<p> This dissertation analyzes efforts to understand and build urban ecosystem health and justice, extending scholarly literatures on urban ecology, political ecology and environmental justice. Through examination of cases from around the world, as well as from my own sustained work in Albany, New York, the research demonstrates that urban ecosystem health and justice has powerful cultural, social and political economic dimensions as well as (more often acknowledged) ecological and technical dimensions. The research also advances an analytic framework that can guide education as well as entrepreneurial initiatives to build urban ecosystem health and justice. The research strives to provide a theoretical as well as practical guide to the second generation of the global environmental justice movement. Rather than focus on recurrent patterns of environmental injustice, particularly in communities already vulnerable because of race and class, this research identifies positive paths forward through education, community programming, law and technical innovation.</p><p>

Thesis (M.Sc.)--University of Hong Kong, 2004. / Also available in print.

<p> Community colleges have seen large increases in students enrolling in online courses nationally. This trend does not appear to be slowing down, in-fact, the number of students enrolling in online courses is increasing. A number of these first-generation students come from disadvantaged backgrounds. This study attempted to isolate variables that can best predict a community college student's chance of successful completion in the online environment. </p><p> Ten variables were studied at one community college in Missouri (MOCC) during academic years 2010-2012. The variables were; College division, age, gender, academic semester, academic level, prior remediation, prior online course, grade point average, financial assistance, credit hours enrolled. The study used archived data with 9,540 individual cases. A chi-square analysis was used on the dichotomous and categorical variables and continuous variables were analyzed using an independent <i>t</i>-test. Once significance had been established the variables were analyzed again using a forced entry logistic regression to determine the statistical probability of the variables. All variables except prior remediation showed significance using the three analysis methods. The predictive abilities of logistic regression showed that students with a GPA of 3.0 or higher, enrolled in a Career and Technology field of study, male, receiving financial aid, enrolled in 10.5 credit hours in the summer and an age of 30 were the most likely to successfully complete online courses at MOCC.</p>

Thesis (M. Sc.)--University of Hong Kong, 2001. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 107-116).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--York University, 2001. Graduate Programme in Environmental Studies. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 222-229). Also available on the Internet. MODE OF ACCESS via web browser by entering the following URL: http://wwwlib.umi.com/cr/yorku/fullcit?pNQ66359.

<p> This case study examines the effect of a yearlong place-based educational project on a single class of middle school students aged 11-14 at a public charter school in Santa Rosa, California. Of particular interest in this case study was the development of the concepts of belonging and place through the perceptual lens of the middle school student and through the vehicle of place-based education. This study utilizes qualitative methods including participant observation, interviews and pre and post surveys. The findings of this study suggest that the outdoor environment was very engaging for learning. Students reported that the development of a sense of place spurred from repeated visits to the nature preserve over long periods of time. These students indicated that a sense of belonging emerged to the preserve because of the stewardship aspect of the place-based educational project. Students felt a sense of stewardship toward the land after the project, and that sense of stewardship characterized a feeling of belonging. Cosmology was also a factor in understanding how these young adults came to define what it means to feel a sense of belonging to their local natural place.</p><p> Keywords: <i>place-based education, sense of belonging, sense of place, stewardship, cosmology or new cosmology, community action, alienation or isolation, ecopsychology, biophilia hypothesis, placelessness, and constructivist curriculum-culture model.</i></p>

<p> This quasi-experimental, two-week case study examines the effect of an outdoor classroom on university students' academic achievement and assesses the students' demographic relationship to the classroom environment and academic achievement. This study assesses theories and studies examining nature's impact on cognitive functioning and academic achievement. The results of this study showed no significant difference between the control and treatment group in academic achievement, and no significant relationship was found between the students' academic achievement, demographics and the passive presence of a natural environment. Future suggestions include using a mixed method approach, a larger sample size, and further investigation of the impact of a natural environment on educators.</p>

<p> Environmental education programs aim to develop participant awareness, sensitivity, and understanding of their affective relationship to the natural environment through conceptual knowledge and personal experiences. Previous findings have suggested that participation in environmental education programs leads to short-term positive increases in environmental knowledge, pro-environmental attitudes, and intentions to act in environmentally responsible behaviors; however, few studies have included long-term, follow-up assessment. This research provided an analysis of the effectiveness of the O'Neill Sea Odyssey (OSO) education program in fostering a long-term awareness of personal responsibility about ocean pollution among student participants.</p><p> A survey administered to 261 students from the greater San Francisco Bay Area in California was used to explore 7^th through 10^th grade students' conceptions about the connection between ocean pollution and stewardship behaviors. The study revealed that 75% of 86 former OSO participants retained a high level of awareness of the connection between non-point source pollution and personal behaviors two to five years after the program, regardless of differences in sex, language, grade level, and community setting. These results indicate that OSO participants retained a long-term conceptual awareness about environmental stewardship behaviors taught during the OSO program.</p>

<p> The primary and immediate objective of this educational intervention study is to raise consumer awareness of the impact of under-inflated tires on global warming. The short-term result of this would be the widespread maintenance of proper tire air pressure, the use of low-rolling resistance tires, and the inflation of tires with nitrogen instead of air, which could assist in the reduction of fuel use and resultant CO₂ emissions. Such a reduction could have a significant short-term result of benefitting consumers economically and the world environmentally.</p><p> Utilizing a quasi-experimental design, a pamphlet and pre- and post-survey questionnaires were employed to collect data from a convenience sample of consumers (N=126). An educational pamphlet was prepared to increase consumer awareness about the importance of how properly inflated tires can be a factor in driver safety, fuel conservation, and the prevention of unnecessary increases in greenhouse gas emissions, which are among the major factors affecting global warming.</p><p> Data from the pre-intervention survey provides strong evidence that participants possess insufficient knowledge of general tire care, maintenance, performance and the impact of under-inflated tires on the environment in general and global warming in particular. Statistical analysis demonstrated significant change from pre- to postintervention surveys in the participants&rsquo; attitudes and knowledge regarding the maintenance of tire pressure and the impact of under-inflated tires on greenhouse gases and global warming.</p><p> The improvement in overall knowledge and attitudes demonstrated in the analysis between pre- and post-survey data indicates greater recognition by the participants that appropriate car care and tire maintenance are essential, and that for consumers, the acquisition and application of this knowledge can be powerful in improving the economy and environment. Suggestions for further study include development of consistent monitoring and data collection processes for use by facilities responsible for automobile care and the development of a broad-based, media-driven consumer education programs on the importance of the studied variables.</p>

<p> Zoological parks are a complex place of human-animal, animal-environment, and human-environment interactions; as the global population becomes more urbanized, zoos are one of the only places in which urban dwellers can learn about and experience the "natural" world. Zoos now act as key purveyors of public conservation education, shaping the ways in which visitors understand and situate themselves within local and global conservation issues and natural environments. Zoos educate the public on these and other topics through the implementation of informal education programs (IEPs) within their institutions, but the effectiveness of these programs in positively altering visitor knowledge, attitude, and behavioral is not well understood. Through interviews, questionnaires, and participant observation conducted at the San Antonio Zoo I explored (1) how zoo visitors interacted with and perceived of a zoo animal species, the white-cheeked gibbon; (2) how zoo visitor perceptions of animals were influenced by visitor-animal interactions in various zoo contexts (e.g. within and outside of IEPs); (3) what zoo visitors were learning about animal and conservation within these various contexts; and (4) the effectiveness of an IEP in inspiring zoo visitors to actively participate in conservation initiatives. I framed my inquiry into visitor and zoo animal relationships within post-humanist theories and explored visitor perceptions of animals, the environment, and conservation through the lens of virtualism, resulting in a novel view of visitor experience and learning within the zoo setting. In this thesis I discuss the results of this research and their implications for conservation education efforts within zoos.</p>