Thesis (M.S.)--Southern Oregon University, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 88-93). Also available via Internet as PDF file through Southern Oregon Digital Archives: http://soda.sou.edu. Search Bioregion Collection.

Thesis (M. Ed. (Education))--Rhodes University, 2006. / Submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Education (Environmental Education).

<p> Evaluating trends of historical rainfall on a weekly and seasonal basis is needed for optimizing the design and implementation of lawn water conservation strategies like outdoor water restrictions. While &ldquo;day of the week&rdquo; water restrictions are a typical strategy to limit the frequency and duration of urban lawn water use, they may not necessarily result in more conservative behaviors from end-users. Because weekly rainfall and local climate variables are seldom taken into account in water restriction strategies, they are not connected to actual lawn water demand. However, since lawn water demand is directly related to weekly rainfall totals, not to a particular number of watering days per week, water restriction schedules have the potential to unintentionally promote overwatering. This study investigated the weekly patterns of average seasonal rainfall and evapotranspiration in South Florida to determine the typical variability of weekly net irrigation needs and found that typical wet season weekly rainfall often provides a significant amount of water to meet the demand of residential lawns and landscapes. This finding underscores opportunity to reduce supplemental overwatering in residential landscapes if watering guidelines were modified to recognize seasonal average weekly rainfall in this region. </p><p> This study also tested a rainfall-based water conservation strategy to determine if providing residents with information about how local rainfall could promote more effective lawn watering behavior than just water restrictions alone. Experimental households reduced lawn water use by up to 61% compared to the control group by the end of the study. These results demonstrate that the neighborhood &ldquo;rain-watered lawn&rdquo; signs helped experimental study group households become more aware of rainfall as the primary input of water to their lawns. This study also investigated the role that lawn irrigation from self-supplied sources plays in the urban lawn water demand and investigates how the lawn water use and lawn watering behaviors of households that source from self-supply differ from those who source from the public supply.</p>

Thesis. 1978. Ph.D.--Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Alfred P. Sloan School of Management. / MICROFICHE COPY AVAILABLE IN ARCHIVES AND DEWEY. / Vita. / Bibliography: leaves 198-203. / by Ronald E. Fry. / Ph.D.

There have been numerous twin-based studies in the past that control for the unobservable variables in the analyses. However, these past studies have often yielded contradictory results with no consensus on some important issues and no definite conclusions. The objective of the present study is an attempt to explain some of the differences in the past studies, and to re-examine some issues on returns to education, the importance of genetic and environmental factors, and the significance of measurement errors. / This study applies four twin-based models to three available US twin data. The empirical results in this study show that (1) while some differences in existing studies are caused by different data used, other differences are due to different models used; (2) the "true" returns to schooling are mostly less than the "overall" returns to schooling, indicating a positive omitted variable bias; (3) the omitted variables are a significant portion, viz. approximately 40%, of the "overall" returns to schooling; (4) these omitted variables, when divided into the genetic and environmental factors, generally indicate that environmental factors have a stronger effect than genetic factors; (5) models with two schooling variables are more prone to measurement error, biasing the estimates more significantly; (6) the measurement error problem in the schooling variable biases the estimates and the magnitude of the bias depends on the data used; and (7) results for males and females are different. / Yung Chor-Wing Linda. / "May 2000." / Adviser: Junsen Zhang. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 61-08, Section: A, page: 3293. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2000. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 202-205). / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Electronic reproduction. Ann Arbor, MI : ProQuest dissertations and theses, [200-] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Abstracts in English and Chinese. / School code: 1307.

<p>The Keystone Learning Community was implemented by the Department of Campus Recreation to address retention at the institution. This learning community for incoming freshmen consists of two phases. Phase I is as an outdoor orientation program that includes a three day, two night canoeing and camping experiencer lead by upperclassmen leaders. Faculty and staff from the institution complete every aspect of Phase I with the freshmen. Phase II is class time that concentrates on development of critical thinking and writing skills. </p><p> Through surveys and interviews, participants in the Keystone Learning Community reported strong peer, faculty, and upperclassmen engagement initiated by the completion of Phase I. Participants in the Keystone LC considered Phase I to a be a significant event in their transition to college. The engagement facilitated in Phase I created and strengthened the ability to persist in the participants. The strategies to persist the students gained through their engagement leads to retention of the participants. Both persistence and retention as facilitated through the Keystone Learning Community feed back into deeper engagement at the institution. A conceptual framework is introduced that purposes a non-linear alternative to the Tinto model of student departure. This new framework highlights the dynamic complexity and interactions between engagement, persistence, and retention. </p>

<p> The purpose of this project was to create a 6-week nutrition education and culinary skill curriculum for use by educators of middle-school adolescents in conjunction with use of an existing school-based educational garden and kitchen facility. Specifically, this project provides guidelines for delivering education regarding an overall healthy lifestyle during the adolescent years, optimal nutrition, food safety, meal plans, and kitchen skills, two times per season for each of the major seasons (fall, winter, spring) coinciding with the typical Pacific Northwest school calendar.</p><p> The curriculum was designed to provide educators with age appropriate lessons based on scientifically-founded information. The curriculum was reviewed by an expert panel and modifications were made based on their recommendations. The final curriculum was not pilot tested.</p>

<p>To better understand the value of those who engage in environmental stewardship of natural areas, we studied volunteer steward's motivation to participate, their sustainable behaviors and attitudes toward stewardship-related constructs. Specifically, we designed and conducted a survey of volunteers who work as stewards in urban natural areas in Portland, Oregon. We hypothesize that as volunteer frequency increases: participants will be more motivated to participate for environmental reasons, volunteers will be more likely to feel a strong connection to the stewardship site, participants will be more likely to engage in public pro-environmental behaviors, and their level of environmental literacy will increase. Participants were sampled using a face-to-face survey methodology over the course of late winter and spring of 2012 during 18 different Portland Parks and Recreation sponsored stewardship events. We examined the motivations, attitudes and behaviors of the volunteers, and devised appropriate management implications for those organizing volunteer efforts. We equated a three-tiered typology of environmental literacy, based upon the frequency of volunteer participation, and analyzed our survey data using a principal component analysis, generalized linear models, and a qualitative coding analysis. The most frequent participants showed a higher likelihood of participation in public environmental behaviors, whereas participants at all frequency levels were also likely to participate in private environmental behaviors, such as removing invasive plants in one's yard. Volunteers across all frequencies of participation were motivated to engage in stewardship events by a desire to help the environment. By understanding volunteers' motivations and linked behaviors, park managers may gain insights about the recruitment, retention, and messaging of volunteers upon whom they may depend to achieve restoration goals. We recommend considering volunteers' motivations and benefits derived from participation in messaging to recruit and retain volunteers. Additionally, park managers should take advantage of educational opportunities linked to stewardship events, such as training programs and chances for volunteer mentorship.</p>

<p> This research examined the personal, professional, and developmental impact of introducing a constructive developmental perspective to faculty and students in a post-secondary program in sustainability education and leadership development. It also explored the relationship between adult development and sustainability education, teaching, and mentorship. There is increasing emphasis on integrating human interiors (values, beliefs, worldviews) in sustainability work. However, little research has examined the relationship between adult development and sustainability education. The purpose of this research was to explore deepening the transformative nature of learning and leadership development in graduate education through the use of a developmental framework and assessment, and to contribute to advancing the application of adult developmental research to adult learning and sustainability education. The site of study was Prescott College, and the sample of 11 included four Ph.D. faculty and seven students. This mixed-methods study included semi-structured interviews, a five-month action inquiry process, and a pre and post developmental assessment. The findings demonstrate that sustainability is significantly different for individuals assessed at different developmental stages; learning about adult development is transformative developmentally, personally, and professionally; a developmental awareness may deepen the transformative impact of graduate sustainability education and leadership development; and teaching about adult development is more effective when it is developmentally responsive. Integrating a developmental awareness into graduate and sustainability education is recommended to support learning and growth at all stages of development, support the development of the educators themselves, and support skill development for working well with diverse groups.</p>

Thesis (MPhil)--University of Stellenbosch, 2007. / Bibliography. Also available via the Internet.