Campus bottled water bans, not always the solution

2018 ◽  
Vol 19 (5) ◽  
pp. 987-997 ◽  
Author(s):  
Beth Choate ◽  
Brittany Y. Davis ◽  
Jacqueline Verrecchia
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Science ◽  
Tap Water ◽  
Bottled Water ◽  
First Year ◽  
Student Body ◽  
First Year Students ◽  
Content Type ◽  
University Campuses ◽  
College And University ◽  
Negative Perceptions

Purpose The purpose of this study was to identify how to reduce bottled water use on our campus, given that the majority of students were bringing it onto campus from outside sources. Bottled water bans have been implemented on several college and university campuses in an effort to reduce the consumption of bottled water and the associated waste. Observations on the campus of Allegheny College demonstrated that while bottled water was being consumed, students were not purchasing those bottles on campus. Design/methodology/approach To identify methods to reduce bottled water prevalence on campus, alter negative perceptions of local tap water and create behavioral changes among student, an environmental science class surveyed the student body. Students were asked about their preferred type of drinking water and why they preferred one type to another, as well as additional questions about reusable bottle ownership and usage. Findings The data identified that disposable bottled water was most commonly consumed by first year students, with rates of use decreasing the longer students are on campus. Many students were concerned about the safety of tap water and did not like the taste. Originality/value As a result of this survey, Allegheny College has increased the number of filtered, bottle refill stations throughout campus and provides a high-quality, metal water bottle to all students upon beginning their first year. Students are also provided information about the safety of Meadville tap water, as well as the environmental and social benefits of choosing tap water over bottled water.

Sustainability survey to assess student perspectives

2020 ◽  
Vol 21 (6) ◽  
pp. 1151-1167
Author(s):  
James Hardy Speer ◽  
Virgil Sheets ◽  
Tina M. Kruger ◽  
Stephen Peter Aldrich ◽  
Nicholas McCreary
Keyword(s):  
Scientific Method ◽  
Environmental Science ◽  
Environmental Concern ◽  
Student Population ◽  
Student Perspectives ◽  
First Year ◽  
Content Type ◽  
University Campuses ◽  
Incoming Freshmen ◽  
Introductory Classes

Purpose The purpose of this study is to assess environmental concern at a Midwest university, analyze trends in concern over time and determine the effect of the development of a campus sustainability office. Design/methodology/approach A multi-question survey was administered through peer-to-peer recruitment from an undergraduate environmental science class each fall from 2010–2017. This exercise was originally developed as a pedagogical exercise on the scientific method. Findings Over eight years, incoming freshmen have expressed more concern that humans are harming the environment and students also express greater concern as they progress through college. Research limitations/implications The first year of the survey (2010) and the year that the lead PI was on sabbatical (2014) saw reduced response rates (∼1%–3% of the student population) compared to 6%–9% of the student population in other years. Practical implications Responses to all of the questions in the survey provide guidance for university administrations and sustainability offices about the concerns of the campus community, awareness about campus efforts and support for sustainability activities on campus. Originality/value Few studies have been published on students’ perspectives on environmental concern and sustainability activities on university campuses. These data provide an overview of environmental concern, perceived government action and empowerment to action over an eight-year period. This approach is recommended as a technique to teach the scientific method in introductory classes and as a means to collect data about student perspectives on sustainability.

From paper to pixels: using Google Forms for collaboration and assessment

2015 ◽  
Vol 32 (4) ◽  
pp. 9-13 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mireille Djenno ◽  
Glenda M. Insua ◽  
Annie Pho
Keyword(s):  
Active Learning ◽  
First Year ◽  
Library Instruction ◽  
First Year Students ◽  
University Of Illinois ◽  
Content Type ◽  
College And University ◽  
School Settings ◽  
The University ◽  
University Settings

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to discuss the use of Google Forms in the university library instruction classroom. Librarians at the Richard J. Daley Library at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) began using Google Forms as a way of increasing active learning and as an instrument of formative assessment. The paper describes the information literacy context at the UIC and gives examples of best practices for using Google Forms in library instruction. Design/methodology/approach – The authors collaborated with other instruction librarians at their institution to develop Google Forms for use in library instruction sessions and used them primarily in sessions geared toward first-year students. Findings – Google Forms provides an easy and inexpensive way to incorporate both active learning and assessment in library instruction sessions. Students and faculty were receptive to their use in the library classroom. These early findings will be incorporated into the longer assessment study by the authors, currently underway. Originality/value – While Google Forms has heretofore been used in primary and secondary school settings, it is only now being more widely adopted for use by instruction librarians at the university level. This paper will be of value to those who wish to use Google Forms in library instruction in college and university settings, among others.

Education for sustainable development in Spanish higher education: an assessment of sustainability competencies in engineering and education degrees

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Fermín Sánchez-Carracedo ◽  
Daniel Romero-Portillo ◽  
Bàrbara Sureda Carbonell ◽  
Francisco Manuel Moreno-Pino
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
Education For Sustainable Development ◽  
First Year ◽  
Education Students ◽  
First Year Students ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Spanish Higher Education ◽  
Percentage Measure ◽  
University Degree

Purpose This paper aims to present a methodology for analysing the extent to which students of a university degree perceive that they have received a good education for sustainable development (ESD). The methodology enables us to quantify this perception, which, in turn, allows us to determine: to what extent the objectives related to ESD are achieved in the degree, and to compare the learning in ESD perceived by students of different degrees. The methodology is applied to nine engineering degrees and nine education degrees in the Spanish university system. Design/methodology/approach ESD is analysed from the students’ learning perception. This perception is measured by comparing the responses of first- and fourth-year students to a questionnaire about their sustainability competencies. Two indicators have been designed to analyse the results. The first indicator, learning increase, measures the declared learning difference between fourth- and first-year students. The second indicator, learning percentage, measure the amount of learning as reported by fourth-year students compared to how much they could have learned. Findings The results show that the average learning percentage perceived by students is higher in engineering degrees (33%) than in education degrees (27%), despite the fact that the average learning increase declared by students at the end of their studies in both areas of knowledge is similar (66%). Engineering students report having achieved higher learning than education students in all sustainability competencies, with the exception of ethics. Originality/value This paper analyses ESD from the student’s perspective. Furthermore, to the knowledge of the authors, this is the first study that compares the perception of ESD between engineering and education students. This comparison allows us to determine the different approaches that university Professors take to ESD according to the discipline they teach.

Impact of cooperative learning on teamwork competence

2019 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
pp. 93-106 ◽  
Author(s):  
Melany Hebles ◽  
Concepción Yaniz-Álvarez-de-Eulate ◽  
Mauricio Jara
Keyword(s):  
Cooperative Learning ◽  
Collective Efficacy ◽  
Business Students ◽  
Control Group ◽  
First Year ◽  
First Year Students ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Five Dimensions ◽  
Complex Dimensions ◽  
The Impact

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to analyze the impact of a classroom application of the cooperative learning (CL) methodology on nine dimensions of business students’ teamwork competence (TC).Design/methodology/approachThe authors used a quasi-experimental pre-post design with a previous cohort as control group (first-year students from the year prior to treatment application), applying treatment to a sample of 228 first-year students in a School of Economics and Business at a Chilean University (114 as treatment and 114 as control).FindingsThe authors’ results show that CL had a positive, significant influence on five dimensions of TC: collective efficacy, planning, goal setting, problem solving and conflict management.Research limitations/implicationsThis paper upholds the importance and effectiveness of CL in developing TC. However, the evidence suggests that the effectiveness of the CL methodology was limited to development and improvement of less complex dimensions of TC. More complex dimensions require a longer period of time to be developed.Practical implicationsThis research is an important contribution to the design and implementation of appropriate methodologies for developing a widely needed area of competence in the workplace, considering its multidimensional nature, whether in academia or business.Originality/valueThis is the first study to seek empirical evidence that would link the CL methodology with TC. In addition, it fills a gap in the literature on the development of TC in its multiple dimensions. It particularly addresses the training of business professionals.

scholarly journals Adapting to transnational education: students’ experiences at an American university in the UAE

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Zsuzsanna Mikecz Munday
Keyword(s):  
United Arab Emirates ◽  
Single Point ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Adjustment Process ◽  
First Year ◽  
First Year Students ◽  
Content Type ◽  
American University ◽  
Freshmen Students ◽  
The University

Purpose Despite the increasing number of transnational universities around the world, little attention has been paid to students who attend foreign universities in their own countries and their adjustment to the new learning environment. This study aims to examine some of the adaptations freshmen students have to undergo while studying at an American university in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Design/methodology/approach This study is conducted at an American university in the UAE and involved 152 freshmen students, investigating their challenges to adapting to the university academically and socially. The target respondents were first-year students, typically 18–19 years old men and women of various majors and nationalities who completed high school in the country. Questionnaires were emailed to students; a total of 184 surveys were completed (with prior permission), but only 152 of those fitted the criteria and were used in the study. Findings Findings indicate that although these students study at home, by attending a foreign university many of them rely heavily on the support of peers, especially co-nationals. They require similar academic and emotional support from teachers as many first-year students at university do. Research limitations/implications The findings have limitations as data were collected at a single point in time through surveys. Being a single researcher, the study did not opt for breadth to answer the research questions but aimed to find out freshmen students’ challenges in adapting to the university. Despite the limitations of the study, several issues were raised that can be investigated in future studies. Originality/value The study provided insights into the challenges first-year students face at a transnational university in the UAE. It identifies the support that could be provided by the university to facilitate students’ successful adjustment process to the educational and socio-cultural environment of the university. Although this was small-scale research and cannot be generalized to a larger population, the findings could be transferable to other, similar settings in transnational universities in the region. Findings might be compared and contrasted to other, related cases, as the structural aspects could be noticed in similar cases or situations.

scholarly journals Even a Weekend Works

2019 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
William A. Gentry ◽  
Karl W. Kuhnert ◽  
Rachel M. Johnson ◽  
Brennan D. Cox
Keyword(s):  
First Year ◽  
Orientation Programs ◽  
University Administrators ◽  
Orientation Program ◽  
First Year Students ◽  
College And University

Helping first-year students become involved in college via semester- or year-long first-year orientation programs is a major undertaking for college and university administrators. The effect of a weekend-long orientation program on students' involvement in college had yet to be determined until the current study. The authors describe such a program and evaluate its utility. Results revealed that incoming first-year students who attended a weekend-long orientation program were involved in school during their first year, than those who did not attend the program.

Campus Crime

Criminology ◽  
2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
John J. Sloan
Keyword(s):  
Perceived Risk ◽  
The United States ◽  
Colleges And Universities ◽  
Campus Crime ◽  
Student Body ◽  
University Campuses ◽  
Federal Financial Aid ◽  
College And University ◽  
Theoretical Perspectives ◽  
Aid Programs

Despite the fact that deviance in all its forms has existed on college and university campuses since their inception, criminological interest in colleges and universities in this country as contexts for crime and victimization did not begin in earnest until the 1990s and passage of the federal Student Right-to-Know and Campus Security Act of 1990 (see the separate Oxford Bibliographies in Criminology articles “Contextual Analysis of Crime” and “School Crime and Violence”). Now known as the Clery Act, the legislation requires that all postsecondary institutions participating in federal financial aid programs publicly report their crime statistics and security policies each year. Taking cues from scholarship on how the characteristics and dynamics of workplaces, neighborhoods, and schools relate to patterns of crime and victimization occurring in them, scholarship on campus crime has sought since the 1990s to identify and understand, theoretically and empirically, how variability in the dimensions of the campus—physical size and features as well as location, size, and diversity of the student body—are related to patterns of crime and victimization occurring on them. This article discusses campus crime by examining several topics, including early, groundbreaking work as well as more recent scholarship associated with them. The article begins with studies providing General Overviews of the social, legal, and administrative contexts of campus crime. The article then examines Theoretical Perspectives on Campus Crime that have been used to explain patterns and trends in campus crime. The third section examines commonly used Data Sources on campus crime, followed by a discussion of Campus Crime Incidents and Types. The fifth section discusses Fear and Perceived Risk of Victimization on Campus. The sixth section of the article describes Campus Policing and Security. The concluding section, Responding to and Preventing Campus Crime, examines efforts at preventing campus crime and responses to it by colleges and universities in the United States.

The experience of project training on classes for foreign language by students of nonlinguistic specialties

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Irina Shcherbakova ◽  
Marina Ilina
Keyword(s):  
English Language ◽  
Educational Process ◽  
First Year ◽  
Language Program ◽  
First Year Students ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Training Project ◽  
Primary Diagnostics ◽  
Third Stage ◽  
The University

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to reveal the essence of project education in the classroom in the foreign (English) language of students of nonlinguistic specialties of the university.Design/methodology/approachA sample of the study consisted of 20 first-year students of profile “Lawyer.” The study took place in three stages. The implementation of the training project was carried out based on the university in a group of students studying for the specialty “Lawyer.” At the organizational stage, primary diagnostics of the level of development of communicative competence through testing and communicative cases were carried out. In the second stage, the project was carried out for one semester under four topics by the thematic plan of the English language program. In the third stage, rediagnostics was carried out using testing and communicative cases following the completion of projects.FindingsBased on the results of repeated diagnostics, a positive dynamic was revealed in the level of development of communicative skills, the development of the independent communicative activity of students at both a productive and a creative level.Originality/valueThe research shows that the inclusion of project activities in the educational process of students of the university contributes to the formation and development of information skills. These skills quite effectively fit into the educational process, carried out in the form of a workshop. And the workshop is effective at all the stages of the project activities.

Perceived advantages and disadvantages of taking a psychology professional placement year

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 456-467
Author(s):  
Helen St Clair-Thompson ◽  
Carla Chivers
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
First Year ◽  
Main Theme ◽  
Social Emotional ◽  
First Year Students ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Transferable Skills ◽  
Advantages And Disadvantages ◽  
Voluntary Basis ◽  
Practical Implications

Purpose It is well established that there are several benefits of taking a placement year, for example, higher academic attainment, the acquisition of transferable skills and enhanced employability. It is therefore important to understand why students choose to take or not to take a placement. The paper aims to discuss this issue. Design/methodology/approach In the current study, 159 first year students studying psychology were asked about their perceptions of the advantages and disadvantages of taking a psychology professional placement year. Their responses were analysed using thematic analysis, and the number of participants who provided information relating to each main theme was also tabulated. Findings Students perceived the main benefits of placements as relating to career certainty, future prospects, experience, knowledge and skills. In contrast, they perceived the main disadvantages as practical disadvantages, social/emotional disadvantages, difficulty, and there being no guaranteed benefit of a placement. Practical implications The results are discussed in terms of their potential to inform practices for developing and enhancing psychology placements within higher education. For example, providing further empirical evidence of the benefits of placements may help staff in higher education to further promote placement years. Originality/value The study contributes to the knowledge of perceived advantages and disadvantages of taking a placement in psychology. Placements in psychology are likely to be very beneficial for employability, but are often only available on a voluntary basis.

Academic staff perspectives on first-year students’ academic competencies

2017 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 630-640 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dana-Kristin Mah ◽  
Dirk Ifenthaler
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Support Services ◽  
Time Management ◽  
Academic Staff ◽  
First Year ◽  
Technology Proficiency ◽  
Learning Skills ◽  
First Year Students ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Academic Competencies

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the expectations, perceptions and role understanding of academic staff using a model of academic competencies (i.e. time management, learning skills, technology proficiency, self-monitoring and research skills). Design/methodology/approach Semi-structured interviews were conducted with ten members of academic staff at a German university. Participants’ responses to the open-ended questions were coded inductively, while responses concerning the proposed model of academic competencies were coded deductively using a priori categories. Findings Participating academic staff expected first-year students to be most competent in time management and in learning skills; they perceived students’ technology proficiency to be rather high but their research skills as low. Interviews indicated a mismatch between academic staff expectations and perceptions. Practical implications These findings may enable universities to provide support services for first-year students to help them to adjust to the demands of higher education. They may also serve as a platform to discuss how academic staff can support students to develop the required academic competencies, as well as a broader conversation about higher education pedagogy and competency assessment. Originality/value Little research has investigated the perspectives of academic staff concerning the academic competencies they expect of first-year students. Understanding their perspectives is crucial for improving the quality of institutions; their input into the design of effective support services is essential, as is a constructive dialogue to identify strategies to enhance student retention.

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