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High Impact-Practices (HIPs) have been found to improve student engagement and retention, increase civic engagement, and enhance learning outcomes. Research on HIPs shows that combining multiple HIPs into a course, also known as hybrid HIPs, are more impactful than individual HIPs, and that community engagement and service-learning pedagogies are especially impactful when combined with other HIPs. The purpose of this study was to assess whether different levels of hybrid HIP combinations produced similar or different outcomes for students, as assessed by reciprocal learning. The courses included in this study were a study abroad course and two comparison courses within one department, which employed different levels of hybrid HIPs, such as collaborative assignments, service-learning, reflections, active learning, and project-based learning. Social Network Analysis (SNA) was used to evaluate three types of social ties (communication, social support, and learning) in these three courses. The results show that careful design and integration of multiple HIPs in the study abroad course produced markedly denser and more integrated communication and social support networks than the other courses. In addition, the study abroad class developed a learning network with high levels of reciprocal learning. This study contributes to the field of higher education in two ways: (a) expands the evidence-base for the robust learning outcomes produced by hybrid HIPs and (b) demonstrates that HIPs have to be planned within courses. Finally, integrating high-level learning objectives and pedagogies, regardless of whether or not the course type is considered as a HIP, will enable the 'gold standard' to be applied to all the different course types.

Social network research often depends on the willingness of respondents to provide personal information about themselves and alters. Survey design strategies that increase willingness to share this information are necessary for social network research to be feasible, especially when name generators are used for sampling because rosters are unavailable. We conducted an experiment in which one group of respondents (n = 94) received an online survey that included an example network map and the other group (n = 100) received one that did not. Results show the map did not increase or decrease provision of network contacts nor influence the types of ties reported. Furthermore, respondents were reluctant to provide names and contact information of alters. Our study demonstrates the difficulty of collecting network information without a previously defined roster and an attempt to improve data collection through strategic survey design. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Sustainable school buildings hold much promise to reducing operating costs, improve occupant well-being and, ultimately, teacher and student performance. However, there is a scarcity of evidence on the effects of sustainable school buildings on health and performance indicators. We sought to create a framework for a multidisciplinary research agenda that links school facilities, health, and educational outcomes. Methods: We conducted a non-systematic review of peer review publications, government documents, organizational documents, and school climate measurement instruments. Results: We found that studies on the impact of physical environmental factors (air, lighting, and thermal comfort) on health and occupant performance are largely independent of research on the social climate. The current literature precludes the formation of understanding the causal relation among school facilities, social climate, occupant health, and occupant performance. Conclusions: Given the average age of current school facilities in the United States, construction of new school facilities or retrofits of older facilities will be a major infrastructure investment for many municipalities over the next several decades. Multidisciplinary research that seeks to understand the impact of sustainable design on the health and performance of occupants will need to include both an environmental science and social science perspective to inform best practices and quantification of benefits that go beyond general measures of costs savings from energy efficiencies.

The market for conservation easements provides a way to ensure the continued existence of open space amenities where rural communities face development pressure. The object of this research is to identify factors affecting land trust agents’ preferences for conservation easements and to investigate preference heterogeneity among those potentially involved in easement acquisition. Stated choice surveys were sent to land trusts’ personnel (agents) across the Intermountain West. Models were segmented by attitudinal data from land trust agents regarding their organizations’ provision of ecosystem services versus their sense of place or place attachment when considering conservation easement choices. Four separate random utility models were estimated. Results indicated that preference heterogeneity for conservation easements exists across land trust agent segments. Such knowledge provides insights into factors which may affect potential demands for conservation easements in this evolvingmarket. These outcomes might help public policy makers allocate resources towards land conservation and land use planning.

To solve complex 21st-century global challenges, universities must prepare students to be competent team members. This article presents results from analysis of data collected at a university in four types of undergraduate sociology classrooms using mixed-methods, including social network analysis, student reflections, and an alumni survey. Results showed that learning is a social process. Compared with traditional lecture, fixed teams, and interacting teams, opportunistic collaboration is the most effective structure in teaching team learning through fostering communication, support, and learning networks. Post-secondary education should endorse opportunistic collaboration learning practices to prepare students for workplace success in a global economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This case study examines how energy conservation efforts in one public high school contributed to both sustainability education and the adoption of sustainable behavior within educational and organizational practice. Individual role models, school facilities, school governance and school culture together support both conservation and environmental education, specifically through the application of principles from behavior theory, including modeling commitments, values, expectations, and behaviors. In addition, role models with the traits of charismatic leaders can be especially instrumental. In this school, communication is the thread connecting the multiple aspects of modeling, helping to create the synergistic relationship between conservation efforts and environmental education. This study demonstrates that conservation efforts, when modeled successfully in a public school setting, can simultaneously and synergistically meet the goals of conservation and sustainability education.

How can existing schools significantly reduce their energy use? With energy costs rising and school budgets shrinking, energy use is a substantial cost that can be reduced through conservation efforts. Using a case study methodology, the authors compare two public high schools from the same school district, one that has achieved moderate energy savings and another that has reduced its electricity use by 50% over several years. Examining the individual and organizational components of both schools; efforts, the authors find that the greater success at one school is the result of integrated efforts at all levels within the organization, from district administrators to individual students. Success is based on structural changes, individual behavioral change, and, most important, the weaving of both into a cohesive organizational culture emphasizing conservation. This study demonstrates the potential of behavioral change and organizational culture to foster environmental education, conservation, and fiscal savings for other public schools. (Contains 1 note, 2 tables, and 4 figures.)

This article studied changes in rumor spreading and perceptions of peers' rumor spreading among students at one public junior high school following a social norms marketing campaign. Results of the study show that perceptions of peer rumor spreading fell following the campaign, but self-reports of rumor spreading did not decrease. Results suggest that a social norms marketing campaign conducted by a professional school counselor and delivered to students in a junior high can reduce misperceptions of negative social behaviors. (Contains 3 tables.)

The objectives were to explore the relation between the built environment of residence halls and the alcohol use of college students living on campus from the perspective of the theory of routine activity. This exploratory study examined data from two samples on one college campus. Online surveys assessed alcohol use, attitudes toward alcohol use, perceptions of campus alcohol norms, and individual factors (i.e., gender). Data came from an Alcohol Norms Survey using a random sample (N = 440) and a Resident Assessment Survey using a random sample ( N = 531) in 2006 and 2007. After controlling for other drinking behavior predictors (attitudes, gender, high school drinking, and perceptions of peer drinking), regression analysis showed that students living in suite halls had a higher odds of drinking more frequently, drinking more alcohol when they socialize, heavy episodic drinking, and drinking more often in their residence halls. (Contains 4 tables and 2 figures.)

This article describes the outcomes of Project LINK, a Safe Schools/Healthy Students grantee in Larimer County, Colorado. The study analyzed the influence of policies and administrative support on the implementation of programs as well as on risk and protective factors predictive of violent behaviors and drug and alcohol use. Results showed increased feelings of safety in comparison to the rest of the state and changes in risk and protective factors by school level. Results also indicate that leadership support and enforcement of policies are associated with successful adoption, implementation, and positive behavioral outcomes. (Contains 8 tables.)

This study examined the influence of survey validity screening on the results from three group-administered school surveys administered to samples totaling approximately 5500 students in 19 schools. The estimated levels of risk behaviors, antisocial behaviors, and victim experiences were substantially reduced when respondents who gave multiple inconsistent or extreme responses to other survey items were screened out of the data. The researchers also observed that the percentage of students giving inconsistent and illogically extreme responses was greater among those surveys given by an untrained administrator, raising the hypothesis that administrator training could be a critical factor in obtaining more consistent and trustworthy survey data. These results indicate that it may be important to train school staff in survey administration and to screen surveys for validity in order to improve the accuracy of student self-report surveys. (Contains 5 tables and 3 notes.)

Preparing Construction Management (CM) students for their professional lives must include not only training on technical skills, but also a variety of personal interaction skills, from working with diverse teams and solving complex problems to communicating with clients and other project stakeholders. This paper asks the question, "How can CM departments facilitate student learning and interactions that simultaneously develop technical, managerial, communication, and people skills?". Across disciplines, universities have been encouraging curriculum innovation through High-Impact Learning Activities (HI-Activities) – including hands-on learning, problem-based learning, capstone courses, service-learning, and study abroad experiences – in an effort to develop students' ability to apply knowledge and prepare them for their careers. The purpose of this research is to investigate the relationship between classroom teaching strategies in CM courses and the development of social and learning networks among students. The data include results from a social network survey of four courses to understand how using different HI-Activities in the classroom produced different social and learning networks. The results show that service-learning and study abroad classes are more effective than classes involving project-based learning and hands-on learning activities in developing communication and learning networks among CM students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]