Environmental issues are at the forefront of public scientific inquiry. There is a pressing need to change the way we do things in order to reduce the human impact on the environment (Brower, 1999; Bierbaum, 2007). Environmental education is one key for implementing change (Disinger, 1982). Ijams Nature Center’s “Living Clean & Green!” program was developed with this goal in mind (P. Beute, personal communication, September 11, 2007). Ajzen’s (1991) Theory of Planned Behavior and Hines, Hungerford, and Tomera’s (1987) model of Responsible Environmental Behavior were used in this study to determine if behavior change occurred among adult participants of this program over a three-month period. Instructor interviews, workshop observation, pre-/post knowledge surveys, behavior questionnaires, and post telephone interviews were used to examine the characteristics of the program, participant knowledge, intention to engage in environmental behavior, and actual behavior change. The results indicated that participants did learn information in the course of the program, and intentions to change behavior were predicted by the Theory of Planned Behavior (Ajzen, 1991). However, three months after the workshop, actual behavior change was not predicted by the theory, although behavior change did occur in a majority of participants. Unfortunately, participants did not connect changes in their behavior with overall environmental issues and human impacts on the environment. This program, offered through Ijams Nature Center, is effective in its goal to change human behavior, although its impact may increase if audiences can connect their individual behaviors to overall environmental impacts.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Columbia University, 1993. / Includes bibliographical references.

This study is aimed at exploring the professional ¡§license¡¨ system of primary and secondary school teachers in our country. The main study method adopted in the study is document analysis, primary and secondary school teachers¡¦ professional ¡§license¡¨ system and teachers appointment system are taken as research subject, with additional related administrative rules for accessory explanation; comparative method is also adopted in this study to make a comparison of the accreditation system of primary and secondary school teachers and other domestic professions as well as that of primary and secondary school teachers in U.S.A. The result of teacher professional accreditation system explored in this study is arranged, analyzed and concluded after related studies performed. It¡¦s discovered after the analysis and comparison of documents: 1.There¡¦s distinction lies among certificate, practice license and ¡§license,¡¨ and the said ¡§license¡¨ is different from that of doctor, psychologist, social worker, lawyer and accountant. 2.The government persuades teachers to join the professional ¡§license¡¨ system is meant to solve the problems of wandering and unqualified teachers principally. 3.To perform teacher professional ¡§license¡¨ system, the advantage is complied with social public expectation, but the disadvantage is that it has become the tool for government to regulate and instruct teachers. Suggestions for follow-up researchers: Expect that the follow-up researchers would perform further study and dissertation on the roles and function played by both government and teacher professional organization in promoting primary and secondary school teachers¡¦ professional ¡§license¡¨ system upon the discussion of it in our country, to make the said system more matured and completed and administer to teacher profession promotion.

none

This thesis is based on a case study of faculty collaboration and community in a postsecondary education setting. Drawing on what educational theorists and practitioners have learned in their research on faculty collaboration, development, and professional community building, the study investigated specific aspects of collaborative processes that can help create strong professional educational communities. The study focused on 6 full-time faculty members at a postsecondary college in Ontario. As participant observer in this study, I worked in an environment that enabled me to interact both individually and collectively with faculty members through a program accreditation process, particularly in completing an accreditation self-study. Using transcripts and field notes from semi-structured interviews, observations, and my own reflections, I analyzed faculty interactions and perceptions of the self-study process. The thesis recounts the past history of the program as told by the faculty participants, outlines the nature of the program accreditation, and presents faculty perceptions of their role and identity within the faculty community. The thesis outlines the changes that occurred among the faculty and the factors that appeared to contribute most profoundly to those changes. It suggests specific ways in which leaders within the world of postsecondary education can foster a culture of faculty engagement and trust geared toward facilitating curricular and educational change. It also identifies factors and resources needed to attract, retain, and empower faculty to work together to ensure sustainable program quality and, ultimately, student success. Besides the need for strong leadership to promote and guide change, and structural factors rooted in and responsive to faculty experience, the study points to the critical role that relational factors play in fostering a collaborative culture. The thesis concludes with specific suggestions arising from the study regarding: institutional policy and practice, how to facilitate professional growth among faculty in postsecondary environments, and avenues for further research on collaboration and faculty community.

<p>During the past several decades, instructional supervision and professional development have been identified as vehicles to enhance the performance of teachers. One of the most critical problems facing the profession is how to improve the development of beginning teachers. The purpose of the study was to examine beginning teachers perceptions of actual and ideal approaches to supervision and their perceived connection to professional development in Canadian and Ukrainian high schools. The study was based on the belief that the supervisory process should be a collaborative effort reflecting the professional concerns of the individual teacher.</p> <p>The study was based on the belief that the supervisory process should be a collaborative effort reflecting the professional concerns of the individual teacher. The conceptual framework dwelt upon supervisory choices for beginning teachers, namely collaboration with supervisors or peers, and self-reflection. Stemming from the need for improved supervision of teachers was a need to develop a connection between supervision and professional development for the purpose of instructional improvement.</p> <p>Quantitative and qualitative methods of inquiry were used in this study. The survey was used to elicit teachers points of view and to establish a profile of the supervision experiences of high school teachers in their first years of teaching in the areas of Saskatoon, Canada and Chernivtsi, Ukraine. The sample consisted of 22 teachers in Canada and 26 teachers in Ukraine. The qualitative data were obtained through the use of semi-structured interviews that incorporated open-ended questions. Interviews were conducted with four of the survey respondents in each country. Participants responses were analyzed according to the research questions and recurring themes.</p> <p>The findings revealed that in both countries beginning teachers desired more frequent use of supervision that meets their individual professional needs. A choice in supervisory approaches, better planning, and active involvement in decision making process regarding the supervisory practices were viewed as being beneficial for them. Beginning teachers advocated a need for supervision that promotes trust and collaboration, and that provides them with support, advice, and help.</p> <p>Respondents advocated supervision that is closely connected to professional development. They expressed the desire to grow professionally and improve their instruction in order to provide quality education for students. Participant responses, for the most part, aligned with the literature which indicated that beginning teachers need extensive supervisory assistance. A number of implications were derived for theory, practice, and further research.</p>

<p>During the past several decades, instructional supervision and professional development have been identified as vehicles to enhance the performance of teachers. One of the most critical problems facing the profession is how to improve the development of beginning teachers. The purpose of the study was to examine beginning teachers perceptions of actual and ideal approaches to supervision and their perceived connection to professional development in Canadian and Ukrainian high schools. The study was based on the belief that the supervisory process should be a collaborative effort reflecting the professional concerns of the individual teacher.</p> <p>The study was based on the belief that the supervisory process should be a collaborative effort reflecting the professional concerns of the individual teacher. The conceptual framework dwelt upon supervisory choices for beginning teachers, namely collaboration with supervisors or peers, and self-reflection. Stemming from the need for improved supervision of teachers was a need to develop a connection between supervision and professional development for the purpose of instructional improvement.</p> <p>Quantitative and qualitative methods of inquiry were used in this study. The survey was used to elicit teachers points of view and to establish a profile of the supervision experiences of high school teachers in their first years of teaching in the areas of Saskatoon, Canada and Chernivtsi, Ukraine. The sample consisted of 22 teachers in Canada and 26 teachers in Ukraine. The qualitative data were obtained through the use of semi-structured interviews that incorporated open-ended questions. Interviews were conducted with four of the survey respondents in each country. Participants responses were analyzed according to the research questions and recurring themes.</p> <p>The findings revealed that in both countries beginning teachers desired more frequent use of supervision that meets their individual professional needs. A choice in supervisory approaches, better planning, and active involvement in decision making process regarding the supervisory practices were viewed as being beneficial for them. Beginning teachers advocated a need for supervision that promotes trust and collaboration, and that provides them with support, advice, and help.</p> <p>Respondents advocated supervision that is closely connected to professional development. They expressed the desire to grow professionally and improve their instruction in order to provide quality education for students. Participant responses, for the most part, aligned with the literature which indicated that beginning teachers need extensive supervisory assistance. A number of implications were derived for theory, practice, and further research.</p>

This thesis is based on a case study of faculty collaboration and community in a postsecondary education setting. Drawing on what educational theorists and practitioners have learned in their research on faculty collaboration, development, and professional community building, the study investigated specific aspects of collaborative processes that can help create strong professional educational communities. The study focused on 6 full-time faculty members at a postsecondary college in Ontario. As participant observer in this study, I worked in an environment that enabled me to interact both individually and collectively with faculty members through a program accreditation process, particularly in completing an accreditation self-study. Using transcripts and field notes from semi-structured interviews, observations, and my own reflections, I analyzed faculty interactions and perceptions of the self-study process. The thesis recounts the past history of the program as told by the faculty participants, outlines the nature of the program accreditation, and presents faculty perceptions of their role and identity within the faculty community. The thesis outlines the changes that occurred among the faculty and the factors that appeared to contribute most profoundly to those changes. It suggests specific ways in which leaders within the world of postsecondary education can foster a culture of faculty engagement and trust geared toward facilitating curricular and educational change. It also identifies factors and resources needed to attract, retain, and empower faculty to work together to ensure sustainable program quality and, ultimately, student success. Besides the need for strong leadership to promote and guide change, and structural factors rooted in and responsive to faculty experience, the study points to the critical role that relational factors play in fostering a collaborative culture. The thesis concludes with specific suggestions arising from the study regarding: institutional policy and practice, how to facilitate professional growth among faculty in postsecondary environments, and avenues for further research on collaboration and faculty community.

Among the multiple dimensions of reading, vocabulary knowledge and strategies are essential to skilled reading. As a result, this two-part dissertation (a) systematically examines the vocabulary intervention research, in both content and methodology, published since 1999, and (b) documents the implementation of evidence-based vocabulary strategies in fourth grade social studies classrooms. Twenty-four studies were included in the systematic literature review. Results of this study corroborate findings of past studies that several vocabulary strategies have emerged that are effective for increasing students’ vocabulary knowledge. Findings further reinforce the National Reading Panel’s recommendations regarding the context and magnitude of studies needed. Additionally, results of the analysis of the methodological characteristics of the 24 studies revealed mixed alignment of research methods with standards recommended by educational and research organizations. A study of 26 fourth grade social studies teachers’ use of vocabulary strategies was conducted based on an existing data set acquired as part of a larger professional development study. In that study, teachers were randomly assigned to either a typical practice or professional development group. Analysis of teachers’ instructional practice revealed that few of the vocabulary strategies identified in the literature are used in typical fourth grade social studies classrooms. Teachers who received professional development used a wider array of strategies. Controlling for teachers’ preknowledge of vocabulary strategy instruction, results of a MANCOVA showed that the professional development group was statistically different from the typical practice group in terms of overall instructional quality, time allotted for vocabulary instruction, and variety of strategies. Additional analyses were conducted comparing the findings of Durkin’s study of comprehension in fourth grade social studies classrooms to the current practices of nine fourth grade social studies teachers. Findings showed little change in teachers’ reading comprehension instruction even though the knowledge base of effective instruction has increased in the past 30 years.

In the early days, inspection pioneers like SGS provided their independent, impartial and professional services in respects of quantity, quality, damage nature and extent, and/or loss adjustment of goods and objects to the concerned parties for considerations. Namely, field inspectors of those firms become eyes and ears of the clients upon any attending survey. All of scanning observations, accurate findings, and precise and efficient reporting are the most vital performances of any inspection firms¡¦ activities and tasks. In value chains of the relevant industries, they could not only be a strategic partner, but also a technical advisor while delivering a broad spectrum of services and outputs through their unique blend of quality employees, righteous commitment, and unrivaled experiences. To achieve various verification assignments, prominent surveyors should constantly learn knowledge about agriculture, minerals, chemistry, environments, maritime and so on. They could be trained with the entirely standardized approaches through the internal certification programs other than recognizing seminars. Further, they frequently accumulated their precious lessons of daily exercises. It also poses plenty of challenges to well implement each task for inspectors, who must be respectful and loyal to their works, be knowledgeable and skilled basically too. For this instance, fostering faithful experts to offer customers the reliable and integral quality services accelerates the organization growth strengths. Relatively, the establishment of the feasible process and system with efficiency for firms adaptable and successful to the practical situations obviously offers an instrument of achieving goals and successive improvements in promoting competitive advantages. - v - Following the rapid and dramatic evolutions of the circumstances along with the awareness of the consumers concerning safety and quality, the proactive inspection firms are immensely investing with all of its available resources in extending the reliable services to the certification and testing scopes more profoundly than ever before. In the recent decade, those aggressive corporations made the noticeable progresses and organic gains while they strived to satisfy or even surpass the requirements and expectations of the customers and the markets through such industrial evolutions. This research was on the basis of the information available from 3 major global players of the industry, displaying the markets in promising trend. Applicable strategies with a combination of efficient and effective managements will be quite essential for inspection firms to reach the persistent organic growth. So, certain comparisons among these three hulks were made in the contexts, in addition to the descriptions of each firm in accomplishing the respective targets. Believing that it would help readers realize the industry to certain extents while offering the concerned managements the distinct view. A typical example of the SGS Taiwan introduced in the chapter 4 along with a special focus featured on background and experiences of the Group¡¦s New CEO in the same chapter further take viewers on an impressive trip to the industry prospects. With the successful localization, SGS Taiwan has been enjoying the sustainable growth in the recent five years. This was due to its consecutive promising investment to create diverse services on laboratories in line with the development of the domestic significant constructions and increasing outsourcing assignments from international groups. With efforts, SGS Taiwan is banking on its continued growth and appeal in the coming years.