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- Creators: Rodriguez, Ariel
- Creators: School of Sustainability
Description
Community Action Research Experiences (CARE) collaborated with Citizenship Counts, a local non-profit organization that provides free civics curriculum to middle and high school teachers nationwide, to evaluate the effectiveness of the current curriculum and create additional curriculum materials. Data were collected over a three-month period through online and paper surveys distributed to teachers who had used some aspect of the Citizenship Counts curriculum previously. Of the teachers contacted, nineteen responded with completed surveys. The results indicate that teachers are pleased with their experience working with Citizenship Counts, but that there were areas where improvements could be made. The additional curriculum materials created were quizzes, which can be added to the Citizenship Counts curriculum as an additional improvement. The main areas of concern from teachers were the Citizenship Counts website and additional help when planning Naturalization Ceremonies.
ContributorsHenderson, Abigail Elizabeth (Author) / Knopf, Richard (Thesis director) / Dumka, Larry (Committee member) / Rodriguez, Ariel (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / T. Denny Sanford School of Social and Family Dynamics (Contributor) / Department of Psychology (Contributor)
Created2013-05
Description
American youth are not well exposed to animal- and nature-related careers. This is especially important to consider due to the recent push to be more environmentally conscious. In addition, youth are spending less time outside and more time in front of screens. This is driving down biophilia strength. The combination of a weaker connection with nature and more screen time has been connected to a new condition named Nature-Deficit Disorder. In order to expose youth to animal- and nature-related careers while attempting to combat the growing presence of Nature-Deficit Disorder, a three day teaching program named Wild Careers was created. This program was presented to teens in December 2015 through a partnership with the education department of Arizona Animal Welfare League. The curriculum was centered on highlighting relevant careers and background information. Topics such as animal welfare and conservation were taught as cornerstones during the program due to their encompassing importance to the career fields in question. It was felt to be important to inform participants about the context of these fields through specially planned activities and guest speakers. Participants were challenged to conduct online research, think critically, and get hands-on during this program. Wild Careers also exposed the participants to animals and the relevant species management stories. The surveys given before and after the presentation of the created curriculum provided evidence that supported an increased understanding of careers and enjoyment of participants. I propose that other non-formal teaching environments should be created that target exposing youth to animals, nature, and related careers.
ContributorsTaubel, Samantha Kay (Author) / Smith, Andrew (Thesis director) / Minteer, Ben (Committee member) / Arthur, Emilie (Committee member) / Division of Teacher Preparation (Contributor) / School of Sustainability (Contributor) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-05
Conceptualizing social capital and active transportation to school through a social-ecological model
Description
Active transportation to school (ATS) has received an increasing amount of attention over the past decade due to its promising health contributions. Most of the existing research that surrounds ATS investigates factors from the physical environment as well as factors from the individual perspective that influence walking and biking to school. This research attempts to add to the existing knowledge by exploring the impact that social relationships within the neighborhood have on ATS.
A model, based on social ecological theory, was presented and tested to examine elements thought to influence ATS. A logistic regression analysis was run to determine the odds of students walking or biking based on the influence of each construct within the model. Results indicated that the physical and socio-cultural constructs were directly and significantly related to ATS behavior while the construct of safety had an indirect effect. These findings support the idea that there are several factors that operate within and across different ecological levels to influence the mode of transportation to school. Therefore, programs to promote ATS should involve multi-level strategies. In addition to the physical environment, interventions should address interpersonal relationships within the family, school, and neighborhood.
A model, based on social ecological theory, was presented and tested to examine elements thought to influence ATS. A logistic regression analysis was run to determine the odds of students walking or biking based on the influence of each construct within the model. Results indicated that the physical and socio-cultural constructs were directly and significantly related to ATS behavior while the construct of safety had an indirect effect. These findings support the idea that there are several factors that operate within and across different ecological levels to influence the mode of transportation to school. Therefore, programs to promote ATS should involve multi-level strategies. In addition to the physical environment, interventions should address interpersonal relationships within the family, school, and neighborhood.
ContributorsRoss, Allison (Author) / Searle, Mark (Thesis advisor) / Knopf, Richard (Committee member) / Kulinna, Pamela (Committee member) / Rodriguez, Ariel (Committee member) / Todd, Michael (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2015
Description
Current literature on sustainability education and its core competencies (systems thinking, normative, interpersonal, strategic, and future thinking) has yet to acknowledge the K-12 level, concentrating instead on higher-level institutions. To initiate study at the critical K-12 level, a curriculum module composed of four lessons to address the wicked sustainability problem of drought in the Sonoran Desert was developed, piloted, and evaluated. The framework of each lesson combined the core competencies and the 5Es pedagogy (engage, explore, explain, elaborate, and evaluate). Two lessons were successfully piloted in two seventh grade middle-school science classes in Phoenix, Arizona. Topics addressed were the water cycle, types of drought, water systems, and mitigation methods. Evaluation determined a high level of student engagement. Post-pilot teacher questionnaires revealed a high degree of support for inclusion of sustainability education and core competencies addressing drought in future opportunities. It is concluded that lessons in the future can adopt the core competences of sustainability with the support of educators in Arizona.
ContributorsComeaux, Victoria (Co-author) / Harding, Bridget (Co-author) / Larson, Kelli L. (Thesis director) / Frisk Redman, Erin (Committee member) / School of Sustainability (Contributor) / Department of Psychology (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2015-12