1,720,972 research outputs found
Indoor Plants, Burnout Mitigation and the Wellness of Healthcare Workers
No full text63 pagesSupplemental file(s) description: Survey and interview guide content.Previous research has found that indoor plants may improve aspects of occupational wellness in office workers. Healthcare workers, particularly those working in primary care settings, report high rates of burnout. However, limited evidence exists regarding the effect of indoor plants on healthcare worker wellness or burnout. In this mixed-methods, randomized control pilot study, four primary care clinics were studied to evaluate the impact of indoor plants on burnout rates. Potted foliage plants were placed in treatment clinics and remained for two months. Surveys were administered to evaluate rates of burnout and nature connectedness of workers in treatment and control groups before, during, and at the end of the treatment period. Semi-structured qualitative interviews were conducted to elucidate participant perceptions of the role of indoor plants and nature exposure in occupational wellness. Quantitative data showed trends toward reduced burnout over time in the treatment group, particularly among providers and those with low nature relatedness. Interviews found that participants associated indoor plants and outdoor nature exposure with wellness indicators and burnout modifiers, including enhanced mood and physical wellbeing, cognitive restoration, mindfulness, and cohesive workspaces. The addition of indoor plants appeared to enhance workplace wellness and possibly reduce burnout among medical professionals in this study. Healthcare organizations should consider the use of indoor plants as valuable additions to the built environment of outpatient healthcare facilities to improve occupational wellness and reduce burnout among employees
Co-Designing Children’s Playspaces: Evaluating Participant Priorities and Outcomes
No full text105 pagesThere has been growing interest among design practitioners and researchers in participatory methods as a means of embedding user expertise in decision-making (Robertson & Simonsen, 2012; Sanders, 2002). Engaging children as co-designers may be a valuable pathway for capturing the voices of this underrepresented user group. However, despite an increase in the application of participatory methods, there is limited systematic analysis of co-design outputs and outcomes (Bossen et al., 2016; Frauenberger et al., 2015). This research proposes an experience-centered framework to support analysis of children’s priorities emerging through co-design and explores the impact of co-design on child participants. We developed an in-depth understanding of playspace priorities of child participants and gained directional insight into child outcomes. This research is grounded in a case study approach involving two 5th grade classes in Ithaca, NY who participated in either an 11-session or 3-session co-design program centered on the redesign of their school’s outdoor playspace. In total, 23 core experiences were identified during the 11-session program. Through triangulation of three ranking systems and a Q-Sort factor analysis, we highlight which core experiences were evidenced as most important to child participants, including being high up or having lookouts, climbing/hanging, and being in nature. To evaluate child outcomes, we utilized a quasi-experimental design with waitlist control and pre/post measures to evaluate the impact of participation in the co-design programs on the constructs of agency, self-efficacy, and belongingness. Post-program evaluations were also conducted via questionnaires and interviews with students and staff to assess program satisfaction and gain qualitative assessments of impact to psychosocial and skill development outcomes. Through these mixed methods, the following benefits to children were identified: increased sense of empowerment and self-confidence in personal expression, and impact to collaboration and communication skills
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Get PDFThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
The Role of Immersive Nature Experiences in Improving Adolescents' Coping with Climate Change
No full text306 pagesGlobal climate change (CC) is widely acknowledged as one of the most pressing issues of our time. Children and adolescents are particularly vulnerable to CC’s consequences, including not just physical harm, but also worse mental health. Many interventions designed to support youth in a changing climate solely attend to their knowledge acquisition. Some interventions aim to improve affective reactions to CC, but few interventions are based upon an understanding of how young people cope with CC. One form of constructive coping is meaning-focused coping, which includes strategies of greater trust in societal actors and positive reappraisal for increased hope, efficacy, and agency. Utilizing constructive CC coping strategies can improve affective responses to CC and encourage long-term engagement with pro-environmental behaviors. The physical environment has previously been overlooked in research on enhancing adaptation to and action against CC. However, the environment is central to the issue of CC, and natural environments could play an important role in the development of constructive CC coping among youth. This dissertation research was guided by interrelated, overarching questions about whether immersive nature experiences can improve adolescents’ coping with CC and how those experiences might contribute to constructive strategies. Seventy-six adolescents (13-18 years old) were recruited from a summer camp with a wilderness trip program. Participants completed surveys before and after immersive nature experiences of 9, 14, 25, or 45 days to measure CC coping and other relevant constructs, including open-ended questions about CC perceptions. A subset of participants (N = 51) completed daily and intermittent journal prompts during the excursion. The first study examined the survey data for changes in constructive coping and found a small, significant increase after the excursion, despite relatively accurate knowledge and more constructive coping indicators before. Aimed at understanding patterns in coping during the nature experience, the second study’s mixed-methods analysis of the journals revealed that daily constructive coping indicators were more likely to be present the day after an intermittent reflection. The third study analyzed the journal and survey data together by linking natural environment features to participant sensations that were positively associated with constructive coping outcomes or trajectories. Results reinforced the importance of both individual competencies and environmental features to the development of coping, and identified natural environment features that could support adolescents’ constructive coping. Research on adolescents’ natural environment interactions aids in the discovery and documentation of experiences that support constructive coping with CC among youth. These findings can inform the design of learning environments and programs that better support young people’s constructive coping to achieve positive developmental outcomes and increased pro-environmental behaviors. To provide context for that translation, the final paper in this dissertation developed a relational model for understanding the institutional tensions that can limit widespread, sustained change within the U.S. education system. This dissertation serves as a foundation for a research program centered on expanding opportunities for youth to develop constructive climate change coping strategies and long-term climate engagement through physical environment interventions
Variations on the Author
Get PDF“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
The Role of the Built Environment in Social Interactions and Loneliness
No full text204 pagesLoneliness has been rising among all age groups, especially young adults. This study dissected the everyday interactions of Cornell University students during the Covid-19 pandemic to examine links between loneliness, social interactions, and the physical environment in a 3-phase study consisting of two surveys and a week of Ecological Momentary Assessments. Questions asked about feelings of loneliness, how meaningful the most recent interaction was, and physical environment components of their interactions. Engaging in primarily virtual versus in-person interactions was linked to increased loneliness. Recreational and outdoor spaces were linked to the more meaningful interactions, with the worst results connected to study spaces. Loneliness and meaningfulness were not significantly different after interactions in private versus public space, although many interactions between variables were found. Visual preference analyses suggest the need to a provide a mixture of open and closed spaces, including affordances for privacy based on the nature of the interaction
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Get PDFWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
Designing Learning Environments for Children : An Affordance-based Approach to Providing Developmentally Appropriate Settings
No full textThis thesis explores the potential of a developmental-affordance framework for designing learning environments for children that are more congruent with their environmental perception and behaviour, and which can more effectively support learning and development. Specifically this paper focuses on the design of school settings which facilitate developmentally-significant play experiences for children.
A developmental-affordance framework recognizes children's functional interpretation of their environments as well as the influence of development on children's environmental needs and behaviour. This approach uses the distinctive patterns of children's environmental perception and behaviour to suggest functional opportunities that can be embedded within the physical environment to support their unique interests. The potential of this framework is explored by determining the affordances for play
experiences conducive to the development of a healthy self-concept. A developmental affordance model is found to be a viable framework for the design of environments that are more supportive of children's learning and developmental needs
Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts
Get PDFWe conducted a full-scale evaluative citation analysis study of scholars in the XML research field to explore just how different from each other author rankings resulting from different citation counting methods actually are, and to demonstrate the capability of emerging data and tools on the Web in supporting more realistic citation counting methods. Our results contest some common arguments for the continued
use of first-author citation counts in the evaluation of scholars, such as high correlations between author rankings by first-author citation counts and other citation
counting methods, and high costs of using more realistic citation counting methods that are not well-supported by the ISI databases. It is argued that increasingly available digital full text research papers make it possible for citation analysis studies to go beyond what the ISI databases have directly supported and to employ more
sophisticated methods
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