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Knowledge Translation Strategies to Strengthen Community Resilience in Response to Climate Change
Full text linkKnowledge Mobilization, Citizen Science, and Education
Full text linkWhile climate change project funders, community partners, and researchers are increasingly calling for robust knowledge mobilization plans, including knowledge translation and transfer, there are ongoing debates about how to design and measure the effectiveness of these efforts for specific target audiences. Climate Change S.O.S. – Save Our Syrup! is a knowledge mobilization program that brings high school students out to a working sugarbush in Ontario, Canada. This program was developed by drawing on the outdoor education expertise at the Mountsberg Conservation Area, forestry specialists’ consultation, and the project team’s work on previous community-based studies. Students also contribute to a citizen science project monitoring the health of the sugar maple ecosystem and learn about the impact of climate change on this ecosystem. Pretest and posttest surveys measured the knowledge mobilization program’s effectiveness on the students’ knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors. With 600 grade 9–12 participants in this project, this is one of the largest studies that the team could find that measures climate change knowledge mobilization effectiveness on high school students. Results indicate short-term positive changes in knowledge of climate change and maple syrup, and positive changes in students’ attitudes regarding their ability to lessen their impact on climate change, but no statistically significant longer-term change to behavior. After highlighting some of the key issues and concerns around designing three projects and measuring effectiveness, the paper outlines how the program was developed, its key results and limitations and lessons learned. We argue that although single, targeted knowledge mobilization efforts can be effective, longer-term, multi-pronged approaches are likely necessary to contribute to sustained behavioral change
Establishing a Municipal Climate Network in Atlantic Canada
Full text linkCommunities in Canada have influence over nearly 50% of Canadian greenhouse gas emissions and stand on the frontlines of climate change impacts. In order to meet energy objectives, continued coordinated action at the municipal level is essential. However, many municipal governments are constrained with regard to both human and financial capacity. These constraints reduce the ability of communities to seek out the necessary information on best practices and available funding to drive needed changes. The Municipal Energy Learning Group in Nova Scotia serves as a resource for knowledge mobilization among municipal staff and for these staff members to gather relevant information, learn about successful plans, visit projects in action, and network with their colleagues. For the past three years, with support from the Nova Scotia Department of Energy and Mines, QUEST (Quality Urban Energy Systems of Tomorrow) has experimented with various methods of bringing municipal staff from different local governments together, including webinars, facilitated peer-to-peer meetings, workshops, and study tours. Facilitating this group has allowed for an identification of trends in the barriers and opportunities faced by municipalities with regard to climate change, but also in the effectiveness of this model in delivering benefits to the members. The use of inspiration and celebration of success has been an important factor in affecting change. Also, the involvement of representatives from multiple departments has shown that everyone has valuable experience to share and increased engagement and knowledge transfer.
The Municipal Energy Learning Group (MELG) in Nova Scotia serves as a resource for knowledge mobilization among municipal staff and for these staff members to gather relevant information, learn about successful plans, visit projects in action and network with their colleagues.
For the past three years, with support from the Nova Scotia Department of Energy and Mines, QUEST (Quality Urban Energy Systems of Tomorrow) has experimented with various methods of bringing municipal staff from different local governments together, including webinars, facilitated peer-to-peer meetings, workshops and study tours.
Facilitating this group has allowed for an identification of trends in the barriers and opportunities faced by municipalities with regard to climate change, but also in the effectiveness of this model in delivering benefit to the members. The use of inspiration and celebration of success has been an important success factor in affecting change. Also, the involvement of representatives from multiple departments has shown that everyone has valuable experience to share, and increased engagement and knowledge transfer
Video Games and Learning About Climate Change
Full text linkIt is critical to pursue climate change education through a variety of methods, with a variety of audiences, and in a variety of contexts. This short perspectives article describes our experiences as an early-career climate change researcher and an independent game designer in responding to a community challenge posed by a nonprofit organization focused on the potential positive social impact of video games. This was an excellent opportunity to do some strategic thinking around climate change education (e.g., conceptualizing “butterfly effects”). However, we ultimately observed shortcomings in the supports available from educational and funding organizations for climate change knowledge translation using this cutting-edge medium, despite the urgency of climate change. This article follows a dialogic style, alternating between the two authors in order to provide an authentic account of our individual and collective experiences
2H: Public Defenders and Time Management of Cases
No full textA significant majority of crimes in the United States end in a plea deal. While individuals are guaranteed the right to counsel, public defenders are often overworked and short on time. The court system itself is generally overworked, and cases rarely receive the attention required to properly understand all the possible evidence. This leads to people, generally of lower economic status, having a criminal record that they may not have otherwise had. I plan to observe a courtroom in Fulton County for a day. I will time each case presented and note the main facts of the case, without any identifying information about the defendants.
This information will seek to better understand if the length of a case corresponds with its complexity, level of offence, and time of day. The information noted will include offence, gender, race, and age of the defendant, length of the case, time of day, and the presiding judge. Given the high rates of crime in Fulton County, and around the Atlanta area especially, I want to research whether some cases are given priority and why, or if all cases have approximately the same length. To help ensure the data is accurate, I will be choosing one type of court and staying within the jurisdiction of those particular cases
3C: Effects of Movement Integration on Students’ Academic Success, Time On-Task, and Self-Efficacy
No full textThis study demonstrates the effects of movement integration (MI) on academic scores, time on-task, and student motivation for Algebra I students in a public middle school in a suburban area outside of Atlanta, Georgia. MI refers to bringing physical movement of students into the planning and instruction of all academic subjects, and includes short periods of light movement in the classroom. The control group (n = 52) and the experimental group (n = 29) both completed pre- and post-tests and pre- and post-surveys to determine changes in academic scores and motivation. Time-on task was recorded for the first and last weeks of the study to explore differences between the groups. In both groups, half of the students worked in-person while half of the students worked digitally. The experimental group participated in MI a minimum of three days a week for 10 to 15 minutes each class period for the duration of two academic units (30-45 minutes of MI per week). All data were analyzed quantitatively to examine the results of MI for academic success, time on-task, and self-efficacy in students. Currently, there is more research for MI in the elementary setting, so this study aimed to contribute to existing evidence of MI in the middle school environment. The majority of the research shows either positive or no significant effects for students, so there is a need for further research on MI in the classroom
3F: Using Historical Thinking Strategies for Improving Elementary Students’ Content Knowledge
No full textInstructional time spent on elementary social studies is often marginalized due to the emphasis placed on other content areas. Teachers often cover standards using methods that teach for rote memorization, resulting in students who do not value social studies learning. Therefore, social studies teachers must employ meaningful instructional strategies that will engage students while promoting content acquisition. This quasi-experimental study responds to this challenge by guiding fifth grade students to use the historical thinking skills of sourcing, contextualizing, and corroborating that encourages engagement with a variety of primary sources through the lens of Jerome Bruner’s learning theories. The control group used traditional instructional methods including close-note taking, vocabulary review, and independent reading from social studies texts. Both the control and treatment groups were assessed prior to and after the study on content knowledge, attitude toward social studies, and critical thinking skills using the Cornell Critical Thinking Test.
Keywords: elementary social studies, historical thinking, primary sources, critical thinking, content acquisition, student attitude
3F: The Effects of Dual Coding Theory on Social Studies Vocabulary and Comprehension in a 5th grade Classroom
No full textAbstract
The goal of this quasi-experimental study was to assess the effects of Dual-Coding Theory on domain-specific vocabulary and comprehension in a 5th grade social studies classroom. The pretest and post-design research were conducted in a rural North Georgia elementary school covering two units of study in two classrooms. Both classes were given pre-tests on content vocabulary as well as content comprehension on the specific units of study. In this control group design (N = 49), twenty-three students participated in an intervention of dual-coding based strategies on domain-specific social studies vocabulary. In addition to the pretest and posttest on vocabulary and comprehension, students completed a motivational measure on their view of social studies to determine if their motivation and enjoyment changed after the experiment. This study sought to understand if the instructional strategies that incorporate dual coding were more effective in 5th grade social studies classes in promoting domain-specific vocabulary learning and when testing for academic achievement rather than traditional social studies strategies.
Keywords: dual coding theory, vocabulary, social studies, attitude, upper elementar
The Process of Becoming a Child Soldier: The Case of Ishmael Beah
Full text linkThe article aims to observe the process of becoming a perpetrator of international crimes by applying the Ishmael Beah’s autobiographical book “A Long Way Gone”. In order to achieve the proposed task, the paper will analyse such notions as the preparation phase, initiation phase, first killing as well as habituation phase in order to follow the processes that transform the protagonist in a perpetrator. However, it is important to note that although the chosen character can be described as a child soldier, for the purpose of this study he will be observed and analysed as a “perpetrator”