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Technology Integration in Post Covid-19 Learning Environments: Research based Practices
No full texthttps://orc.library.atu.edu/atu_faculty_books/1069/thumbnail.jp
An Exploratory Study to Understand Visitor Perceptions of White Nose Syndrome and Bat Colony Management at Carter Caves in Northeast Kentucky
No full textCave tourism is a popular activity and provides unique educational opportunities for visitors to caves across the United States. The flow of tourists in and out of caves creates a unique challenge in mitigating the spread of a deadly fungal pathogen called White Nose Syndrome (WNS). Cave tourism in Kentucky is a popular activity throughout the state. To continue offering caves as tourim destinations, proper cave and bat population management is needed to mitigate the spread of WNS. Studying visitor opinions and preferences provides information to optimize cave management education and interpretation. This exploratory study offers an initial step to understanding Kentucky’s cave visitors and offers suggestions for better on-site education efforts
Outdoor Recreation and Rural Transitions in Central Appalachia: Revisiting the Economic Impact of Rock Climbing in Kentucky’s Red River Gorge
Get PDFKentucky’s Red River Gorge is a popular rock climbing destination located amid longstanding poverty in America’s Central Appalachian region. Climbing represents an important part of the outdoor recreation economy and may provide one alternative to mono-economic extractive industry dependency in this region. This study examines the economic impact of climbing in the Red utilizing an online survey of rock climbers and economic impact methodology. The survey examines expenditures in lodging, food purchases, travel, retail purchases, and services. The survey also collected visitation and demographics data. The authors estimate climbers spend 3.8 million in 2015) and support over 100 jobs in some of the poorest counties in the region and nation. The study reiterates previous findings indicating climbers are well-educated with incomes higher than those typically found in this region. The study’s results help reframe the value of climbing’s economic impact in rural transitional economies throughout Central Appalachia. These findings also raise policy implications regarding public land access and reducing climber environmental impacts on public lands
Perceptions of High Achieving High School Students Regarding the Professionalization of Teaching and Their Interest in Becoming Teachers
Get PDFThis study was designed to highlight the factors that contribute to high-achieving high school students not deciding to join the teaching profession. There is growing evidence to indicate that the teaching profession is comprised mostly of educators in their first five years in the profession and educators with more than 25 years of teaching experience. Increasing numbers of educators are leaving the profession within their first five years in a classroom. On the other end of the spectrum, as teachers with more than 25 years of experience ultimately retire, the question remains about the viability of the profession for younger generations. This study, and the accompanying research, pinpoint the student perceptual factors contributing to this trend. The research participants are high school juniors and seniors within the top 20% of their classes from one school district in Arkansas. The survey instrument is online and includes Likert-like scales which allow for qualitative and descriptive analysis. Areas for analysis in the survey are licensing and credential levels, induction and mentoring programs for entrants, professional development opportunities and participation, specialization, authority over decision-making, compensation levels, and prestige and occupational social standing. Keywords: professionalization, teaching, perception, high school student
Sea-Level Rise and the Persistence of Tree Islands in Coastal Landscapes
No full textNaturally formed forest patches known as tree islands are found within lower-statured wetland matrices throughout the world, where they contrast sharply with the surrounding vegetation. In some coastal wetlands they are embedded in former freshwater marshes that are currently exposed to saltwater intrusion and mangrove encroachment associated with accelerating sea-level rise. In this study we resurveyed tree composition and determined environmental conditions in tree islands of the coastal Florida Everglades that had been examined two decades earlier. We asked whether tree islands in this coastal transition zone were differentiated geomorphologically as well as compositionally, and whether favorable geomorphology enabled coastal forest type(s) to maintain their compositional integrity against rising seas. Patterns of variation in geomorphology and soils among forest types were evident, but were dwarfed by differences between forest and adjacent wetlands. Tree island surfaces were elevated by 12–44 cm, and 210Pb analyses indicated that their current rates of vertical accretion were more rapid than those of surrounding ecosystems. Tree island soils were deeper and more phosphorus-rich than in the adjoining matrix. Salinity decreased interiorward in both tree island and marsh, but porewater was fresher in forest than marsh in Mixed Swamp Forest, midway along the coastal gradient where tropical hardwoods were most abundant. Little decrease in the abundance of tropical hardwood species nor increase in halophytes was observed during the study period. Our data suggest that geomorphological differences between organic tree island and marl marsh, perhaps driven by groundwater upwelling through more transmissive tree island soils, contributed to the forests’ compositional stability, though this stasis may be short-lived despite management efforts
The Effects of Income Distribution in Elementary Schools
Get PDFThis paper first analyzes previous research on the importance of early education and related consequences of child poverty. The presentation of a theory, hypotheses, and testing follows. The paper introduces new research on the relationship between economic status and the academic and social success of elementary school students. Furthermore, the implications of such findings are explored
Pandemic Effects on Social Media Marketing Behaviors in India
Get PDFThis research examined the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on social media marketing in India. There is little research on the impact of a pandemic on consumer behaviors. To address this gap, this exploratory study surveyed Indian consumers’ social media behaviors. Observations from 313 Indian consumers were collected to compare how their social media behaviors for consumer decision-making have changed since the COVID-19 pandemic started. A Wilcoxon signed-rank test was used to test mean differences in social media behaviors prior to and after the COVID-19 pandemic began. The findings demonstrated increased usage of social media as a tool for consumer decision-making. With the global reach of the COVID-19 pandemic, the implications of a growing prominence of social media in consumer-decision making are likely relevant to most nations. Recommendations for the use of social media as a marketing tool are provided
Faculty perceptions of teaching diversity: Definitions, benefits, drawbacks, and barriers
No full textMany U.S. universities have committed to teaching topics of diversity as part of their core curriculum. The purpose of the present investigation is to identify faculty definitions of diversity and the perceived benefits, drawbacks, and barriers of incorporating diversity components in university level teaching. Few other studies have examined how higher education faculty subjectively define diversity or perceive the incorporation of diversity into the curriculum they are responsible for teaching. Instructors-of-record completed a survey asking how they defined diversity as well as the benefits, drawbacks, and barriers of incorporating diversity issues into their teaching. Results show what is meant by the term “diversity” is not cohesively communicated to faculty, and faculty need additional training to prepare them to teach about these issues. Further, data also show the need for institutional-level support for faculty via training, preparation, and providing time to ensure faculty can adequately carry out the university’s directive in the courses they teach
Editorial: Energy and Resource Valorization of Biomass and Waste Toward Sustainable Environment via Thermochemical and Biological Application
Get PDFRepresentation of African American/Black Men Educators in K-12 Public Schools: Impact on Recruitment, Retention, and Responsibilities to Education
Get PDFAlmost seven decades after the Supreme Court’s 1954 Brown v Board of Education decision, African American/Black men are still vastly underrepresented in the K-12 public education profession. For this qualitative, phenomenological research study, a small sample of this demographic of educators, who chose to enter and remain in the profession, shared their lived experiences. Three research questions informed this study: (1) What are African American/Black men’s perceptions of their representation in the K-12 public education profession? (2) What are African American/Black men’s perceptions regarding their entrance and retention in the K-12 public education profession? and (3)What are African American/Black men’s perceptions regarding the responsibilities African American men have to and within the K-12 public education profession? The lived experiences of these Black men before and during their tenure as educators in Arkansas public schools reveal their perceptions regarding their demographic’s recruitment, retention, and responsibilities to education. This research study has three key findings: (a) Black men are discouraged from entering elementary education; (b) The way the desegregation of schools was implemented had a negative impact on equitable representation, Black educators, and all students; and (c) The Black man educator is often seen as a disciplinarian, but his lived experiences and descriptions show that he is more of a sentimentalist. Findings also reveal that Black men often suffer isolation in schools among their colleagues and sometimes they are used as tokens rather than valued members of the faculty. This research can be useful to K-12 public school districts to resolve issues involving the disparity of discipline practices among races of students as well as the relegation of the Black man educator to disciplinarian. Colleges of Education can also use the research findings to aid in the development of much needed courses regarding equity, representation, cultural awareness, and the history of Black Education