccessibility, lack of feedback and communication, and late analysis of alternatives. Despite some learning conditions being unfulfilled, examples of instrumental, communicative, and transformative learning were identified through a focus group and semi-structured interviews with community participants and public officials. Some of these learning outcomes led to individual and social actions that contribute to sustainability. -- Highlights: • The strengths and weaknesses of Kenyan SEA public participation processes were identified. • Multiple deficiencies in the SEA process likely frustrate meaningful public engagement. • Participant learning was observed despite process weaknesses. • Participant learning can lead to action for sustainability at the community level

  2. Virtual Communities of Collaborative Learning for Higher Education

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gilda E. Sotomayor

    2014-11-01

    Full Text Available This article aims to outline and project three new learning scenarios for Higher Education that, after the emergence of ICT and communication through the Network-lnternet, have come under the generic name of virtual communities. To that end, we start from a previous conceptual analysis on collaborative learning, cooperative learning and related concepts taking place in these communities and serving as a basis for sorting them into three types in particular: communities of educational work of professional practice and scientific knowledge. Virtual communities where the activities undertaken and skills acquired are set as important parts of our personal learning development, wich are necessary to build the Knowledge Society.

  3. Using an academic-community partnership model and blended learning to advance community health nursing pedagogy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ezeonwu, Mabel; Berkowitz, Bobbie; Vlasses, Frances R

    2014-01-01

    This article describes a model of teaching community health nursing that evolved from a long-term partnership with a community with limited existing health programs. The partnership supported RN-BSN students' integration in the community and resulted in reciprocal gains for faculty, students and community members. Community clients accessed public health services as a result of the partnership. A blended learning approach that combines face-to-face interactions, service learning and online activities was utilized to enhance students' learning. Following classroom sessions, students actively participated in community-based educational process through comprehensive health needs assessments, planning and implementation of disease prevention and health promotion activities for community clients. Such active involvement in an underserved community deepened students' awareness of the fundamentals of community health practice. Students were challenged to view public health from a broader perspective while analyzing the impacts of social determinants of health on underserved populations. Through asynchronous online interactions, students synthesized classroom and community activities through critical thinking. This paper describes a model for teaching community health nursing that informs students' learning through blended learning, and meets the demands for community health nursing services delivery. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  4. Transitioning to a More Sustainable Society: Unpacking the Role of the Learning-Action Nexus

    Science.gov (United States)

    Moyer, Joanne M.; Sinclair, A. John; Quinn, Lisa

    2016-01-01

    In recent years, action on sustainability has been highly influential around the globe and many now recognize the importance of individual and social learning for inspiring action and achieving sustainability outcomes. Transformative learning theory has been criticized, however, for insufficient development of the link between learning and action.…

  5. Why STEM Learning Communities Work: The Development of Psychosocial Learning Factors through Social Interaction

    Science.gov (United States)

    Carrino, Stephanie Sedberry; Gerace, William J.

    2016-01-01

    STEM learning communities facilitate student academic success and persistence in science disciplines. This prompted us to explore the underlying factors that make learning communities successful. In this paper, we report findings from an illustrative case study of a 2-year STEM-based learning community designed to identify and describe these…

  6. Designing Professional Learning Communities through Understanding the Beliefs of Learning

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ke, Jie; Kang, Rui; Liu, Di

    2016-01-01

    This study was designed to initiate the process of building professional development learning communities for pre-service math teachers through revealing those teachers' conceptions/beliefs of students' learning and their own learning in China. It examines Chinese pre-service math teachers' conceptions of student learning and their related…

  7. 75 FR 35881 - Smaller Learning Communities Program

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-06-23

    ... Part II Department of Education Smaller Learning Communities Program; Notice #0;#0;Federal... EDUCATION Smaller Learning Communities Program Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) Number: 84.215L. AGENCY: Office of Elementary and Secondary Education, Department of Education. ACTION: Notice of final...

  8. How NASA is building and sustaining a community of scientist-communicators through virtual technology, graphic facilitation and other community-building tools

    Science.gov (United States)

    DeWitt, S.; Bovaird, E.; Stewart, N.; Reaves, J.; Tenenbaum, L. F.; Betz, L.; Kuchner, M. J.; Dodson, K. E.; Miller, A.

    2013-12-01

    In 2013 NASA launched its first agency-wide effort to cultivate and support scientist-communicators. The multiple motivations behind this effort are complex and overlapping, and include a desire to connect the agency's workforce to its mission and to each other in the post-Space Shuttle era; a shift in how the agency and the world communicates about science; the current public perception of science and of NASA, and a desire to share the stories of the real people behind the agency's technical work. Leaders in the NASA science, communications and public outreach communities partnered with the agency's training and leadership development organization to: identify and fully characterize the need for training and development in science communication, experiment with various learning models, and invite early-adopter scientists to evaluate these models for future agency investment. Using virtual collaboration technology, graphic facilitation, and leadership development methods, we set out to create an environment where scientist-communicators can emerge and excel. First, we asked scientists from across the agency to identify their motivations, opportunities, barriers and areas of interest in science communication. Scientists identified a need to go beyond traditional media training, a need for continuous practice and peer feedback, and a need for agency incentives and sustained support for this kind of work. This community-driven approach also uncovered a serious need for communication support in the wake of diminishing resources for travel and conference attendance. As a first step, we offered a series of virtual learning events - highly collaborative working sessions for scientists to practice their communication technique, develop and apply new skills to real-world situations, and gain valuable feedback from external subject matter experts and fellow scientists from across the agency in a supportive environment. Scientists from ten NASA centers and a broad range of

  9. Integrating Community into the Classroom: Community Gardening, Community Involvement, and Project-Based Learning.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Langhout, Regina Day; Rappaport, Julian; Simmons, Doretha

    2002-01-01

    Culturally relevant, ongoing project-based learning was facilitated in a predominantly African American urban elementary school via a community garden project. The project involved teachers, students, university members, and community members. This article evaluates the project through two classroom-community collaboration models, noting common…

  10. Service-learning and learning communities: two innovative school projects that are mutually enriched

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Carmen ÁLVAREZ ÁLVAREZ

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available This article reflects on the interrelationships that exist between two educational projects of today: service-learning (ApS and learning communities (CdA. The ApS is an educational methodology applied worldwide where a single project combines a learning based on experience with the implementation of a service to the community. CdA is a school transformation project to achieve that the information society does not exclude any person, constituting a reality in more than one hundred and ninety schools in Spain and Latin America. Between the two, it is possible to show differences, especially in what refers to its theoretical substrates, but in actual teaching practice in schools there is some harmony, particularly in the so closely that they cultivate both projects with the school community. Therefore, we conclude that service-learning and learning communities can occur as two innovative and relevant today projects which can be mutually enriching: because for both the approach school-community-environment and volunteering is essential.

  11. Individual and Social Requirement Aspects of Sustainable eLearning Systems

    OpenAIRE

    Alharthi, Ahmed D.; Spichkova, Maria

    2017-01-01

    Internationalization of the higher education has created the so-called borderless university, which provides better opportunities for learning and increases the human and social sustainability. eLearning systems are a special kind of software systems, developed to provide a platform for accessible teaching and learning, including also online access to learning materials and online support for learning and teaching. The aim of our current work is to extract, analyse, and combine the results fr...

  12. Fostering inclusive, sustainable economic growth and "green" skills development in learning cities through partnerships

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pavlova, Margarita

    2018-05-01

    One of the requirements of building a learning city is working to ensure its sustainable development. In 2014, UNESCO developed a framework of the key features of learning cities, at the centre of which there are six pillars or "building blocks" which support sustainable development. This article focuses on the third of these pillars, "effective learning for and in the workplace". The author analyses a number of conditions to address this aspect in the context of "green restructuring" which is geared towards facilitating the sustainable development of learning cities. She argues that, at the conceptual level, an understanding of the nature of "green skills" (what they are) and the reasons for "green skills gaps" (why they exist) are essential for the processes of effective learning and strategy planning in sustainable city development. The specific focus of this article is at the policy level: the conceptualisation of partnerships between technical and vocational education and training (TVET) providers, industry, government and other stakeholders with the aim of fostering the production, dissemination and usage of knowledge for the purpose of sustainable economic development and the "greening" of skills. The author proposes a new model, based on the quintuple helix approach to innovation combined with a policy goals orientation framework to theorise the ways in which learning cities can foster sustainable economic growth through green skills development.

  13. Afterschool Sustainability

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hilary D. Joyce

    2014-12-01

    Full Text Available Youth participation in quality extended learning opportunities (ELOs results in positive academic, physical, mental health, and social/emotional outcomes. Funding is essential to implementing and sustaining quality ELOs; however multiple funding barriers and challenges exist. Understanding the types of funds available for ELOs and the factors that influence sustainability is critical. Through surveys and telephone interviews of ELO providers, this descriptive study identified and examined ELO funding streams, the ways ELO providers use these funding streams, and the barriers and challenges to sustainability. ELO programs often relied on one major funding stream coupled with nutrition supports as well as in-kind resources. Barriers to sustainability included year-to-year funding, transportation costs, reducing community partnerships, and difficulty in diversifying funds. Recommendations to enhance ELO sustainability are offered, particularly in relation to overcoming the challenges to diversification of funding resources and establishing mutually supportive partnerships and collaboration.

  14. Epistemic Communities, Situated Learning and Open Source Software Development

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Edwards, Kasper

    2001-01-01

    This paper analyses open source software (OSS) development as an epistemic community where each individual project is perceived as a single epistemic community. OSS development is a learning process where the involved parties contribute to, and learn from the community. It is discovered that theory...... of epistemic communities does indeed contribute to the understanding of open source software development. But, the important learning process of open source software development is not readily explained. The paper then introduces situated learning and legitimate peripheral participation as theoretical...

  15. Sustainable development and social learning: Re-contextualising the space of orientation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Seddon, Terri

    2016-10-01

    In the lead-up to the 2007 Australian federal election, Labor candidate Kevin Rudd described climate change as the "great moral challenge of our generation". In the years since then, the heat in Australia has been rising - in terms of both temperature and climate politics -, but government action has slowed down. Endorsement of economic growth is prioritised, with only intermittent recognition of environmental costs. At grassroots level, citizens' attitudes are influenced by social norms. This kind of social learning is a major constraint on sustainability. Therefore, it seems useful to consider how educators might help build sustainable futures. To understand how historical context entangles social learning in ways that complicate policies associated with Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) and practices of Education for Sustainability (EfS), the author of this paper draws on the concept of "space of orientation". Focusing on adult education, she traces the contradiction between "globalisation" and "sustainability" through policy logics, relational practices in Australian adult education and the "necessary utopia" which provides a point of reference for making futures. She argues that spaces of orientation are a critical resource in this era of intensifying conflicts of interest between economic priorities of globalisation and environmental priorities intended to slow global warming, because they mediate context and orient learning in ways that clear a path towards sustainability through the entangled histories of this present.

  16. International learning communities for global and localcitizenship

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hana Cervinkova

    2011-10-01

    Full Text Available In this paper, I describe our ongoing international project in engaged educationalethnography and participatory action research with young adults and consider itsrelevance for a discussion on the community-building role of adult education in aglobalized context. I use the example of our case study to suggest that adult educatorscan generate viable communities by creating learning spaces that nurture criticalconsciousness, a sense of agency, participation and social solidarity amonginternationally and culturally diverse young adult learners. Furthermore, I argue thatparticipation in international learning communities formed through this educationalprocess can potentially help young adults become locally and globally engaged citizens.International learning communities for global citizenship thus present a proposition forconceptualizing the vital role of adult community education in supporting democraticglobal and local citizenship in a world defined in terms of cross-cultural and longdistanceencounters in the formation of culture.

  17. Biosphere reserves – learning sites of sustainable development?

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Kušová, Drahomíra; Těšitel, Jan; Bartoš, Michael

    2008-01-01

    Roč. 14, č. 3 (2008), s. 221-234 ISSN 1211-7420 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z60870520 Keywords : nature protection * learning sites * biosphere reserves * sustainable development Subject RIV: DO - Wilderness Conservation

  18. Building a sustainable academic-community partnership: focus on fall prevention.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gray, Betsey; Macrae, Nancy

    2012-01-01

    To create an interprofessional/interdisciplinary education (IPE), pilot course that provided a representative group of students the opportunity to develop a 6 week fall reduction program for a group of elder volunteers who were independently living in the community. The authors describe the processes that occurred for the course and student-led program to be developed. This pilot course provided opportunities for interprofessional student learning, faculty practice and development, and a program to improve the health of the participants. Sustaining interprofessional collaboration is challenging, primarily due to scheduling difficulties and faculty workloads. More time needs to be devoted to developing the team skills of students, as well as building their knowledge of the contributions each discipline can make to a holistic view of elders. The next phase of this project needs to include pre and post measurement of students' readiness for IPE and elders to more adequately assess the components and effects of the course and program for fall prevention.

  19. Sustainability Infused Curriculum

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ibarra, D. L.

    2015-12-01

    The Independent Schools Foundation Academy (ISF) in Hong Kong established a sustainability policy in 2015, which explicitly states, "an experimentally integrated, environmentally and ethically sustainable system of science education and conservation practices based on the 2012 Jeju Declaration of the World Conservation Congress will be implemented through the school". ISF Academy is a private Chinese bilingual school in Hong Kong serving over 1500 students K-12, following the framework and curriculum of the International Baccalaureate Organization (IBO). The strategy behind the implementation of this policy includes: development of a scientific sustainable curriculum that is age appropriate; establish a culture of sustainability within the ISF community and beyond to the wider HK community; install sustainable infrastructure that allows students to learn; and learn first hand sustainable living practices. It is well understood that solutions to the environmental challenges facing Hong Kong and our planet will require multiple disciplines. The current sustainability programs at ISF include: a) a whole school aerobic food waste composting system and organic farming, b) energy consumption monitoring of existing buildings, c) upcoming installation of an air pollution monitoring equipment that will correlate with the AQHI data collected by the Hong Kong government, d) a Renewable Energy Education Center (REEC) that will teach students about RE and also produce solar energy for classroom consumption, and e) student lead environmental group that manages the paper and used cooking oil recycling on campus. The Shuyuan Science and Sustainability faculty work closely with classroom teachers to ensure that the above mentioned projects are incorporated into the curriculum throughout the school. Interdisciplinary units (IDU) of study are being developed that encourage faculty and students to work across subject areas. Projects include Personal Projects, Extended Essays

  20. Learning from Community: Agenda for Citizenship Education

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ghosh, Sujay

    2015-01-01

    Citizenship is about individual's membership in the socio-political community. Education for citizenship conceives issues such as quality education, learning society and inclusion. Educational thinking in India has long valued community as a learning resource. With empirical experiences drawn from the programme of "Ecology and Natural…

  1. Sustainable inquiry based learning with ICT. Projectrapportage. SURFInnovatieregeling Duurzaamheid & ICT

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Firssova, Olga; Börner, Dirk; Rusman, Ellen; Kalz, Marco; Ternier, Stefaan; Pannekeet, Kees; Specht, Marcus; Van der Klink, Marcel

    2018-01-01

    This report summarizes the results of the project “Sustainable inquiry based learning with ICT / Duurzaam onderzoekend leren met ICT” funded by the SURFnet Innovation grant for sustainable ICT solutions. This project was conducted from May 2013 to November 2013 by researchers of CELSTEC, OU. This

  2. Bullying in Virtual Learning Communities.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nikiforos, Stefanos; Tzanavaris, Spyros; Kermanidis, Katia Lida

    2017-01-01

    Bullying through the internet has been investigated and analyzed mainly in the field of social media. In this paper, it is attempted to analyze bullying in the Virtual Learning Communities using Natural Language Processing (NLP) techniques, mainly in the context of sociocultural learning theories. Therefore four case studies took place. We aim to apply NLP techniques to speech analysis on communication data of online communities. Emphasis is given on qualitative data, taking into account the subjectivity of the collaborative activity. Finally, this is the first time such type of analysis is attempted on Greek data.

  3. Transitioning from learning healthcare systems to learning health care communities.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mullins, C Daniel; Wingate, La'Marcus T; Edwards, Hillary A; Tofade, Toyin; Wutoh, Anthony

    2018-02-26

    The learning healthcare system (LHS) model framework has three core, foundational components. These include an infrastructure for health-related data capture, care improvement targets and a supportive policy environment. Despite progress in advancing and implementing LHS approaches, low levels of participation from patients and the public have hampered the transformational potential of the LHS model. An enhanced vision of a community-engaged LHS redesign would focus on the provision of health care from the patient and community perspective to complement the healthcare system as the entity that provides the environment for care. Addressing the LHS framework implementation challenges and utilizing community levers are requisite components of a learning health care community model, version two of the LHS archetype.

  4. Teen Advocates for Community and Environmental Sustainability

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wunar, B.

    2017-12-01

    The Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago (MSI) is in the early stages of a NOAA supported Environmental Literacy Grant project that aims to engage high school age youth in the exploration of climate and Earth systems science. Participating youth are positioned as teen advocates for establishing resilient communities in the Midwest. The project utilizes a variety of resources, including NOAA Science On a Sphere® (SOS) technology and datasets, Great Lakes and local climate assets, and local municipal resiliency planning guides to develop museum-based youth programming. Teen participants in the project will share their learning through regular facilitated interactions with public visitors in the Museum and will bring learning experiences to Chicago Public Library sites throughout the city's neighborhoods. Project content will also be adapted for use in 100+ after-school science clubs to engage younger students from diverse communities across the Chicago area. Current strategies for supporting teen facilitation of public experiences, linkages to out of school time and summer learning programs, and connections to local resiliency planning agencies will be explored.

  5. Computer-facilitated community building for E-learning

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Nijholt, Antinus; Petrushin, V.; Kommers, Petrus A.M.; Kinshuk, X.; Galeev, I.

    2002-01-01

    This is a short survey of tools and ideas that are helpful for community building for E-learning. The underlying assumption in the survey is that community building for students and teachers in a joint learning and teaching situation is useful. Especially student-student interaction in student life

  6. Proposing Community-Based Learning in the Marketing Curriculum

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cadwallader, Susan; Atwong, Catherine; Lebard, Aubrey

    2013-01-01

    Community service and service learning (CS&SL) exposes students to the business practice of giving back to society while reinforcing classroom learning in an applied real-world setting. However, does the CS&SL format provide a better means of instilling the benefits of community service among marketing students than community-based…

  7. Holding the Reins of the Professional Learning Community: Eight Themes from Research on Principals' Perceptions of Professional Learning Communities

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cranston, Jerome

    2009-01-01

    Using a naturalistic inquiry approach and thematic analysis, this paper outlines the findings of a research study that examined 12 Manitoba principals' conceptions of professional learning communities. The study found that these principals consider the development of professional learning communities to be a normative imperative within the…

  8. Integrative and Deep Learning through a Learning Community: A Process View of Self

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mahoney, Sandra; Schamber, Jon

    2011-01-01

    This study investigated deep learning produced in a community of general education courses. Student speeches on liberal education were analyzed for discovering a grounded theory of ideas about self. The study found that learning communities cultivate deep, integrative learning that makes the value of a liberal education relevant to students.…

  9. Circle Solutions, a philosophy and pedagogy for learning positive relationships: What promotes and inhibits sustainable outcomes?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Florence McCarthy

    2013-04-01

    Full Text Available Educators are increasingly aware that the efficacy of social and emotional learning (SEL is dependent on implementation factors, not just program content. These include the philosophy underpinning an intervention, the beliefs as well as the skills of facilitators, and the classroom/whole school context in which the intervention takes place. This article outlines the philosophy and pedagogy of Circle Solutions and presents findings from research where 18 undergraduate students supported and developed ‘Circle Time’ in 8 Greater Western Sydney primary schools for a university module on community service. The study indicates that when there is full teacher participation within the principles of the Circle philosophy, together with activeschool support that promotes relational values, the learning outcomes for positive relationship building are more sustainable.

  10. Healthcare Learning Community and Student Retention

    Science.gov (United States)

    Johnson, Sherryl W.

    2014-01-01

    Teaching, learning, and retention processes have evolved historically to include multifaceted techniques beyond the traditional lecture. This article presents related results of a study using a healthcare learning community in a southwest Georgia university. The value of novel techniques and tools in promoting student learning and retention…

  11. Promoting Rural Income from Sustainable Aquaculture through ...

    International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

    ... from Sustainable Aquaculture through Social Learning in Sri Lanka (CIFSRF) ... And, they will explore the role of women as community conduits for applying and ... Organization for Women in Science for the Developing World (OWSD), IDRC ...

  12. A Professional Learning Community Approach

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    This paper provides insights into how Life Sciences teachers in the Eastern Cape can be supported through professional learning communities (PLCs) as a potential approach to enhancing their biodiversity knowledge. PLCs are communities that provide the setting and necessary support for groups of classroom teachers to ...

  13. A professional learning community model: a case study of primary teachers community in west Bandung

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sari, A.; Suryadi, D.; Syaodih, E.

    2018-05-01

    The purpose of this study is to provide an alternative model of professional learning community for primary school teachers in improving the knowledge and professional skills. This study is a qualitative research with case study method with data collection is an interview, observation and document and triangulation technique for validation data that focuses on thirteen people 5th grade elementary school teacher. The results showed that by joining a professional learning community, teachers can share both experience and knowledge to other colleagues so that they can be able to continue to improve and enhance the quality of their learning. This happens because of the reflection done together before, during and after the learning activities. It was also revealed that by learning in a professional learning community, teachers can learn in their own way, according to need, and can collaborate with their colleagues in improving the effectiveness of learning. Based on the implementation of professional learning community primary school teachers can be concluded that teachers can develop the curriculum, the students understand the development, overcome learning difficulties faced by students and can make learning design more effective and efficient.

  14. Learning to walk the community of practice tightrope

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Denise Edgar

    2016-11-01

    Full Text Available Background: The Community of Practice Research was established as a new local health district service initiative. The community comprises novice and experienced multidisciplinary health researchers. Aims: This paper reflects our experience of being Community of Practice Research members and aims to explore the practice development principles aligned to the purpose, progress and outcomes of this community. Conclusions: The journey is compared to walking a tightrope from the beginning to the end. Success in moving forward is attributed to positive leadership and group dynamics enabling a supportive environment. This environment allowed for different types of learning: new research skills and new understandings about oneself. Competing demands such as fluctuating membership and leadership, and the selection of a large initial project were identified as barriers to the Community of Practice Research. Implications for practice: As well as contributing to communities’ shared goals members should identify and make explicit their own learning goals to themselves, the community and their managers Community of practice meetings should include regular facilitated reflection about the learning that is occurring, the challenges and assumptions being made by the group, and the way forward A community of practice uses social processes to aid learning and collaboration across disciplines and organisations and therefore has potential to promote local culture change

  15. Learning to ignore: acquisition of sustained attentional suppression.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dixon, Matthew L; Ruppel, Justin; Pratt, Jay; De Rosa, Eve

    2009-04-01

    We examined whether the selection mechanisms committed to the suppression of ignored stimuli can be modified by experience to produce a sustained, rather than transient, change in behavior. Subjects repeatedly ignored the shape of stimuli, while attending to their color. On subsequent attention to shape, there was a robust and sustained decrement in performance that was selective to when shape was ignored across multiple-color-target contexts, relative to a single-color-target context. Thus, amount of time ignored was not sufficient to induce a sustained performance decrement. Moreover, in this group, individual differences in initial color target selection were associated with the subsequent performance decrement when attending to previously ignored stimuli. Accompanying this sustained decrement in performance was a transfer in the locus of suppression from an exemplar (e.g., a circle) to a feature (i.e., shape) level of representation. These data suggest that learning can influence attentional selection by sustained attentional suppression of ignored stimuli.

  16. Community electricity for sustainable livelihoods through public-private partnership (Ethiopia, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Uganda)

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    NONE

    2003-07-01

    In the past, public-private partnerships have been developed in all four countries involved in the project with varying levels of success. There are clear lessons to be learned from these approaches, and much potential to develop models which build on their success factors. Models that will be developed within the course of this research will address the inequalities and social exclusion within existing public-private partnership models in order to broaden access to electricity services. Fieldwork will be carried out in communities, using a sustainable livelihoods approach to assess existing approaches and develop the most promising models through a series of pilot projects in each country. The objective of this work was to define and test models for public-private partnerships to deliver electricity services to rural and under-served urban communities, to enable the provision of electricity for communal and domestic access. (author)

  17. The Decade of Education for Sustainable Development: Towards four pillars of learning

    OpenAIRE

    Shivali Lawale; Aline Bory-Adams

    2010-01-01

    Education for sustainable development is a paradigm shift in education which goes beyond the traditional realms of education. Shivali Lawale and Aline Bory-Adams assess how education for sustainable development could build sustainable societies through the Decade of Education for sustainable development. They explore how to build a conceptual framework based on the four pillars of learning proposed by the Delors Report.

  18. Distance Learning for Community Education

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cook, Anthony A.

    2010-01-01

    This article takes a look at the influence of technology on curriculum and teaching. It specifically examines the new wave of available technology and the opportunity for schools to make inroads into community outreach by engaging new, technological learning methods. The relationship among community education, public school relations, and distance…

  19. Local wisdom of Ngata Toro community in utilizing forest resources as a learning source of biology

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yuliana, Sriyati, Siti; Sanjaya, Yayan

    2017-08-01

    Indonesian society is a pluralistic society with different cultures and local potencies that exist in each region. Some of local community still adherethe tradition from generation to generation in managing natural resources wisely. The application of the values of local wisdom is necessary to teach back to student to be more respect the culture and local potentials in the region. There are many ways developing student character by exploring local wisdom and implementing them as a learning resources. This study aims at revealing the values of local wisdom Ngata Toro indigenous people of Central Sulawesi Province in managing forest as a source of learning biology. This research was conducted by in-depth interviews, participant non-observation, documentation studies, and field notes. The data were analyzed with triangulation techniques by using a qualitative interaction analysis that is data collection, data reduction, and data display. Ngata Toro local community manage forest by dividing the forest into several zones, those arewana ngkiki, wana, pangale, pahawa pongko, oma, and balingkea accompanied by rules in the management of result-based forest conservation and sustainable utilization. By identifying the purpose of zonation and regulation of the forest, such values as the value of environmental conservation, balance value, sustainable value, and the value of mutual cooperation. These values are implemented as a biological learning resource which derived from the competences standard of analyze the utilization and conservation of the environment.

  20. Lessons learned from community-based participatory research: establishing a partnership to support lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender ageing in place.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wright, Leslie A; King, Diane K; Retrum, Jessica H; Helander, Kenneth; Wilkins, Shari; Boggs, Jennifer M; Portz, Jennifer Dickman; Nearing, Kathryn; Gozansky, Wendolyn S

    2017-06-01

    Due to a history of oppression and lack of culturally competent services, lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) seniors experience barriers to accessing social services. Tailoring an evidence-based ageing in place intervention to address the unique needs of LGBT seniors may decrease the isolation often faced by this population. To describe practices used in the formation of a community-based participatory research (CBPR), partnership involving social workers, health services providers, researchers and community members who engaged to establish a LGBT ageing in place model called Seniors Using Supports To Age In Neighborhoods (SUSTAIN). A case study approach was employed to describe the partnership development process by reflecting on past meeting minutes, progress reports and interviews with SUSTAIN's partners. Key partnering practices utilized by SUSTAIN included (i) development of a shared commitment and vision; (ii) identifying partners with intersecting spheres of influence in multiple communities of identity (ageing services, LGBT, health research); (iii) attending to power dynamics (e.g. equitable sharing of funds); and (iv) building community capacity through reciprocal learning. Although the partnership dissolved after 4 years, it served as a successful catalyst to establish community programming to support ageing in place for LGBT seniors. Multi-sector stakeholder involvement with capacity to connect communities and use frameworks that formalize equity was key to establishing a high-trust CBPR partnership. However, lack of focus on external forces impacting each partner (e.g. individual organizational strategic planning, community funding agency perspectives) ultimately led to dissolution of the SUSTAIN partnership even though implementation of community programming was realized. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

  1. Perceptions of School Principals on Participation in Professional Learning Communities as Job-Embedded Learning

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gaudioso, Jennifer A.

    2017-01-01

    Perceptions of School Principals on Participation in Professional Learning Communities as Job-Embedded Learning Jennifer Gaudioso Principal Professional Learning Communities (PPLCs) have emerged as a vehicle for professional development of principals, but there is little research on how principals experience PPLCs or how districts can support…

  2. Social Responsibility and Sustainability: Multidisciplinary Perspectives through Service Learning. Service Learning for Civic Engagement Series

    Science.gov (United States)

    McDonald, Tracy, Ed.

    2011-01-01

    This concluding volume in the series presents the work of faculty who have been moved to make sustainability the focus of their work, and to use service learning as one method of teaching sustainability to their students. The chapters in the opening section of this book-- Environmental Awareness--offer models for opening students to the awareness…

  3. Sustainable assessment of learning experiences based on projects

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ignacio TRAVERSO RIBÓN

    2016-05-01

    Full Text Available In a project-based learning experience, the detailed monitoring of the activities in which team members participate can be useful to evaluate their work. Using learning-oriented assessment procedures, supervisors can assess the teamwork abilities with a formative purpose. Evaluation strategies such as self-assessment, peer assessment and co-assessment are often used to make evaluation formative and sustainable. Conducting an assessment strategy is not easy for team members, since they need before to have a reasonable understanding of the evaluation process and criteria. This paper describes a learning-oriented evaluation methodology and an open data framework that can be applied to collaborative project settings. An evaluation rubric and a series of indicators that provide evidences about the developed skills have been elaborated and applied in a small-scale project-based course. Projects were managed and developed with the help of an open source software forge that contains a ticketing tool for planning and tracking of tasks, a version control repository to save the software outcomes, and using a wiki to host text deliverables. The experience provides evidences in favor of using the assessment method and open data framework to make teamwork evaluation more sustainable.

  4. An Examination of the Impact of Learning Communities on Job

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wilmes, David M.

    2012-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between learning community participation and job/major congruence. Previous research has demonstrated that learning communities are effective vehicles for promoting student and institutional outcomes. However, few studies have examined the impact of learning communities on alumni or career…

  5. Engaging students in a community of learning: Renegotiating the learning environment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Theobald, Karen A; Windsor, Carol A; Forster, Elizabeth M

    2018-03-01

    Promoting student engagement in a student led environment can be challenging. This article reports on the process of design, implementation and evaluation of a student led learning approach in a small group tutorial environment in a three year Bachelor of Nursing program at an Australian university. The research employed three phases of data collection. The first phase explored student perceptions of learning and engagement in tutorials. The results informed the development of a web based learning resource. Phase two centred on implementation of a community of learning approach where students were supported to lead tutorial learning with peers. The final phase constituted an evaluation of the new approach. Findings suggest that students have the capacity to lead and engage in a community of learning and to assume greater ownership and responsibility where scaffolding is provided. Nonetheless, an ongoing whole of course approach to pedagogical change would better support this form of teaching and learning innovation. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  6. Methodology for Monitoring Sustainable Development of Isolated Microgrids in Rural Communities

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Claudia Rahmann

    2016-11-01

    Full Text Available Microgrids are a rapidly evolving and increasingly common form of local power generation used to serve the needs of both rural and urban communities. In this paper, we present a methodology to evaluate the evolution of the sustainability of stand-alone microgrids projects. The proposed methodology considers a composite sustainability index (CSI that includes both positive and negative impacts of the operation of the microgrid in a given community. The CSI is constructed along environmental, social, economic and technical dimensions of the microgrid. The sub-indexes of each dimension are aggregated into the CSI via a set of adaptive weighting factors, which indicate the relative importance of the corresponding dimension in the sustainability goals. The proposed methodology aims to be a support instrument for policy makers especially when defining sound corrective measures to guarantee the sustainability of small, isolated microgrid projects. To validate the performance of the proposed methodology, a microgrid installed in the northern part of Chile (Huatacondo has been used as a benchmarking project.

  7. Organisational aspects and benchmarking of e-learning initiatives: a case study with South African community health workers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Reisach, Ulrike; Weilemann, Mitja

    2016-06-01

    South Africa desperately needs a comprehensive approach to fight HIV/AIDS. Education is crucial to reach this goal and Internet and e-learning could offer huge opportunities to broaden and deepen the knowledge basis. But due to the huge societal and digital divide between rich and poor areas, e-learning is difficult to realize in the townships. Community health workers often act as mediators and coaches for people seeking medical and personal help. They could give good advice regarding hygiene, nutrition, protection of family members in case of HIV/AIDS and finding legal ways to earn one's living if they were trained to do so. Therefore they need to have a broader general knowledge. Since learning opportunities in the townships are scarce, a system for e-learning has to be created in order to overcome the lack of experience with computers or the Internet and to enable them to implement a network of expertise. The article describes how the best international resources on basic medical knowledge, HIV/AIDS as well as on basic economic and entrepreneurial skills were benchmarked to be integrated into an e-learning system. After tests with community health workers, researchers developed recommendations on building a self-sustaining system for learning, including a network of expertise and best practice sharing. The article explains the opportunities and challenges for community health workers, which could provide information for other parts of the world with similar preconditions of rural poverty. © The Author(s) 2015.

  8. Impact of a Sustained Cooperative Learning Intervention on Student Motivation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fernandez-Rio, Javier; Sanz, Naira; Fernandez-Cando, Judith; Santos, Luis

    2017-01-01

    Background: Cooperative Learning has been recently defined as a true pedagogical model. Moreover, in a recent review Casey and Goodyear reported that it can help physical education promote the four basic learning outcomes: physical, cognitive, social and affective. Purpose: The main goal was to investigate the impact of a sustained Cooperative…

  9. Applying Andragogical Concepts in Creating a Sustainable Lifelong Learning Society

    Science.gov (United States)

    Charungkaittikul, Suwithida; Henschke, John A.

    2017-01-01

    Today, the world is changing, re-establishing the role of education to have a developed society. This article aims to explore the practical application of Andragogy as a key element for creating a sustainable lifelong learning society, to propose strategies for developing a lifelong learning society using andragogical concepts, to enhance…

  10. The pattern of performance management of community service learning empowerment in improving the entrepreneurship on the graduation candidate of Vocational Technology Education Institution

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hadromi

    2017-03-01

    The purpose of this research is to evaluate the pattern of performance management of Community Service Empowerment Learning-Universitas Negeri Semarang in improving the entrepreneurship of the graduate candidate of Vocational Technology Education Institution. This evaluation research uses Context Evaluation, Input evaluation, Process evaluation and Product evaluation method (CIPP) to evaluate the performance management of Community Service of Empowerment Learning-Universitas Negeri Semarang. The location of research was in Kandri Subdistrict-Indonesia. The subject of research is the Kandri Subdistrict community, especially the groups of the youth, students, subdistrict organizers, community organization, and culinery and handicraft industry, as well as the students who join the program of Community Service of Empowerment Learning-Universitas Negeri Semarang. The object of research is the pattern of perfomance management of Community Service Empowerment Learning-Universitas Negeri Semarang in improving the entrepreneurship of the graduation candidate of Vocational Technology Education Institution. The research result shows the pattern of Community Service Empowerment Learning-Universitas Negeri Semarang is able to improve the enterpreneurship of graduate candidate of Vocational Technology Education Institution. The pattern of Community Service Empowerment Community-Universitas Negeri Semarang which is Education for Sustainable Development (ESD)in the field of education, training, and assistance continuously can grasp and develop competency and balance mindset of students including triple bottom line which mutually connectedamong the sectors of social, economic, cultural, and environment so that it can increase the entrerpreneurship on the graduates candidate of Vocational Technology Education Institution

  11. Earth Science Informatics Community Requirements for Improving Sustainable Science Software Practices: User Perspectives and Implications for Organizational Action

    Science.gov (United States)

    Downs, R. R.; Lenhardt, W. C.; Robinson, E.

    2014-12-01

    Science software is integral to the scientific process and must be developed and managed in a sustainable manner to ensure future access to scientific data and related resources. Organizations that are part of the scientific enterprise, as well as members of the scientific community who work within these entities, can contribute to the sustainability of science software and to practices that improve scientific community capabilities for science software sustainability. As science becomes increasingly digital and therefore, dependent on software, improving community practices for sustainable science software will contribute to the sustainability of science. Members of the Earth science informatics community, including scientific data producers and distributers, end-user scientists, system and application developers, and data center managers, use science software regularly and face the challenges and the opportunities that science software presents for the sustainability of science. To gain insight on practices needed for the sustainability of science software from the science software experiences of the Earth science informatics community, an interdisciplinary group of 300 community members were asked to engage in simultaneous roundtable discussions and report on their answers to questions about the requirements for improving scientific software sustainability. This paper will present an analysis of the issues reported and the conclusions offered by the participants. These results provide perspectives for science software sustainability practices and have implications for actions that organizations and their leadership can initiate to improve the sustainability of science software.

  12. The impact of project-based learning on improving student learning outcomes of sustainability concepts in transportation engineering courses

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fini, Elham H.; Awadallah, Faisal; Parast, Mahour M.; Abu-Lebdeh, Taher

    2018-05-01

    This paper describes an intervention to enhance students' learning by involving students in brainstorming activities about sustainability concepts and their implications in transportation engineering. The paper discusses the process of incorporating the intervention into a transportation course, as well as the impact of this intervention on students' learning outcomes. To evaluate and compare students' learning as a result of the intervention, the Laboratory for Innovative Technology and Engineering Education survey instrument was used. The survey instrument includes five constructs: higher-order cognitive skills, self-efficacy, ease of learning subject matter, teamwork, and communication skills. Pre- and post-intervention surveys of student learning outcomes were conducted to determine the effectiveness of the intervention on enhancing students' learning outcomes. The results show that the implementation of the intervention significantly improved higher-order cognitive skills, self-efficacy, teamwork, and communication skills. Involving students in brainstorming activities related to sustainability concepts and their implications in transportation proved to be an effective teaching and learning strategy.

  13. Learning Analytics for Communities of Inquiry

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kovanovic, Vitomir; Gaševic, Dragan; Hatala, Marek

    2014-01-01

    This paper describes doctoral research that focuses on the development of a learning analytics framework for inquiry-based digital learning. Building on the Community of Inquiry model (CoI)--a foundation commonly used in the research and practice of digital learning and teaching--this research builds on the existing body of knowledge in two…

  14. Assessing Good-Practice Frameworks for the Development of Sustainable Energy Communities in Europe: Lessons from Denmark and Ireland

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Eimear Heaslip

    2016-09-01

    Full Text Available This paper presents findings from initial fieldwork studies of sustainable energy community development methodologies in two islands in Denmark and one rural village in Ireland. The main goals of this study were to determine the enablers and barriers to their successful development and to assess the successful elements of these previously implemented sustainable energy community development methodologies. The study involved extensive semi-structured interviews with the managers of the sustainable energy community projects and comprehensive site visits of each project. The evidence presented in this paper indicates that social barriers are interconnected and often reinforce each other. This article suggests that a comprehensive understanding of how barriers can be transformed into enablers supports the successful development of sustainable energy communities at local level in Europe. The findings in this research indicate that although each of the sustainable energy communities studied did not have any specific implementation framework developed for their projects, many of the successful tools and methodologies used across all communities were similar. The significant contribution of this work is the illumination of key factors influencing the successful development of sustainable energy communities in Ireland and Europe.

  15. Curriculum Issues: Teaching and Learning for Sustainable Development in Developing Countries--Zimbabwe Case Study

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dambudzo, Ignatius Isaac

    2015-01-01

    The study sought to investigate curriculum issues, teaching and learning for sustainable development in secondary schools in Zimbabwe. Education for sustainable development (ESD) aims at changing the approach to education by integrating principles, values, practices and needs in all forms of learning. Literature has documented the importance of…

  16. Social Learning towards Sustainability: problematic, perspectives and promise

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Wals, A.E.J.; Rodela, R.

    2014-01-01

    A common thread throughout this special issue is that sustainability is not a destiny one can eventually reach, but rather a continuous learning path towards transformation that should be profound (e.g. affecting moral standards and value systems), transversal (e.g. requiring the involvement of

  17. Community action research track: Community-based participatory research and service-learning experiences for medical students.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gimpel, Nora; Kindratt, Tiffany; Dawson, Alvin; Pagels, Patti

    2018-04-01

    Community-based participatory research (CBPR) and service-learning are unique experiential approaches designed to train medical students how to provide individualized patient care from a population perspective. Medical schools in the US are required to provide support for service-learning and community projects. Despite this requirement, few medical schools offer structured service-learning. We developed the Community Action Research Track (CART) to integrate population medicine, health promotion/disease prevention and the social determinants of health into the medical school curriculum through CBPR and service-learning experiences. This article provides an overview of CART and reports the program impact based on students' participation, preliminary evaluations and accomplishments. CART is an optional 4‑year service-learning experience for medical students interested in community health. The curriculum includes a coordinated longitudinal program of electives, community service-learning and lecture-based instruction. From 2009-2015, 146 CART students participated. Interests in public health (93%), community service (73%), primary care (73%), CBPR (60%) and community medicine (60%) were the top reasons for enrolment. Significant improvements in mean knowledge were found when measuring the principles of CBPR, levels of prevention, determining health literacy and patient communication strategies (all p's Projects were disseminated by at least 65 posters and four oral presentations at local, national and international professional meetings. Six manuscripts were published in peer-reviewed journals. CART is an innovative curriculum for training future physicians to be community-responsive physicians. CART can be replicated by other medical schools interested in offering a longitudinal CBPR and service-learning track in an urban metropolitan setting.

  18. Mālama I Ka `Āina, Sustainability: learning from Hawai`i's displaced place and culture-based science standard

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chinn, Pauline W. U.

    2011-03-01

    This response to Mitchell and Mueller's "A philosophical analysis of David Orr's theory of ecological literacy" comments on their critique of Orr's use of the phrase "ecological crisis" and what I perceive as their conflicting views of "crisis." I present my views on ecological crisis informed by standpoint theory and the definition of crisis as turning point. I connect the concept of turning point to tipping point as used in ecology to describe potentially irreversible changes in coupled social-ecological systems. I suggest that sustainable societies may provide models of adaptive learning in which monitoring of ecological phenomena is coupled to human behavior to mitigate threats to sustainability before a crisis/tipping point is reached. Finally, I discuss the Hawai`i State Department of Education's removal of its Indigenous science content standard Mālama I Ka `Āina, Sustainability and its continued use in community-based projects.

  19. Neoliberal governance, sustainable development and local communities in the Barents Region

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Monica Tennberg

    2014-04-01

    Full Text Available There are currently high hopes in the Barents Region for economic growth, higher employment and improved well-being, encouraged by developments in the energy industry, tourism and mining. The article discusses these prospects from the perspective of local communities in five locations in the region, which spans the northernmost counties of Finland, Norway, Sweden and Northwest Russia. The communities studied are remote, relatively small, multicultural, and dependent on natural resources. The salient dynamic illuminated in the research is how ideas of sustainability and neoliberal governance meet in community development. While the two governmentalities often conflict, they sometimes also complement one another, posing a paradox that raises concerns over the social aspect of sustainable development in particular. The article is based on international, multidisciplinary research drawing on interviews as well as statistical and documentary analysis.

  20. 21st Century Community Learning Centers: Providing Afterschool and Summer Learning Support to Communities Nationwide

    Science.gov (United States)

    Afterschool Alliance, 2014

    2014-01-01

    The 21st Century Community Learning Centers (21st CCLC) initiative is the only federal funding source dedicated exclusively to before-school, afterschool, and summer learning programs. Each state education agency receives funds based on its share of Title I funding for low-income students at high-poverty, low performing schools. Funds are also…

  1. Toward Sustainable Communities: A Resource Book for Municipal and Local Governments.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Roseland, Mark

    This book is intended as a resource for elected officials, municipal staff, and citizens who would like to apply the concept of sustainable development in their communities through an ecosystems approach to human settlements management. The subcomponents of human community life and its impact on the environment are explored. Included are tested,…

  2. Community garden: A bridging program between formal and informal learning

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ranjan Datta

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available Community garden activities can play a significant role in bridging formal and informal learning, particularly in urban children’s science and environmental education. It promotes relational methods of learning, discussing, and practicing that will integrate food security, social interactions, community development, environmental activism, and cultural integration. Throughout the last five years of my community garden activities, I have learned that community garden-based practices adhere to particular forms of agency: embracing diversity, sharing power, and trust building as a part of everyday learning. My auto-ethnographic study provides valuable insights for environmental educators whose goals include, incorporating ethnic diversity as well as engaging children in research, ultimately leading to community action.

  3. Engaging the Deaf American Sign Language Community: Lessons From a Community-Based Participatory Research Center

    Science.gov (United States)

    McKee, Michael; Thew, Denise; Starr, Matthew; Kushalnagar, Poorna; Reid, John T.; Graybill, Patrick; Velasquez, Julia; Pearson, Thomas

    2013-01-01

    Background Numerous publications demonstrate the importance of community-based participatory research (CBPR) in community health research, but few target the Deaf community. The Deaf community is understudied and underrepresented in health research despite suspected health disparities and communication barriers. Objectives The goal of this paper is to share the lessons learned from the implementation of CBPR in an understudied community of Deaf American Sign Language (ASL) users in the greater Rochester, New York, area. Methods We review the process of CBPR in a Deaf ASL community and identify the lessons learned. Results Key CBPR lessons include the importance of engaging and educating the community about research, ensuring that research benefits the community, using peer-based recruitment strategies, and sustaining community partnerships. These lessons informed subsequent research activities. Conclusions This report focuses on the use of CBPR principles in a Deaf ASL population; lessons learned can be applied to research with other challenging-to-reach populations. PMID:22982845

  4. Guidelines for Lifelong Education Management to Mobilize Learning Community

    Science.gov (United States)

    Charungkaittikul, Suwithida

    2018-01-01

    This article is a study of the guidelines for lifelong education management to mobilize learning communities in the social-cultural context of Thailand is intended to 1) analyze and synthesize the management of lifelong learning to mobilize learning community in the social-cultural context of Thailand; and 2) propose guidelines for lifelong…

  5. Social networks and performance in distributed learning communities

    OpenAIRE

    Cadima, Rita; Ojeda Rodríguez, Jordi; Monguet Fierro, José María

    2012-01-01

    Social networks play an essential role in learning environments as a key channel for knowledge sharing and students' support. In distributed learning communities, knowledge sharing does not occur as spontaneously as when a working group shares the same physical space; knowledge sharing depends even more on student informal connections. In this study we analyse two distributed learning communities' social networks in order to understand how characteristics of the social structure can enhance s...

  6. Engaging Karen refugee students in science learning through a cross-cultural learning community

    Science.gov (United States)

    Harper, Susan G.

    2017-02-01

    This research explored how Karen (first-generation refugees from Burma) elementary students engaged with the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) practice of constructing scientific explanations based on evidence within the context of a cross-cultural learning community. In this action research, the researcher and a Karen parent served as co-teachers for fourth- and fifth-grade Karen and non-Karen students in a science and culture after-school programme in a public elementary school in the rural southeastern United States. Photovoice provided a critical platform for students to create their own cultural discourses for the learning community. The theoretical framework of critical pedagogy of place provided a way for the learning community to decolonise and re-inhabit the learning spaces with knowledge they co-constructed. Narrative analysis of video transcripts of the after-school programme, ethnographic interviews, and focus group discussions from Photovoice revealed a pattern of emerging agency by Karen students in the scientific practice of constructing scientific explanations based on evidence and in Karen language lessons. This evidence suggests that science learning embedded within a cross-cultural learning community can empower refugee students to construct their own hybrid cultural knowledge and leverage that knowledge to engage in a meaningful way with the epistemology of science.

  7. A Community-based Partnership for a Sustainable GNSS Geodetic Network

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dokka, R. K.

    2009-12-01

    Geodetic networks offer unparalleled opportunities to monitor and understand many of the rhythms of the Earth most vital to the sustainability of modern and future societies, i.e., crustal motions, sea-level, and the weather. For crustal deformation studies, the advantage is clear. Modern measurements allow us to document not only the permanent strains incurred over a seismic cycle, for example, but also the ephemeral strains that are critical for understanding the underlying physical mechanism. To be effective for science, however, geodetic networks must be properly designed, capitalized, and maintained over sufficient time intervals to fully capture the processes in action. Unfortunately, most networks lack interoperability and lack a business plan to ensure long term sustainability. The USA, for example, lacks a unified nation-wide GNSS network that can sustain its self over the coming years, decades, and century. Current federal priorities do not yet envision such a singular network. Publicly and privately funded regional networks exist, but tend to be parochial in scope, and optimized for a special user community, e.g., surveying, crustal motions, etc. Data sharing is common, but the lack of input at the beginning limits the functionality of the system for non-primary users. Funding for private networks depend heavily on the user demand, business cycle, and regulatory requirements. Agencies funding science networks offer no guarantee of sustained support. An alternative model (GULFNet) developed in Louisiana is meeting user needs, is sustainable, and is helping engineers, surveyors, and geologists become more spatially enabled. The common denominator among all participants is the view that accurate, precise, and timely geodetic data have tangible value for all segments of society. Although operated by a university (LSU), GULFNet is a community-based partnership between public and private sectors. GULFNet simultaneously achieves scientific goals by providing

  8. Sustaining Ecotourism in Tanzania through Community

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Liliane Pasape

    2014-06-01

    Full Text Available This study explores the contribution of community empowerment to the sustainability of ecotourism in Tanzania using education programmes, access to information and language. Through the survey approach data was collected from Tanzania’s ecotourism stakeholders (N=250 in the eight selected regions of Dar es Salaam, Pwani, Morogoro, Tanga and Zanzibar (for the eastern tourism circuit and Arusha, Kilimanjaro and Manyara (for the northern circuit and thereafter a qualitative analysis was employed complemented by estimation of the multinomial logistic regression model. The findings show that tourism stakeholders lack sufficient knowledge on ecotourism conservation and preservation. Likewise community members have poor access to information due to insufficient ecotourism publications, tourist information centres, a reliable mechanism for communicating with stakeholders and the use of foreign languages in most of the publications. It is therefore the study’s recommendation that community members be empowered through being provided with adequate education programmes and access to relevant information and the use of a language that is understood by them in order to broaden their level of understanding, enhance their management skills and contribute significantly to ecotourism-related activities.

  9. Partnering for Real World Learning, Sustainability, Tourism Education

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jennings, Gayle; Cater, Carl I.; Hales, Rob; Kensbock, Sandra; Hornby, Glen

    2015-01-01

    Purpose: The purpose of this article is to study how real world learning was used to engender and enhance sustainability principles and practices with 11 micro-, small- and medium-tourism business enterprises and 101 university tourism students enrolled across three university courses. Design/methodology/approach: Action research processes were…

  10. Embedding Sustainability in Education through Experiential Learning Using Innovation and Entrepreneurship

    Science.gov (United States)

    Belkhir, Lotfi

    2015-01-01

    In this pedagogical study, we introduce the design and findings of a pilot study on the effectiveness of a new Engineering graduate course, "Total Sustainability Management", in teaching and learning sustainability, both at the cognitive and the management level. The design of an "arms-length" anonymized pre- and post-course…

  11. Fostering Inclusive, Sustainable Economic Growth and "Green" Skills Development in Learning Cities through Partnerships

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pavlova, Margarita

    2018-01-01

    One of the requirements of building a learning city is working to ensure its sustainable development. In 2014, UNESCO developed a framework of the key features of learning cities, at the centre of which there are six pillars or "building blocks" which support sustainable development. This article focuses on the third of these pillars,…

  12. A Systematic Review of the Literature on the Sustainability of Community Health Collaboratives.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hearld, Larry R; Bleser, William K; Alexander, Jeffrey A; Wolf, Laura J

    2016-04-01

    Recent interest in community health collaboratives has been driven by the potential of these types of organizations to solve complex health problems at the local level by bringing together stakeholders that have traditionally operated independently, and often at cross-purposes. Much of the work that is central to the mission of collaboratives can take years to reach fruition, however, and there are a number of challenges to sustaining their activities. In this article, we systematically reviewed the theoretical and empirical literature on health care collaborative sustainability, focusing on definitions and antecedents of sustainability. Given the diversity and fragmentation of this literature, we used this review as a foundation to develop a synthesized definition, conceptual groups of antecedents, and potential research propositions to help guide future research, planning, and practice of sustainable community health collaboratives. © The Author(s) 2015.

  13. How experiential learning in an informal setting promotes class equity and social and economic justice for children from "communities at promise": An Australian perspective

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zyngier, David

    2017-02-01

    Educational research often portrays culturally, linguistically and economically disenfranchised (CLED) children's disengagement from school learning as individual behaviour, ignoring the contribution of race, gender, socio-cultural, ethnic and social class factors. This paper analyses a specific community engagement programme in Australia which uses experiential learning in an informal setting. The programme, which has been running for seven years, partners pre-service teachers, volunteer high school students and volunteers from a national bank with primary schools where many pupils are experiencing learning difficulties and school engagement problems as a result of their socio-economic status, their poverty, and their ethnic and cultural diversity. Drawing on the perspectives of the children and volunteers participating in the pilot study, and privileging their voices, this paper illustrates how community partnerships may be developed and sustained. The programme's conceptual framework of Connecting-Owning-Responding-Empowering (CORE) pedagogy is explored for its potential to enhance student engagement, achievement and empowerment through focused community involvement. The findings show that when students feel connected to and involved in their community, all participants are empowered in their learning and teaching.

  14. A general picture of the learning communities: characteristics, similarities and differences.

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Verkleij, K.A.M.; Francke, A.L.; Voordouw, I.; Albers, M.; Gobbens, R.J.J.

    2016-01-01

    Background: Because learning communities of community care nurses and nursing lectures are a new phenomenon, it is of interest to evaluate en monitor the learning communities. the Netherlands Institute for Health Services Research, NIVEL, was commissioned to monitor the realization of the learning

  15. Creating sustainable learning environments in schools by means of ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Creating sustainable learning environments in schools by means of strategic ... be addressed by means of proper strategic planning of the education system as such ... The authors who are academics at a university and who are specializing in ...

  16. Goal Orientation, Deep Learning, and Sustainable Feedback in Higher Business Education

    Science.gov (United States)

    Geitz, Gerry; Brinke, Desirée Joosten-ten; Kirschner, Paul A.

    2015-01-01

    Relations between and changeability of goal orientation and learning behavior have been studied in several domains and contexts. To alter the adopted goal orientation into a mastery orientation and increase a concomitant deep learning in international business students, a sustainable feedback intervention study was carried out. Sustainable…

  17. Designing a Robot Teaching Assistant for Enhancing and Sustaining Learning Motivation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hung, I-Chun; Chao, Kuo-Jen; Lee, Ling; Chen, Nian-Shing

    2013-01-01

    Although many researchers have pointed out that educational robots can stimulate learners' learning motivation, the learning motivation will be hardly sustained and rapidly decreased over time if the amusement and interaction merely come from the new technology itself without incorporating instructional strategies. Many researchers have…

  18. Lessons Learned by Community Stakeholders in the Massachusetts Childhood Obesity Research Demonstration (MA-CORD) Project, 2013–2014

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ganter, Claudia; Aftosmes-Tobio, Alyssa; Chuang, Emmeline; Kwass, Jo-Ann; Land, Thomas

    2017-01-01

    Introduction Childhood obesity is a multifaceted disease that requires sustainable, multidimensional approaches that support change at the individual, community, and systems levels. The Massachusetts Childhood Obesity Research Demonstration project addressed this need by using clinical and public health evidence-based methods to prevent childhood obesity. To date, little information is known about successes and lessons learned from implementing such large-scale interventions. To address this gap, we examined perspectives of community stakeholders from various sectors on successes achieved and lessons learned during the implementation process. Methods We conducted 39 semistructured interviews with key stakeholders from 6 community sectors in 2 low-income communities from November 2013 through April 2014, during project implementation. Interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed, and analyzed by using the constant comparative method. Data were analyzed by using QSR NVivo 10. Results Successes included increased parental involvement in children’s health and education, increased connections within participating organizations and within the broader community, changes in organizational policies and environments to better support healthy living, and improvements in health behaviors in children, parents, and stakeholders. Lessons learned included the importance of obtaining administrative and leadership support, involving key stakeholders early in the program planning process, creating buffers that allow for unexpected changes, and establishing opportunities for regular communication within and across sectors. Conclusion Study findings indicate that multidisciplinary approaches support health behavior change and provide insight into key issues to consider in developing and implementing such approaches in low-income communities. PMID:28125400

  19. Measuring Longitudinal Student Performance on Student Learning Outcomes in Sustainability Education

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jarchow, Meghann E.; Formisano, Paul; Nordyke, Shane; Sayre, Matthew

    2018-01-01

    Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to describe the student learning outcomes (SLOs) for a sustainability major, evaluate faculty incorporation of the SLOs into the courses in the sustainability major curriculum and measure student performance on the SLOs from entry into the major to the senior capstone course. Design/methodology/approach:…

  20. Mentoring: A Natural Role for Learning Community Faculty

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hessenauer, Sarah L.; Law, Kristi

    2017-01-01

    The purpose of this article is to highlight mentoring as an important piece of leading a learning community. The authors will share a definition of mentoring which is applicable to the learning community experience. Characteristics of mentoring will be described, including types of mentoring and mentor-mentee relationships. The authors will apply…

  1. ESD and lifelong learning: a case study of the Shangri-la Institute's current engagement with the Bazhu community in Diqing, China

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Yunhua; Constable, Alicia

    2010-06-01

    This article argues that ESD should be integrated into lifelong learning and provides an example of how this might be done. It draws on a case study of a joint project between the Shangri-la Institute and the Bazhu community in Diqing, southwest China, to analyse a community-based approach to Education for Sustainable Development and assess its implications for lifelong learning. The article examines the different knowledge, skills and values needed for ESD across the life span and asserts the need for these competencies to be informed by the local context. The importance of linking ESD with local culture and indigenous knowledge is emphasised. The article goes on to propose methods for integrating ESD into lifelong learning and underscore the need for learning at the individual, institutional and societal levels in formal, non-formal and informal learning settings. It calls for institutional changes that link formal, non-formal and informal learning through the common theme of ESD, and establish platforms to share experiences, reflect on these and thereby continually improve ESD.

  2. Learning communities and overcoming poverty in Brazil

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tatiana Santos Pitanga

    2015-09-01

    Full Text Available Object: Brazil has implemented social programs to meet the Millennium Development Goals of reducing poverty and inequality. Despite the good results still there are ghettos and educational and social inequalities. Moreover Learning Communities are responding to these needs by promoting education based on successful actions scientifically proven of which promote educational change and social inclusion. The aim of this article is to highlight the characteristics of Learning Communities that allow overcoming poverty, and in this perspective, explain the implementation of the Learning Communities in Brazil and how, in this way, it is creating the conditions for effective overcoming give poverty and inequality in this country.Design / methodology: This article is based on documentary analysis of reports of the INCLUD-ED - the project on school education more scientific resources has been funded by the European Union, United Nations / ECLAC, Brazilian public agencies and websites of official institutions that promote Learning Communities in Brazil. Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics are also collected.Contributions and results: It highlights successful actions that contribute to overcoming poverty and social exclusion. Such actions are based on dialogic learning, democratic management and the formation of heterogeneous groups. It is observed that in Brazil are carrying out such actions and the ongoing expansion of the project in the country is creating the conditions for effective poverty reduction.Added value: This article reveals specific elements of overcoming poverty through education.

  3.  e-Learning in Virtual Communities of Practice - And Beyond?

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Petersen, Karen Bjerg

    2007-01-01

    The work of Lave and Wenger on learning in 'communities of practice' has evoked a considerable response in e-learning environments through-out the world including Denmark in the last few decades. Within the development of web-based second language learning, the ideas of learning in communities...... interaction and case studies of e-learning language platforms within the area of teaching Danish as a second language for adult foreigners. The concepts of communities of practice are also discussed and developed....... individual process. The aim of this paper is to investigate aspects of the Danish development of e-learning platforms and, especially students' and teachers' very differing perceptions of e-learning and the concepts behind it. The analysis is based on student and teacher interviews, research on language...

  4. On-line Professional Learning Communities: Increasing Teacher Learning and Productivity in Isolated Rural Communities

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dora Salazar

    2010-08-01

    Full Text Available On-line and distance professional learning communities provides teachers with increased access and flexibility as well as the combination of work and education. It also provides a more learner-centered approach, enrichment and new ways of interacting with teachers in isolated rural areas. For educational administrators, on-line learning offers high quality and usually cost-effective professional development for teachers. It allows upgrading of skills, increased productivity and development of a new learning culture. At the same time, it means sharing of costs, of training time, increased portability of training, and the exchange of creativity, information, and dialogue.

  5. Cognitive Neurostimulation: Learning to Volitionally Sustain Ventral Tegmental Area Activation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    MacInnes, Jeff J; Dickerson, Kathryn C; Chen, Nan-Kuei; Adcock, R Alison

    2016-03-16

    Activation of the ventral tegmental area (VTA) and mesolimbic networks is essential to motivation, performance, and learning. Humans routinely attempt to motivate themselves, with unclear efficacy or impact on VTA networks. Using fMRI, we found untrained participants' motivational strategies failed to consistently activate VTA. After real-time VTA neurofeedback training, however, participants volitionally induced VTA activation without external aids, relative to baseline, Pre-test, and control groups. VTA self-activation was accompanied by increased mesolimbic network connectivity. Among two comparison groups (no neurofeedback, false neurofeedback) and an alternate neurofeedback group (nucleus accumbens), none sustained activation in target regions of interest nor increased VTA functional connectivity. The results comprise two novel demonstrations: learning and generalization after VTA neurofeedback training and the ability to sustain VTA activation without external reward or reward cues. These findings suggest theoretical alignment of ideas about motivation and midbrain physiology and the potential for generalizable interventions to improve performance and learning. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  6. A QUEST for sustainable continuing professional development

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Nielsen, Birgitte Lund

    2017-01-01

    on a large-scale, long-term Danish CPD project for which all the activities were created with these consensus criteria in mind. The overall purpose has been to develop a sustainable model for CPD that acknowledges teachers’ situated learning in professional learning communities (PLCs), supports bottom...... organized by the local PLC, and individual enactments in the teachers’ own classrooms. This “rhythm” has now been institutionalized, and even though the project has come to an end, there is still networking across schools and PLC activities continue in all five municipalities. In order to assess...... experiencing changes in collaboration and classroom practice. Furthermore there seems to be a delayed correlation between schools with the most sustained PLC activities and student outcomes. Factors supporting sustainability are discussed, these include scaffolding the teachers’ collaborative inquiries...

  7. A History of Learning Communities within American Higher Education

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fink, John E.; Inkelas, Karen Kurotsuchi

    2015-01-01

    This chapter describes the historical development of learning communities within American higher education. We examine the forces both internal and external to higher education that contributed to and stalled the emergence of learning communities in their contemporary form.

  8. Reconnecting art and science for sustainability: learning from indigenous knowledge through participatory action-research in the Amazon

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Simone Athayde

    2017-06-01

    Full Text Available Sustainability science focuses on generating and applying knowledge to environmentally sound human development around the world. It requires working toward greater integration of different types of knowledge, ways of knowing, and between academy and society. We contribute to the development of approaches for learning from indigenous knowledge, through enhanced understanding of the system of values, meanings, and relationships afforded by indigenous arts. We focus on a long-term, participatory action research project developed for the revitalization of weaving knowledge among three Kawaiwete (also known as Kaiabi indigenous groups in the Amazon. The problem was originally defined by indigenous communities, concerned with the erosion of weaving knowledge of basketry and textiles among men and women. Methods for coproduction of knowledge included dialogical methods and tools, indigenous-led strategies, and quantitative and qualitative approaches across biophysical and social sciences. Longitudinal and cross-sectional studies considered multiple dimensions, scales, and networks of knowledge creation, distribution, and transmission. Innovation and articulation with western systems, along with shamanism, gender, and leadership, were key factors enhancing artistic knowledge resilience. We reflect on lessons learned and implications of this initiative for broadening the understanding of art and science intersections toward a sustainable future.

  9. Creativity and organizational learning as means to foster sustainability

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Lozano, Rodrigo

    This article argues that creativity and organizational learning can help to challenge the traditional Newtonian and Cartesian mental models and foster more sustainable societies. The recognition and acceptance of creativity by individuals, groups, organizations, and finally society can create new

  10. ISABEL Triggering Sustainable Biogas Energy Communities through Social Innovation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Baumgarten, Wibke; Piedra Garcia, Diego

    2017-04-01

    The Horizon 2020 funding project ISABEL (Triggering Sustainable Biogas Energy Communities through Social Innovation) is all about promoting, supporting and developing community biogas in Europe. The project is set on providing all the framework conditions for biogas communities to shape, develop and thrive. It works on all angles to pave the way for the transition from traditional supply chains to community ownership and take full advantage of the ample societal benefits of regional community-driven biogas systems, fuelled and inspired by Social Innovation principles. The biogas communities emerge in three targeted ISABEL regions, Baden-Württemberg in Germany, Central and Eastern Macedonia and Thrace in Greece and Yorkshire, Lincolnshire and the Humber in UK. To realize this vision ISABEL is employing its "5E strategy" with the following objectives: Educate: Re-position biogas energy by re-branding it as a "public good". Engage: Enable the development of regional Biogas Communities. Empower: Utilize the created momentum through Social Innovation and Public Participation Evaluate: Assess the local interventions and drafting lessons and guidelines Expand: Maximise impact through transfer and replication

  11. The role of adult education and learning policy in fostering societal sustainability

    Science.gov (United States)

    Milana, Marcella; Rasmussen, Palle; Holford, John

    2016-10-01

    The idea of "sustainability" as a core value has slowly permeated policy and practice at governmental and institutional levels, in public and private policy. However, at times when social and economic crises have revealed the fragility of existing institutions and policies, it is important to consider how sustainability is - and could be - integrated into educational policies. In this theoretical contribution to a special issue on "Societal sustainability", the authors draw on available literature and knowledge. They begin their paper by summarising the conditions under which the concept of "sustainability" entered political discourse in the early 1970s and outline how it has influenced educational research. They then introduce the longstanding debate about the relative role of tradition (in terms of traditional cultural and social order) and change (in terms of efforts to provide learning opportunities for everyone) in adult education. Finally, they argue for a rethinking of the ontology of sustainability: this, they suggest, can shed new light on its relationships with adult education and learning and social justice.

  12. Learning through Participatory Action Research for Community Ecotourism Planning.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Guevara, Jose Roberto Q.

    1996-01-01

    Ecologically sound tourism planning and policy require an empowering community participation. The participatory action research model helps a community gain understanding of its social reality, learn how to learn, initiate dialog, and discover new possibilities for addressing its situation. (SK)

  13. What promotes sustainability in Safe Community programmes?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nordqvist, Cecilia; Timpka, Toomas; Lindqvist, Kent

    2009-01-08

    The theory and practice of safety promotion has traditionally focused on the safety of individuals. This study also includes systems, environments, and organizations. Safety promotion programmes are designed to support community health initiatives taking a bottom-up approach. This is a long-term and complex process. The aim of this study was to try to empirically identify factors that promote sustainability in the structures of programmes that are managed and coordinated by the local government. Four focus group sessions with local government politicians and administrators in designated Safe Communities were conducted and analyzed using qualitative content analysis. Collaboration was found to be the basis for sustainability. Networks, enabling municipalities to exchange ideas, were reported to positively influence the programmes. Personal contacts rather than organizations themselves, determine whether collaboration is sustained. Participants reported an increase in cross-disciplinary collaboration among staff categories. Administrators and politicians were reported to collaborate well, which was perceived to speed up decision-making and thus to facilitate the programme work. Support from the politicians and the county council was seen as a prerequisite. Participants reported an increased willingness to share information between units, which, in their view, supports sustainability. A structure in which all local authorities' offices were located in close proximity to one another was considered to support collaboration. Appointing a public health coordinator responsible for the programme was seen as a way to strengthen the relational resources of the programme. With a public health coordinator, the 'external' negotiating power was concentrated in one person. Also, the 'internal' programme strength increased when the coordination was based on a bureaucratic function rather than on one individual. Increased relational resources facilitated the transfer of information

  14. What promotes sustainability in Safe Community programmes?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lindqvist Kent

    2009-01-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background The theory and practice of safety promotion has traditionally focused on the safety of individuals. This study also includes systems, environments, and organizations. Safety promotion programmes are designed to support community health initiatives taking a bottom-up approach. This is a long-term and complex process. The aim of this study was to try to empirically identify factors that promote sustainability in the structures of programmes that are managed and coordinated by the local government. Methods Four focus group sessions with local government politicians and administrators in designated Safe Communities were conducted and analyzed using qualitative content analysis. Results Collaboration was found to be the basis for sustainability. Networks, enabling municipalities to exchange ideas, were reported to positively influence the programmes. Personal contacts rather than organizations themselves, determine whether collaboration is sustained. Participants reported an increase in cross-disciplinary collaboration among staff categories. Administrators and politicians were reported to collaborate well, which was perceived to speed up decision-making and thus to facilitate the programme work. Support from the politicians and the county council was seen as a prerequisite. Participants reported an increased willingness to share information between units, which, in their view, supports sustainability. A structure in which all local authorities' offices were located in close proximity to one another was considered to support collaboration. Appointing a public health coordinator responsible for the programme was seen as a way to strengthen the relational resources of the programme. Conclusion With a public health coordinator, the 'external' negotiating power was concentrated in one person. Also, the 'internal' programme strength increased when the coordination was based on a bureaucratic function rather than on one individual

  15. Teacher Collaboration and Student Learning in a Professional Learning Community

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vaughan, Mary Elaine

    2013-01-01

    Researchers have endorsed teacher collaboration within a professional learning community (PLC) that is focused on student learning. Despite these research-based endorsements, several Algebra 1 teachers in a southeastern high school implemented components of a PLC with little or no results in student achievement. The purpose of this study was to…

  16. Institutional Sustainability Barriers of Community Conservation Agreement as a Collaboration Management in Lore Lindu National Park

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sudirman Daeng Massiri

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available The main problem of forest institutional arrangement is the issue of institutional sustainability in achieving sustainable forest ecosystem. This study aimed to explain the barriers of institutional sustainability Community Conservation Agreement (CCA designed in Lore Lindu National Park (LLNP, in Indonesia, as a collaborative management of national parks. This study is of descriptive which used qualitative approach, i.e. asking open-ended questions, reviewing documentation and analyzing textual of community conservation agreements. We found that the institutional sustainability barriers of CCA were the local decisions on collective-choice level and that the rules at operational level arranged in CCA were not in line with formal rules of national park management at the constitutional level. Furthermore, the low capacity of local institutions in heterogeneous villages with many migrants in controlling and regulating the forest use, especially in rehabilitation zone areas, also became a barrier to institutional sustainability of CCA. Therefore, institutional sustainability of CCA requires support of national park management policy that accommodates the sustainability of livelihoods of local communities in national parks, strengthening local institution's capacity, and ultimately integrating institution of CCA as part of LLNP management.

  17. A Case Study in Organizing for Livable and Sustainable Communities

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jerry Marx

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available Citizens in the U.S. are making organized efforts to demand a new approach to planning urban communities, one that results in more sustainable and livable communities. The profession of social work in the U.S. once had a primary role in organizing urban residents to advocate for healthier environments in their neighborhoods. Yet, recent research documents the diminishing emphasis on community organization as an intervention method in social work. This paper offers a descriptive case study of a successful community organizing effort to promote a more livable city in Portland, Maine (USA. Data was collected by the authors using in-depth personal interviews; archival records (census data, architect models; documents (e-mails, newspaper clippings as well as direct observation of the impacted community and development site. Implications for social work practitioners and educators involved in community organization promoting healthy communities are presented.

  18. Moving Into Communities: Developing Cultural Competence with Pre-service Educators through Community Service-Learning Experiences

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Heather Coffey

    2012-04-01

    Full Text Available Research in teacher education suggests that field experiences in community settings can offer pre-service teachers a context for understanding the link between theory and practice. This paper documents the experiences of pre-service educators who participated in service-learning partnerships for thirty hours in multiple community settings in the southeast United States. Pre-service teachers not only volunteered in the community, but they also engaged in critically reflective journal writing and participated in evaluative class discussions. Students praised the benefits of a service experience in both school and community placements and discussed how interactions with the community agencies gave them the insight into how community organizations often play a significant role in the lives of the underserved students they will eventually teach. The author argues that the inclusion of a service-learning component in early pre-service teacher education field experiences has the potential to facilitate the examination of the relationships between community organizations and schools and encourage development of cultural competence among pre-service teachers. KEYWORDSservice-learning, pre-service teacher preparation, community partnerships

  19. Building Global Learning Communities

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cochrane, Thomas; Buchem, Ilona; Camacho, Mar; Cronin, Catherine; Gordon, Averill; Keegan, Helen

    2013-01-01

    Within the background where education is increasingly driven by the economies of scale and research funding, we propose an alternative online open and connected framework (OOC) for building global learning communities using mobile social media. We critique a three year action research case study involving building collaborative global learning…

  20. Not Deep Learning but Autonomous Learning of Open Innovation for Sustainable Artificial Intelligence

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    JinHyo Joseph Yun

    2016-08-01

    Full Text Available What do we need for sustainable artificial intelligence that is not harmful but beneficial human life? This paper builds up the interaction model between direct and autonomous learning from the human’s cognitive learning process and firms’ open innovation process. It conceptually establishes a direct and autonomous learning interaction model. The key factor of this model is that the process to respond to entries from external environments through interactions between autonomous learning and direct learning as well as to rearrange internal knowledge is incessant. When autonomous learning happens, the units of knowledge determinations that arise from indirect learning are separated. They induce not only broad autonomous learning made through the horizontal combinations that surpass the combinations that occurred in direct learning but also in-depth autonomous learning made through vertical combinations that appear so that new knowledge is added. The core of the interaction model between direct and autonomous learning is the variability of the boundary between proven knowledge and hypothetical knowledge, limitations in knowledge accumulation, as well as complementarity and conflict between direct and autonomous learning. Therefore, these should be considered when introducing the interaction model between direct and autonomous learning into navigations, cleaning robots, search engines, etc. In addition, we should consider the relationship between direct learning and autonomous learning when building up open innovation strategies and policies.

  1. Game farms as sustainable ecotourist attractions

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    P. van der Merwe

    2005-12-01

    Full Text Available The main goal of this research was to determine aspects that will contribute to the development of sustainable ecotourism on game farms. In order to achieve this, empirical research was done by means of a survey sample consisting of all the active members of the South African Game Farmers Organisation. There are a total of 1244 members, of whom 50 % (n = 622 were randomly sampled for the research. In the main findings of the research, aspects were identified that are developed according to the criterion for sustainable ecotourism. These aspects include natural/conservation/environmental considerations as well as cultural aspects, such as learning local languages. Aspects that are neglected include working closely with the local community to develop new products; developing partnerships and joint ventures in which the community has a significant stake; fostering the development of community-based tourism products by providing marketing and mentoring support; and considering using local entrepreneurs in the development of community initiatives.

  2. Creating the sustainable conditions for knowledge information sharing in virtual community.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Jiangtao; Yang, Jianmei; Chen, Quan; Tsai, Sang-Bing

    2016-01-01

    Encyclopedias are not a new platform for the distribution of knowledge, but they have recently drawn a great deal of attention in their online iteration. Peer production in particular has emerged as a new mode of providing information with value and offering competitive advantage in information production. Large numbers of volunteers actively share their knowledge by continuously editing articles in Baidu encyclopedias. Most articles in the online communities are the cumulative and integrated products of the contributions of many coauthors. Email-based surveys and objective data mining were here used to collect analytical data. Critical mass theory is here used to analyze the characteristics of these collective actions and to explain the emergence and sustainability of these actions in the Baidu Encyclopedia communities. These results show that, based on the collective action framework, the contributors group satisfied the two key characteristics that ensure the collective action of knowledge contribution will both take place and become self-sustaining. This analysis not only facilitates the identification of collective actions related to individuals sharing knowledge in virtual communities, but also can provide an insight for other similar virtual communities' management and development.

  3. Pragmatism, Pedagogy, and Community Service Learning

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yoder, Scot D.

    2016-01-01

    In this paper I explore Goodwin Liu's proposal to ground the pedagogy of service-learning in the epistemology of pragmatism from the perspective of a reflective practitioner. I review Liu's epistemology and his claim that from within it three features common to service-learning--community, diversity, and engagement--become pedagogical virtues. I…

  4. Learning in a Physics Classroom Community: Physics Learning Identity Construct Development, Measurement and Validation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Sissi L.

    At the university level, introductory science courses usually have high student to teacher ratios which increases the challenge to meaningfully connect with students. Various curricula have been developed in physics education to actively engage students in learning through social interactions with peers and instructors in class. This learning environment demands not only conceptual understanding but also learning to be a scientist. However, the success of student learning is typically measured in test performance and course grades while assessment of student development as science learners is largely ignored. This dissertation addresses this issue with the development of an instrument towards a measure of physics learning identity (PLI) which is used to guide and complement case studies through student interviews and in class observations. Using the conceptual framework based on Etienne Wenger's communities of practice (1998), I examine the relationship between science learning and learning identity from a situated perspective in the context of a large enrollment science class as a community of practice. This conceptual framework emphasizes the central role of identity in the practices negotiated in the classroom community and in the way students figure out their trajectory as members. Using this framework, I seek to understand how the changes in student learning identity are supported by active engagement based instruction. In turn, this understanding can better facilitate the building of a productive learning community and provide a measure for achievement of the curricular learning goals in active engagement strategies. Based on the conceptual framework, I developed and validated an instrument for measuring physics learning identity in terms of student learning preferences, self-efficacy for learning physics, and self-image as a physics learner. The instrument was pilot tested with a population of Oregon State University students taking calculus based

  5. Cultural Narratives: Developing a Three-Dimensional Learning Community through Braided Understanding

    Science.gov (United States)

    Heck, Marsha L.

    2004-01-01

    Paula Underwood's "Learning Stories" braid together body, mind, and spirit to enable understanding that does not easily unravel. They tell of relationships among individual and community learning that parallel other ancient and contemporary ideas about learning in caring communities. Underwood's tradition considers learning sacred; everyone's…

  6. A Review of the Instructional Practices for Promoting Online Learning Communities

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hung, Woei; Flom, Elicia; Manu, Jacob; Mahmoud, Enaz

    2015-01-01

    An effective learning community helps foster positive student learning experiences and outcomes. However, in distance learning environments, the communication barriers inevitably hinder the interaction among the students because of the lower levels of social presence. These barriers present challenges in building learning communities in an online…

  7. Bridging Learning Communities Through Experiential Learning with GIST: 2Y College Experience

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sorey, N.; Phillips, C. D.

    2017-12-01

    This study reviews successes of community engagement through experiential learning with GIST across academic disciplines that leverage topics with technology and community relationships throughout a two-year campus and the community at large. This approach allowed for a diversification of populations reached through college student engagement and community outreach efforts. Technological frameworks and development of best practice resources to support students and faculty were shown to increase the capacity for undergraduate research experiences, K12 short course offerings during the summer, and the formation of a STEM-focused student organization. The RSO has participated in activities that include educational technology development, participating in the growth and development of the area's maker movement community, and geoscience outreach and education. Development of the program thus far and lessons learned have resulted in a proposal for an areal-based informal pathway linking the K12 community to area colleges by integrating geoscience outreach with GIST through the maker movement.

  8. Increasing Student Metacognition and Learning through Classroom-Based Learning Communities and Self-Assessment

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Amy Siegesmund

    2016-05-01

    Full Text Available Student overconfidence challenges success in introductory biology. This study examined the impact of classroom learning communities and self-assessment on student metacognition and subsequent impact on student epistemological beliefs, behaviors, and learning. Students wrote weekly self-assessments reflecting on the process of learning and received individual feedback. Students completed a learning strategies inventory focused on metacognition and study behaviors at the beginning and end of the semester and a Student Assessment of their Learning Gains (SALG at the end of the semester. Results indicated significant changes in both metacognition and study behaviors over the course of the semester, with a positive impact on learning as determined by broad and singular measures. Self-assessments and SALG data demonstrated a change in student beliefs and behaviors. Taken together, these findings argue that classroom learning communities and self-assessment can increase student metacognition and change student epistemological beliefs and behaviors.

  9. Planning for Technology Integration in a Professional Learning Community

    Science.gov (United States)

    Thoma, Jennifer; Hutchison, Amy; Johnson, Debra; Johnson, Kurt; Stromer, Elizabeth

    2017-01-01

    Barriers to technology integration in instruction include a lack of time, resources, and professional development. One potential approach to overcoming these barriers is through collaborative work, or professional learning communities. This article focuses on one group of teachers who leveraged their professional learning community to focus on…

  10. The difference biocultural "place" makes to community efforts towards sustainable development: Youth participatory action research in a marine protected area of Colombia

    Science.gov (United States)

    McRuer, Jennifer; Zethelius, Margarita

    2017-12-01

    The Latin American concept of "(collective) biocultural heritage" arose from Indigenous knowledge and practices with respect to local natural resources and environment, including the food being hunted, the crops being grown, and the landscapes being created. The term is now used more widely to describe community practices, goals and priorities that are determined, maintained and managed by diverse cultural relationships with "place". The study presented in this article investigated biocultural place relationships in connection with well-being and sustainability. In the context of learning and action for sustainability in Isla Grande, an island in a marine protected area of Colombia, this study targeted the significance of place to the everyday lives of Afro-Colombian youth - from their perspective. Beyond aiming to merely observe and collect data, the methodology included a research design which actively involved local youth and incorporated the aspect of place. The authors describe and reflect on the processes, learning and action that emerged throughout the research, as well as the study's limitations. They discuss broad implications in terms of how place relationships influence research, and how research influences place relationships. Local implications include supporting the voice of youth in community efforts to re-imagine and transform place relationships in response to critical place issues such as climate change, top-down resource management, privatisation, commodification and growing environmental injustice.

  11. Community management and sustainability of rural water facilities in Tanzania

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Mandara, C.G.; Butijn, C.A.A.; Niehof, Anke

    2013-01-01

    This paper addresses the question of whether community management in water service delivery affects the sustainability of rural water facilities (RWFs) at village level, in terms of their technical and managerial aspects, and what role capacity building of users and providers plays in this process.

  12. Procuring a Sustainable Future: An Action Learning Approach to the Development and Modelling of Ethical and Sustainable Procurement Practices

    Science.gov (United States)

    Boak, George; Watt, Peter; Gold, Jeff; Devins, David; Garvey, Robert

    2016-01-01

    This paper contributes to an understanding of the processes by which organisational actors learn how to affect positive and sustainable social change in their local region through action learning, action research and appreciative inquiry. The paper is based on a critically reflective account of key findings from an ongoing action research project,…

  13. Sustainable childhood obesity prevention through community engagement (SCOPE) program: evaluation of the implementation phase.

    Science.gov (United States)

    McIntosh, Bonnie; Daly, Amelia; Mâsse, Louise C; Collet, Jean-Paul; Higgins, Joan Wharf; Naylor, Patti-Jean; Amed, Shazhan

    2015-10-01

    Childhood obesity rates are steadily rising. Sustainable Childhood Obesity Prevention Through Community Engagement (SCOPE) is a community-based participatory action research (PAR) program aimed at preventing childhood obesity. This study aimed to describe community perspectives on, and elicit feedback about, SCOPE's first phase of implementation in two pilot cities in British Columbia, Canada. A case study was implemented using interviews and questionnaires to obtain feedback about SCOPE from two groups: SCOPE coordinators and stakeholders (i.e., individuals and organizations that were a member of the community and engaged with SCOPE coordinators). Participants were recruited via email and (or) by telephone. Coordinators completed a telephone interview. Stakeholders completed a questionnaire and (or) a telephone interview. Thematic analysis was conducted. Participants included 2 coordinators and 15 stakeholders. Participants similarly interpreted SCOPE as a program focused on raising awareness about childhood obesity prevention, while engaging multiple community sectors. Overall, participants valued the program's role in facilitating networking and partnership development, providing evidence-based resources, technical expertise, and contributing funding. Participants felt that SCOPE is sustainable. However, participants felt that barriers to achieving healthy weights among children included those related to the built environment, and social, behavioral, and economic obstacles. Perspectives on factors that facilitated and acted as barriers to SCOPE's first phase of implementation were obtained from the SCOPE communities and may be used to enhance the sustainability of SCOPE and its applicability to other BC communities.

  14. Experimenting on how to create a sustainable gamified learning design that supports adult students when learning through designing learning games

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Weitze, Charlotte Lærke

    2014-01-01

    digital learning games (small games) in cross‐disciplinary subject matters. The experiment has focused on creating a game‐based learning design that enables the students to implement the learning goals into their games, and on making the game design process motivating and engaging. Another focus......This paper presents and discusses the first iteration of a design‐based research experiment focusing on how to create an overall gamified learning design (big Game) facilitating the learning process for adult students by letting them be their own learning designers through designing their own...... of the study has been to create a sustainable learning design that supports the learning game design process and gives teachers the ability to evaluate whether the students have been successful in learning their subject matter through this learning game design process. The findings are that this initial...

  15. The impact of learning communities on interpersonal relationships among medical students.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Champaloux, Eve Privman; Keeley, Meg G

    2016-01-01

    Medical students at the University of Virginia (UVA) are mentored and learn within the framework of a four college learning community. Uniquely, these learning communities are used to organize the third-year clerkship rotations. Students were surveyed after their first pre-clinical year and after their clerkship year to determine what the effect of the learning community was on their social and educational interpersonal relationships. Students knew a higher percentage of their college mates after completing their third-year clerkships within the framework of the college system. Students chose peers from within the college system for social and educational interpersonal scenarios statistically more often than what would be expected at random. Small group learning environments that were not formed within the framework of the college system at UVA did not have the same effect on interpersonal relationships, indicating that learning communities are uniquely able to provide a context for relationship building. Students felt more positively about the social and educational effects of the college system after the clerkship year, with a corresponding increase in the strength of their interpersonal bonds with their college peers. This work is the first to investigate the effects of learning communities on interpersonal relationships among medical students and finds that learning communities positively impact both social and educational medical student bonds.

  16. Can we meet the sustainability challenges? The role of education and lifelong learning

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Wals, Arjen E.J.; Benavot, Aaron

    2017-01-01

    Education and lifelong learning are increasingly being mobilised to address the global environmental crisis and accompanying sustainability challenges. This article discusses the many roles of education about and for sustainable development, drawing on evidence and arguments put forward in the

  17. Teaching Sustainability Using an Active Learning Constructivist Approach: Discipline-Specific Case Studies in Higher Education

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Maria Kalamas Hedden

    2017-07-01

    Full Text Available In this paper we present our rationale for using an active learning constructivist approach to teach sustainability-related topics in a higher education. To push the boundaries of ecological literacy, we also develop a theoretical model for sustainability knowledge co-creation. Drawing on the experiences of faculty at a major Southeastern University in the United States, we present case studies in architecture, engineering, geography, and marketing. Four Sustainability Faculty Fellows describe their discipline-specific case studies, all of which are project-based learning experiences, and include details regarding teaching and assessment. Easily replicated in other educational contexts, these case studies contribute to the advancement of sustainability education.

  18. Michigan Journal of Community Service Learning. Volume 13, Number 1, Fall 2006

    Science.gov (United States)

    Howard, Jeffrey, Ed.

    2006-01-01

    The "Michigan Journal of Community Service Learning" ("MJCSL") is a national, peer-reviewed journal consisting of articles written by faculty and service-learning educators on research, theory, pedagogy, and issues pertinent to the service-learning community. The "MJCSL" aims to: (1) widen the community of…

  19. Community Agency Voice and Benefit in Service-Learning

    Science.gov (United States)

    Miron, Devi; Moely, Barbara E.

    2006-01-01

    Supervisors from 40 community agencies working with a university-based service-learning program were interviewed regarding the extent of their input in service-learning program planning and implementation "(Agency Voice), Interpersonal Relations" with service-learning students, "Perceived Benefit" of the service-learning…

  20. Accelerated Schools as Professional Learning Communities.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Biddle, Julie K.

    The goal of the Accelerated Schools Project (ASP) is to develop schools in which all children achieve at high levels and all members of the school community engage in developing and fulfilling the school's vision. But to fully implement the ASP model, a school must become a learning community that stresses relationships, shared values, and a…

  1. Empowering Teachers and their Practices of Inclusion through Digital Dialogic Negotiation of Meaning in Learning Communities of Practice

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Voldborg, Hanne; Sorensen, Elsebeth Korsgaard

    2016-01-01

    framework was developed. Through collaborative knowledge building and an Educational Design Research (EDR) method this study reports on a collaborative attempt to improve inclusive teaching/learning in ways that install ownership, reflection, and awareness of eLearning-to-Learn (eL2L). In the current study......The purpose of this paper is to develop and further refine a digital dialogic concept for the establishment of an including educational practice for teachers. The concept is inherently based on the view of teachers as co-researchers and with a view on inclusion as an endeavour best supported...... by digital dialogic negotiation of meaning in learning communities of practice (CoPs). The study is a continuation of an earlier study on establishing a digital dialogic architecture to fostering shared understanding and sustainable competence development in teacher practices of inclusion. A theoretical...

  2. An Informatics Approach to Establishing a Sustainable Public Health Community

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kriseman, Jeffrey Michael

    2012-01-01

    This work involved the analysis of a public health system, and the design, development and deployment of enterprise informatics architecture, and sustainable community methods to address problems with the current public health system. Specifically, assessment of the Nationally Notifiable Disease Surveillance System (NNDSS) was instrumental in…

  3. Sustainable Schools, Sustainable Communities: The View from the West. CAE Spring 2001 Conference [Proceedings] (San Diego, California, March 22-24, 2001).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Malone, Sara

    This paper presents summary conclusions reached by discussion panels that participated in the Committee on Architecture for Education's conference. The conference explored the symbiotic relationship between schools and communities and the ways that schools and communities sustain one another. Panel titles were: "City Heights Urban Village"; "High…

  4. Recommendations from the Field: Creating an LGBTQ Learning Community

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jaekel, Kathryn S.

    2015-01-01

    This article details the creation of a lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) learning community. Created because of research that indicates chilly campus climates (Rankin, 2005), as well as particular needs of LGBTQ students in the classroom, this learning community focused upon LGBTQ topics in and out of the classroom. While…

  5. Sustainable Development in the Engineering Curriculum: Teaching and Learning Resources

    OpenAIRE

    Penlington, Roger; Steiner, Simon

    2014-01-01

    This repository of teaching and learning resources is a companion to the 2nd edition of “An Introduction to Sustainable Development in the Engineering Curriculum”, by Roger Penlington and Simon Steiner, originally created by The Higher Education Academy Engineering Subject Centre, Loughborough University. \\ud The purpose of this collection of teaching and learning re-sources is to provide access, with a brief resumé, to materials in curricula reform, recognition awards, and university movemen...

  6. Sustainable Tourism Development: the Adaptation and Resilience of the Rural Communities in (the Tourist Villages of Karimunjawa, Central Java

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Budi Setiawan

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available From 2009 to 2015, the growth of tourism in the tourist villages (desa wisata of Karimunjawa underwent rapid progress. However, the level of poverty in Karimunjawa remained high. Nevertheless, the involvement of rural people in the sustainable development of tourism has received only limited discussion. Therefore, this article discusses the rural communities’ adaptation and resilience in Karimunjawa with the support of sustainable development planning in tourist villages. It covers the background of sustainable development, the elements of the communities’ adaptive capacity and resilience, and the role of the regional government. Empirical evidence of variations in the capacity to respond to changes of socioeconomic and ecological environments due to tourism development is presented. In addition, a case study is used in this article to describe how the people learned from their experience, knowledge, and past efforts. To obtain the necessary information, in-depth interviews were conducted with a number of key informants in the tourist villages of Karimunjawa, which were selected via purposive and snowball sampling. The results of the research show that social resilience will increase among those communities that are capable of accessing flexible social networks. These social networks are practical tools that open up the dissemination of new information and knowledge. This is a key element for a stronger process of transformation. Furthermore, communities that have capital and financial access as well as skills will also be capable of adaptation to the transformation process.

  7. Seaweeds: an opportunity for wealth and sustainable livelihood for coastal communities.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rebours, Céline; Marinho-Soriano, Eliane; Zertuche-González, José A; Hayashi, Leila; Vásquez, Julio A; Kradolfer, Paul; Soriano, Gonzalo; Ugarte, Raul; Abreu, Maria Helena; Bay-Larsen, Ingrid; Hovelsrud, Grete; Rødven, Rolf; Robledo, Daniel

    2014-01-01

    The European, Canadian, and Latin American seaweed industries rely on the sustainable harvesting of natural resources. As several countries wish to increase their activity, the harvest should be managed according to integrated and participatory governance regimes to ensure production within a long-term perspective. Development of regulations and directives enabling the sustainable exploitation of natural resources must therefore be brought to the national and international political agenda in order to ensure environmental, social, and economic values in the coastal areas around the world. In Europe, Portugal requires an appraisal of seaweed management plans while Norway and Canada have developed and implemented coastal management plans including well-established and sustainable exploitation of their natural seaweed resources. Whereas, in Latin America, different scenarios of seaweed exploitation can be observed; each country is however in need of long-term and ecosystem-based management plans to ensure that exploitation is sustainable. These plans are required particularly in Peru and Brazil, while Chile has succeeded in establishing a sustainable seaweed-harvesting plan for most of the economically important seaweeds. Furthermore, in both Europe and Latin America, seaweed aquaculture is at its infancy and development will have to overcome numerous challenges at different levels (i.e., technology, biology, policy). Thus, there is a need for regulations and establishment of "best practices" for seaweed harvesting, management, and cultivation. Trained human resources will also be required to provide information and education to the communities involved, to enable seaweed utilization to become a profitable business and provide better income opportunities to coastal communities.

  8. Student’s perspectives on Education for Sustainable Development in a problem based learning environment

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Guerra, Aida; Holgaard, Jette Egelund

    2013-01-01

    at these PBL institutions experience the strength of this pedagogy when being educated for sustainability. This paper aims to investigate how students perceive and integrate ESD in a PBL environment. Results exemplify how PBL moves beyond awareness about sustainability as the problem based learning model......In a society characterized by fast technological advances and increasing pressure on economic, ecological as well as social systems, it is important to educate engineers with a broader, reflective and sustainable perspective in alignment with their professional practice. This poses challenges...... to most engineering programmes, and scholars argue that a paradigm shift is needed to developing engineering education (EE) to embrace education for sustainable development (ESD). However, some of the more innovative pedagogies as for example problem based and project organised learning (PBL) already seem...

  9. Sustainable consumption and greenhouse gas mitigation

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Michaelis, Laurie [Sustainable Futures Programme, University of Oxford Environmental Change Institute, 1a Mansfield Road, Oxford OX1 3SZ (United Kingdom)

    2003-11-01

    The international discourses on climate change and sustainable development represent different cultures. The sustainable development process has sought to build agreement among competing discourse coalitions. The climate change process focuses on designing cost-effective measures based on expert analysis. Sustainable consumption presents a challenge to both communities. The challenge has been taken up within the sustainable development process but little progress has been made. High consuming lifestyles seem 'locked-in' by the economic, technological and cultural context. Nevertheless, there are several reasons for optimism that sustainable consumption patterns might develop. One is the diversity of current consumption patterns and the growing minority concerned with ethical consumption. Another is the growing understanding of innovation processes, developed to address technological change, but applicable to social innovation. A third reason is the growing reflexivity of communities and institutions. Government policies that seek to manage or control consumption, or persuade consumers to change their behaviour, are important but unlikely to be sufficient to bring about sustainable consumption. A complementary strategy would establish partnerships with the public and stakeholders, developing shared visions and approaches, supporting innovation and experimentation, and learning from outcomes. Changes are also needed in policies throughout government, from employment law to trade.

  10. Exploring the Incorporation of Values for Sustainable Entrepreneurship Teaching/Learning

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Soledad Parra

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available The objective of the “United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development”, during the period 2005 to 2014 is to integrate the principles, values and practices of sustainability in all aspects of education. The aim is to stimulate behavior changes, which will allow the creation of an economic, social and environmentally sustainable future. Sustainable entrepreneurial behavior is relevant for carrying out these changes. This paper tries to find the way to promote a sustainable entrepreneurial vision through the incorporation of new values for teaching/learning of potential entrepreneurs from the moment when the idea is born for creating a for-profit, non-profit or hybrid organization. Generating a change of perspective from the beginning of the entrepreneurship process is sought for fostering the birth of organizations that respect the environment and are responsible when confronting social problems, besides being profitable. All this involves a great challenge to all agents implicated in the process.

  11. Informal Learning in Online Knowledge Communities: Predicting Community Response to Visitor Inquiries

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Nistor, Nicolae; Dascalu, Mihai; Stavarache, Lucia Larise; Serafin, Yvonne; Trausan-Matu, Stefan

    2016-01-01

    Nistor, N., Dascalu, M., Stavarache, L.L., Serafin, Y., & Trausan-Matu, S. (2015). Informal Learning in Online Knowledge Communities: Predicting Community Response to Visitor Inquiries. In G. Conole, T. Klobucar, C. Rensing, J. Konert & É. Lavoué (Eds.), 10th European Conf. on Technology Enhanced

  12. Creating Small Learning Communities: Lessons from the Project on High-Performing Learning Communities about "What Works" in Creating Productive, Developmentally Enhancing, Learning Contexts

    Science.gov (United States)

    Felner, Robert D.; Seitsinger, Anne M.; Brand, Stephen; Burns, Amy; Bolton, Natalie

    2007-01-01

    Personalizing the school environment is a central goal of efforts to transform America's schools. Three decades of work by the Project on High Performance Learning Communities are considered that demonstrate the potential impact and importance of the creation of "small learning environments" on student motivation, adjustment, and well-being.…

  13. Can We Meet the Sustainability Challenges? The Role of Education and Lifelong Learning

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wals, Arjen E. J.; Benavot, Aaron

    2017-01-01

    Education and lifelong learning are increasingly being mobilised to address the global environmental crisis and accompanying sustainability challenges. This article discusses the many roles of education about and for sustainable development, drawing on evidence and arguments put forward in the 2016 Global Education Monitoring Report,…

  14. Building student capacity to lead sustainability transitions in the food system through farm-based authentic research modules in sustainability sciences (FARMS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Selena Ahmed

    2017-08-01

    Full Text Available Undergraduate courses provide valuable opportunities to train and empower students with the knowledge, skills, and motivation to advance society in more sustainable directions. This article emphasizes the value of bridging primary scientific research with undergraduate education through the presentation of an integrated experiential learning and primary research model called Farm-based Authentic Research Modules in Sustainability Sciences (FARMS. FARMS are collaboratively designed with agricultural stakeholders through a community needs assessment on pressing food system issues and opportunities with the objective for faculty and students to jointly identify evidence-based management solutions. We illustrate the implementation of FARMS in an undergraduate course in Ecological Agriculture at Dartmouth College, NH where students assessed various agroecological solutions for managing plant vitality, weeds, soil quality, pests, pollinators, and biodiversity at the Dartmouth Organic Farm. Student reflections indicate that the FARMS course component was beneficial for understanding agroecological theories and concepts while also motivating involvement in sustainability sciences despite the challenges of primary research. Educator reflections noted that the FARMS pedagogical approach facilitated achieving course objectives to develop students’ ability for systems thinking, critical thinking, and interdisciplinarity while fostering students’ collaboration skills and overall motivation for creating change. Adopting the FARMS model should enable faculty in the sustainability sciences to serve as bridges between the learning, practicing, and scientific communities while supporting educational programming at student and community farms. Ultimately, it is expected that the implementation of FARMS will increase student capacity and prepare the next generation of leaders to address complex challenges of the food system using an evidence-based approach.

  15. Human Capital Development: Reforms for Adult and Community Education

    Science.gov (United States)

    Choy, Sarojni; Haukka, Sandra

    2007-01-01

    The adult and community education (ACE) sector is consistently responsive to changing community needs and government priorities. It is this particular function that has drawn ACE into the lifelong learning debate as one model for sustaining communities. The responsiveness of ACE means that the sector and its programs continue to make valuable…

  16. Community Garden: A Bridging Program between Formal and Informal Learning

    Science.gov (United States)

    Datta, Ranjan

    2016-01-01

    Community garden activities can play a significant role in bridging formal and informal learning, particularly in urban children's science and environmental education. It promotes relational methods of learning, discussing, and practicing that will integrate food security, social interactions, community development, environmental activism, and…

  17. Multidimensional Scaling Approach to Evaluate the Level of Community Forestry Sustainability in Babak Watershed, Lombok Island, West Nusa Tenggara

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ryke Nandini

    2017-07-01

    Full Text Available Community forestry in Babak watershed is one of the efforts to reduce critical land area. The aim of this research was to evaluate the level of community forestry sustainability in both of community forest (HKm and private forest in Babak watershed. Multidimensional scaling (MDS was used to analyse the level of community forest sustainability based on the five dimensions of ecology, economy, social, institutional, and technology as well as 29 attributes. Leverage analysis was used to know the sensitive attributes of sustainability, while Monte Carlo analysis and goodness of fit was used to find the accuracy of MDS analysis. The result shows that HKm was in moderate sustainability level (sustainability index 54.08% and private forest was in less sustainability level (sustainability index 48.53%. Furthermore, the ecology and technology in HKm were classified as less sustainable, while the institution and technology in private forest were considered less sustainable. There were 11 sensitive attributes of HKm and 19 sensitive attributes of private forest. The priorities of attribute improvement in HKm include land recovering (the dimension of ecology and cooperative development (the dimension of technology. In private forest, the priorities of attribute improvement include leadership capacity building (the institutional dimension and also the use of silviculture intensive and soil conservation (the dimension of technology.

  18. A new approach to conservation: using community empowerment for sustainable well-being

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Alaka Wali

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available The global environmental conservation community recognizes that the participation of local communities is essential for the success of conservation initiatives; however, much work remains to be done on how to integrate conservation and human well-being. We propose that an assets-based approach to environmental conservation and human well-being, which is grounded in a biocultural framework, can support sustainable and adaptive management of natural resources by communities in regions adjacent to protected areas. We present evidence from conservation and quality of life initiatives led by the Field Museum of Natural History over the past 17 years in the Peruvian Amazon. Data were derived from asset mapping in 37 communities where rapid inventories were conducted and from 38 communities that participated in longer term quality of life planning. Our main findings are that Amazonian communities have many characteristics, or assets, that recent scholarship has linked to environmental sustainability and good natural resource stewardship, and that quality of life plans that are based on these assets tend to produce priorities that are more consistent with environmental conservation. Importantly, we found that validating social and ecological assets through our approach can contribute to the creation of protected areas and to their long-term management. As strategies to engage local communities in conservation expand, research on how particular methodologies, such as an assets-based approach, is needed to determine how these initiatives can best empower local communities, how they can be improved, and how they can most effectively be linked to broader conservation and development processes.

  19. School Leadership for Learning : Insights from TALIS 2013

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Maslowski, Ralf; Rekers-Mombarg, Lyset; Bosker, Roelof; Veldman, Marij

    Instructional and distributed leadership are regarded as important for creating and sustaining professional learning communities and for creating a climate conducive to student learning. Instructional leadership comprises leadership practices that involve the planning, evaluation, co-ordination and

  20. Volunteering as a community mother--a pathway to lifelong learning.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Molloy, Mary

    2007-05-01

    This paper describes a study that was undertaken to investigate the effects of participating in a community volunteering programme (the Community Mothers Programme) on volunteers (Community Mothers). The aim of the study was to investigate if volunteering in this programme acted as a pathway to lifelong learning; did the volunteers recognise the learning of new knowledge and/or skills, and did their participation in the programme trigger them to progress to further education in other settings? A self-administered questionnaire method was used for data collection: 115 questionnaires being distributed to volunteers, with a response rate of eighty-two (71 per cent). Findings show that the majority of the respondents cited the learning of new knowledge and/or skills as a result of their participation in the Community Mothers Programme. Learning appeared to stem from the various training and activities, suggesting an educational process within the volunteer setting. Findings also show that the majority of respondents had progressed to further education. In this instance, therefore, volunteering did appear to act as a pathway to lifelong learning.

  1. Virtual Communities of Collaborative Learning for Higher Education

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sotomayor, Gilda E.

    2014-01-01

    This article aims to outline and project three new learning scenarios for Higher Education that, after the emergence of ICT and communication through the Network-lnternet, have appeared under the generic name of virtual communities. To that end, we start from a previous conceptual analysis on collaborative learning, cooperative learning and…

  2. Service-Learning from the Perspective of Community Organizations

    Science.gov (United States)

    Petri, Alexis

    2015-01-01

    As a central construct in the theory of service-learning, reciprocity for community partners is not often the subject of scholarship, especially scholarship that seeks to understand the benefits and opportunity costs of service-learning. This article explores how reciprocity works in higher education service-learning from the perspective of…

  3. Qualitative and Quantitative Methods for Developing a Typology of Community Engagement with Sustainability Programs

    Science.gov (United States)

    Identifying the needs that a community must satisfy to implement sustainability programs is complex, with interplay between geographic, environmental and social influences. Helping communities meet these needs is a focus of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (U.S. E...

  4. Collaboration Between Universities: An effective way of sustaining community-university partnerships?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jonathan Pratt

    2011-11-01

    Full Text Available This article highlights some of the opportunities and challenges that collaboration between higher education institutions (HEIs can bring to the development of sustainable community-university partnerships. In particular, it explores the potential for universities to collaborate on building effective engagement mechanisms (such as helpdesks, ‘hub and spoke’ contact models, and research groups to review ideas for activities that will support an ongoing flow of new projects and partnerships over time. It draws on evidence gathered from the evaluation and coordination of the South East Coastal Communities (SECC program, an almost unique experiment in collaboration between English universities. In an ‘age of austerity’, opportunities to reduce costs without damaging core services are of particular interest to public funding bodies. The article suggests that collaboration between universities may be an efficient and effective way of engaging with local communities, but that it is not cost-free, and high-level strategic buy-in within HEIs is required if community-university partnerships are to thrive in the current higher education funding environment. The article also suggests that there may be a geographic dimension to effective collaboration between universities in both community-university partnership work and the mechanisms that support community engagement. Inter-university collaboration across the whole region covered by the SECC program has been much weaker than collaboration at a subregional level and within ‘city-regions’ in particular. This raises a key question: does the natural geography for effective collaboration between universities need to reflect, at least in part, the geographies of communities themselves, in terms of lived experiences and/or community representation? Such a debate has interesting and timely parallels in the United Kingdom, where the new coalition government is bringing about a fundamental shift in the

  5. Toward a Sustained, Multi-disciplinary Socioeconomic Community

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pearlman, J.; Pearlman, F.

    2014-12-01

    Over the last several years the availability of geospatial data has evolved from a scarce and expensive resource, primarily provided by governmental organizations to an abundant resource, often sourced at no or minimum charge by a much broader community including citizen scientists. In an upcoming workshop (October 28/29, 2014), the consequences of the changing technology, data, and policy landscape will be examined thus evaluating the emerging new data-driven paradigms, and advancing the state-of-the-art methodologies to measure the resulting socioeconomic impacts. Providers and users of geospatial data span a broad range of multi-disciplinary areas include policy makers and analysts, financial analysts, economists, geospatial practitioners and other experts from government, academia and the private sector. This presentation will focus on the emerging plan for a sustained, multi-disciplinary community to identify and pursue exemplary use cases for further research and applications. Considerations will include the necessary outreach enablers for such a project.

  6. Sustainable urban development of metropolitan Johannesburg: The lessons learned from international practice

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mosha A.C.

    2004-01-01

    Full Text Available This paper consists of an overview of programmes supporting sustainable planning and management in the City of Johannesburg one of the most important social and economic hubs of the transitional Republic of South Africa. Following from this is an analysis of the experience identified as most appropriate for Johannesburg City and its metropolitan region (Gauteng. This case study is used to highlight efforts and lessons learned from the international project "Designing, Implementing and Measuring Sustainable Urban Development" (DIMSUD which have intended to contribute to new solutions for sustainable urban development through a collaborative multi-disciplinary, and participatory approach combining research, urban design, and capacity building. DIMSUD (http://sustainability.ethz.ch is carried out jointly by the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT, Chalmers University of Technology (Sweden, University of Botswana, University of the Witwatersrand (South Africa and the Catholic University of Santiago de Chile. Another partner was the United Nations University (UNU at Tokyo. The project has enabled a global overview of core problems, providing a synthesis of realizable strategies and offering both a scientific forum and an "urban field laboratory" for joint learning. The strategies developed will not only help improve the conditions in the case study cities (Gaborone Johannesburg, Santiago de Chile, but will also provide working examples so that other cities can learn from and adapt and adopt appropriate "best practices".

  7. Home-School Links: Networking the Learning Community.

    Science.gov (United States)

    1996

    The topic of networking the learning community with home-school links is addressed in four papers: "Internet Access via School: Expectations of Students and Parents" (Roy Crotty); "The School Library as Community Information Gateway" (Megan Perry); "Rural Access to the Internet" (Ken Eustace); and "NetDay '96:…

  8. Sustainability, Learning and Capability: Exploring Questions of Balance

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    William A. H. Scott

    2010-12-01

    Full Text Available It is argued that sustainable development makes best sense as a social learning process that brings tangible and useful outcomes in terms of understanding and skills, and also reinforces the motivation and capability for further learning. Thus, there are always balances to be struck between a broad-based, wide-ranging education and a more specialist one; between a focus on ideas themselves, and on their application in social or economic contexts; and between keeping ideas separate, and integrating them. This paper will explore the nature of such balances, and the issues to bear in mind when striking them, focusing on schools, university and college contexts within the United Kingdom.

  9. Distributed Collaborative Learning Communities Enabled by Information Communication Technology

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    H.L. Alvarez (Heidi Lee)

    2006-01-01

    textabstractHow and why can Information Communication Technology (ICT) contribute to enhancing learning in distributed Collaborative Learning Communities (CLCs)? Drawing from relevant theories concerned with phenomenon of ICT enabled distributed collaborative learning, this book identifies gaps in

  10. The new district energy : building blocks for sustainable community development

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    2008-01-01

    The price of energy is expected to rise as world demand for fossil fuels increases and energy supplies become harder to access. Governments and businesses are interested in the role of energy in the design, development and operation of buildings and whole communities. In addition to contributing to community economic development, district energy (DE) systems can assist communities in meeting their goals for sustainable growth and in managing the changing nature of risk in the generation and delivery of energy. This handbook was developed in order to encourage information sharing and provide ideas on how to advance district energy development in communities across Canada. The handbook identified those who could use DE and listed the benefits provided by DE. These included community, environmental, and business benefits. The handbook also offered suggestions for overcoming common challenges experienced by communities initiating a DE system and provided a checklist to help accelerate the uptake of DE systems in a community. These challenges included working with the community; using integrated design; building knowledge, know-how and technical skills; and partnering to improve project financing and reducing development risk. 50 refs., 8 tabs., 11 figs

  11. Community of Practice: A Path to Strategic Learning

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Nancy M. Carlson

    2003-04-01

    To explore the concept of community of practice, the research initially concentrates on a strategic business process in a research and applied engineering laboratory discovering essential communication tools and processes needed to cultivate a high functioning cross-disciplinary team engaged in proposal preparation. Qualitative research in the human ecology of the proposal process blends topic-oriented ethnography and grounded theory and includes an innovative addition to qualitative interviewing, called meta-inquiry. Meta-inquiry uses an initial interview protocol with a homogeneous pool of informants to enhance the researcher's sensitivity to the unique cultures involved in the proposal process before developing a formal interview protocol. In this study the preanalysis process uses data from editors, graphic artists, text processors, and production coordinators to assess, modify, enhance, and focus the formal interview protocol with scientists, engineers, and technical managers-the heterogeneous informants. Thus this human ecology-based interview protocol values homogeneous and heterogeneous informant data and acquires data from which concepts, categories, properties, and both substantive and formal theory emerges. The research discovers the five essential processes of owning, visioning, reviewing, producing, and contributing for strategic learning to occur in a proposal community of practice. The apprenticeship, developmental, and nurturing perspectives of adult learning provide the proposal community of practice with cohesion, interdependence, and caring, while core and boundary practices provide insight into the tacit and explicit dimensions of the proposal process. By making these dimensions explicit, the necessary competencies, absorptive capacity, and capabilities needed for strategic learning are discovered. Substantive theory emerges and provides insight into the ability of the proposal community of practice to evolve, flourish, and adapt to the

  12. A Study on College EFL Learning Community Based on QQ International

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    WEI Li

    2013-03-01

    Full Text Available An EFL Learning Community has been set up online via a free messaging tool QQ International to consolidate and apply the knowledge learnt in class. One sub-community aims at developing multicultural awareness while the other focuses on expertise training in English for the undergraduates in several universities. Our innovative approach is that the trainees interact with other participants with virtual icons, virtual roles and specific achievement goals according to curriculum-related scenarios. The project team utilized surveys and observations to analyze the advantages and disadvantages from different perspectives and gain further insight into the nature of member participation, knowledge application and learning interests. Results revealed that EFL Learning Community promoted learning interests and training efficiency, contributed to interprofessional collaboration and interpersonal cooperation, with the implication that levels of moderate anonymity are the most optimal for role-plays in a learning community both online and in real life.

  13. The Impact of a Psychology Learning Community on Academic Success, Retention, and Student Learning Outcomes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Buch, Kim; Spaulding, Sue

    2011-01-01

    Learning communities have become an integral part of the educational reform movement of the past two decades and have been heralded as a promising strategy for restructuring undergraduate education. This study used a matched control group design to examine the impact of participation in a psychology learning community (PLC) on a range of student…

  14. Endogenously- and Exogenously-Driven Selective Sustained Attention: Contributions to Learning in Kindergarten Children

    Science.gov (United States)

    Erickson, Lucy C.; Thiessen, Erik D.; Godwin, Karrie E.; Dickerson, John P.; Fisher, Anna V.

    2015-01-01

    Selective sustained attention is vital for higher order cognition. Although endogenous and exogenous factors influence selective sustained attention, assessment of the degree to which these factors influence performance and learning is often challenging. We report findings from the Track-It task, a paradigm that aims to assess the contribution of…

  15. Internet Relationships: Building Learning Communities through Friendship

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bikowski, Dawn

    2007-01-01

    The experiences of students in an online learning community were explored in this qualitative case study using social presence theory as an interpretive lens. Participants included five undergraduate students in a certificate program at a large Midwestern university. Students who felt a sense of community online most highly valued the friendship…

  16. Design processes of a citizen inquiry community

    OpenAIRE

    Aristeidou, Maria; Scanlon, Eileen; Sharples, Mike

    2017-01-01

    As with other online communities, it is important to design elements of citizen inquiry projects that will attract and engage members. This chapter describes the process of designing an online community for citizen inquiry. It builds on design principles of inquiry learning, citizen inquiry and other online communities. The ‘Weather-it’ citizen inquiry community is intended to engage and support people in initiating and joining sustainable citizen-led investigations. The findings indicate som...

  17. Knowledge Management in Sustainability Research Projects: Concepts, Effective Models, and Examples in a Multi-Stakeholder Environment

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kaiser, David Brian; Köhler, Thomas; Weith, Thomas

    2016-01-01

    This article aims to sketch a conceptual design for an information and knowledge management system in sustainability research projects. The suitable frameworks to implement knowledge transfer models constitute social communities, because the mutual exchange and learning processes among all stakeholders promote key sustainable developments through…

  18. Community pharmacy minor ailment services in England: Pharmacy stakeholder perspectives on the factors affecting sustainability.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nazar, Hamde; Nazar, Zachariah

    2018-05-14

    Self-care advice and management of minor ailments have long been provided in community pharmacies across England. However, formal pharmacy minor ailment service provision is geographically variable and has yet to gain recognition and political support as a valued sustainable service for nationwide adoption and commissioning. To investigate the sustainability potential of pharmacy minor ailment services from the perspective of community pharmacy stakeholders within the North East of England. A mixed methods approach was adopted to survey and interview stakeholders from the North East of England who commission; provide; and/or represent groups influencing the design, delivery and investment in community pharmacy clinical and public health services. The 40-item Programme Sustainability Assessment Tool, a validated instrument to assess a public health programme's capacity for sustainability across eight domains, was administered to fifty-three stakeholders, identified from a pharmacy minor ailments showcase event. The same stakeholders were invited for a semi-structured interview to explore issues further. Interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim, and underwent framework analysis. Forty-two (79.2% response rate) stakeholders representing commissioning, provider and influencing (e.g. Local Professional Network) organisations completed the assessment tool. Pharmacy minor ailment services were rated as unsustainable across the majority of the domains. Elements within the domain 'Partnerships' demonstrated potential for sustainability. Stakeholder interviews provided detailed explanation for the low scoring sustainability domains, highlighting the multifaceted challenges threatening these services. The Programme Sustainability Assessment Tool allowed stakeholders to evaluate the potential of pharmacy minor ailment services in England. Follow-up interviews highlighted that initial design and implementation of services was poorly conceived and lacked evidence

  19. Community Concern on Environmental Conservation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nugraha, Fajar Adie; Maryono

    2018-02-01

    Research on the relationship between humans and the environment is always very interesting to be studied. This paper is one of the studies of sustainable development in its implementation with the empowerment of society that comes from the community itself. So far, community studies related to development occasionally target the growth of the economic side only. Community study on the environment becomes an alternative choice, compared with human relationships with humans themselves, or humans with human needs themselves. The study of community development by looking at the environment can be a wise choice, where all activities of fulfilling human needs are always inseparable from the element of interaction with the environment. Community development that is based on the environment itself, will give a better impact, just solely. Various methods of learning human relationships. A community-based environmental assessment study can be an alternative choice to support a sustainable development mission, which is development that has a positive impact on the present and the future.

  20. 75 FR 6689 - Sustainable Communities Planning Grant Program Advance Notice and Request for Comment

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-02-10

    ... final NOFA will be broadly announced through appropriate and familiar means and will provide further... sustainability, and social equity in metropolitan regions and rural communities. Recognizing the fundamental role... way in reshaping the role of the Federal government in helping communities obtain the capacity to...

  1. Learning in later life: Universities, teaching, intergenerational learning and community cohesion

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Keith Percy

    2013-07-01

    Full Text Available There are no settled concepts in the field of learning in later life. The paper begins by suggesting that generalised statements about older people’s learning are suspect and that the way in which we talk about it shifts over time. In particular, there is a range of claims about methods of learning and teaching appropriate to older people but most have little support from empirical research. The paper then focuses on the evaluation of a small innovation project, funded by national government, at Lancaster University, 2009-10. The project sought to involve members of a local University of the Third age group in learning activity on the nearby university campus, partly using undergraduate teaching provision. It aimed to test ideological reservations within the U3A group about association with a public institution of higher education and about mixing the ‘purity’ of self-help learning for older adults, in the British U3A tradition, with more formal methods of learning. The outcomes of the project evaluation suggested that most older learners participating valued their opportunity to use university learning resources and that the British U3A ideology did not inhibit them from doing so. It also suggests that the University benefited from the presence of the older learners and that the surrounding community potentially might have done. A brief discussion of implications for intergenerational learning, community cohesion and marginalised older people follows. The paper concludes that British universities should and, perhaps, could relate more dynamically and emphatically with the provision of opportunities for learning in later life.

  2. Community as classroom: teaching and learning public health in rural Appalachia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Florence, James; Behringer, Bruce

    2011-01-01

    Traditional models for public health professional education tend to be didactic, with brief, discrete practica appended. National reports of both practitioners and academicians have called for more competency-driven, interdisciplinary-focused, community-based, service-oriented, and experientially-guided learning for students across the curriculum. East Tennessee State University began its own curricular revisioning in health professions education nearly 2 decades ago with a grant from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, emphasizing competencies development through community-based learning in community-academic partnerships. This article describes 3 examples that grew from that initiative. In the first example, students in multiple classes delivered a longitudinal community-based employee wellness intervention for a rural county school district. BS public health students conducted needs assessments and prepared health education materials; MPH students conducted health assessments and worked with school wellness councils to deliver client-centered interventions; DrPH students supervised the project and provided feedback to the schools using participatory methods. In the second example, MPH students in a social-behavioral foundations course used experiential learning to investigate the region's elevated cancer mortality ranking. Following meetings with multiple community groups, students employed theoretical constructs to frame regional beliefs about cancer and presented findings to community leaders. One outcome was a 5-year community-based participatory research study of cancer in rural Appalachia. In the third example, MPH students in a health-consulting course assessed local African Americans' awareness of the university's health and education programs and perceptions of their community health issues. Students learned consultation methods by assisting at multiple regional African American community meetings to discover issues and interest that resulted in the

  3. COMMUNICATIVE COMPETENCE DEVELOPMENT OF INTENDING TEACHERS BY MEANS OF LEARNING COMMUNITIES

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Irina Evgenyevna Krasilova

    2014-07-01

    Full Text Available In the information society the role of learning communities in professional training of an individual specialist is growing. Ideas of social constructivism determine the development of the Internet, on which the modern information and learning environment is mainly based.  The article contains definitions of a university learning community and learning community means; a model of communicative competence development of intending teachers of foreign languages by means of a learning community (informational and educational, technical, organizational and methodological; criteria for evaluating the level of communicative competence development. The author considers the communicative competence of intending teachers a part of their professional competence. The model has been tested at a teacher training university. The article presents some results of the experiment and the main conclusions that allow experts to judge the effectiveness of the model and its applicability in vocational education.DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.12731/2218-7405-2014-3-8

  4. Learning Nursing in the Workplace Community: The Generation of Professional Capital

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gobbi, Mary

    This chapter explores the connections between learning, working and professional communities in nursing. It draws on experiences and research in nursing practice and education, where not only do isolated professionals learn as a result of their actions for patients and others, but those professionals are part of a community whose associated networks enable learning to occur. Several characteristics of this professional community are shared with those found in Communities of Practice (CoPs) (Lave and Wenger, 1991; Wenger, 1998), but the balance and importance of many elements can differ. For instance, whilst Lave and Wenger (1991) describe many aspects of situated learning in CoPs that apply to nurses, their model is of little help in understanding the ways in which other professions as well as patients/clients and carers influence the development of nursing practice. Therefore, I shall argue that it is not just the Community of Practice that we need to consider

  5. How collaborative governance can facilitate quality learning for sustainability in cities: A comparative case study of Bristol, Kitakyushu and Tongyeong

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ofei-Manu, Paul; Didham, Robert J.; Byun, Won Jung; Phillips, Rebecca; Dickella Gamaralalage, Premakumara Jagath; Rees, Sian

    2017-09-01

    Quality learning for sustainability can have a transformative effect in terms of promoting empowerment, leadership and wise investments in individual and collective lives and regenerating the local economies of cities, making them more inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable. It can also help cities move towards achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Effecting the transformation of cities into Learning Cities, however, requires changes in the structure of governance. Drawing on interviews with key informants as well as secondary data, this article examines how collaborative governance has facilitated quality learning for sustainability in Bristol (United Kingdom), Kitakyushu (Japan) and Tongyeong (Republic of Korea). Focusing on a conceptual framework and practical application of learning initiatives, this comparative study reveals how these cities' governance mechanisms and institutional structures supported initiatives premised on cooperative learning relationships. While recognising differences in the scope and depth of the learning initiatives and the need for further improvements, the authors found evidence of general support for the governance structures and mechanisms for learning in these cities. The authors conclude by recommending that (1) to implement the Learning Cities concept based on UNESCO's Key Features of Learning Cities, recognition should be given to existing sustainability-related learning initiatives in cities; (2) collaborative governance of the Learning Cities concept at both local and international levels should be streamlined; and (3) UNESCO's Global Network of Learning Cities could serve as a hub for sharing education/learning resources and experiences for other international city-related programmes as an important contribution to the implementation of the SDGs.

  6. Curriculum learning designs: teaching health assessment skills for advanced nursing practitioners through sustainable flexible learning.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fitzgerald, Les; Wong, Pauline; Hannon, John; Solberg Tokerud, Marte; Lyons, Judith

    2013-10-01

    Innovative curriculum designs are vital for effective learning in contemporary nursing education where traditional modes of delivery are not adequate to meet the learning needs of postgraduate students. This instance of postgraduate teaching in a distributed learning environment offered the opportunity to design a flexible learning model for teaching advanced clinical skills. To present a sustainable model for flexible learning that enables specialist nurses to gain postgraduate qualifications without on-campus class attendance by teaching and assessing clinical health care skills in an authentic workplace setting. An action research methodology was used to gather evidence and report on the process of curriculum development of a core unit, Comprehensive Health Assessment (CHA), within 13 different postgraduate speciality courses. Qualitative data was collected from 27 teaching academics, 21 clinical specialist staff, and 7 hospital managers via interviews, focus groups and journal reflections. Evaluations from the initial iteration of CHA from 36 students were obtained. Data was analyzed to develop and evaluate the curriculum design of CHA. The key factors indicated by participants in the curriculum design process were coordination and structuring of teaching and assessment; integration of content development; working with technologies, balancing specialities and core knowledge; and managing induction and expectations. A set of recommendations emerged as a result of the action research process. These included: a constructive alignment approach to curriculum design; the production of a facilitator's guide that specifies expectations and unit information for academic and clinical education staff; an agreed template for content authors; and the inclusion of synchronous communication for real-time online tutoring. The highlight of the project was that it built curriculum design capabilities of clinicians and students which can sustain this alternative model of online

  7. 45 CFR 2517.600 - How are funds for community-based service-learning programs distributed?

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-10-01

    ... 45 Public Welfare 4 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false How are funds for community-based service-learning... (Continued) CORPORATION FOR NATIONAL AND COMMUNITY SERVICE COMMUNITY-BASED SERVICE-LEARNING PROGRAMS Distribution of Funds § 2517.600 How are funds for community-based service-learning programs distributed? All...

  8. Developing a sustainable community tourism strategy for townships : the case of Soshanguve / Paul Nkemngu Acha-Anyi

    OpenAIRE

    Acha-Anyi, Paul Nkemngu

    2014-01-01

    The goal of this study is to develop a sustainable tourism strategy for the Soshanguve Township. The motivation for this study arose out of the acute developmental challenges facing many township communities in South Africa, mainly due to the absence of economic opportunities. This results in a high unemployment rate, poverty and an elevated number of crime incidences. A sustainable community tourism strategy could alleviate this situation by availing itself of the opportunities presented by ...

  9. Part-Time Community College Instructors Teaching in Learning Communities: An Exploratory Multiple Case Study

    Science.gov (United States)

    Paterson, John W.

    2017-01-01

    Community colleges have a greater portion of students at-risk for college completion than four-year schools and faculty at these institutions are overwhelmingly and increasingly part-time. Learning communities have been identified as a high-impact practice with numerous benefits documented for community college instructors and students: a primary…

  10. Sustainability in CALL Learning Environments: A Systemic Functional Grammar Approach

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Peter McDonald

    2014-09-01

    Full Text Available This research aims to define a sustainable resource in Computer-Assisted Language Learning (CALL. In order for a CALL resource to be sustainable it must work within existing educational curricula. This feature is a necessary prerequisite of sustainability because, despite the potential for educational change that digitalization has offered since the nineteen nineties, curricula in traditional educational institutions have not fundamentally changed, even as we move from a pre-digital society towards a digital society. Curricula have failed to incorporate CALL resources because no agreed-upon pedagogical language enables teachers to discuss CALL classroom practices. Systemic Functional Grammar (SFG can help to provide this language and bridge the gap between the needs of the curriculum and the potentiality of CALL-based resources. This paper will outline how SFG principles can be used to create a pedagogical language for CALL and it will give practical examples of how this language can be used to create sustainable resources in classroom contexts.

  11. Advancing understanding of the sustainability of lay health advisor (LHA) programs for African-American women in community settings.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shelton, Rachel C; Charles, Thana-Ashley; Dunston, Sheba King; Jandorf, Lina; Erwin, Deborah O

    2017-09-01

    Lay health advisor (LHA) programs have made strong contributions towards the elimination of health disparities and are increasingly being implemented to promote health and prevent disease. Developed in collaboration with African-American survivors, the National Witness Project (NWP) is an evidence-based, community-led LHA program that improves cancer screening among African-American women. NWP has been successfully disseminated, replicated, and implemented nationally in over 40 sites in 22 states in diverse community settings, reaching over 15,000 women annually. We sought to advance understanding of barriers and facilitators to the long-term implementation and sustainability of LHA programs in community settings from the viewpoint of the LHAs, as well as the broader impact of the program on African-American communities and LHAs. In the context of a mixed-methods study, in-depth telephone interviews were conducted among 76 African-American LHAs at eight NWP sites at baseline and 12-18 months later, between 2010 and 2013. Qualitative data provides insight into inner and outer contextual factors (e.g., community partnerships, site leadership, funding), implementation processes (e.g., training), as well as characteristics of the intervention (e.g., perceived need and fit in African-American community) and LHAs (e.g., motivations, burnout) that are perceived to impact the continued implementation and sustainability of NWP. Factors at the contextual levels and related to motivations of LHAs are critical to the sustainability of LHA programs. We discuss how findings are used to inform (1) the development of the LHA Sustainability Framework and (2) strategies to support the continued implementation and sustainability of evidence-based LHA interventions in community settings.

  12. Public participation for sustainability and social learning. Concepts and lessons from three case studies in Europe

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Garmendia, Eneko [Institute for Environmental Sciences and Technologies (ICTA), Autonomous University of Barcelona (Spain); Environmental Economics Unit, Institute for Public Economics, University of the Basque Country (Spain); Stagl, Sigrid [Department of Socio-Economics, WU Vienna, Vienna University of Economics and Business (Austria)

    2010-06-15

    Shaping change such that it avoids losing potentially useful options for future development is a challenging task in the face of complex, coevolving socio-ecological systems. Sustainability appraisal methods, which open up dialogue and options before closing down and making suggestions, pay attention to the inclusion of various and conflicting points of view and address uncertainty, are increasingly used in the science, environment and energy policy domains. The quality of the process is seen as key to high quality appraisal outcomes. Dimensions of quality include learning opportunities which are seen as ways for addressing complexity and uncertainty. Participatory sustainability appraisal methods intend to support social learning among participants. Despite high expectations, social learning processes in sustainability appraisals are poorly conceptualized and empirically understudied. This paper (1) briefly reviews theories of social learning; (2) develops a conceptual framework for the analysis; and (3) presents an empirical application of the framework by use of data obtained from three energy and natural resource management case studies around Europe. (author)

  13. Community Opinion and Satisfaction with the Leadership at an Urban Community Educational Learning Center during an Organizational Transformation Process: A Frontline Perspective from Community Stakeholders

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lewis, Joseph Lee

    2013-01-01

    This study examined selected community stakeholders' perception of the current leadership at their local community educational learning center during an organizational transformation and cultural change process. The transition from a community college to an educational learning center, mandated in 2006 by the Accredition Commission and agreed on…

  14. Multi-loop social learning for sustainable land and water governance: Towards a research agenda on the potential of virtual learning platforms

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Medema, W.J.; Wals, A.E.J.; Adamowski, J.

    2014-01-01

    Managing social-ecological systems and human well being in a sustainable way requires knowledge of these systems in their full complexity. Multi-loop social learning is recognized as a crucial element to sustainable decision-making for land and water resources management involving a process of

  15. Familia and Comunidad-Based Saberes: Learning in an Indigenous Heritage Community

    Science.gov (United States)

    Urrieta, Luis, Jr.

    2013-01-01

    This article explores how children and youth learned indigenous heritage "saberes" (knowings) through intent community participation in Nocutzepo, Mexico. The "familia" (family) and "comunidad" (community)-based saberes were valuable for skills acquisition, but most important for learning indigenous forms of…

  16. "Learning" in a Transgressive Professional Community

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Jensen, Carsten Juul; Drachmann, Merete; Jeppesen, Lise Kofoed

    2015-01-01

    to deal with overwhelming experiences concerning the naked bodies of patients and death, useful application of theoretical knowledge, the path from novice to advanced beginner, and adjusting to the workplace community. The conclusion is that the learning of nursing students during their first clinical in......This material is a part of a longitudinal development project which seeks to comprehend learning experiences of nursing students during their first clinical in-service placement. The study has a qualitative methodology, inspired by Michael Eraut’s thoughts on learning in the workplace. When...... the workplace perspective is applied, learning seems to be concentrated on actual situations which the learner is in, in contrast to employing constructed concepts. The nursing students’ learning seems to be oriented towards socialization in the clinic as a workplace. This means that the nursing students seek...

  17. Actions Environmental Sustainability Measures for Producers and Local Communities in a Coastal Area

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    María Elena Zequeira-Álvarez

    2017-06-01

    Full Text Available In this work, the area of study is defined as the producers and communities of the northern coastal zone, up to the 5-meter level curve of the province of Camagüey, Cuba. It is composed of four municipalities and is very rich in natural values but also identifies itself as a very fragile ecosystem. The methodological procedure consists of three stages that respond to their respective objectives: General characteristics of the study area, environmental problems in the area of study and general measures of sustainability for producers and coastal communities, The general objective of the work is to propose general measures of Environmental sustainability for producers and local communities in the northern coastal zone of Camagüey, Cuba in order to contribute to the use and conservation of the ecosystem. These are aimed at the producers and settlers of the study area but may be interesting for other ecosystems.

  18. Rural Embedded Assistants for Community Health (REACH) network: first-person accounts in a community-university partnership.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brown, Louis D; Alter, Theodore R; Brown, Leigh Gordon; Corbin, Marilyn A; Flaherty-Craig, Claire; McPhail, Lindsay G; Nevel, Pauline; Shoop, Kimbra; Sterner, Glenn; Terndrup, Thomas E; Weaver, M Ellen

    2013-03-01

    Community research and action projects undertaken by community-university partnerships can lead to contextually appropriate and sustainable community improvements in rural and urban localities. However, effective implementation is challenging and prone to failure when poorly executed. The current paper seeks to inform rural community-university partnership practice through consideration of first-person accounts from five stakeholders in the Rural Embedded Assistants for Community Health (REACH) Network. The REACH Network is a unique community-university partnership aimed at improving rural health services by identifying, implementing, and evaluating innovative health interventions delivered by local caregivers. The first-person accounts provide an insider's perspective on the nature of collaboration. The unique perspectives identify three critical challenges facing the REACH Network: trust, coordination, and sustainability. Through consideration of the challenges, we identified several strategies for success. We hope readers can learn their own lessons when considering the details of our partnership's efforts to improve the delivery infrastructure for rural healthcare.

  19. Food system sustainability for health and well-being of Indigenous Peoples.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kuhnlein, Harriet V

    2015-09-01

    To describe how Indigenous Peoples understand how to enhance use of their food systems to promote sustainability, as demonstrated in several food-based interventions. Comments contributed by partners from case studies of Indigenous Peoples and their food systems attending an international meeting were implemented with public health interventions at the community level in nine countries. The Rockefeller Foundation Bellagio Conference Center in Bellagio, Italy, where experiences from case studies of Indigenous Peoples were considered and then conducted in their home communities in rural areas. Leaders of the Indigenous Peoples' case studies, their communities and their academic partners. Reported strategies on how to improve use of local food systems in case study communities of Indigenous Peoples. Indigenous Peoples' reflections on their local food systems should be encouraged and acted upon to protect and promote sustainability of the cultures and ecosystems that derive their food systems. Promoting use of local traditional food biodiversity is an essential driver of food system sustainability for Indigenous Peoples, and contributes to global consciousness for protecting food biodiversity and food system sustainability more broadly. Key lessons learned, key messages and good practices for nutrition and public health practitioners and policy makers are given.

  20. Musicians working in community contexts : perspectives of learning

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Smilde, Rineke

    2012-01-01

    This paper will explore types of learning, which takes place when musicians work in situations where they have to connect to community contexts. It will first address musicians’ changing professional roles in the changing sociocultural landscape and the need for lifelong learning and emergence of

  1. Using Social Impact Assessment to Strengthen Community Resilience in Sustainable Rural Development in Mountain Areas

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Imperiale, Angelo Jonas; Vanclay, Frank

    2016-01-01

    Building community resilience is an important topic in the current debate about achieving positive community development outcomes from sustainable place-based policies, especially in mountain regions and less-favored areas. At the practical, grassroots level, however, it remains unclear how

  2. Using Social Impact Assessment to Strengthen Community Resilience in Sustainable Rural Development in Mountain Areas

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Imperiale, Angelo Jonas; Vanclay, Frank

    Building community resilience is an important topic in the current debate about achieving positive community development outcomes from sustainable place-based policies, especially in mountain regions and less-favored areas. At the practical, grassroots level, however, it remains unclear how

  3. Reciprocal Exchange: Understanding the Community Partner Perspective in Higher Education Service-Learning

    Science.gov (United States)

    Petri, Alexis Nicolle

    2012-01-01

    This study investigates service-learning from the community partners' perspective, especially in terms of reciprocity. As a central construct in the theory of service-learning, reciprocity for community partners is virtually unknown. Little scholarship exists that explains or explores the benefits and opportunity costs of service-learning. One…

  4. Community-based medical education: is success a result of meaningful personal learning experiences?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kelly, Len; Walters, Lucie; Rosenthal, David

    2014-01-01

    Community-based medical education (CBME) is the delivery of medical education in a specific social context. Learners become a part of social and medical communities where their learning occurs. Longitudinal integrated clerkships (LICs) are year-long community-based placements where the curriculum and clinical experience is typically delivered by primary care physicians. These programs have proven to be robust learning environments, where learners develop strong communication skills and excellent clinical reasoning. To date, no learning model has been offered to describe CBME. The characteristics of CBME are explored by the authors who suggest that the social and professional context provided in small communities enhances medical education. The authors postulate that meaningfulness is engendered by the authentic context, which develops over time. These relationships with preceptors, patients and the community provide meaningfulness, which in turn enhances learning. The authors develop a novel learning model. They propose that the context-rich environment of CBME allows for meaningful relationships and experiences for students and that such meaningfulness enhances learning.

  5. The development of socially responsible life-sciences teachers through community service learning.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    J.J. Rian de Villiers

    2012-03-01

    Full Text Available In South Africa, polices in higher education are urging tertiary institutions to produce graduates who are socially responsible citizens. One method of achieving this is through service-learning initiatives. Zoos as community partners can provide exciting educational opportunities for students to do animal behaviour studies and to develop their social responsibility. A sample of 58 preservice life-sciences teachers from a South African university completed a questionnaire on their animal behaviour studies. This study sought to determine how animal behaviour studies could successfully be incorporated as a community service-learning project in a zoo setting, what the educational value of these studies was and what the benefits were of incorporating this community service-learning component in the life-sciences course. The incorporation of the service-learning component into the zoology course led to the students’ personal and professional development, knowledge about themselves, sensitivity to cultural diversity, civic responsibility and insights into the ways in which communities operate. For a successful service-learning project, lectures, students and community partners should all have a sense of engagement. A number of suggestions are made to improve the incorporation of this service-learning component into the existing zoology course.

  6. "The Learning Sticks": Reflections on a Case Study of Role-Playing for Sustainability

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gordon, Sue; Thomas, Ian

    2018-01-01

    Use of role-plays to develop deep student-learning has many advocates. Role-play is a powerful approach for learning that develops relevant skills in a range of disciplines and situations. In Higher Education, sustainability programmes role-play pedagogy appears to have great relevance for developing the competencies that these graduates will…

  7. 45 CFR 2517.300 - Who may participate in a community-based service-learning program?

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-10-01

    ...-learning program? 2517.300 Section 2517.300 Public Welfare Regulations Relating to Public Welfare (Continued) CORPORATION FOR NATIONAL AND COMMUNITY SERVICE COMMUNITY-BASED SERVICE-LEARNING PROGRAMS Eligibility To Participate § 2517.300 Who may participate in a community-based service-learning program...

  8. School to community: service learning in hospitaliy and tourism

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kimberly Monk; Jessica Bourdeau; Michele Capra

    2007-01-01

    In the effort to augment hospitality and tourism education beyond classroom instruction and internships, the added instructional methodology of community service learning is suggested. Service learning is an instructional method where students learn and develop through active participation in organized experiences that meet actual needs, increasing their sense of...

  9. Conceptualizing learning for sustainability through environmental assessment: critical reflections on 15 years of research

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sinclair, A. John; Diduck, Alan; Fitzpatrick, Patricia

    2008-01-01

    Numerous scholars are now directing their attention to the education and learning implications of participatory resource and environmental governance because of the potential implications of these for generating the social mobilization necessary to achieve sustainability trajectories. Our work, and that of other researchers, establishes that public participation in environmental assessment (EA) provides fertile ground for considering the intricacies of governance as they relate to participation, and for examining the education and learning implications of participation. Since EA law requires in many cases that public voices be part of the decision process, it has resulted in the creation of fascinating, state-sanctioned, deliberative spaces for civic interactions. Our purpose here is to share, and build upon, a framework that conceptualizes the relationships among participation, education, learning and sustainability in an EA context. We do so by considering findings from studies we have undertaken on participation in EA in Canada since the early 90's. Our approach was interactive and collaborative. We each considered in detail the key results of our earlier work as they relate to education, learning and EA process design. The findings illuminate aspects of the conceptual framework for which there is considerable empirical evidence, such as the link between meaningful participation and critical education and the diversity of individual learning outcomes associated with public participation in EA. The findings also highlight those parts of the framework for which the empirical evidence is relatively sparse, such as the range of possible social learning outcomes, their congruence with sustainability criteria, and the roles of monitoring and cumulative and strategic assessments in shaping EA into an adaptive, learning system

  10. Community and Social Network Sites as Technology Enhanced Learning Environments

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Ryberg, Thomas; Christiansen, Ellen

    2008-01-01

    This paper examines the affordance of the Danish social networking site Mingler.dk for peer-to-peer learning and development. With inspiration from different theoretical frameworks, the authors argue how learning and development in such social online systems can be conceptualised and analysed....... Theoretically the paper defines development in accordance with Vygotsky's concept of the zone of proximal development, and learning in accordance with Wenger's concept of communities of practice. The authors suggest analysing the learning and development taking place on Mingler.dk by using these concepts...... supplemented by the notion of horizontal learning adopted from Engestrm and Wenger. Their analysis shows how horizontal learning happens by crossing boundaries between several sites of engagement, and how the actors' multiple membership enables the community members to draw on a vast amount of resources from...

  11. The storm that rocks the boat: the systemic impact of gated communities on urban sustainability

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Karina Landman

    2007-09-01

    Full Text Available This paper is concerned with the impact and implications of gated communities on urban sustainability. This is investigated making use of an overarching methodological framework based on the internationally accepted Driver-Pressure-State-Impact-Response (DPSIR model, developed by the OECD. Additional to the simple causal flow from drivers to responses are the dynamic relationships between these five aspects. The paper discusses each of these issues and the relationships between them as they pertain to gated communities in South Africa. Gated communities, as complex systems, necessitate the consideration of a multiplicity of feedback loops with internal rates of flow that are determined by non-linear relationships. Only in this way can the full extent of their impact and implications on urban sustainability be assessed.

  12. Teaching and learning community work online: can e-learning promote competences for future practice?

    OpenAIRE

    Larsen, Anne Karin; Visser-Rotgans, Rina; Hole, Grete Oline

    2011-01-01

    This article presents a case study of an online course in Community Work and the learning outcomes for an international group of students participating in the course. Examples from the process of, and results from the development of virtual-learning material are presented. Finally, the students' learning experience and competences achieved by the use of innovative learning material and ICT communication tools are presented.

  13. Professional Learning in Unlikely Spaces: Social Media and Virtual Communities as Professional Development

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kathleen P. King

    2011-12-01

    Full Text Available In this case study, results demonstrate that an individual’s use of social media as professional learning spans understanding, networking, professional identity development, and transformative learning. Specifically, virtual online communities facilitated through social media provide professional networks, social relationships and learning beyond the scope of the individual’s usual experience. Case study method reveals strategies, extent, and impact of learning providing insight into this phenomenon. The significance of the research includes purposefully facilitating professional learning through informal learning contexts, including social media and online communities beyond technology-centric fields. Discussion and recommendations include using social media and virtual communities as instructional strategies for graduate studies and continued learning beyond formal education.

  14. The Influence of Community Health Resources on Effectiveness and Sustainability of Community and Lay Health Worker Programs in Lower-Income Countries: A Systematic Review.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Daniel H de Vries

    Full Text Available Despite the availability of practical knowledge and effective interventions required to reduce priority health problems in low-income countries, poor and vulnerable populations are often not reached. One possible solution to this problem is the use of Community or Lay Health Workers (CLHWs. So far, however, the development of sustainability in CLHW programs has failed and high attrition rates continue to pose a challenge. We propose that the roles and interests which support community health work should emerge directly from the way in which health is organized at community level. This review explores the evidence available to assess if increased levels of integration of community health resources in CLHW programs indeed lead to higher program effectiveness and sustainability.This review includes peer-reviewed articles which meet three eligibility criteria: 1 specific focus on CLHWs or equivalent; 2 randomized, quasi-randomized, before/after methodology or substantial descriptive assessment; and 3 description of a community or peer intervention health program located in a low- or middle-income country. Literature searches using various article databases led to 2930 hits, of which 359 articles were classified. Of these, 32 articles were chosen for extensive review, complemented by analysis of the results of 15 other review studies. Analysis was conducted using an excel based data extraction form. Because results showed that no quantitative data was published, a descriptive synthesis was conducted. The review protocol was not proactively registered. Findings show minimal inclusion of even basic community level indicators, such as the degree to which the program is a community initiative, community input in the program or training, the background and history of CLHW recruits, and the role of the community in motivation and retention. Results show that of the 32 studies, only one includes one statistical measure of community integration. As a result

  15. Dynamics of sustained use and abandonment of clean cooking systems: study protocol for community-based system dynamics modeling.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kumar, Praveen; Chalise, Nishesh; Yadama, Gautam N

    2016-04-26

    More than 3 billion of the world's population are affected by household air pollution from relying on unprocessed solid fuels for heating and cooking. Household air pollution is harmful to human health, climate, and environment. Sustained uptake and use of cleaner cooking technologies and fuels are proposed as solutions to this problem. In this paper, we present our study protocol aimed at understanding multiple interacting feedback mechanisms involved in the dynamic behavior between social, ecological, and technological systems driving sustained use or abandonment of cleaner cooking technologies among the rural poor in India. This study uses a comparative case study design to understand the dynamics of sustained use or abandonment of cleaner cooking technologies and fuels in four rural communities of Rajasthan, India. The study adopts a community based system dynamics modeling approach. We describe our approach of using community based system dynamics with rural communities to delineate the feedback mechanisms involved in the uptake and sustainment of clean cooking technologies. We develop a reference mode with communities showing the trend over time of use or abandonment of cleaner cooking technologies and fuels in these communities. Subsequently, the study develops a system dynamics model with communities to understand the complex sub-systems driving the behavior in these communities as reflected in the reference mode. We use group model building techniques to facilitate participation of relevant stakeholders in the four communities and elicit a narrative describing the feedback mechanisms underlying sustained adoption or abandonment of cleaner cooking technologies. In understanding the dynamics of feedback mechanisms in the uptake and exclusive use of cleaner cooking systems, we increase the likelihood of dissemination and implementation of efficacious interventions into everyday settings to improve the health and wellbeing of women and children most affected

  16. Transformative Learning for a Sustainable Future: An Exploration of Pedagogies for Change at an Alternative College

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Joanna Blake

    2013-12-01

    Full Text Available Educators and policy makers have long recognised the central role that education can play in creating a more sustainable and equitable world. Yet some question whether current processes across mainstream higher education prepare learners sufficiently to graduate with the capabilities or motivation to shape and create a future that is life-sustaining. This paper presents findings from a qualitative research project carried out by Plymouth University in association with Schumacher College, Devon, UK. Schumacher College is an alternative, civil society college, owned by the Dartington Hall Trust that claims to provide transformative learning opportunities within a broad context of sustainability. The study explored the nature and application of transformative learning as a pedagogical approach to advance change towards sustainability. If learners claimed transformational learning experiences, the research asked whether, and to what extent, this transformation could be attributed to the pedagogies employed at the College. The paper begins by setting out the broad background to the relationship between marginal and mainstream educational settings, and definitions and theoretical underpinnings of transformative learning, and then leads into the research design and findings. The potential for transformative pedagogies to be applied to and employed within the wider higher education (HE sector is then discussed, and the overall findings and conclusions are presented.

  17. The Place of Content and Pedagogy in Shaping Sustainability Learning Outcomes in Higher Education

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mintz, Keren; Tal, Tali

    2018-01-01

    This research investigates the ways in which undergraduate courses dealing with the environment address sustainable development (SD), and contribute to the development of sustainability learning outcomes (SLO). The participants in the study were 13 instructors, and 360 students who were enrolled in 13 courses that addressed the environment in a…

  18. Learning Communities for Students in Developmental Math: Impact Studies at Queensborough and Houston Community Colleges

    Science.gov (United States)

    Weissman, Evan; Butcher, Kristin F.; Schneider, Emily; Teres, Jedediah; Collado, Herbert; Greenberg, David

    2011-01-01

    Queensborough Community College and Houston Community College are two large, urban institutions that offer learning communities for their developmental math students, with the goals of accelerating students' progress through the math sequence and of helping them to perform better in college and ultimately earn degrees or certificates. They are…

  19. Training community health students to develop community-requested social marketing campaigns: an innovative partnership.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lindsey, Billie J; Hawk, Carol Wetherill

    2013-01-01

    This paper describes a sustained partnership between a university community health program and local and regional community health agencies. As a key component of the Health Communication and Social Marketing course, the partnership involves undergraduate community health students working for and with community agencies and community members to design social marketing campaigns based on community-identified health needs. The goals of the course are to (1) provide students with the opportunity to work within the community to apply their skills in program planning, evaluation, and communication and (2) provide community agencies with a tailored campaign that can be implemented in their communities. Throughout the 10-week quarter, teams of students follow the principles of community participation in planning a social marketing campaign. These include (1) audience segmentation and formative assessment with the intended audience to determine campaign content and strategies and (2) pretesting and revisions of campaign messages and materials based on community feedback. This partnership contributes to the promotion of health in the local community and it builds the skills and competencies of future health educators. It demonstrates a successful and sustainable combination of community-based participatory research and experiential learning. From 2005 to 2011, 35 campaigns have been developed, many which have been implemented.

  20. Sustainable capacity building among immigrant communities: the raising sexually healthy children program in Canada.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Narushima, Miya; Wong, Josephine Pui-Hing; Li, Anda; Sutdhibhasilp, Noulmook

    2014-03-01

    The Raising Sexually Healthy Children (RSHC) program is a peer-to-peer leadership training program for immigrant parents in Toronto, Canada. It was established in 1998 with the goal of promoting family sex education and parent-child communication. This evaluative study examined the developmental processes and outcomes of the RSHC program to identify the strengths, challenges and insights that can be used to improve the program. It employed a multi-case study approach to compare the RSHC programs delivered in the Chinese, Portuguese and Tamil communities. Data collection methods included focus groups, individual interviews and document analysis. The cross-case analysis identified both common and unique capacity building processes and outcomes in the three communities. In this paper, we report factors that have enhanced and hindered sustainable capacity building at the individual, group/organizational and community levels, and the strategies used by these communities to address challenges common to immigrant families. We will discuss the ecological and synergetic, but time-consuming processes of capacity building, which contributed to the sustainability of RSHC as an empowering health promotion program for immigrant communities. We conclude the paper by noting the implications of using a capacity building approach to promote family health in ethno-racial-linguistic minority communities.

  1. Sustainability Assessment: Energy Efficiency in Buildings at a Community University

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Stephane Louise Bocasanta

    2017-10-01

    Full Text Available This research aims to analyze the degree of sustainability of a building in a community university (object of analysis, as regards its energy efficiency. Therefore, it seeks out to contribute to the literature, provide a basis for the application of SICOGEA system in other buildings and contribute to the consolidation of an effective and consistent environmental management system. The research can be classified, as to its technical procedures, as a case study. As to its objectives it is descriptive, with a qualitative approach. The literature on environmental management and sustainability assessment of buildings was used to support the research. As to the results found, the overall University sustainability rate was 48%, which can be classified as regular, that is, it aims to deal with the legislation only. Therefore, it is believed that the institution can make improvements to achieve a more efficient index. By taking into consideration the deficit items, the following is suggested: to introduce sustainable procurement; to strive for stamps and certifications; to avoid environmental fines and indemnity; and to implement environmental auditing. However, it is clarified that these are suggestions that should be taken into consideration along with financial matters and within the institution planning questions. The analysis of financial sustainability was considered good and, ideally, it will go on.

  2. Developing an Understanding of Higher Education Science and Engineering Learning Communities

    Science.gov (United States)

    Coll, Richard K.; Eames, Chris

    2008-01-01

    This article sets the scene for this special issue of "Research in Science & Technological Education", dedicated to understanding higher education science and engineering learning communities. We examine what the literature has to say about the nature of, and factors influencing, higher education learning communities. A discussion of…

  3. Community based monitoring: engaging and empowering Alberta ranchers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Michael S. Quinn; Jennifer E. Dubois

    2005-01-01

    Community based monitoring (CBM), a form of citizen science, is presented as a potential contributor to ecosystem management and sustainable development. A conceptual model for CBM and lessons learned from a Canadian national pilot program, the Canadian Community Monitoring Network, are summarized along with a description of the European university-based “science shop...

  4. Social – Cultural Sustainability of a Local Community through Visual Identification on the Example of the Town of Zabok

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dončić Siniša Hajdaš

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available In order for a local community to set up mechanisms for shaping and enforcing public politics which strengthen local communities, historical research that would lead to the identity of a local community must be conducted thus enabling the identification of the community as a tourist destination. Analytical-synthetic method will be used to define the concept of a local community, that is the sustainability of a local community as one element of sustainability in general, as well as the concept of a tourist destination. The identity of a local community may be presented using basic means of visual communication (graphic design, typography, photography, illustration, which if defined and applied appropriately, will improve the distinguished identity of a local community.

  5. Sustaining K-12 professional development in geology: Recurrent participation in Rockcamp

    Science.gov (United States)

    Repine, T.E.; Hemler, D.A.; Behling, R.E.

    2004-01-01

    A reconnaissance study of the geology professional development program known as RockCamp was initiated to examine the sustained, or recurrent, participation of K-12 science teachers. Open-ended interviews, concept mapping, and creative writing assignments were used to explore the perceptions of six teachers possessing an exceptional record of participation. Efficacy, fun, right time of life, and support emerged as unanimous reasons for recurrent participation. Content, friendship, and methodology were very important. College credit was not critical. These teachers' perceptions suggest their sustained involvement in the RockCamp Program is stimulated by situated learning experiences stressing a compare, contrast, connect, and construct pedagogy within a supportive learning community.

  6. Engineering Hybrid Learning Communities: The Case of a Regional Parent Community

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sven Strickroth

    2014-09-01

    Full Text Available We present an approach (and a corresponding system design for supporting regionally bound hybrid learning communities (i.e., communities which combine traditional face-to-face elements with web based media such as online community platforms, e-mail and SMS newsletters. The goal of the example community used to illustrate the approach was to support and motivate (especially hard-to-reach underprivileged parents in the education of their young children. The article describes the design process used and the challenges faced during the socio-technical system design. An analysis of the community over more than one year indicates that the hybrid approach works better than the two separated “traditional” approaches separately. Synergy effects like advertising effects from the offline trainings for the online platform and vice versa occurred and regular newsletters turned out to have a noticeable effect on the community.

  7. Using forum-based competitions to improve sustainability and motivation in higher education GNSS learning - Chances and risks

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mayer, M.

    2012-04-01

    The learning strategies of students seem often to be economically adapted to framework requirements in order to achieve best possible examination performances, especially. For this reason, teachers often detect surface level learning characteristics (e.g., accepting facts uncritically, isolated fact storage, fact memorisation) within the learning concepts of students. Therefore, knowledge sustainability is often suffering. This is detectable when trying to build on knowledge of earlier lectures or lecture courses. In order to improve the sustainability of geodetic knowledge, case studies were carried out at the Geodetic Institute of the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (Karlsruhe, Germany) within the lecture course "Introduction into GNSS positioning". The lecture course "Introduction into GNSS positioning" is a compulsory part of the Bachelor study course "Geodesy and Geoinformatics" and also a supplementary module of the Bachelor study course "Geophysics". The lecture course is aiming for transferring basic knowledge and basic principles of Global Navigation Satellite Systems (e.g., GPS). During the winter semesters 2010/11 and 2011/12 ten resp. 15 students visited this compulsory attendance lecture course. In addition to classroom lectures and practical training (e.g., field exercises), a forum-based competition was included and tested using the forum feature of the learning management system ILIAS. According to the Bologna Declaration, a special focus of the innovative competition concept is on competence-related learning. The developed eLearning-related competition concept supports and motivates the students to learn more sustainable. In addition, the students have to be creative and have to deal with GNSS factual knowledge in order to win the competition. Within the presentation, the didactical concept of the enriched blended learning lecture course and the competition-based case study are discussed. The rules of the competition are presented in detail

  8. Conceptualisation of knowledge construction in community service-learning programmes in nursing education

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sindi Z. Mthembu

    2013-06-01

    Full Text Available Background: Practices in higher education have been criticised for not developing and preparing students for the expertise required in real environments. Literature reports that educational programmes tend to favour knowledge conformation rather than knowledge construction; however, community service learning (CSL is a powerful pedagogical strategy that encourages students to make meaningful connections between the content in the classroom and real-life experiences as manifested by the communities. Through CSL, learning is achieved by the active construction of knowledge supported by multiple perspectives within meaningful real contexts, and the social interactions amongst students are seen to play a critical role in the processes of learning and cognition. This article reflects facilitators’ perspective of the knowledge construction process as used with students doing community service learning in basic nursing programmes. Objectives: The aim of this article was to conceptualise the phenomenon of knowledge construction and thereby provide educators with a shared meaning and common understanding, and to analyse the interaction strategies utilised by nurse educators in the process of knowledge construction in community service-learning programmes in basic nursing education. Method: A qualitative research approach based on a grounded theory research design was used in this article. Two nursing education institutions were purposively selected. Structured interviews were conducted with 16 participants. Results: The results revealed that the knowledge construction in community service-learning programmes is conceptualised as having specific determinants, including the use of authentic health-related problems, academic coaching through scaffolding, academic discourse-dialogue, interactive learning in communities of learners, active learning, continuous reflection as well as collaborative and inquiry-based learning. Upon completion of an experience

  9. Conceptualisation of knowledge construction in community service-learning programmes in nursing education.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mthembu, Sindi Z; Mtshali, Fikile G

    2013-01-01

    Practices in higher education have been criticised for not developing and preparing students for the expertise required in real environments. Literature reports that educational programmes tend to favour knowledge conformation rather than knowledge construction; however, community service learning (CSL) is a powerful pedagogical strategy that encourages students to make meaningful connections between the content in the classroom and real-life experiences as manifested by the communities. Through CSL, learning is achieved by the active construction of knowledge supported by multiple perspectives within meaningful real contexts, and the social interactions amongst students are seen to play a critical role in the processes of learning and cognition. This article reflects facilitators’ perspective of the knowledge construction process as used with students doing community service learning in basic nursing programmes. The aim of this article was to conceptualise the phenomenon of knowledge construction and thereby provide educators with a shared meaning and common understanding, and to analyse the interaction strategies utilised by nurse educators in the process of knowledge construction in community service-learning programmes in basic nursing education. A qualitative research approach based on a grounded theory research design was used in this article. Two nursing education institutions were purposively selected. Structured interviews were conducted with 16 participants. The results revealed that the knowledge construction in community service-learning programmes is conceptualised as having specific determinants, including the use of authentic health-related problems, academic coaching through scaffolding, academic discourse-dialogue, interactive learning in communities of learners, active learning, continuous reflection as well as collaborative and inquiry-based learning. Upon completion of an experience, students create and test generated knowledge in different

  10. Network Analysis of a Virtual Community of Learning of Economics Educators

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fontainha, Elsa; Martins, Jorge Tiago; Vasconcelos, Ana Cristina

    2015-01-01

    Introduction: This paper aims at understanding virtual communities of learning in terms of dynamics, types of knowledge shared by participants, and network characteristics such as size, relationships, density, and centrality of participants. It looks at the relationships between these aspects and the evolution of communities of learning. It…

  11. Innovating for Transformation in First Nations Health Using Community-Based Participatory Research.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kyoon-Achan, Grace; Lavoie, Josée; Avery Kinew, Kathi; Phillips-Beck, Wanda; Ibrahim, Naser; Sinclair, Stephanie; Katz, Alan

    2018-06-01

    Community-based participatory research (CBPR) provides the opportunity to engage communities for sustainable change. We share a journey to transformation in our work with eight Manitoba First Nations seeking to improve the health of their communities and discuss lessons learned. The study used community-based participatory research approach for the conceptualization of the study, data collection, analysis, and knowledge translation. It was accomplished through a variety of methods, including qualitative interviews, administrative health data analyses, surveys, and case studies. Research relationships built on strong ethics and protocols to enhance mutual commitment to support community-driven transformation. Collaborative and respectful relationships are platforms for defining and strengthening community health care priorities. We further discuss how partnerships were forged to own and sustain innovations. This article contributes a blueprint for respectful CBPR. The outcome is a community-owned, widely recognized process that is sustainable while fulfilling researcher and funding obligations.

  12. Social Networks and Performance in Distributed Learning Communities

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cadima, Rita; Ojeda, Jordi; Monguet, Josep M.

    2012-01-01

    Social networks play an essential role in learning environments as a key channel for knowledge sharing and students' support. In distributed learning communities, knowledge sharing does not occur as spontaneously as when a working group shares the same physical space; knowledge sharing depends even more on student informal connections. In this…

  13. Power and Privilege: Community Service Learning in Tijuana

    Science.gov (United States)

    Camacho, Michelle Madsen

    2004-01-01

    As social scientists engage their own subjectivity, there is greater awareness of their own touristic "gaze," or at least the power relations that are evoked in the researcher-subject interaction. In teaching students involved in community service learning, the challenge is to provide a learning experience that addresses power inequities…

  14. The role of communities in sustainable land and forest management: The case of Nyanga, Zvimba and Guruve districts of Zimbabwe

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Diego Matsvange

    2016-05-01

    Full Text Available Forest benefit analysis is vital in ensuring sustainable community-based natural resources management. Forest depletion and degradation are key issues in rural Zimbabwe and strategies to enhance sustainable forest management are continually sought. This study was carried out to assess the impact of forests on communities from Nyanga, Guruve and Zvimba districts of Zimbabwe. It is based on a Big Lottery Fund project implemented by Progressio-UK and Environment Africa. Itfocuses on identifying replicable community forest and landmanagement strategies and the level of benefits accruing to the community. Analysis of change was based on the Income and Food Security and Forest benefits, which also constitutes the tools used during the research. The study confirms the high rate of deforestation and the increased realisation by communities to initiate practical measures aimed at protecting and sustaining forest and land resources from which they derive economic and social benefits. The results highlight the value of community structures (Farmer Field Schools and Environmental Action Groups as conduits for natural resource management. The interconnectivity among forests, agricultural systems and the integral role of people are recognised as key to climate change adaptation. Keywords: Forest benefits; sustainability,;livelihoods; farmer field schools

  15. Diversity for sustainability: learning from the Murray-darling basin experience

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Syed, J.

    2005-01-01

    This paper investigates the inter-link between cultural diversity and biodiversity in the Indus basin in Pakistan with an aim to explore its impact on the environmental sustainability. I argue that culture is an important intermediary between behavior and environment, influencing social participation and environmental action and consequently sustainable development. Thus a better understanding of the interdependence between cultural and biological diversity is an essential prerequisite for the effective protection of both (people and environment). refer to and describe the Murray-Darling Basin Commission in Australia as a useful model for environmental sustainability. I argue that the Murray-Darling Basin Commission's model is useful due to: its focus on indigenous life as much as formal education, its involvement in multi-modal environmental literacies, and its emphasis on process and participation resulting in improved activity and ownership in the local communities. Within this context, I identify a number of issues as important for sustainability of the riverine environment in the Indus basin. I propose that the implementation of this model will result in increased awareness and dynamism vital for the environmental sustainability in the Indus basin. (author)

  16. Design of environmental education module towards the needs of aboriginal community learning

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dasman, Siti Mariam; Yasin, Ruhizan Mohammad

    2017-05-01

    Non-formal education (NFE) refers to a program that is designed for personal and social education for learners to improve the level of skills and competencies outside formal educational curriculum. Issues related to geography and environment of different Aboriginal communities with other communities play an important role in determining the types and methods that should be made available to the minority community groups. Thus, this concept paper is intended to cater for educational environment through the design and development of learning modules based on non-formal education to the learning of Aboriginal community. Methods and techniques in the design and construction of the modules is based on the Design and Development Research (DDR) that was based on instructional design model of Morrison, Kemp and Ross which is more flexible and prioritizes the needs and characteristics of learners who were involved in the learning modules of the future. The discussion is related to the module development which is suitable to the learning needs of the community and there are several recommendations which may be applied in the implementation of this approach. In conclusion, the community of Orang Asli should be offered the same education as other communities but it is important to distinguish acceptance of learning techniques or approaches used in the education system to meet their standards. The implications of this concept paper is to meet the educational needs of the environment which includes a few aspects of science and some learning activities using effective approaches such as playing and building their own knowledge of meaning.

  17. ASIE Model: An Innovative Instructional Design Model for Teachers in Enhancing and Sustaining the Quality of the 21st Century Learning

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ismail Md Zain

    2017-04-01

    Full Text Available An effective and systematic design of instruction will determine the quality of learning and teaching practices. Hence, instructional design models are required, to move from just adopting a standard approach to developing models that have an impact on learners' profiles, creating a much better learning experience, skills, and knowledge both in the classroom and online. The 21st Century Learning Framework requires learners to develop their thinking skills, communication skills, collaborating skills and enhancing their creativity, (4Cs towards establishing "globally competitive learners." An Integral ASIE Instructional Design Model is an innovative 21st Century teachers' designing tool that provides a solution to the above challenges. The Model assist teachers in Planning, Utilizing and Sharing (PLUS instructions with others across nations. It promotes the Professional Learning Community practices where educationist, stakeholders, parents, and corporates work collaboratively ensuring its quality and sustainability in addressing the future employability issues of the learners. Results from 5 Likert Scales Questionnaires given to teachers in workshops and pilot project conducted, shows positive views on the model.

  18. Measuring the Social Sustainability of Urban Communities: The Role of Local Authorities

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Bogdana NEAMŢU

    2012-10-01

    Full Text Available The paper explores the topic of social sustainability which in the last years has attracted interest from both the academia and political decision-makers and analyzes emerging issues on the social sustainability agenda such as urban governance, citizens’ empowerment and participation, sense of place, urban livability etc. The article focuses on how social sustainability of a community can be evaluated: it looks at existing methodologies, metrics and tools and uses the indicators from the Egan report (UK to illustrate the shifts currently taking place in the realm of sustainability assessment. The empirical research strives to determine whether public servants working in urban planning or in other areas that are closely related to planning are in favor of introducing at the local level a sustainability assessment system (research carried out in medium and large municipalities from the North-Western region of Romania. The main conclusion which can be derived from both literature and practice is that the themes under the umbrella of social sustainability are changing and that sustainability assessment is currently in the process of being better understood and used at the local level.

  19. Building A Drought Science Learning Community: Education and Engagement in an NSF CAREER Grant

    Science.gov (United States)

    Quiring, S. M.

    2011-12-01

    This paper describes the education and engagement plan of the NSF CAREER award that I received in 2011 (Role of Soil Moisture in Seasonal to Interannual Climate Variability in the U.S. Great Plains; NSF Award #1056796). A key component of this plan is the development of a Drought Science Learning Community. A learning community is a program of courses and activities, which may include social and academic activities outside the classroom, that form a single program of instruction. Learning communities serve to increase faculty-student and student-student interaction, improve active and collaborative learning, and develop curricular coherence. The goal of a learning community is to encourage integration of learning across courses and to involve students with one of the grand challenges facing society. Students will be recruited from a Freshman Year Seminar (FYS) that I teach every Fall. Students who belong to the learning community will participate in the Water Management and Hydrological Sciences Seminar Series, relevant field trips, and monthly brown bag lunch meetings where students and faculty will discuss their current research projects and recently published scientific articles. Students who participate in learning community activities will benefit from a common intellectual experience that will help them to develop linkages between courses, regular interactions with faculty mentors, and the opportunity to contribute to faculty research. All students will be encouraged to complete an undergraduate thesis as the capstone experience of their participation in the learning community. In addition to describing the organization of the education and engagement plan, I will also discuss expected outcomes, best practices and lessons learned.

  20. Pedagogical innovation from the perspective of professional learning communities

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sánchez-Cortés, Ana María

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available This study aimed to verify the relationship between the participation of teachers in professional learning communities and the teaching practices related to the socio-constructivist model. For this purpose, a quantitative non-experimental model with a cross-sectional design was implemented, using the results of the survey entitled "Teaching and learning international survey", which was applied by the OECD in 2008 in 24 countries. The results of the conducted study determined that the dimensions of professional learning communities have a weak positive relationship with the categories of teaching practices. Additionally, the investigation addressed the differences in the responses of teachers according to variables, such as age, gender, teaching experience, and level of education.

  1. Community Tourism Entrepreneurship for Sustainable Tourism Management in Southern Africa: Lessons from Zimbabwe

    OpenAIRE

    Simon Chiutsi; Boycen Kumira Mudzengi

    2012-01-01

    Zimbabwe tourism development has suffered the pitfalls of uneven development often producing disproportionate distribution of returns. While tourism has been promulgated as a panacea to the socio-economic development challenges Zimbabwe is facing, local and often marginalized rural communities have not meaningfully reaped the benefits through tourism income. In this paper community tourism entrepreneurship is suggested as a viable option to promote sustainable tourism as it places the local c...

  2. Developing a Professional Learning Community among Preservice Teachers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bond, Nathan

    2013-01-01

    This action research study examined the development of a professional learning community (PLC) among 20 preservice secondary teachers as they met regularly during a semester-long, field-based education course to share artifacts of learning from their professional portfolios. The PLC model described by Hord and Tobia (2012) served as a framework…

  3. Who is Next? Identifying Communities with the Potential for Increased Implementation of Sustainability Policies and Programs

    Science.gov (United States)

    Understanding the system of connections between societal contexts and policy outcomes in municipal governments provides important insights into how community sustainability happens, and why it happens differently in various communities. A growing body of research in recent years ...

  4. In Transition towards Sustainability: Bridging the Business and Education Sectors of Regional Centre of Expertise Greater Sendai Using Education for Sustainable Development-Based Social Learning

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Paul Ofei-Manu

    2012-07-01

    Full Text Available This article discusses a business-school collaborative learning partnership in the Regional Centre of Expertise (RCE on Education for Sustainable Development (ESD in Greater Sendai. This partnership is further linked to a broader context of multi-stakeholder public participation in the RCE that was set up to advance the ESD agenda in the region. The authors propose a conceptual framework for multi-stakeholder, ESD-based social learning within the RCE with the aim of enabling the creation of a sustainability-literate society. This proposal is based on the results of students’ prior experience in ESD activities, optimal age for ESD learning and future job choices presented in this paper, together with a reported article that the levels of sustainability of the two sectoral organizations were mixed and hence need improvement. The paper argues that it will be good to focus on bridging the business and education sectors by building ESD capacity of the children and youth in the formal education sector. It contends this could be done through collaborative learning using the government-mandated “Period of Integrated Studies” (PIS in the Japanese primary and secondary school curriculum. Additionally, it will be appropriate for the RCE Greater Sendai Steering Committee to facilitate and coordinate the learning processes and also promote networking and cooperative interactions among the actors and stakeholders in the region. Recommendations for improvement of the learning partnerships in RCE Greater Sendai are made for consideration at the local and national policy levels.

  5. Enviromental indicators in Amazonian Kichwa Communities from Ecuador for the ellaboration of a sustainable development strategy

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ruth Irene Arias Gutiérrez

    2015-02-01

    Full Text Available An environmental diagnosis is made in the Amazonian Kichwa region (Napo and Pastaza provinces, Ecuador for the ellaboration of a sustainable development strategy. The environmental indicators such as the number of cultivated plant species and their use. The use of forest and agricultural products were measured, as well. Qualitative and quantitative research methods, most appropriate for this study, were used. The quantitative methodology consisted in surveying to the residents, the leaders of the six communities and the heads of 64 households scattered around five rural parishes. The main results are collected in a strategic agenda that would boost the ecological sustainability. The communities employ a high number of species directly as food, and a fewer for medical, flavoring and cosmetic use. However, a single use of resources as raw materials is observed. With no the application of science and technology, there is not an orderly and efficient use of resources, which is achieved by establishing links with other universities research projects. It is necessary to replenish and enhance native renewable resources used by the communities, and add value and work on human capital formation for the protection of these resources. Local resources are not reasonably used with a focus on the protection of the environment and the extensive Amazonian biodiversity. There are high rates of illiteracy in the communities. That’s why it is important the development of bio-knowledge through public interventions, which will help sustain the national competitive advantage, based on its natural and biological richness, supported by the development of local production networks and technology generation. A proposed strategy for a sustainable agro-ecological community development was made.

  6. Community of inquiry model: advancing distance learning in nurse anesthesia education.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pecka, Shannon L; Kotcherlakota, Suhasini; Berger, Ann M

    2014-06-01

    The number of distance education courses offered by nurse anesthesia programs has increased substantially. Emerging distance learning trends must be researched to ensure high-quality education for student registered nurse anesthetists. However, research to examine distance learning has been hampered by a lack of theoretical models. This article introduces the Community of Inquiry model for use in nurse anesthesia education. This model has been used for more than a decade to guide and research distance learning in higher education. A major strength of this model learning. However, it lacks applicability to the development of higher order thinking for student registered nurse anesthetists. Thus, a new derived Community of Inquiry model was designed to improve these students' higher order thinking in distance learning. The derived model integrates Bloom's revised taxonomy into the original Community of Inquiry model and provides a means to design, evaluate, and research higher order thinking in nurse anesthesia distance education courses.

  7. Is the Learning Community of Economics and Accounting Effective? Empirical Assessment of Class Achievements

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stumph, Carolyn Fabian; Kim, Myeong Hwan; Han, Yongseung; Minke, Susan

    2017-01-01

    Learning communities are increasingly used at colleges and universities, as one of the goals of a learning community is to increase interaction among students and teach them how to apply knowledge. The goal of this research is to assess the learning community of the economics and accounting students in their class performance measured by class…

  8. Towards Sustaining Levels of Reflective Learning: How Do Transformational Leadership, Task Interdependence, and Self-Efficacy Shape Teacher Learning in Schools?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Arnoud Oude Groote Beverborg

    2015-03-01

    Full Text Available Whereas cross-sectional research has shown that transformational leadership, task interdependence, and self-efficacy are positively related to teachers’ engagement in reflective learning activities, the causal direction of these relations needs further inquiry. At the same time, individual teacher learning might play a mutual role in strengthening school-level capacity for sustained improvement. Building on previous research, this longitudinal study therefore examines how transformational leadership, task interdependence, self-efficacy, and teachers’ engagement in self-reflection mutually affect each other over time. Questionnaire data gathered on three measurement occasions from 655 Dutch Vocational Education and Training teachers was analyzed using a multivariate Latent Difference Score model. Results indicate that self-reflection and task interdependence reciprocally influence each other’s change. A considerate and stimulating transformational leader was found to contribute to this process. Change in self-efficacy was influenced by self-reflection, indicating that learning leads to competency beliefs. Together, the findings point to the important role transformational leadership practices play in facilitating teamwork, and sustaining teachers’ levels of learning in schools.

  9. Technology Integration through Professional Learning Community

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cifuentes, Lauren; Maxwell, Gerri; Bulu, Sanser

    2011-01-01

    We describe efforts to build a learning community to support technology integration in three rural school districts and the contributions of various program strategies toward teacher growth. The Stages of Adoption Inventory, classroom observations, the Questionnaire for Technology Integration, interviews, STAR evaluation surveys, a survey of…

  10. Modeling Sustainability of Water, Environment, Livelihood, and Culture in Traditional Irrigation Communities and Their Linked Watersheds

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kenneth Boykin

    2012-11-01

    Full Text Available Water scarcity, land use conversion and cultural and ecosystem changes threaten the way of life for traditional irrigation communities of the semi-arid southwestern United States. Traditions are strong, yet potential upheaval is great in these communities that rely on acequia irrigation systems. Acequias are ancient ditch systems brought from the Iberian Peninsula to the New World over 400 years ago; they are simultaneously gravity flow water delivery systems and shared water governance institutions. Acequias have survived periods of drought and external shocks from changing economics, demographics, and resource uses. Now, climate change and urbanization threaten water availability, ecosystem functions, and the acequia communities themselves. Do past adaptive practices hold the key to future sustainability, or are new strategies required? To explore this issue we translated disciplinary understanding into a uniform format of causal loop diagrams to conceptualize the subsystems of the entire acequia-based human-natural system. Four subsystems are identified in this study: hydrology, ecosystem, land use/economics, and sociocultural. Important linkages between subsystems were revealed as well as variables indicating community cohesion (e.g., total irrigated land, intensity of upland grazing, mutualism. Ongoing work will test the conceptualizations with field data and modeling exercises to capture tipping points for non-sustainability and thresholds for sustainable water use and community longevity.

  11. Identifying Effective and Sustainable Measures for Community-Based Environmental Monitoring

    Science.gov (United States)

    McKay, Ariana J.; Johnson, Chris J.

    2017-09-01

    Resource development projects typically result in monitoring programs that fail to fully consider the values and participation of surrounding communities. Also, monitoring protocols for single environmental values can be insufficient for addressing the cumulative impacts of resource development. Community-based environmental monitoring (CBEM) has emerged as a way to meaningfully include local citizens in the decision-making process and assessment of the development of natural resources. Our research explored how to develop effective and sustainable CBEM. Interviews were conducted with staff from 15 CBEM programs established across Canada to identify criteria of what constitutes effective CBEM. Results demonstrate that CBEM offers an effective, locally adapted, and culturally applicable approach to facilitate community participation in natural resource management and to track environmental change. Benefits of CBEM include: locally relevant monitoring protocols, inclusion of cumulative impacts, better informed decision-making, and increased awareness and collaboration amongst community, governments, and proponents. Challenges associated with CBEM are cost, capacity, longevity, distribution of results, and establishing credibility. This research validates the use of CBEM for improving resource management.

  12. Comprehensive assessment of Kichwa Ecuadorian Amazon communities for the elaboration of the Strategy for Sustainable Development. II . Socioeconomic indicators

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ruth Irene Arias Gutiérrez

    2015-03-01

    Full Text Available A social and economical diagnosis was made in the Amazonian Kichwa region (Napo and Pastaza Provinces for the ellaboration of a sustainable development strategy. Six communities from Anzu river valley, on the eastern slopes of the central Andes in Ecuador, were studied. The quantitative methodology consisted in surveying the residents, managers of the six communities and the heads of 64 households, scattered around five rural parishes. The measured social and economic indicators were annual dependence on local forest and cultivated resources in percentage; the indicators of education, health services and housing conditions for a proposed strategy in order to enhance a sustainable local rural development in the Ecuadorian Amazonian indigenous communities under study. Qualitative and quantitative methods were appropriately used. There are high rates of illiteracy in the communities. Kichwa families depend on local resources. The difference between the satisfaction degree of mestizo and Kichwa families is related to its population weight. There are high illiteracy rates in Boayaku, Union de Llandia and 24 de Mayo. Primary education is low in the communities, and secondary education is very low in all communities. A proposed strategy for sustainable agro-ecological community development is made.

  13. Community as Teacher Model: Health Profession Students Learn Cultural Safety from an Aboriginal Community

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kline, Cathy C.; Godolphin, William J.; Chhina, Gagun S.; Towle, Angela

    2013-01-01

    Communication between health care professionals and Aboriginal patients is complicated by cultural differences and the enduring effects of colonization. Health care providers need better training to meet the needs of Aboriginal patients and communities. We describe the development and outcomes of a community-driven service-learning program in…

  14. SOME ASPECTS OF SUSTAINABLE LAND MANAGEMENT AGRICULTURAL LAND USE AREAS WITHIN THE TERRITORIAL COMMUNITIES

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kapinos N.

    2016-05-01

    Full Text Available Land Fund in Ukraine is experiencing excessive human impact, which is reflected in its performance exceeding the allowable agricultural development and land structure imbalance. The environmental condition of land resources close to critical. Among the largest land area occupied by agricultural land (71% of which - 76% is arable land. Violation environmentally acceptable ratio of arable land, natural grasslands and forests negatively affected the sustainability of agricultural landscapes. Throughout the widespread land degradation processes, among which the most ambitious is the erosion (about 57.5% of the territory, pollution (20% of the territory, flooding (about 12% of the territory. Sustainable (balanced land is one of the key factors of sustainable nature of territorial entities and may be formed of a priority, taking into account environmental factors. In ecological optimization based on value criteria ekolohostabilizuyuchyh and anthropogenic pressures lands should necessarily provide for withdrawal of intensive land use, which in its modal properties can not ensure sustainability of land use. However, today in Ukraine within the territories of communities no project development to optimize land use on the basis of sustainable development. Accordingly, the purpose of the article was the study of certain aspects of Land Management sustainable development of agricultural land within the territories of local communities. The current structure of the land fund of Ukraine was actually formed in the Soviet period, under the influence of policies of extensive agricultural development. Violation environmentally acceptable ratio of arable land, natural grasslands and forests negatively affected the stability and condition of land, which is confirmed by relevant research. In such circumstances, balancing the land proposed to carry out in two stages - the ecological and economic. In ecological optimization criteria based on land value necessarily

  15. Community Learning Process: A Model of Solid Waste Reduction and Separation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jittree Pothimamaka

    2008-07-01

    Full Text Available The main purpose of this research was to study and develop an appropriate model of waste reduction and separation in the community under the community learning process. This is a research and development (R&D study with mixed methodology consisting of four steps. Step One: Research was conducted to obtain information on solid waste disposal in Bang Sue District, Bangkok Metropolis, Thailand, employing group discussions with community members and data collection from the field. Step Two: The activities for development of the model consisted of group discussions, workshops, and development of a test of knowledge and behaviors concerning solid waste disposal using the 1A3R practice concept. Step Three : Experimentation with the model consisting of pre testing and post testing of knowledge and behaviors concerning solid waste disposal ; door to door imparting of appropriate knowledge and behaviors concerning solid waste disposal ; and collecting of data on the rate and amount of generated waste, and waste separation. Step Four: Evaluation of the developed model consisting of assessments based on physical indicators of the waste, opinions of experts, and impacts on participating communities. The findings revealed that (1 the post experiment knowledge and behavior mean scores of community members in the sample significantly increased over their pre experiment counterparts; and (2 the rate of waste generation decreased while waste separation increased. The proposed model of solid waste reduction and separation was accepted, and has four main components:(1 Community Practice: solid waste should be separated in the household into three types: food waste, marketable waste and non marketable waste must be clearly separated from household waste.(2 Knowledge sharing: door to door imparting of knowledge and behaviors on solid waste reduction and separation based on the 1A3R practice concept should be promoted.(3 Community mastery: the community organization

  16. Why Teach Social Entrepreneurship: Enhance Learning and University-Community Relations through Service-Learning Outreach

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wessel, Stacy; Godshalk, Veronica M.

    2004-01-01

    This article focuses on providing a convincing argument for incorporating social entrepreneurship into the business professor's classroom. The outreach provided by social entrepreneurship enhances learning and promotes university-community relations. Service-learning engagement activities, in the form of social entrepreneurship, create a three-way…

  17. Conceptualizing impact assessment as a learning process

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sánchez, Luis E.; Mitchell, Ross

    2017-01-01

    This paper explores how project developers and their consultants, government regulators and stakeholders can learn from the impact assessment (IA) process, thus potentially improving its effectiveness and enhancing project sustainability. Despite the benefits that learning can bring to an organization, failure to learn appears commonplace both within the IA process and, once approved, subsequent industrial development. To nurture organizational learning through IA, enabling structures that foster information sharing and interpretation and enhance organizational memory are needed. In this paper learning outcomes are grouped into three categories: acquisition of knowledge and skills, developing new behaviors and developing sustainability-oriented norms and values. Means to achieve such outcomes include education and training, experiential learning, learning through public participation (social learning) and a ‘learning organization approach’. Societal expectations increasingly demand not only projects that ‘pass’ the review criteria of regulators, financiers and the community, but IA processes capable of delivering sustainable outcomes that include learning and sharing of knowledge. It is proposed that learning be treated as a purposeful – not as an accidental – outcome of IA, and facilitated by adopting a ‘learning organization approach’ coupled with best practice such as early stakeholder engagement. - Highlights: • Proponents are challenged to develop projects that deliver sustainable outcomes. • Passing the test of government approval may be insufficient to obtain a social license. • Learning by all stakeholders is vital to meet these challenges. • Learning outcomes have to go beyond instrumental learning to reach new behaviors, norms and values. • A “learning organization approach” can promote mutual learning and improve project design.

  18. Conceptualizing impact assessment as a learning process

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Sánchez, Luis E., E-mail: lsanchez@usp.br [Escola Politécnica, University of São Paulo, Av. Prof. Mello Moraes, 2373, 05508-900 São Paulo (Brazil); Mitchell, Ross, E-mail: ross.mitchell@ualberta.net [Shell International Exploration & Production BV (Netherlands)

    2017-01-15

    This paper explores how project developers and their consultants, government regulators and stakeholders can learn from the impact assessment (IA) process, thus potentially improving its effectiveness and enhancing project sustainability. Despite the benefits that learning can bring to an organization, failure to learn appears commonplace both within the IA process and, once approved, subsequent industrial development. To nurture organizational learning through IA, enabling structures that foster information sharing and interpretation and enhance organizational memory are needed. In this paper learning outcomes are grouped into three categories: acquisition of knowledge and skills, developing new behaviors and developing sustainability-oriented norms and values. Means to achieve such outcomes include education and training, experiential learning, learning through public participation (social learning) and a ‘learning organization approach’. Societal expectations increasingly demand not only projects that ‘pass’ the review criteria of regulators, financiers and the community, but IA processes capable of delivering sustainable outcomes that include learning and sharing of knowledge. It is proposed that learning be treated as a purposeful – not as an accidental – outcome of IA, and facilitated by adopting a ‘learning organization approach’ coupled with best practice such as early stakeholder engagement. - Highlights: • Proponents are challenged to develop projects that deliver sustainable outcomes. • Passing the test of government approval may be insufficient to obtain a social license. • Learning by all stakeholders is vital to meet these challenges. • Learning outcomes have to go beyond instrumental learning to reach new behaviors, norms and values. • A “learning organization approach” can promote mutual learning and improve project design.

  19. Lifelong Learning for All in Asian Communities: ICT Based Initiatives

    Science.gov (United States)

    Misra, Pradeep Kumar

    2011-01-01

    The necessity to adjust to the prerequisites of the knowledge based society and economy brought about the need for lifelong learning for all in Asian communities. The concept of lifelong learning stresses that learning and education are related to life as a whole - not just to work - and that learning throughout life is a continuum that should run…

  20. [Sustainability focus in the health plans of the autonomous communities: sustainable development as an opportunity].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Moyano-Santiago, Miguel A; Rivera-Lirio, Juana M

    2016-01-01

    To determine the degree to which the health plans of the autonomous communities focus on the usual three dimensions of sustainability: economic, social and environmental, both in the general level of discourse and in the different areas of intervention. A qualitative study was conducted through content analysis of a large sample of documents. The specific methodology was analysis of symbolic and operational sensitivity in a sample of eleven health plans of the Spanish state. Social aspects, such as social determinants or vulnerable groups, are receiving increasing attention from the health planner, although there is room to strengthen attention to environmental issues and to provide specific interventions in economic terms. The analysis demonstrates the incipient state of health plans as strategic planning documents that integrate economic, social and environmental aspects and contribute to the sustainability of the different health systems of the country. Copyright © 2016 SESPAS. Published by Elsevier Espana. All rights reserved.

  1. Closer to Learning: Social Networks, Trust, and Professional Communities

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liou, Yi-Hwa; Daly, Alan J.

    2014-01-01

    Researchers, educators, and policymakers suggest the use of professional learning communities as one important approach to the improvement of teaching and learning. However, relatively little research examines the interplay of professional interactions (structural social capital) around instructional practices and key elements of professional…

  2. Greening Social Work Education: Teaching Environmental Rights and Sustainability in Community Practice

    Science.gov (United States)

    Androff, David; Fike, Chris; Rorke, John

    2017-01-01

    Green issues such as protecting environmental rights and promoting sustainability are growing in importance to social work practice but are largely ignored in social work curricula. This article uses comparative case studies of three student-led community practice projects to demonstrate how environmental rights can be incorporated into social…

  3. Teaching Community-Based Learning Course in Retailing Management

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rhee, Eddie

    2018-01-01

    This study outlines the use of a community-based learning (CBL) applied to a Retailing Management course conducted in a 16-week semester in a private institution in the East Coast. The study addresses the case method of teaching and its potential weaknesses, and discusses experiential learning for a real-world application. It further addresses CBL…

  4. From conditioning to learning communities: implications of fifty years of research in e-learning interaction design

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Andrew Ravenscroft

    2003-12-01

    Full Text Available This paper will consider e-learning in terms of the underlying learning processes and interactions that are stimulated, supported or favoured by new media and the contexts or communities in which it is used. We will review and critique a selection of research and development from the past fifty years that has linked pedagogical and learning theory to the design of innovative e-learning systems and activities, and discuss their implications. It will include approaches that are, essentially, behaviourist (Skinner and Gagné, cognitivist (Pask, Piaget and Papert, situated (Lave, Wenger and Seely-Brown, socioconstructivist (Vygotsky, socio-cultural (Nardi and Engestrom and community-based (Wenger and Preece. Emerging from this review is the argument that effective elearning usually requires, or involves, high-quality educational discourse, that leads to, at the least, improved knowledge, and at the best, conceptual development and improved understanding. To achieve this I argue that we need to adopt a more holistic approach to design that synthesizes features of the included approaches, leading to a framework that emphasizes the relationships between cognitive changes, dialogue processes and the communities, or contexts for e-learning.

  5. Effectiveness of community-based mangrove management for sustainable resource use and livelihood support

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Damastuti, Ekaningrum; Groot, de Dolf

    2017-01-01

    Community-Based Mangrove Management (CBMM) is implemented with different approaches and outcomes. This study examined the effectiveness of various CBMM practices to achieve sustainable management of mangrove resources. We analyzed local mangrove resource management strategies in four coastal

  6. Self-Driven Service Learning: Community-Student-Faculty Collaboratives Outside of the Classroom

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Veronica A. Segarra

    2015-08-01

    Full Text Available Service learning is a community engagement pedagogy often used in the context of the undergraduate classroom to synergize course-learning objectives with community needs.  We find that an effective way to catalyze student engagement in service learning is for student participation to occur outside the context of a graded course, driven by students’ own interests and initiative.  In this paper, we describe the creation and implementation of a self-driven service learning program and discuss its benefits from the community, student, and faculty points of view.  This experience allows students to explore careers in the sciences as well as identify skill strengths and weaknesses in an environment where mentoring is available but where student initiative and self-motivation are the driving forces behind the project’s success.  Self-driven service learning introduces young scientists to the idea that their careers serve a larger community that benefits not only from their discoveries but also from effective communication about how these discoveries are relevant to everyday life.

  7. Real World Learning: toward a differentiated framework for outdoor learning for sustainability

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lewis Winks

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available The Real World Learning network (RWLn set out in 2011 to explore elements which contribute to a ‘deep and meaningful’ outdoor education experience. Following three years of work, the RWLn developed the ‘Hand Model’, a learning model designed to support educators in the development of Outdoor Learning for Sustainability (OLfS. Since its launch in early 2014, the model has been used for planning, delivering and reflecting upon OLfS experiences. Making use of the comments made in Činčera’s (2015 Real World Learning: a critical analysis which highlights inconsistencies existent within the model’s internal logic, this paper considers the perceived contradiction between emancipatory and instrumental approaches to learning. Beginning with a comprehensive introduction to the Hand model, this paper goes on to discuss the theoretical divide which the model spans between a goal-led, knowledge based approach promoted by the model’s focus upon understanding and values, and a pluralistic and exploratory approach typified by aspects of educational empowerment and experience. In response to this and augmented by examples, a differentiated conceptual framework is presented to facilitate a pragmatic application of the model from a practice perspective, making use of what has been termed a ‘blended approach’, whilst acknowledging degrees of inconsistency and dissonance from a theoretical perspective. Additionally, the model is viewed from a context perspective where questions are asked regarding the appropriateness of particular approaches depending upon the setting in which learning takes place. It is hoped that by moving beyond theoretically entrenched positions a mediated middle ground for the model’s application may be established.

  8. Adult Learning for Social Change in Museums: An Exploration of Sociocultural Learning Approaches to Community Engagement

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kim, Junghwan; You, Jieun; Yeon Park, Soo

    2016-01-01

    This integrative literature review critically examined how scholars were articulating the work of museums to make a space for "adult learning for social change through community engagement". We applied sociocultural adult learning theories (situated learning and cultural-historical activity theory), to 25 theoretical and empirical…

  9. Turning construction of a sustainable community into business; Kestaevaen yhdyskunnan rakentaminen. Naekoekulmia ja liiketoimintamahdollisuuksia

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Vainio, T.; Nissinen, K.; Moettoenen, V.; Vainio, S. [VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, Espoo (Finland); Herrala, M.; Haapasalo, H. [Univ. of Oulu (Finland)

    2012-09-15

    The aim of the project was to increase understanding about what a sustainable community is like and how one can be built. The report describes briefly the theoretical backgrounds of all three dimensions sustainability and presents assessment methods as well as tests two of them on Hiukkavaara, Oulu. The crucial decisions regarding building a sustainable community are made already before planning starts during goal setting. Zoning, planning and construction for their part meet set goals. During the life cycle, the use phase has a decisive influence especially on the dimension of socially and ecologically sustainable development. The built environment may either waste or generate energy during the life cycle. In principle, socially sustainable development is considered more of a process than an achieved status. If successful, it increases the status and value of an area which is part of economically sustainable development. The aspects of sustainable development are not separate but merge with each other. Considering the viewpoint of sustainable development in construction creates new and expands existing business opportunities at all phases of the building process. In addition to life-cycle projects suitable for large companies with riskbearing capacity, or building of novel networks, sustainable construction offers opportunities also for small, local companies. In the design of a one- and two-family house dominated residential area the value chain from general design to finished residential area is long time-wise. Thus, in the early phase it is important to retain the possibility to make changes instead of meeting exact client needs. A concrete example of that is the improvement of the energy efficiency of one- and two-family houses which calls into question the profitability of building a district heating system. The value chains of construction must be able to develop solutions for the changing operating environment. Uses must be found for buildings throughout

  10. Online extremism and the communities that sustain it: Detecting the ISIS supporting community on Twitter

    Science.gov (United States)

    Joseph, Kenneth; Carley, Kathleen M.

    2017-01-01

    The Islamic State of Iraq and ash-Sham (ISIS) continues to use social media as an essential element of its campaign to motivate support. On Twitter, ISIS’ unique ability to leverage unaffiliated sympathizers that simply retweet propaganda has been identified as a primary mechanism in their success in motivating both recruitment and “lone wolf” attacks. The present work explores a large community of Twitter users whose activity supports ISIS propaganda diffusion in varying degrees. Within this ISIS supporting community, we observe a diverse range of actor types, including fighters, propagandists, recruiters, religious scholars, and unaffiliated sympathizers. The interaction between these users offers unique insight into the people and narratives critical to ISIS’ sustainment. In their entirety, we refer to this diverse set of users as an online extremist community or OEC. We present Iterative Vertex Clustering and Classification (IVCC), a scalable analytic approach for OEC detection in annotated heterogeneous networks, and provide an illustrative case study of an online community of over 22,000 Twitter users whose online behavior directly advocates support for ISIS or contibutes to the group’s propaganda dissemination through retweets. PMID:29194446

  11. The Use of the Persian Translation of the Learning Transfer System Inventory in the Context of Agricultural Sustainability Learning in Iran

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zamani, Naser; Ataei, Pouria; Bates, Reid

    2016-01-01

    The Learning Transfer System Inventory considers 16 factors likely to influence the transfer of training to the workplace. This study uses the Persian translation of the inventory and applies it to agricultural sustainability learning in Iran. The aim is to examine the internal structure and predictive ability of the inventory as translated into…

  12. Paradoxes of Social Networking in a Structured Web 2.0 Language Learning Community

    Science.gov (United States)

    Loiseau, Mathieu; Zourou, Katerina

    2012-01-01

    This paper critically inquires into social networking as a set of mechanisms and associated practices developed in a structured Web 2.0 language learning community. This type of community can be roughly described as learning spaces featuring (more or less) structured language learning resources displaying at least some notions of language learning…

  13. Evaluating Sustainability Models for Interoperability through Brokering Software

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pearlman, Jay; Benedict, Karl; Best, Mairi; Fyfe, Sue; Jacobs, Cliff; Michener, William; Nativi, Stefano; Powers, Lindsay; Turner, Andrew

    2016-04-01

    Sustainability of software and research support systems is an element of innovation that is not often discussed. Yet, sustainment is essential if we expect research communities to make the time investment to learn and adopt new technologies. As the Research Data Alliance (RDA) is developing new approaches to interoperability, the question of uptake and sustainability is important. Brokering software sustainability is one of the areas that is being addressed in RDA. The Business Models Team of the Research Data Alliance Brokering Governance Working Group examined several support models proposed to promote the long-term sustainability of brokering middleware. The business model analysis includes examination of funding source, implementation frameworks and challenges, and policy and legal considerations. Results of this comprehensive analysis highlight advantages and disadvantages of the various models with respect to the specific requirements for brokering services. We offer recommendations based on the outcomes of this analysis that suggest that hybrid funding models present the most likely avenue to long term sustainability.

  14. Utilizing Peer Mentor Roles in Learning Communities

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rieske, Laura Jo; Benjamin, Mimi

    2015-01-01

    For a number of learning community programs, peer mentors provide an additional layer of staffing support. This chapter highlights peer mentor roles from a sample of programs and suggests important components for the construction of these roles.

  15. 76 FR 2406 - Notice of Proposed Information Collection: Comment Request Sustainable Communities Regional Grant...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2011-01-13

    ... Information Relay Service (1-800-877-8339). FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Zuleika Morales-Romero, Grants.... Shelley R. Poticha. Director, Office of Sustainable Housing and Communities. [FR Doc. 2011-657 Filed 1-12...

  16. Learning sustainability by developing a solar dryer for microalgae retrieval

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Benedita Malheiro

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available Excessive fossil fuel consumption is driving the search for alternative energy production solutions and, in particular, for sustainable sources of energy such as microalgae, from which biodiesel, among other useful compounds, can be obtained. After producing the microalgae, they must be harvested and dried. Existing drying solutions consume too much energy and are, therefore, expensive and unsustainable. The goal of this EPS@ISEP Spring 2013 project was to develop a solar microalgae dryer for the microalgae laboratory of ISEP. A multinational team of five students from distinct fields of study was responsible for designing and building the solar microalgae dryer prototype. The prototype includes a control system to ensure that the microalgae are not destroyed during the drying process. The solar microalgae dryer works as a distiller, extracting the excess water from the microalgae suspension. This paper details the design steps, the building technologies, the ethical and sustainable concerns and compares the prototype with existing solutions. The proposed sustainable microalgae drying process is competitive as far as energy usage is concerned. Finally, the project contributed to increase the team’s sustainable development awareness, active learning and motivation.

  17. Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean Community Sustainability Study Focuses on Tying the Science of Ecosystem Services and Human Health Directly to Community Decision Making

    Science.gov (United States)

    The Community-based Sustainability Research Program in EPA’s Office of Research and Development is studying how the availability of ecosystem goods and services (EGS) is impacted by community decision making and how this relationship alters human wellbeing. We also seek ‘common g...

  18. Creating the Sustainable City: Building a Seminar (and Curriculum) through Interdisciplinary Learning

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bryson, Michael A.; Zimring, Carl A.

    2010-01-01

    Using the wealth of sites available in the Chicago metropolitan area, online learning technologies, and classroom interactions, Roosevelt University's seminar "The Sustainable City" takes a multidisciplinary approach to urban ecology, waste management, green design, climate change, urban planning, parklands, water systems, environmental…

  19. A QUEST for sustainable continuing professional development

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Nielsen, Birgitte Lund

    2017-01-01

    Continuing Professional Development (CPD) can be crucial in improving teaching, and student learning. Extant research suggests consensus pertaining to the core features of effective CPD including content focus, active learning, coherence, duration and collaborative activities. This chapter reports...... organized by the local PLC, and individual enactments in the teachers’ own classrooms. This “rhythm” has now been institutionalized, and even though the project has come to an end, there is still networking across schools and PLC activities continue in all five municipalities. In order to assess...... on a large-scale, long-term Danish CPD project for which all the activities were created with these consensus criteria in mind. The overall purpose has been to develop a sustainable model for CPD that acknowledges teachers’ situated learning in professional learning communities (PLCs), supports bottom...

  20. Participatory Design to Enhance ICT Learning and Community Attachment: A Case Study in Rural Taiwan

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yi-Ting Huang

    2015-03-01

    Full Text Available This study used observation and interviews with participants in “PunCar Action” to understand how participatory design methods can be applied to the education of rural individuals in information and communication technology (ICT. PunCar Action is a volunteer program in which ICT educators tour the rural communities of Taiwan, offering courses on the use of digital technology. This paper makes three contributions: First, we found that participatory design is an excellent way to teach ICT and Web 2.0 skills, co-create community blogs, and sustain intrinsic motivation to use Web applications. Second, PunCar Action provides an innovative bottom-up intergenerational ICT education model with high penetrability capable of enhancing the confidence of rural residents in the use of ICT. Third, the content of basic courses was based on applications capable of making the lives of elderly individuals more convenient, and the advanced course was based on the co-creation of community blogs aimed at reviving the core functions of communities and expanding local industry. Our research was conducted with the use of a non-quantitative index to measure ICT learning performance of participants from a rural community. The results show that PunCar Action emphasizes interpersonal communication and informational applications and creates a collaborative process that encourages rural residents to take action to close the digital divide.

  1. Constructivism and Learning in the Age of Social Media: Changing Minds and Learning Communities

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schrader, Dawn E.

    2015-01-01

    Social media provide new means and opportunities for learning that are consistent with major tenets of both social and cognitive constructivism, and extend the process of learning and meaning construction to more diverse communities and universally accessible shared activities that are jointly and concurrently engaged in by both peers and experts.

  2. Community-Based Learning. Adding Value to Programs Involving Service Agencies and Schools.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cumming, Jim

    Community-based learning (CBL) is a structured approach to learning and teaching that connects meaningful community experience with intellectual development, personal growth, and active citizenship. Enthusiasm for CBL is emerging in Australia and elsewhere because it is seen as the following: strategy for whole-school reform, especially in…

  3. Exploring body-anchored and experience-based learning in a community of practice

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Stelter, Reinhard

    2008-01-01

    which, in a second step, is presented as part of the social realm and as one of the prerequisites of learning in a community of practice. This integration is established and becomes visible through the following two concepts: 1. Reification as the outflow of co-ordinated action, and 2. narratives......The article aims to integrate body-anchored and experience-based learning in the theoretical concept of learning in a community of practice. Present moment, epoché, intentional orientation and meaning making are introduced as the four basic premises for body-anchored and experience-based learning...

  4. Do We Teach What We Preach? An International Comparison of Problem- and Project-Based Learning Courses in Sustainability

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Katja Brundiers

    2013-04-01

    Full Text Available Problem- and project-based learning (PPBL courses in sustainability address real-world sustainability problems. They are considered powerful educational settings for building students’ sustainability expertise. In practice, however, these courses often fail to fully incorporate sustainability competencies, participatory research education, and experiential learning. Only few studies exist that compare and appraise PPBL courses internationally against a synthesized body of the literature to create an evidence base for designing PPBL courses. This article introduces a framework for PPBL courses in sustainability and reviews PPBL practice in six programs around the world (Europe, North America, Australia. Data was collected through semi-structured qualitative interviews with course instructors and program officers, as well as document analysis. Findings indicate that the reviewed PPBL courses are of high quality and carefully designed. Each PPBL course features innovative approaches to partnerships between the university and private organizations, extended peer-review, and the role of knowledge brokers. Yet, the findings also indicate weaknesses including paucity of critical learning objectives, solution-oriented research methodology, and follow-up research on implementation. Through the comparative design, the study reveals improvement strategies for the identified challenges and provides guidance for design and redesign of PPBL courses.

  5. Global learning for local solutions: Reducing vulnerability of marine-dependent coastal communities

    Science.gov (United States)

    Salim, S. S.; Paytan, A.

    2016-12-01

    The project `Global learning for local solutions: Reducing vulnerability of marine-dependent coastal communities' (GULLS) falls within the Belmont Forum and G8 Research Councils Initiative on Multilateral Research Funding. Participants include teams from nine countries: Australia, Brazil, India, Madagascar, Mozambique, New Zealand, South Africa, the United Kingdom and the United States of America. The project focuses on five regional `hotspots' of climate and social change, defined as fast-warming marine areas and areas experiencing social tensions as a result of change: south-east Australia, Brazil, India, South Africa, and the Mozambique Channel and adjacent countries of Mozambique and Madagascar. These areas require most urgent attention and serve as valuable case studies for wider applications. The project aims to assist coastal communities and other stakeholders dependent on marine resources to adapt to climate change and variability through an integrated and trans-disciplinary approach. Combining best available global knowledge with local knowledge and conditions, it is exploring adaptation options and approaches to strengthen resilience at local and community levels, with a focus on options for reconciling the needs for food security with long-term sustainability and conservation. The project will also contribute to capacity development and empowering fishing communities and other fisheries-dependent stakeholders.A standardized vulnerability assessment framework is being developed that will be used to integrate results from natural, social and economic studies in order to identify needs and options for strengthening management and existing policies. Structured comparisons between the hot-spots will assist global efforts for adaptation and strengthening resilience in marine and coastal social-ecological systems.

  6. Learning Sustainability Leadership: An Action Research Study of a Graduate Leadership Course

    Science.gov (United States)

    Burns, Heather L.

    2016-01-01

    This study used action research methodology to examine the development of sustainability leadership in a graduate leadership course. The research investigated the impact of this leadership course, which was designed using transformative learning theory with attention to integrating thematic content, multiple and nondominant perspectives, a…

  7. Combining forces. Distributed Leadership and a professional learning community in primary and secondary education

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Hulsbos, Frank; Van Langevelde, Stefan; Evers, Arnoud

    2018-01-01

    This report describes an in depth case study of two good practice schools where a professional learning community and distributed leadership are highly developed. The goal of this study was to learn what conditions in the school support a professional learning community and distributed leadership.

  8. Myanmar: The Community Learning Centre Experience.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Middelborg, Jorn; Duvieusart, Baudouin, Ed.

    A community learning centre (CLC) is a local educational institution outside the formal education system, usually set up and managed by local people. CLCs were first introduced in Myanmar in 1994, and by 2001 there were 71 CLCs in 11 townships. The townships are characterized by remoteness, landlessness, unemployment, dependency on one cash crop,…

  9. Educating the Engineer for Sustainable Community Development

    Science.gov (United States)

    Munoz, D. R.

    2008-12-01

    More than ever before, we are confronting the challenges of limited resources (water, food, energy and mineral), while also facing complex challenges with the environment and related social unrest. Resource access problems are exacerbated by multi-scale geopolitical instability. We seek a balance that will allow profit but also leave a world fit for our children to inherit. Many are working with small groups to make positive change through finding solutions that address these challenges. In fact, some say that in sum, it is the largest human movement that has ever existed. In this talk I will share our experiences to alleviate vulnerabilities for populations of humans in need while working with students, corporate entities and non governmental organizations. Our main focus is to educate a new cadre of engineers that have an enhanced awareness of and better communication skills for a different cultural environment than the one in which they were raised and are hungry to seek new opportunities to serve humanity at a basic level. The results of a few of the more than forty humanitarian engineering projects completed since 2003 will be superimposed on a theoretical framework for sustainable community development. This will be useful information to those seeking a social corporate position of responsibility and a world that more closely approaches a sustainable equilibrium.

  10. Transition Communities and the Glass Ceiling of Environmental Sustainability Policies at Three Universities

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pardellas Santiago, Miguel; Meira Cartea, Pablo; Iglesias da Cunha, Lucía

    2017-01-01

    Purpose: This paper deals with the experiences of three European universities that have implemented transition initiatives, using the Transition Network's methodology to promote their sustainability plans. The Transition Communities' model for change is presented from a socio-educational perspective as an effective methodology for encouraging…

  11. A Logical Approach to Supporting Professional Learning Communities

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ralph Seward

    2011-12-01

    Full Text Available Collaborative knowledge sharing requires that dialogues successfully cross organizational barriers and information silos. Successful communication in person or in a virtual community involves a willingness to share ideas and consider diverse viewpoints. This research examines a science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM content management system called NASATalk, which offers public and private blog posts, file sharing, asynchronous discussion, and live chat services. The service is designed to provide a virtual environment where educators can share ideas, suggestions, successes, and innovations in STEM teaching and learning activities. This study features qualitative data from STEM education groups that helped extend the design of the NASATalk Web 2.0 collaborative tools and features. The analysis shows that the context, e-collaborative tools, integration strategies, and outcomes varied, but also contributed additional space, time, tools, integration strategies, and outcomes through the virtual collaborative learning environment. This study is designed to inform the STEM education community as well as those offering virtual community resources and tools of the added value of using virtual communities to help STEM educators work together in collaborative, virtual environments to discuss ways they can improve their instruction and student performance.

  12. Investigating student communities with network analysis of interactions in a physics learning center

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Eric Brewe

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available Developing a sense of community among students is one of the three pillars of an overall reform effort to increase participation in physics, and the sciences more broadly, at Florida International University. The emergence of a research and learning community, embedded within a course reform effort, has contributed to increased recruitment and retention of physics majors. We utilize social network analysis to quantify interactions in Florida International University’s Physics Learning Center (PLC that support the development of academic and social integration. The tools of social network analysis allow us to visualize and quantify student interactions and characterize the roles of students within a social network. After providing a brief introduction to social network analysis, we use sequential multiple regression modeling to evaluate factors that contribute to participation in the learning community. Results of the sequential multiple regression indicate that the PLC learning community is an equitable environment as we find that gender and ethnicity are not significant predictors of participation in the PLC. We find that providing students space for collaboration provides a vital element in the formation of a supportive learning community.

  13. Investigating student communities with network analysis of interactions in a physics learning center

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brewe, Eric; Kramer, Laird; Sawtelle, Vashti

    2012-06-01

    Developing a sense of community among students is one of the three pillars of an overall reform effort to increase participation in physics, and the sciences more broadly, at Florida International University. The emergence of a research and learning community, embedded within a course reform effort, has contributed to increased recruitment and retention of physics majors. We utilize social network analysis to quantify interactions in Florida International University’s Physics Learning Center (PLC) that support the development of academic and social integration. The tools of social network analysis allow us to visualize and quantify student interactions and characterize the roles of students within a social network. After providing a brief introduction to social network analysis, we use sequential multiple regression modeling to evaluate factors that contribute to participation in the learning community. Results of the sequential multiple regression indicate that the PLC learning community is an equitable environment as we find that gender and ethnicity are not significant predictors of participation in the PLC. We find that providing students space for collaboration provides a vital element in the formation of a supportive learning community.

  14. Community-based management: under what conditions do Sami pastoralists manage pastures sustainably?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Vera H Hausner

    Full Text Available Community-based management (CBM has been implemented in socio-ecological systems (SES worldwide. CBM has also been the prevailing policy in Sámi pastoral SES in Norway, but the outcomes tend to vary extensively among resource groups ("siidas". We asked why do some siidas self-organize to manage common pool resources sustainably and others do not? To answer this question we used a mixed methods approach. First, in the statistical analyses we analyzed the relationship between sustainability indicators and structural variables. We found that small winter pastures that are shared by few siidas were managed more sustainably than larger pastures. Seasonal siida stability, i.e., a low turnover of pastoralists working together throughout the year, and equality among herders, also contributed to more sustainable outcomes. Second, interviews were conducted in the five largest pastures to explain the relationships between the structural variables and sustainability. The pastoralists expressed a high level of agreement with respect to sustainable policies, but reported a low level of trust and cooperation among the siidas. The pastoralists requested siida tenures or clear rules and sanctioning mechanisms by an impartial authority rather than flexible organization or more autonomy for the siidas. The lack of nestedness in self-organization for managing pastures on larger scales, combined with the past economic policies, could explain why CBM is less sustainable on the largest winter pastures. We conclude that the scale mis-match between self-organization and the formal governance is a key condition for sustainability.

  15. Enhancing and Transforming Global Learning Communities with Augmented Reality

    Science.gov (United States)

    Frydenberg, Mark; Andone, Diana

    2018-01-01

    Augmented and virtual reality applications bring new insights to real world objects and scenarios. This paper shares research results of the TalkTech project, an ongoing study investigating the impact of learning about new technologies as members of global communities. This study shares results of a collaborative learning project about augmented…

  16. Sustainable energy for all? Linking poor communities to modern energy services

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Wilson, Emma; Godfrey Wood, Rachel; Garside, Ben

    2012-12-15

    This paper explores energy delivery models that provide sustainable and clean energy services to the poor. Four key building blocks are: the implementation process, including finance, resource sourcing, conversion and end use; support services (additional services such as training or micro-finance facilities); the enabling environment of policies, regulations and incentives; and the socio-cultural context including local norms and preferences, decision-making structures and levels of social cohesion. A range of products and services targeted at communities located in diverse socio-cultural and geographical contexts are covered. Useful experiences are shared that can help to replicate or scale up successful models that link the poor to modern energy markets. The case studies were selected to illustrate a range of energy products and services, diverse socio-cultural contexts, various business models and partnerships, and varying degrees of formality in the markets under consideration. All of the case studies reveal the challenges of reaching the very poorest even with pro-poor innovations put in place. The four case studies explored in the paper are: The Project for Renewable Energy in Rural Markets (PERMER), Argentina; Portable solar product companies (Tough Stuff and d.light) in southern Asia and sub-Saharan Africa; The Anagi stove in Sri Lanka; and, Micro-hydro development in Nepal (the Rural Energy Development Programme). Lessons learned are highlighted.

  17. Exploring a Pluralist Understanding of Learning for Sustainability and Its Implications for Outdoor Education Practice

    Science.gov (United States)

    Paulus, Susanne C.

    2016-01-01

    This article explores a pluralist understanding of learning for sustainability in educational theory and relates it to outdoor education practice. In brief, this kind of learning can be described as a deep engagement with an individual's multiple identities and the personal location in diverse geo-physical and socio-cultural surroundings. I…

  18. Using an Outdoor Learning Space to Teach Sustainability and Material Processes in HE Product Design

    Science.gov (United States)

    Firth, Richard; Stoltenberg, Einar; Jennings, Trent

    2016-01-01

    This "case study" of two jewellery workshops, used outdoor learning spaces to explore both its impact on learning outcomes and to introduce some key principles of sustainable working methodologies and practices. Using the beach as the classroom, academics and students from a Norwegian and Scottish (HE) product design exchange programme…

  19. Emergence of a learning community: a transforming experience at the boundaries

    Science.gov (United States)

    Raia, Federica

    2013-03-01

    I narrate a process of transformation, a professional and personal journey framed by an experience that captured my attention shaping my interpretation and reflections. From a critical complexity framework I discuss the emergence of a learning community from the cooperation among individuals of diverse social and cultural worlds sharing the need to change a traditional professional development program structure and develop a new science education Masters Degree/Certification program. I zoom into the continual redefinition of the community, its evolution and complex interrelations among its participants and the emergence of a learning community as a boundary space having an emancipatory role and allowing growth and learning. I analyze the dialectical relationship between agents' behavior either impeding growth or having an emancipatory function of a mindful RelationalAct in a complex adaptive system framework.

  20. A Longitudinal Assessment of an Initial Cohort in a Psychology Learning Community

    Science.gov (United States)

    Buch, Kim; Spaulding, Sue

    2008-01-01

    Discipline-based learning communities have become a popular strategy for improving student performance and satisfaction. This article describes the goals and features of a university-based, first-year psychology learning community (PLC) implemented in Fall 2003. We also report the results of a longitudinal assessment of the impact of the PLC on…

  1. Primary and Secondary Virtual Learning in New Zealand: Examining Barriers to Achieving Maturity

    Science.gov (United States)

    Barbour, Michael; Davis, Niki; Wenmoth, Derek

    2016-01-01

    This paper describes the organisational development of virtual learning in networked rural schools in New Zealand, specifically the obstacles that e-learning clusters of rural schools face in their journey to sustainability and maturity through the lens of the Ministry's Learning Communities Online Handbook. Analysis of a nationwide purposeful…

  2. Attitude toward learning of community medicine: A cross-sectional study among medical school students

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Japhereena Murugavel

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available Background: Community medicine strives to protect and promote the health and well-being of the community through primary health care approach. However the preference of community medicine as career among medical school students and curriculum of community medicine is pivotal. Aim: The study intended to find the attitude towards learning of community medicine and also to assess the preference of post graduation specialty among medical school students. Materials and Methods: A cross sectional study conducted at a teaching hospital located in Tamil Nadu, South India. The study questionnaire was administered to a total of 500 study participants and the data collected were analyzed using SPSS IBM version 21.0. Results: Almost 97% were of the opinion that community medicine subject is mandatory. Eighty three percent were interested in learning the principles. Only 21.8% students wanted to pursue post graduation in community medicine. Lack of attraction in terms of scientific technical interest, workplace conditions, and research potential has been reported for being not interested. Conclusion: Majority enjoyed to learn principles of community medicine at undergraduate curriculum but only few preferred to opt community medicine as post graduate specialty. Therefore there is a room to influence the medical students positively towards learning community medicine in curriculum.

  3. Facilitators' perceptions of problem-based learning and community-based education

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Annali E Fichardt

    2000-10-01

    Full Text Available In 1997 the School for Nursing, University of the Orange Free State, changed from the traditional lecture method of teaching to problem-based learning and from a curative to a community-based approach. Lecturers from a traditional environment became facilitators and new skills such as listening, dialogue, negotiation, counselling and problemsolving were expected from them. Besides the role change, the environment changed from a structural classroom to an unstructured community. The aim of this research was to determine the perceptions and experiences of facilitators in problem-based learning and community-base education. *Please note: This is a reduced version of the abstract. Please refer to PDF for full text.

  4. The Impact of Project-Based Learning on Improving Student Learning Outcomes of Sustainability Concepts in Transportation Engineering Courses

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fini, Elham H.; Awadallah, Faisal; Parast, Mahour M.; Abu-Lebdeh, Taher

    2018-01-01

    This paper describes an intervention to enhance students' learning by involving students in brainstorming activities about sustainability concepts and their implications in transportation engineering. The paper discusses the process of incorporating the intervention into a transportation course, as well as the impact of this intervention on…

  5. Civic Engagement and Environmental Sustainability in Teaching and Learning at Higher Education Institution in South Africa

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nhokodi Tererai

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available This article seeks to provide an outline the scope of professional teaching and learning activities and their connection to civic engagement and the achievement of environmental sustainability at Rhodes University and in Makana Local Municipality. Activities in the context of rainwater water harvesting and sanitation research are used as examples. The improved hydrogen-sulphide test kit was used as the tool for the assessment of microbial water quality between April and July 2016. An approach to the improvement in the design and modelling of the performance of ventillated improved pit latrines under laboratory conditions is also described. All activities described have been taking place in the context of undergraduate and postgraduate student research projects at Rhodes University. They have implications for teaching and learning, civic engagement and environmental sustainability. Teaching and learning of the concepts of sustainability can facilitate the development of the necessary connection between academia and the society at large. This can have a significant positive effect on societal conditions in South Africa. Further endeavours similar those described in this article should be stimulated in South and beyond.

  6. Field visit placements: An integrated and community approach to learning in children's nursing.

    LENUS (Irish Health Repository)

    Cummins, Ann

    2010-03-01

    This paper reports on the development of a new initiative, field visit placements towards and integrated and community approach to learning for nursing students. To date, limited literature exists on the potential of community field visits as meaningful learning opportunities for nursing students. Drawing on our experiences, the structure and processes involved in implementing field visits are described in this paper. Students evaluated the field visits positively indicating that they provided a wealth of learning opportunities that enhanced their knowledge and awareness of services available to children and their families in the community. The potential of field visits to promote an integrated and community approach to placements in children\\'s nursing is discussed.

  7. Factors influencing the implementation, adoption, use, sustainability and scalability of eLearning for family medicine specialty training: a systematic review protocol.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cotič, Živa; Rees, Rebecca; Wark, Petra A; Car, Josip

    2016-10-19

    In 2013, there was a shortage of approximately 7.2 million health workers worldwide, which is larger among family physicians than among specialists. eLearning could provide a potential solution to some of these global workforce challenges. However, there is little evidence on factors facilitating or hindering implementation, adoption, use, scalability and sustainability of eLearning. This review aims to synthesise results from qualitative and mixed methods studies to provide insight on factors influencing implementation of eLearning for family medicine specialty education and training. Additionally, this review aims to identify the actions needed to increase effectiveness of eLearning and identify the strategies required to improve eLearning implementation, adoption, use, sustainability and scalability for family medicine speciality education and training. A systematic search will be conducted across a range of databases for qualitative studies focusing on experiences, barriers, facilitators, and other factors related to the implementation, adoption, use, sustainability and scalability of eLearning for family medicine specialty education and training. Studies will be synthesised by using the framework analysis approach. This study will contribute to the evaluation of eLearning implementation, adoption, use, sustainability and scalability for family medicine specialty training and education and the development of eLearning guidelines for postgraduate medical education. PROSPERO http://www.crd.york.ac.uk/PROSPERO/display_record.asp?ID=CRD42016036449.

  8. Team Factors that Predict to Sustainability Indicators for Community-Based Prevention Teams

    Science.gov (United States)

    Perkins, Daniel F.; Feinberg, Mark E.; Greenberg, Mark T.; Johnson, Lesley E.; Chilenski, Sarah Meyer; Mincemoyer, Claudia C.; Spoth, Richard L.

    2011-01-01

    Because they often set out with a guarantee of only short-term funding, many community partnerships will face a threat to their sustainability almost as soon as the first money runs out. Research into the factors that enable some coalitions and partnerships to meet the challenge when others fail is limited. This study begins to fill this gap in…

  9. Professional Learning Communities: Teachers Working Collaboratively for Continuous Improvement

    Science.gov (United States)

    Griffith, Louise Ann

    2009-01-01

    Current research indicates that a professional learning community (PLC) is an effective means for helping teachers to bridge the gap between research and practice. A PLC is a team of educators systematically working together to improve teaching practice and student learning. This study evaluated the PLC formed by teachers at a public elementary…

  10. Sustainable design training cards as a way to promote active learning

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hasling, Karen Marie; Ræbild, Ulla

    2017-01-01

    to understand sustainability in a corporate organisation working with materials and products for the fashion market (authors, 2016). Here the training cards translate these findings to become operationalised in the organisation as a communication tool. The training cards were developed as a methods-focused side...... project that followed a design project conducted by two fashion designers running from August to December 2016. Based on an existing collection of sustainable training cards used in teaching, a draft version of the cards was introduced to the designers in September 2016. In the following months interviews...... and in teaching sustainability in fashion and textiles design education. In the paper we want to discuss, why and how training cards can promote active learning and be used to obtain knowledge on chosen and often complex topics in a simplified manner. This will be based on our experiences with the developed...

  11. "The Planet Will Not Survive if It's Not a Learning Planet": Sustainable Development within Learning through Life

    Science.gov (United States)

    Walters, Shirley

    2010-01-01

    This review analyses the report "Learning through Life" from the point of view of the sustainable development theme and from a "South" perspective. The review recognises that the report is written to influence UK policy-makers and practitioners; it has captured the results of a broad-based inquiry, and it therefore has had to…

  12. Educating Professionals for Sustainable Futures

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hille Janhonen-Abruquah

    2018-02-01

    Full Text Available The recent discourse on sustainability science calls for interdisciplinary research. The home economics science approach ranges from individual actions to the involvement of communities and societies at large, and thus it can provide important perspectives on cultural sustainability. The aim of the research is to study the linkage between cultural sustainability and service sector education to support the creation of sustainable professions. In the present small-scale empirical study, the food service degree curriculum of a Finnish vocational college and teachers’ group interview data were analyzed to find how cultural sustainability is presented in the curriculum and how it is understood by teachers and integrated into teaching practices. Previous cultural sustainability research identifies four perspectives of cultural sustainability: (1 vitality of cultural traditions; (2 economic starting point; (3 diversity together with maintenance of local culture; and (4 possible influence on the balance between human actions and environment. Findings indicate that sustainability, including cultural sustainability, is integrated in the curriculum and considered important by teachers. Translating these into practice remains a challenge. The balance between human and nature was mostly understood as recycling, use of public transport, sustainable consumption, and taking trips to the nature nearby. Cultural sustainability as a concept is not well known, although themes such as multicultural issues, equality, charity, and environmental responsibility were included in teachers’ practical lessons daily. Feasts and celebrations in learning were opportunities to view cultural sustainability widely. This paper provides a way forward for the teachers to develop further their pedagogical practices.

  13. Applications of Situated Learning to Foster Communities of Practice

    Science.gov (United States)

    Edmonds-Cady, Cynthia; Sosulski, Marya R.

    2012-01-01

    The authors discuss 2 macro-level community practice courses, examining how each applies the concepts of situated learning to foster the development of communities of practice through use of a unique model for antioppressive practice. The theoretical underpinnings and a discussion of the implementation of each stage of the model is provided. The…

  14. Are Agile and Lean Manufacturing Systems Employing Sustainability, Complexity and Organizational Learning?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Flumerfelt, Shannon; Siriban-Manalang, Anna Bella; Kahlen, Franz-Josef

    2012-01-01

    Purpose: This paper aims to peruse theories and practices of agile and lean manufacturing systems to determine whether they employ sustainability, complexity and organizational learning. Design/methodology/approach: The critical review of the comparative operational similarities and difference of the two systems was conducted while the new views…

  15. Developing leadership practices in hospital-based nurse educators in an online learning community.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stutsky, Brenda J; Spence Laschinger, Heather K

    2014-01-01

    Hospital-based nurse educators are in a prime position to mentor future nurse leaders; however, they need to first develop their own leadership practices. The goal was to establish a learning community where hospital-based nurse educators could develop their own nursing leadership practices within an online environment that included teaching, cognitive, and social presence. Using a pretest/posttest-only nonexperimental design, 35 nurse educators from three Canadian provinces engaged in a 12-week online learning community via a wiki where they learned about exemplary leadership practices and then shared stories about their own leadership practices. Nurse educators significantly increased their own perceived leadership practices after participation in the online community, and teaching, cognitive, and social presence was determined to be present in the online community. It was concluded that leadership development can be enhanced in an online learning community using a structured curriculum, multimedia presentations, and the sharing and analysis of leadership stories. Educators who participated should now be better equipped to role model exemplary leadership practices and mentor our nurse leaders of the future.

  16. The Integrated Model of Sustainability Perspective in Spermatophyta Learning Based on Local Wisdom

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hartadiyati, E.; Rizqiyah, K.; Wiyanto; Rusilowati, A.; Prasetia, A. P. B.

    2017-09-01

    In present condition, culture is diminished, the change of social order toward the generation that has no policy and pro-sustainability; As well as the advancement of science and technology are often treated unwisely so as to excite local wisdom. It is therefore necessary to explore intra-curricular local wisdom in schools. This study aims to produce an integration model of sustainability perspectives based on local wisdom on spermatophyta material that is feasible and effective. This research uses define, design and develop stages to an integration model of sustainability perspectives based on local wisdom on spermatophyta material. The resulting product is an integration model of socio-cultural, economic and environmental sustainability perspective and formulated with preventive, preserve and build action on spermatophyta material consisting of identification and classification, metagenesis and the role of spermatophyta for human life. The integration model of sustainability perspective in learning spermatophyta based on local wisdom is considered proven to be effective in raising sustainability’s awareness of high school students.

  17. Enabling Factors for Sustaining Open Defecation-Free Communities in Rural Indonesia: A Cross-Sectional Study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Odagiri, Mitsunori; Muhammad, Zainal; Cronin, Aidan A; Gnilo, Michael E; Mardikanto, Aldy K; Umam, Khaerul; Asamou, Yameha T

    2017-12-14

    Community Approaches to Total Sanitation (CATS) programmes, like the Sanitasi Total Berbasis Masyarakat (STBM) programme of the Government of Indonesia, have played a significant role in reducing open defecation though still little is known about the sustainability of the outcomes. We assessed the sustainability of verified Open Defecation Free (ODF) villages and explored the association between slippage occurrence and the strength of social norms through a government conducted cross-sectional data collection in rural Indonesia. The study surveyed 587 households and held focus group discussions (FGDs) in six ODF villages two years after the government's ODF verification. Overall, the slippage rate (i.e., a combination of sub-optimal use of a latrine and open defecation at respondent level) was estimated to be 14.5% (95% CI 11.6-17.3). Results of multivariate logistic regression analyses indicated that (1) weaker social norms, as measured by respondents' perceptions around latrine ownership coverage in their community, (2) a lack of all-year round water access, and (3) wealth levels (i.e., not being in the richest quintile), were found to be significantly associated with slippage occurrence. These findings, together with qualitative analysis, concluded that CATS programmes, including a combination of demand creation, removal of perceived constraints through community support mechanisms, and continued encouragement to pursue higher levels of services with post-ODF follow-up, could stabilize social norms and help to sustain longer-term latrine usage in study communities. Further investigation and at a larger scale, would be important to strengthen these findings.

  18. Students Negotiating and Designing Their Collaborative Learning Norms: A Group Developmental Perspective in Learning Communities

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hod, Yotam; Ben-Zvi, Dani

    2015-01-01

    This research shows how participants in classroom learning communities (LCs) come to take responsibility over designing their collaborative learning norms. Taking a micro-developmental perspective within a graduate-level course, we examined fine-grained changes in group discourse during a period of rapid change where this responsibility taking…

  19. Transformative unlearning: safety, discernment and communities of learning.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Macdonald, Geraldine

    2002-09-01

    This paper aims to stimulate awareness about the intellectual and emotional work of 'unlearning' in knowledge workers in the emerging learning age. The importance of providing a safe space for dialogue to promote transformative learning, through building 'communities of learning', is highlighted. Unlearning is conceptualized within a transformative education paradigm, one whose primary orientation is discernment, a personal growth process involving the activities of receptivity, recognition and grieving. The author utilizes the metaphor of an unfolding spiral path to explore her experience of needing to 'unlearn' a trusted nursing practice prior to 'learning' new best caring practices related to infant sleep positions. Macro and micro approaches to facilitating unlearning in organizations, in learners and in nurses are suggested.

  20. Virtual communities of practice in web-based second language learning

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Petersen, Karen Bjerg

    2013-01-01

    in communities of practice and of situated and collaborative learning have deeply inspired educators and teachers and, to a certain degree, become the theoretical and practical framework for developing web-based learning platforms, while findings from this research indicate that students perceive e...

  1. Undergraduate nursing students' perceptions of service-learning through a school-based community project.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bassi, Sherry

    2011-01-01

    Service-learning (SL) is an experiential teaching method that combines instruction with community service, with the aim of enriching students' academic learning, interpersonal skills and sense of responsibility while making meaningful contributions to the community. However, measuring outcomes of service-learning projects is difficult. This article reports on the perceptions of 18 third-year undergraduate nursing students who took part in a pilot service-learning project targeting tobacco use in a local elementary school. Faculty members evaluated the program's outcomes by engaging students in structured reflection on the program about its relevance to their future careers as practicing professionals, especially in community-based settings. The students' perceptions were elicited through three sets of reflective assignments following the project. Findings from the reflective assignments suggest that the pilot program was successful in enhancing the students' academic, social, and personal development while building a partnership between the school of nursing and key players in the community, including school-based nurses, teachers, administrators, families, and community leaders. The author suggests that service-learning projects can help nursing students accomplish key developmental tasks of the college years (such as building their competence, autonomy, and integrity), while helping impart the skills and values they will need as they graduate and seek professional nursing roles.

  2. Developing Structured-Learning Exercises for a Community Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experience

    OpenAIRE

    Thomas, Renee Ahrens

    2006-01-01

    The recent growth in the number of pharmacy schools across the nation has resulted in the need for high-quality community advanced pharmacy practice experience (APPE) sites. A vital part of a student's education, these APPEs should be structured and formalized to provide an environment conducive to student learning. This paper discusses how to use a calendar, structured-learning activities, and scheduled evaluations to develop students' knowledge, skills, and abilities in a community pharmacy...

  3. Developing structured-learning exercises for a community advanced pharmacy practice experience.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Thomas, Renee Ahrens

    2006-02-15

    The recent growth in the number of pharmacy schools across the nation has resulted in the need for high-quality community advanced pharmacy practice experience (APPE) sites. A vital part of a student's education, these APPEs should be structured and formalized to provide an environment conducive to student learning. This paper discusses how to use a calendar, structured-learning activities, and scheduled evaluations to develop students' knowledge, skills, and abilities in a community pharmacy setting.

  4. Using Module-Based Learning Methods to Introduce Sustainable Manufacturing in Engineering Curriculum

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sengupta, Debalina; Huang, Yinlun; Davidson, Cliff I.; Edgar, Thomas F.; Eden, Mario R.; El-Halwagi, Mahmoud M.

    2017-01-01

    Purpose: Sustainable manufacturing may be defined as the creation of manufactured products that use processes that are non-polluting, conserve energy and natural resources, and are economically sound and safe for employees, communities and consumers. Recently, there have been several industrial and governmental endeavors to launch sustainable…

  5. Evaluation of a Sustainable Green Living Expo Event: Attendees' Reports of Satisfaction, Learning, and Behavior Change

    Science.gov (United States)

    Diehl, David C.; Swenson, Shelley E.; Wente, Jessica N.

    2012-01-01

    This article presents the evaluation of the Sustainable Big Bend Green Living Expo and Education Fair, which targets participants with a variety of learning opportunities. Evaluation was carried out using onsite surveys along with follow-up surveys and phone interviews. Results indicate that a 1-day sustainability event is a meaningful way to…

  6. Mobilising Community? Place, Identity Formation and New Teachers' Learning

    Science.gov (United States)

    Somerville, Margaret; Rennie, Jennifer

    2012-01-01

    This paper analyses data from a longitudinal study which foregrounds the category of "place" to ask: How do new teachers learn to do their work, and how do they learn about the places and communities in which they begin teaching? Surveys and ethnographic interviews were carried out with 35 new teachers over a three-year period in a…

  7. Sociocultural Perspective of Science in Online Learning Environments. Communities of Practice in Online Learning Environments

    Science.gov (United States)

    Erdogan, Niyazi

    2016-01-01

    Present study reviews empirical research studies related to learning science in online learning environments as a community. Studies published between 1995 and 2015 were searched by using ERIC and EBSCOhost databases. As a result, fifteen studies were selected for review. Identified studies were analyzed with a qualitative content analysis method…

  8. Reimagining Communities and Implementing Social Learning: Contemporary Community Theatre Development in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singapore

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Wan-Jung

    2014-01-01

    Since the 1990s, Hong Kong, Singapore and Taiwan have encountered political, social, economic and cultural challenges. During this period, their community theatres have played distinctive roles in activating their public space to reimagine their communities, form dialogues with their governments and construct learning experiences amongst various…

  9. Together We Can Live and Learn. Living-Learning Communities as Integrated Curricular Experiences

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dunn, Merrily S.; Dean, Laura A.

    2013-01-01

    This article briefly outlines the history of living-learning communities (LLC) in colleges and universities. It details conceptualization, design, implementation and assessment of such programs. Model recreation and leisure LLC are highlighted and discussed.

  10. Sustainable Table | Welcome to Sustainable Table

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sustainable Seafood Industrial Agriculture Industrial Livestock Production Antibiotics Hormones rBGH Animal , safeguarding animal welfare and supporting local communities. Questions to Ask Asking questions is the best way Livestock Husbandry Sustainable Crop Production Innovative Agriculture New Farmers Organic Agriculture Local

  11. Self-regulated Learning in a Hybrid Science Course at a Community College

    Science.gov (United States)

    Manuelito, Shannon Joy

    Community college students are attracted to courses with alternative delivery formats such as hybrid courses because the more flexible delivery associated with such courses provides convenience for busy students. In a hybrid course, face-to-face, structured seat time is exchanged for online components. In such courses, students take more responsibility for their learning because they assume additional responsibility for learning more of the course material on their own. Thus, self-regulated learning (SRL) behaviors have the potential to be useful for students to successfully navigate hybrid courses because the online components require exercise of more personal control over the autonomous learning situations inherent in hybrid courses. Self-regulated learning theory includes three components: metacognition, motivation, and behavioral actions. In the current study, this theoretical framework is used to examine how inducing self-regulated learning activities among students taking a hybrid course influence performance in a community college science course. The intervention for this action research study consisted of a suite of activities that engage students in self-regulated learning behaviors to foster student performance. The specific SRL activities included predicting grades, reflections on coursework and study efforts in course preparation logs, explanation of SRL procedures in response to a vignette, photo ethnography work on their personal use of SRL approaches, and a personalized study plan. A mixed method approach was employed to gather evidence for the study. Results indicate that community college students use a variety of self-regulated learning strategies to support their learning of course material. Further, engaging community college students in learning reflection activities appears to afford some students with opportunities to refine their SRL skills and influence their learning. The discussion focuses on integrating the quantitative and qualitative

  12. Using Web 2.0 for Learning in the Community

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mason, Robin; Rennie, Frank

    2007-01-01

    This paper describes the use of a range of Web 2.0 technologies to support the development of community for a newly formed Land Trust on the Isle of Lewis, in NW Scotland. The application of social networking tools in text, audio and video has several purposes: informal learning about the area to increase tourism, community interaction,…

  13. Economic Dimensions of Sustainable Development, the Fight against Poverty and Educational Responses

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ahmed, Manzoor

    2010-01-01

    The arguments in the article are based on the ongoing discourse in the academic community and among stakeholders, which has contributed to the articulation of the concepts and premises of sustainable development and the role of learning modalities, technologies and networks. The article draws on this discourse to explore the economic aspects of…

  14. Implementing Community Service Learning through Archaeological Practice

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nassaney, Michael S.

    2004-01-01

    The Anthropology Department at Western Michigan University has sponsored an annual archaeological field school since the mid-1970s. Over the past decade, students have worked with community and government organizations, learning to apply archaeological methods to real world problems to preserve and interpret significant heritage sites. They come…

  15. Building a Community Memory in Communities of Practice of E-Learning: A Knowledge Engineering Approach

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sarirete, Akila; Chikh, Azeddine; Noble, Elizabeth

    2011-01-01

    Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to define a community memory for a virtual communities of practice (CoP) based on organizational learning (OL) concept and ontologies. Design/methodology/approach: The paper focuses on applying the OL concept to virtual CoP and proposes a framework for building the CoP memory by identifying several layers of…

  16. International Community-Based Service Learning: Two Comparative Case Studies of Benefits and Tensions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Akhurst, Jacqueline

    2016-01-01

    The drives to internationalise the UK curriculum and psychology students' desires to work in communities are brought together in this paper. International community-based learning (ICBL) links with many psychology students' motivations to make contributions to others; with the potential to enhance students' learning and cultural sensitivities. The…

  17. One Happy Union: Infusing Community-Based Learning Projects through Online Instruction

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lee, Jason W.; Kane, Jennifer; Cavanaugh, Terence

    2015-01-01

    Both community-based learning (CBL) and online learning are popular pedagogical practices, with distinct benefits and issues for teaching and learning. The integration of these practices may seem challenging, but they can be compatible. This article seeks to provide effective examples and support for conducting CBL projects in online courses while…

  18. Integrating Problem- and Project-Based Learning Opportunities: Assessing Outcomes of a Field Course in Environment and Sustainability

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kricsfalusy, Vladimir; George, Colleen; Reed, Maureen G.

    2018-01-01

    Improving student competencies to address sustainability challenges has been a subject of significant debate in higher education. Problem- and project-based learning have been widely celebrated as course models that support the development of sustainability competencies. This paper describes a course developed for a professional Master's program…

  19. Creating Professional Learning Communities: The Work of Professional Development Schools

    Science.gov (United States)

    Doolittle, Gini; Sudeck, Maria; Rattigan, Peter

    2008-01-01

    If professional learning communities offer opportunities for improving the teaching and learning process, then developing strong professional development school (PDS) partnerships establish an appropriate framework for that purpose. PDS partnerships, however, can be less than effective without proper planning and discussion about the aims of those…

  20. Sustainability Science Needs Sustainable Data!

    Science.gov (United States)

    Downs, R. R.; Chen, R. S.

    2013-12-01

    infrastructures will reduce dependencies on changing priorities and sponsorship that may not continue. Implementing community-based appraisal criteria and selection procedures for data will ensure that limited resources for long-term data management are applied efficiently to data likely to have the most enduring value. Encouraging producers to provide rights for open access to data will support their replication, reuse, integration, and application in a range of SS research and applications in both the near and long term. Identifying modest changes to current data preparation activities to meet preservation goals should reduce expensive post-hoc data and documentation rescue efforts. The NASA Socioeconomic Data and Applications Center (SEDAC), an active archive in the NASA Earth Observing System Data and Information System (EOSDIS), established the SEDAC Long-Term Archive (LTA) in collaboration with the Columbia University Libraries to preserve selected data and information resources for future access and use. A case study of the LTA shows how archives can be organized to foster sustainable data stewardship in a university environment. Lessons learned from the organization planning and the preparation, appraisal, and selection of data for the LTA are described along with enhancements that have been applied to data management by the active archive.