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Large growth is expected in the environment industry in coming decades; especially in Australia where the government's new price on carbon began in July 2012. This growth inevitably raises the question of who will fill new environmental management roles. This article presents the perceptions and expectations of students who are beginning to think about a possible career in this sector; what influences their decision-making and how do they view a career as an environmental manager? Without this information the environment sector will be under prepared for the expectations of incoming recruits and may lose valued students, graduates and employees. We found that prospective environmental managers are passionate and committed individuals who express a desire to help create a better world. They fail, however, to adequately articulate what environmental management entails, and have a poor understanding of the industry. They appear to be worried about financial security in what they see as a growing, but not yet fully mature, industry. The environment sector must therefore take the opportunity to engage these future environmental managers, and to communicate where the field will lead and how it can help this next generation achieve their aspirations to 'save the planet'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We have been investigating university student conceptions of mathematics over a number of years, with the goal of enhancing student learning and professional development. We developed an open-ended survey of three questions, on “What is mathematics” and two questions about the role of mathematics in the students’ future. This questionnaire was completed by 1,200 undergraduate students of mathematics in Australia, the UK, Canada, South Africa, and Brunei. The sample included students ranging from those majoring in mathematics to those taking only one or two modules in mathematics. Responses were analyzed starting from a previously developed phenomenographic framework that required only minor modification, leading to an outcome space of four levels of conceptions about mathematics. We found that for many students modelling is fundamental to their conception of “What is mathematics?”. In a small number of students, we identified a broader conception of mathematics, that we have labeled Life. This describes a view of mathematics as a way of thinking about reality and as an integral part of life, and represents an ideal aim for university mathematics education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents summaries of psychology research conducted by various universities and institutes around the world for July 25, 2000 that focuses on topics such as Hong Kong college students' motivational orientations and gender-role attributes, Australian studies on biomarkers, health, and cognitive aging, and the role of phonemic processing in adult literacy.