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Guided by the Next Generation Science Standards and elements of problem-based learning, four human-environment systems simulations are described in brief--carbon, energy, water, and watershed--and a fifth simulation on nitrogen is described in more depth. These science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education simulations illustrate design principles that make them engaging to students, such as dynamic visual environments that are controlled by the user and immediate visual feedback to user actions taken. The simulations are contextualized in real-world natural resources management challenges involving biogeochemical cycles, such as Gulf of Mexico hypoxia, which provide an opportunity to "win the game," while the introduction of complexity in steps provides scaffolding. Pretest versus posttest results indicate a substantial and statistically significant improvement in learning outcomes resulting from using the nitrogen simulation, though there was no comparable pedagogical control group. Attitudinal feedback indicates rich student engagement with the nitrogen simulation.

The aim of this study was to research the prospective mathematics teachers' ability to construct a mathematical model for a real life problem and to prove these models by generalizing them to use in similar situations. The study was conducted with 129 prospective teachers determined on a volunteering basis. The data were obtained with the help of Modelling and Proof Test that were applied to the prospective teachers. In the analysis of the data obtained, the categories which emerged as a result of the classification of the model and proofs formed by the relevant literature and the prospective teachers were used. It was discovered in consequence of the study that the prospective teachers construct seven different models and presented proofs in seven different categories for proving these models. It was observed that the prospective teachers had difficulties in constructing a model for the solution of a real life problem and transition from the model to the proof.

Local environmental topics can serve to motivate and empower students to change their behavior and take action for sustainable practices. In order to better support middle level teachers as they incorporate such topics into their professional practice, we sought to enhance our own understanding of their classroom-based experiences. In light of this, we conducted this study on a middle level teacher as she attempted to integrate place-based pedagogy on environmental sustainability into her science curriculum. The guiding questions of the study were: a) What student experiences emerged as a result of the teacher's implementation of the curriculum?, and b) What beliefs, understandings and practices emerged for the teacher as a result of the experiences? Data sources included interviews, observations and written documents. The findings revealed that the teacher's efforts to connect the instruction to a local issue of water quality led to student engagement and an eagerness on the part of the students to share what they did with others. Unfortunately, several aspects of the teacher's efforts did not successfully lead to greater student understanding of content and multiple viewpoints on local issues. The results extend current understandings of how to support middle level teachers in the development, enactment, and refinement of place-based pedagogy on environmental sustainability.

Environmental health issues are major risk factors in the global burden of disease. This paper therefore focuses on the most important link between health and environment. It discusses the most important environmental threats to health in the 21st Century especially in the low and middle income countries. It reviews the burden of disease from unsafe water supply, hygiene, sanitation, outdoor and indoor poor pollution toward achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDG). It examines the contributions of personal hygiene to reduce the burden of environmentally-related health problems, comment on the consequences of environmental health problems on human health and explain the future global challenges to reduce the burden of disease in the community. Towards the most cost-effective ways of reducing the global burden of environmental related health problems, it was therefore recommended that there should be a reduction in the air pollutants to enhance health status of the inhabitants through the use of improved stove or gas for cooking at homes. There is need to focus on investment in low-cost environmental sanitation, improve water quality for human consumption and inculcate the handwashing habit to reduce the burden of food-water borne infections.

The 12th Plan highlighted Equity, Access & Excellence as the tripod of India's education policy. The RTE Act 2009 has ensured a high level of Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER). However, the Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) present a dismal picture of the outcome dimensions of our schooling system. The Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) therefore, highlights the importance of quality as an important conjoint of universal access, as skill based education will ensure proper employment opportunity. Education is a major enabler for empowerment for all; and in particular for extremely vulnerable sections of the society like STs. The tribal students are handicapped multi-dimensionally, with education as a critical fault line. This paper analyses the policy initiatives to educate and empower them and brings out the bleak picture that bedevil this neglected segment. It contrasts the experience of Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences (KISS) in terms of promoting gender parity, vocational training, health alleviation, dignity of the girl child and educational outcomes as compared to their counterparts in government and SC/ST schools. The paper also highlights the unique funding model of KISS and its potential for replication. Inclusive growth and quality can work how in hand. The paper strongly argues for government's handholding through "Skill India" initiative and funding unique initiatives as KISS.

Safe and high-quality water is essential from both the health and environmental perspectives. Water quality is so important that the United Nations has included water in the 17 Sustainable Development Goals of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Thus, the adequate control and treatment of water are necessities. These tasks must be performed by a wide variety of professionals, including chemists, technicians, environmental scientists, .... Regarding the last group, one competency that they must develop throughout their university training is the ability to implement an environmental management system. Regarding water management, in addition to its well-known positive effect on the environment, wastewater treatment allows for the acquisition of water that is suitable for human consumption and use in agriculture. The relevant wastewater treatments are not complex, but they involve the participation of practitioners of several areas of study including engineering, chemistry, microbiology, .... This paper describes a laboratory exercise for students seeking university degrees in environmental sciences that aims to instruct them about wastewater treatment. Specifically, the experiment involves the decontamination of water polluted with the common textile dye methylene blue. The experiment is performed with different samples of activated carbon of agricultural origin (sustainable), and the results are compared with those obtained vs a carbon of petrochemical origin. The characterization of the decontamination process is performed via spectrophotometric measurements of the presence of methylene blue. The results obtained following the use of different quantities of adsorbent material are also compared.

This article introduces ethnographic upscaling, an innovative procedure to explore and test hypotheses drawn from in-depth ethnographic findings in spatially continuous cases. The approach combines the strength of localized ethnographic descriptions with questionnaire-based regional surveys to study the distribution of ethnographic findings across social groups by comparison. The approach was designed in the Local Institutions in Globalized Societies project. This anthropological long-term research project ran from 2010 to 2019 to explore institutional regimes for managing water in arid Namibia. The article describes how the ethnographic upscaling approach was developed and implemented, discusses some exemplary results, and offers a critical reflection on its shortcomings and potentials.

The city of Flint, Michigan switched its water source in April, 2014, and, to reduce costs, anti-corrosion agents were omitted from water treatment. Consequently, lead leached into pipes, contaminating the water supply and exposing Flint's children to lead well beyond safety standards. The event became known as the Water Crisis, and now dominates Flint's public image. This paper portrays a project that arose out of one community response to the situation in Flint, the provision of quality child-care to families living in the affected areas by the University of Michigan-Flint. As part of this effort, a group of Early Childhood faculty and center head teachers participated in a Teaching Circle (Hutchings in Making teaching community property, American Association of Higher Education, Washington, DC, 1996), in which we read and studied the book, "Reggio tutta: A guide to the city by the children" (Reggio Children, Reggio Emilia, 2000) and teachers were inspired to share questions with their classes. Our analysis of the Teaching Circle and those projects uses children's perspectives and interpretations of campus and the city to focus on the beauty and resourcefulness of the Flint community. Seeing the city of Flint through the children's eyes is a remarkably joyful and uplifting experience.

The comprehension of the reactivity of the elements is an important goal to be achieved in undergraduate courses in inorganic chemistry. Therefore, at Universidade Federal de São Carlos (UFSCar), the B.Sc. in chemistry has a laboratory course dedicated to the chemistry of the elements. However, we have noticed a decrease in students' interest in this discipline over the years. Hence, we decided to use inquiry-based methodology in a full semester of an experimental laboratory of "chemistry of the elements" in an attempt to increase their interest. As a guideline, we used the theme of water treatment to engage them in solving problems related to inorganic chemistry reactivity and noticed greater enthusiasm toward the curriculum and research methodologies. Furthermore, at the end of the course, both methodologies (traditional and inquiry-based) were evaluated by an anonymous questionnaire. By using a rating from 0 to 5 (ranging from worst to best), it was evident that the mean rate for the new methodology (4.2) was significantly higher than the rate given to the traditional methodology (2.3). The improvement in the overall performance of the report grades in comparison to the traditional methodology over the inquiry-guided one was complementary to the questionnaire, indicating that poor performance was diminished or even depleted. We believe that this methodology improved the students' level of confidence and knowledge, indicating that it could be applied to any other laboratory course.

This article explores Vanessa Anthony-Stevens and Sammy Matsaw's paper "The Productive Uncertainty of Indigenous and Decolonizing Methodologies in the Preparation of Interdisciplinary STEM Researchers". That paper reports on a small qualitative study on how STEM students in the field of natural resources management react to the inclusion of Indigenous ways of knowing in their interdisciplinary research methodologies course. The authors are engaging contested intersections of knowledge that are notoriously difficult to negotiate. I argue that the inclusion of Indigenous 'ways of knowing' into the water resource management curriculum is based on Morgan's (in: McKinley, Smith (eds) Handbook of indigenous education, Springer, Singapore, pp 111-128, 2019. 10.1007/978-981-10-3899-0) idea of the 'guest paradigm'. At the same time, and in contrast, I also argue that the inclusion of Indigenous knowledge in the curriculum cannot just occur in the classroom but needs to be considered at an institutional and individual level as well. The project should be seen as a small step within a wider Indigenous agenda of decolonizing the Eurocentric curriculum. [For "The Productive Uncertainty of Indigenous and Decolonizing Methodologies in the Preparation of Interdisciplinary STEM Researchers," see EJ1257230.]

Most forensic chemistry experiments focus on the usual suspects involving criminal scenarios: illicit drug identification, gunshot residue detection, blood and fingerprint analysis, and arson investigations. However, environmental forensics involves chemical techniques that can expand the breadth of experience for forensic chemistry students. An experimental case study was designed to determine the potential source of groundwater contamination along a series of treatment steps designed to mitigate the environmental effects of an abandoned mine drainage site. Simulated drainage samples representing each treatment step are analyzed by atomic absorption spectroscopy to quantify the metals present, a gravimetric method to determine the concentration of sulfate, and a pH meter to measure relative acidity of the drainage water. Using the data obtained from the simulated samples, students can determine the effectiveness of each treatment step as well as identify the location along the drainage treatment series that is the most likely source of the groundwater contamination.

An environmental chemistry service-learning project was implemented by Greenville University in coordination with the local county health department to test the quality of well water for residents in a five-county region of southern Illinois. Well owners attended a student run well water testing "kickoff meeting", received testing kits, collected their water samples as instructed, and returned the kits to the health department on a predetermined date. Student investigators analyzed the water samples for a range of contaminants, including the concentrations of eight different metals (including lead and arsenic), nitrate ion, and the presence of coliform and "Escherichia coli" bacteria. Values for pH and water hardness were also determined. The results were communicated to well owners through well water testing reports and at an "interpretation meeting", where students met with the well owners to help them understand and interpret their results. To date, over 130 wells have been tested. The project provided student investigators positive service-learning experiences while delivering many southern Illinois well owners important water quality information.

The focus of this article is on the evaluation and outcomes of a professional learning opportunity that focused on 13 current K-12 public school science educators in the United States. This teacher training concentrated on sustainability education that utilized marine sciences as a unifying concept. Findings from this training helped to identify models within teacher professional development in marine science that lead to comprehensive adoption of presented curricula. Four established models/frameworks of professional development were identified and their subsequent classroom implementation was evaluated. Results include adoption rates of the various session materials, the impact and effect size of differing variables (such as deliverables or standards alignment) among the four models and their frameworks and changes in perceptions towards sustainability initiatives. These outcomes underscore several methods and strategies for successful science teacher professional development implementation in regard to marine sciences.

When Emily Crosette, joined H2O for Life as a high school student, she never dreamed that it would be the impetus for her future educational and career goals. Crossette majored in civil and environmental engineering and minored in environmental science at Lafayette College and is now completing her PhD in environmental engineering at the University of Michigan. After graduation, she hopes to use her knowledge and skills in microbial ecology to improve resource recovery from waste streams like wastewater and manure. While working as an environmental engineer, she also plans to stay involved in other global issues. Crosette describes her experiences with service learning as an awareness opportunity that introduces people to the complexity of global water issues.

The automated water filtration design challenge integrates computer programming and basic electronics concepts through the SIMILAR systems engineering design process. The SIMILAR systems design process is to state the problem, investigate alternatives, model the system, integrate the system, launch the system, assess performance, and reevaluate (SIMILAR). The modeling, integration, and launching steps of the design process require specific skill sets related to science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) concepts. These concepts are significant when addressing the various national standards related to "Standards for Technological Literacy" ("STL"), "Next Generation Science Standards" ("NGSS"), Common Core State Standards (CCSS), and The K-12 Computer Science Framework. The integration of these concepts reinforces how they can be utilized together to increase the understanding of systems and systems design. This article describes how an automated water filtration design challenge can be used as an interdisciplinary approach to solve a real-world problem while addressing various national standards and frameworks.

Purpose: The University of A Coruña (UDC) elaborated the SOSTAUGA project, aiming to reach a higher sustainable level of its water management. SOSTAUGA defined four priority points of action: the restoration of the natural courses on the campus; the adoption of an ecological sanitation model; the sustainable management of urban runoff; and the reduction of water consumption in university facilities and activities. This paper aims to present the methodology, the actions and the results related to the reduction of water consumption and the potential for the use of endogenous resources. Design/methodology/approach: The agents involved were the senior management of the centres, the committees of the Green Campus, the scholarship students and the Office for the Environment. Several actions have been experienced: audit of water consumption in sanitary services; flow reduction in washbasin taps by means of valve adjustment (and repair of the valves when necessary); replacement of tap aerators with other more eco-efficient ones; replacement of faucets; introduction of dual-flush (DF) in cisterns; and information to users (eco-label). Findings: Water audit reached 68% of the total number of washbasins and tanks in the UDC. Efficient aerator installation covered 16% of taps and valve adjustment covered the further 33.5% and provided flow reduction of 42%. Another 20% of valve units required repair. The current situation in toilets combines tankless flush valves and cisterns with single flush mechanisms. The introduction of DF mechanisms was assessed and proposed. The cost of these actions was very low, as evidenced by the investment return period while showing a high potential for user awareness. Originality/value: Both from the environmental (water saving) and from the economic and social points of view, this study shows that similar projects aimed at the efficient and rational use of water are applicable to the universities and other public and private schools, with potentially positive results on sustainability and people awareness.

The international Eco-Schools programme promotes Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) through introducing and stimulating pro-environmental initiatives by school learners and staff. This enabled learners in the Eco-Clubs at a resource-poor primary school to identify and undertake transformative pro-environmental initiatives in 2011 and 2014 through Self-Directed Education (SDE). An educative approach encouraging critical thinking at the school provided the foundation that made this possible. In discussing and working through their strategies to undertake research and challenge authorities about noncompliance in regard to municipal responsibilities that led to environmental degradation, Eco-Club members liaised freely with teachers and other learners. This process, together with local support for the eco-school initiatives, stimulated widespread interest and generated hope among learners by showing that another way of being is possible.

We often have little evidence of success to take to stakeholders in the preliminary stages of restoration projects. However, presenting initial monitoring data can allow for impactful science communication and stakeholder engagement around the early progress of restoration. We use reforestation monitoring in the Paulins Kill watershed to highlight the value associated with considering stakeholder communication upfront when designing monitoring schemes and presenting initial monitoring data. Primarily, four generalizable recommendations emerge to help guide practitioners considering initial data within common environmental communication techniques and platforms: (1) for oral presentations: consider long-term data for context around initial monitoring data; (2) for online databases: isolate factors that should not change to assess initial monitoring confidence; (3) for mapping platforms: focus on differences rather than magnitudes in initial monitoring data; (4) for field trips: use the initial monitoring itself to directly engage stakeholders.

Differences in attitudes, perceived behavioral control, social norms (i.e., influence of others), and intent to engage in good residential landscape fertilizer practices were examined among people with high- and low-exposure to water bodies (blue space). Florida's residential fertilizer users are exposed to stormwater retention ponds, lakes, and rivers more than other types of water. The high-exposure group perceived significantly more social pressure and had greater intent to engage in good fertilizer practices. Blue space exposure positively relates to fertilizer practices that can protect water quality. Environmental education professionals should consider integrating exposure to water bodies through in-person or virtual experiences.

Undergraduate biology education has changed over the past decade, incorporating an iterative and evidence-based approach. Many educational assessments have confirmed the effectiveness of integrating authentic research and open-ended inquiry into introductory biology courses, demonstrating a significant positive impact on students' learning and attitude towards STEM majors. Despite these findings, only a handful of Biology instructors in 2-year colleges adopt this approach, and when adopted, most activities constitute a small fraction of these courses. Finding a feasible, sustainable, semester-long, and cost-effective strategy to incorporate authentic research in the curriculum which promotes integrated understanding of science and addresses socio-scientific issues, is a big challenge for both instructors and administrators at 2-year colleges. Here we present a unique model incorporating a semester-long authentic research-based set of laboratories in introductory Biology through which students investigate the water quality in areas close to their communities. Our approach is fully aligned with all five core components of an effective Course-based Undergraduate Research Experience according to CUREnet. The laboratories were developed to be fully incorporated into the teaching curriculum. Each laboratory was designed to ensure students acquire the knowledge and skills set out in the course syllabus through a process of discovery designed to promote students' engagement.

A role-play activity is presented that was designed for a STEM education learning experience to enrich science literacy, collaboration, and critical-thinking skills in undergraduate science courses. During the role-play, learners assumed the roles of critical stakeholders involved with Everglades restoration activities. After conducting research and relating academic content to relevant, real-world contextual situations, learners participated in a mock town hall event. Open deliberation and debates stimulated interest and engagement. Emergent benefits from this role-play activity included collaborating effectively, forming evidence-based perspectives, and using metacognitive strategies.

Undergraduate students are increasingly aware of complex global challenges and have a strong desire to take action and create change. Course-based undergraduate research experiences can offer a wide range of students the opportunity to gain skills needed to address these challenges. At a small liberal arts college in New England, we developed the Integrated Sciences First-Year Program (ISFP) to engage our students and support them in developing these important skills in their first year while building a community of learners. We designed ISFP-I (fall semester) for both science concentrators and nonconcentrators to conduct collaborative research in teams across three linked courses in hydrology, mathematical modeling, and microbiology. Students explored sustainable building practices using a new building on campus. We used pre-/postcourse surveys, student self-evaluations, and faculty evaluations of student work to assess student progress on the goals of learning inquiry and building community. During the three-year pilot program (2015-2018), we found students showed growth in science content and skills as well as changes in attitudes and understanding of the nature and process of science. Further, the collaborative nature of the courses helped socialize students on campus and cultivate an intellectual community within the sciences.

Manu Prakash, the developer of the foldscope microscope reported on in this paper, stated that it is important to use tools that can support open-ended inquiry in the classroom, without dumbing down those tools. Scientific equipment in the school laboratory is often very expensive and only available to those who can afford it. "Frugal science" is a trend in education that researches, develops and introduces economical and quality scientific resources to developing countries. In South Africa, many underprivileged schools lack quality practical and laboratory resources to perform simple tasks, such as microscopy. Furthermore, the absence of laboratory investigations could lead to learners not enjoying Life Sciences nor developing a more nuanced understanding of the nature (tenets) of science. As part of an indigenous knowledge intervention hosted by the North-West University, teachers were provided with $1 foldscopes (paper microscope) to use in their classrooms. This research reports on the views of Life Sciences learners and teachers on the use of foldscopes in the Life Sciences classroom during a practical lesson. The focus of the research is to illuminate how such problem-based approaches could enhance affective outcomes. This generic qualitative research study has elements of design-based research (DBR) as well as classroom action research (CAR), carried out by participating teachers to investigate the affordances of foldscopes. Data was collected using observations, teacher reflections, learner reflections, photographs and personal interviews. From an affective stance, this qualitative study used Engeström's third-generation Cultural-Historical Activity Theory (CHAT) as a research lens in order to identify factors that promote or inhibit the use of foldscopes in the Life Sciences classroom during a practical lesson.

The tragic story of Flint has made it increasingly clear that the public needs to know how to evaluate sources of information. All of this is occurring in the age of "fake news," which heightens our awareness of the challenge of determining veracity. Furthermore, a flood of information can be found at our fingertips 24 hours a day. A quick Internet search can glean information that supports your viewpoint (whatever side you may be on) and crushes the opposition. We might begin to wonder if there is such a thing as "truth," and whether we can help students wade through the endless muck of false or misleading information to find it. This article explores how to teach source evaluation to upper elementary students with a focus on the right to clean water that is recognized in a United Nations resolution of 2010, and based on the 1948 Declaration of Human Rights.

To learn with data, students need "data" to explore. This can be deceptive--data-rich experiences typically involve much more than a straightforward science lab. Solving real problems with data means identifying authentic questions that are meaningful to students and provide a foundation for deep inquiry. Such situations often lend themselves well to project-based learning approaches and are great opportunities for integration across subject areas. Perhaps most critically, they begin with a question of genuine interest to learners and genuine connection to the world at large. For purposes of illustration, the authors choose one such topic--the frequency of harmful algal blooms (HABs) in waters within and around the United States. The topic of HABs is a good example of a subject primed for data-centered inquiry. Problems caused by HABs are highly relevant across the United States, and thus are of potential interest to students in many different locales. In this article, the authors provide some basic guidelines to help ensure that teachers and their students are headed in the right direction for data-rich investigations.

The author, an instructor of lower division general education (G.E.) geography courses, describes how to incorporate high-impact practices into courses that allow for experiential and project-based learning. Often, these experiences can be framed through a service learning component, which provides students an opportunity to partner with the local community to address regional issues. In this article the author describes a project where students collected water samples from within their own community, which were then analyzed for biological and chemical indicators of water quality. The students subsequently used the results to pose questions within their local community and share knowledge about water management and sustainability.

Research indicates that STEM-integrated curricula and pedagogies have the potential to support student learning, nurture interest in STEM disciplines, and prepare students for future careers (Apedoe et al. 2008). Through engagement in these fields, students can develop the ability to think critically, solve intricate problems, and drive advancement that maintains a steady progression of society (Apedoe et al. 2008). One such instructional pedagogy that works well with STEM integration is problem-based learning (PBL). Problem-based learning is a student-centered instructional approach that emphasizes practical experience in supporting learning (Hmelo-Silver 2004). This article describes an activity where students use the five steps of the engineering design process--Ask, Imagine, Plan, Create, improve--to solve a STEM problem-based challenge. The problem scenario in the PBL activity described here engaged fifth-grade students in a six-week challenge to design a filtration system. In this PBL activity, students learned about various states and characteristics of matter, including filtration. This allowed the students to tap into their understanding of the disciplinary core ideas related to structure and properties of matter.

Growing up in a small coastal town, students spend a great deal of time outdoors and at the beach. Given the many learning opportunities that such an environment can provide, engaging students in a sustained, environmental service project seemed like a natural complement to lessons focusing on the interaction of organisms within a habitat. This experience provided opportunities for students to examine how they can improve the water quality of marshes. In the unit presented in this article, fifth-grade students planted and raised "Spartina" grass in a portable greenhouse at school, then worked with a organization to plant the seagrass in the local marsh to provide refuge for animals and help support the environment. The fifth graders learned how planting this key species can lead to a cleaner marsh.

As the impacts of water quality on human health become better understood, universities have an opportunity to equip students to become more informed and responsible citizens. We define "water literacy" as possessing the scientific knowledge to understand the links between water availability and usage, and being equipped to constructively discuss water-related issues that affect society. Water literacy has been positively correlated with education level and water-related experiences in adults, but less is known about water literacy in college students. We surveyed 224 students about water literacy at Malone University, a primarily undergraduate institution in Ohio with regard to gender, student year, residency status, and hometown. Of survey respondents, 62% first considered whether water was safe before drinking it, 44% primarily drank bottled water on campus, and more females (45%) than males (22%) took additional measures to filter campus tap water. Most (54%) reported seeking water-related information online and only 27% were able to identify key threats to water quality in Ohio. Of the 38% of respondents who were able to identify the source of their hometown drinking water, most were from rural areas and drank well water. Our results indicate a low degree of water literacy among students, which has been reported elsewhere in Ohio and nationally. Our survey approach could be useful for universities seeking to identify knowledge gaps before implementing new curricula.

Forestry and environmental science students enrolled in a one credit hour freshman seminar course participated in a land management evaluation and water quality sampling excursion using canoes and water sampling equipment. The purpose of this assessment was to engage students with hands-on, field based education in order to foster connections to their chosen profession and the resource. This culminated in poster symposium of the experience. Broad competency areas for high impact practices in natural resource management were emphasized for learning. Students were engaged in the exercise and commented that the project helped them develop a sense of place and forming connections within their peer group. The use of water quality sampling and collection of real-world data increased the teaching a learning effectiveness of the course.

The printing industry is supposed to be a major contributor to Ghana's development through employment creation and the enhancement of information to the general public. The main purpose of the study was to assess employee motivation on the printing industry within Kumasi Metropolis. The study employed both the quantitative and qualitative surveys on the printing industries within the given study area with emphasis on general printing technology which has been in existence for more than three decades. The survey was intended to get employees on their responses on what they feel are the best factors that could motivate them for their self-actualisation and also meet organizational goals. The study set to identify the most ranked factor(s) among several motivated factors which existed in the sector and it emerged that job satisfaction was the most ranked factor from the empirical findings.

The new global economy depends on workforce competencies in science, technology, engineering and mathematics more than ever before. To prepare a strong workforce, attracting and educating underrepresented minority students in science is a challenge within our traditional American educational approach. To meet this challenge, fostering significant learning in science that nurtures 21st Century skills in students is crucial. The purpose of this study was to analyze the effectiveness of a set of teaching and learning approaches that foster significant learning in sciences. Using a new introductory environmental science course in urban water quality management, the effect of a set of learner-centered teaching approaches, including hands-on learning, scientific inquiry, frequent feedback, and critical thinking exercises, was analyzed. The results of the pre- and post-course survey questions together with formative and summative assessments showed that our students' cognitive learning skills and interests in learning science were significantly improved.

In response to a request from a campus student organization, faculty from three fields came together to develop and teach an integrated interdisciplinary course on water issues and social activism. This course, "Water as Life, Death, and Power," brought together issues from the fields of anthropology, biology and chemistry to explore water rights, access to clean water, and water treatment methods. Students enrolled in the course developed interdisciplinary projects related to a variety of local and global water issues to present real-world solutions at a university-wide student research showcase. This article reports the assessment outcomes of the course, measuring changes in both interdisciplinary learning and levels of student activism.

In response to a request from a campus student organization, faculty from three fields came together to develop and teach an integrated interdisciplinary course on water issues and social activism. This course, "Water as Life, Death, and Power," brought together topics from the fields of anthropology, biology and chemistry to explore water rights, access to clean water, and water treatment methods. Students enrolled in the course developed projects related to a variety of local and global water issues to present real-world solutions at a university-wide student research showcase. This article describes how we organized the learning community, composed of students, faculty, and staff, and outlines the training process of developing a sense of community, content integration, and interdisciplinary teaching techniques.

To assist Extension professionals working in Texas's Little River Watershed with efforts to educate landowners about reducing amounts of bacteria there, we assessed motivations for and barriers to landowners' adopting best management practices (BMPs). We surveyed 275 landowners in the watershed. Respondents were at least somewhat familiar with nine of 11 identified BMPs. Additionally, they agreed that 10 of 13 listed factors were motivators for adopting BMPs and that six of 14 listed factors were barriers to adopting BMPs. Extension professionals can help landowners move through the innovation-decision process by targeting educational programming and materials to motivations for and barriers to adoption of such practices.

A service-learning course at a midsized Midwestern research university was modified over a period of six years to integrate best-practice pedagogies that have been shown to increase civic engagement by students. Best-practice pedagogies included regular interaction with community partner(s), significant time spent on the service activity, and regular reflection (written and verbal) on the implications of the service activity. Besides water quality monitoring, students performed private well water analysis, wrote multiple formal reflection papers, and presented a public talk on the results of their project that included significant discussion time with community partners. Authentic expression of civic engagement values was assessed in final written reflections submitted by students to determine the effect new pedagogies had on students' civic and professional identities. Five values were assessed: (1) identity within the community, (2) commitment to civic engagement, (3) connection between academic content and service, (4) teamwork, and (5) communication with community partners. Statistical analysis showed that differences in expression of civic-engagement values between pre- and postservice-learning best practices were highly significant. The most effective strategy employed multiple written reflections where students were provided with specific reflection prompts and a grading rubric, a public presentation by students of the results, significant interaction between students and their individual partners, in-class discussion of teamwork, and in-class discussion of scientists as citizens.

Background: Youth water consumption is inadequate. Increasing adolescent water consumption could support decreased dental caries and body mass index (BMI). Most schools are required to provide free, potable water. However, there is evidence that schools' self-reported compliance data overestimate access to water in schools. We tested the feasibility of using student citizen scientists to collect high quality observational data about water sources in schools. Methods: We trained 12 teams of high school students to use a validated photo-evidence protocol to photograph and submit data on water sources in elementary and secondary schools. We surveyed students and advisors to assess student learning, advisor burden, and project feasibility. Results: Students submitted data for 325 water sources across 40 racially and economically diverse schools. We were able to use 99% of the student-submitted photographs to measure water source wear, cleanliness, accessibility, and flow. The majority of students (72%, N = 70) spent under 2 hours photographing each school. The majority of students and advisors felt the project was valuable and feasible. Conclusions: High school students can use a photographic method to collect data for analysis, and understand access to water in schools. This is a feasible, scalable, cost-effective method to gather valid water source data.

To better prepare physiology students for 21st century careers, we incorporated classroom-based undergraduate research experiences and service learning/community-engaged learning (SLCE) into a college-level physiology laboratory course. The interventions were incorporated over 4 yr and assessed using validated surveys of student-reported learning gains related to attitudes toward science, the scientific process, and career paths. Students reported the greatest learning gains in those years when students did novel research oriented around a common theme of water quality. The gains were greater than those of a matched cohort that participated in an apprentice-style summer undergraduate research experience. With respect to the SLCE related to youth science literacy, students provided evidence of learning related to academics, personal growth, and civic mindedness. For example, many expressed discomfort about being in a new situation, often describing the differences between themselves and the youth with whom they interacted. However, students also grew in confidence about collaborating with people who were different from them and in their role as the "scientist." Limitations of the study include the quasi-experimental design and the incorporation of multiple interventions at the same time. Future studies should examine improvement in content acquisition and competency-based learning skills. Nonetheless, these results suggest that both novel research and SLCE increase student learning in the context of an undergraduate physiology laboratory course. Many of the learning gains observed with the SLCE are particularly important for physiology students, many of whom aspire to careers in health sciences, where they will be regularly working with nonscientists.

Framed by a social practice perspective, this article presents a theoretical, political, and practical rationale for implementing and expanding water, sanitation and hygiene education (WASH) in preschools throughout the world. Every day thousands of young children die, while others suffer serious illness or stunting from water-, sanitation-, and hygiene-related causes. Many of these consequences could be prevented with low-cost interventions. Although there is little peer-reviewed research on preschool WASH, justifications and ideas for action can be found in the results of WASH studies in primary schools. Pre-primary education and WASH are priorities within the global Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) for 2015-2030. Numerous materials and methods from school-based WASH can be used or adapted for preschool. However, early childhood and WASH professionals and advocates must launch preschool initiatives and also advocate for incorporation of WASH curricula into pre-service and in-service teacher education. More research needs to be conducted on outcomes of WASH-focused experiences in preschool. Advocacy actions with governments, UNICEF, NGOs, and other organizations can ensure that aspirations and good intentions for WASH initiatives are realized, but such progress will require adequate funding.

Two major challenges in mathematics teacher education are developing teacher understanding of: (1) culturally responsive, social justice--oriented mathematics pedagogies; and (2) mathematical modeling as a content and practice standard of mathematics. Although these challenges may seem disparate, the innovation described in this article is designed to address both challenges in synergistic ways. The innovation focuses on a mathematical modeling task related to the ongoing water crisis in Flint, Michigan. Through qualitative analysis of instructor field notes, teacher-generated mathematical models, and teacher survey responses, we found that teachers who participated in the Flint Water Task (FWT) engaged in mathematical modeling and critical discussions about social and environmental justice. The evidence suggests that integrating these 2 foci--by using mathematical modeling to investigate and analyze important social justice issues--can be a high-leverage practice for mathematics teacher educators committed to equity-based mathematics education. Implications for integrating social justice and mathematical modeling in preservice and in-service mathematics teacher education are discussed.

In this study, we investigated how high school credit recovery students worked in small groups and used computer-based scaffolds to conduct scientific inquiry in a problem-based learning unit centered on water quality. We examined how students searched for and evaluated information from different sources, and used evidence to support their claims. Data sources included screen recordings, interviews, scaffold trace data, and scaffold entry quality ratings. Findings indicate that many students struggled to use the scaffolding and did not fully respond to scaffold prompts. Collaboration within small groups was often inhibited by frequent absences, struggles using the scaffolding, desires to complete tasks quickly rather than thoroughly, and an expectation that the group leader address the questions. However, many groups followed the scientific inquiry process prompted by the scaffolding, and support for collaboration within the scaffolds led students to negotiate the meaning of water quality data, and this in turn led students to see water quality as a complex, rather than a binary, construct.

Hands-on learning is a highly effective teaching method for topics in STEM disciplines. Unfortunately, environmental science teachers sometimes lack the tools to engage their students in hands-on experimentation in real-world research outside of the classroom. Partnerships between science professionals and teachers can help address this disparity, and operating within an established community science program is an excellent way for teachers and professionals to provide K-12 students opportunities for involvement in real-world research. We developed a four-stage program that maximizes the benefits of bringing together members of the professional and academic sectors; the stages include Learn, Collect, Report, and Communicate (LCRC). The goal of this program is to bring science professionals into a K-12 classroom to emphasize the importance of conducting research using the scientific method, to promote responsible community science, improve students' data literacy and critical thinking skills, and highlight the relevance of science communication. We demonstrate this program with a case study using water quality research in high school AP classes. Evaluations of the case study indicate this framework, and the engagement with science professionals alters students' perceptions of science and scientists while giving them the skills, knowledge, and confidence to pursue scientific endeavors.

Improving the school building may well be the most overlooked means of improving student health, safety, and academic performance. Yet in conversations about factors that lead students to academic success, only rarely does the role of the physical environment come to the fore. By downplaying the importance of the building, policymakers and parents alike may be missing one of the largest health and safety issues affecting students daily. There are nearly 51 million K-12 students in the United States, and they each spend more than 15,600 hours in public schools by the time they graduate. Schools must make the most of this critical window for social, academic, and physical development. Environmental factors such as ventilation, thermal control, lighting, and noise have serious implications for student safety and academic achievement. Properly designed, maintained, and operated school buildings that address these environmental factors have been shown to prevent cognitive deficits, optimize student and teacher performance, and create a thriving learning environment within the school. In 2017, The Healthy Buildings Team at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health released the report "Schools for Health: Foundations for Student Success." The report details findings from over 250 research articles unequivocally demonstrating how health is foundational to student thinking and performance, includes more than 70 health and performance metrics, and builds upon previous T.H. Chan School research, "Foundations of a Healthy Building." The report synthesizes more than 30 years of research about the impacts of indoor environmental quality in schools, identifies diverse metrics of success beyond standardized test scores, and provides an accessible, evidence-based guide to the daily, acute, and chronic effects school buildings have on students and staff (see table 1). This article introduces key findings from this report that state boards of education may reference as they seek to promote healthy learning environments.

This study investigates how scientist-led educational programs, held in libraries, can make local science issues relevant to families. Given the need for an educated citizenry, it is important to explore if scientists -- as learning facilitators -- can use educational strategies to engage intergenerational groups. We view family learning from a sociocultural perspective where parent-child interactions and sensemaking practices are the focus of our analysis. We analyzed three water quality-themed workshops held at public libraries consisting of 25 hours of video data. With a focus on 17 participant family groups, we closely examined the influence of questions asked by three different scientists (each leading a workshop) to understand how the structure of these questions supported or did not support the families in sensemaking conversations. Our findings revealed a relationship between the types of questions the scientists asked and families' talk related to the program content. Specifically, three questioning patterns emerged that either supported or hindered family connecting conversations: (1) family-focused question prompts, (2) scientist-focused question prompts (anti-questions), and (3) closed-ended question prompts. Our analysis illustrates that personally-relevant family learning about science in their community is supported by conversational opportunities for families to make connections between science and their shared experiences.

Innovative education approaches include citizen science projects that allow students to participate in locally relevant scientific work, connecting content to the real world. Global collaboration provides students with a broader perspective on local issues, allowing students to become more globally aware.

Since its inception, the education for sustainable development (ESD) movement in higher education has been doomed. Its standards of sustainability, bound to measures of development which suggest human flourishing is equated with the western ideals, is precisely the double-bind Chet Bowers so passionately stood against. His critical perspective on education itself and the ecopedagogy shared in "Educating for Eco-Justice and Community" (2001) as well as the critical analysis he demonstrates in "How Language Limits our Understanding of Environmental Education" (2001) are exactly what is needed to reorient a movement which in most cases is now focused on efficiency. I will share the story of my own discovery of Chet Bowers' work and its subsequent manifestation in my work both within the greater community and within the context of higher education therein. With this as a backdrop, I critique the ESD movement as fundamentally flawed due to its double-binds and metaphorical missteps, and I reconceptualize sustainability as a guiding vision rather than a target. I call for a shift from ESD to Victor Nolet's (2010) Education for Sustainability (EfS) and recontextualize the movement within the framework of community. Finally, I share a piloted normative approach founded on Bowers' eco-justice principles.

Promoting collaboration and discourse in asynchronous online courses is challenging; students need something engaging to talk about, a communications medium in which to fluidly discuss it, and a social environment that supports discourse. We designed a fully online introductory geoscience lecture and lab course called Geology Goes Hollywood that emphasizes all three of the dimensions of the community of inquiry framework: cognitive presence, social presence, and teaching presence. To heighten cognitive presence, we pair Hollywood movies with documentaries about issues relevant to students' lives (specifically earthquake hazards, water supply and contamination, and issues of fracking). To promote social presence, students worked in teams to evaluate one another's conceptual understanding of the course material, collaboratively analyze data and interpret findings, and discuss real-world scenarios. Our teaching presence involved appropriate collaborative technologies that enabled human interactions and consistent deadlines. Because of the effort to build community, about a third of students reported that our asynchronous online class felt "more human" than many of their face-to-face general education courses.