Tim Jowett

Exploring the Use of the Revised New Ecological Paradigm Scale (NEP) to Monitor the Development of Students’ Ecological Worldviews

Higher education institutions are interested in the impact that they and concurrent life experiences may have on students’ sustainability attitudes, but they lack formal processes to monitor changes. We used the NEP to monitor changes in students’ ecological worldviews. We were interested in what variation there would be in a multidisciplinary group, if the NEP could detect changes in students’ ecological worldviews over a limited time period, and to learn more about the NEP and its use. We conclude that the NEP is a valuable research instrument for this study and that monitoring students’ attitudes is a worthwhile precursor to debating the issues institutionally.

Longitudinal Analysis of the Environmental Attitudes of University Students.

This article addresses the important questions that higher education institutions ask concerning their impact on their students’ sustainability-related attributes ‘How do our students’ worldviews change as they experience higher education with us?’ The process of monitoring such a dynamic entity is fraught with statistical complexity but may not be impossible for an institution willing to ask whether or not its educational efforts in ‘education for sustainability’, ‘education for sustainable development’ or ‘environmental education’, and campus sustainability developments, are paralleled by changes in the attitudes of its students. We describe here a longitudinal survey process based on the revised New Ecological Paradigm scale, with two cohorts of students, in three programmes of study, operating over four years, with multiple survey inputs by each student. We implemented the longitudinal analysis using a linear mixed-effects model and describe here the development and testing of this model. We conclude that higher education institutions can benchmark the sustainability attributes of their students and monitor changes, if they are minded to. We invite higher education practitioners worldwide to join us in further developing suitable research instruments, processes and statistical models, and in further analysing the assumptions that link higher education to sustainability and to global citizenship.

Multinomial-Regression Modeling of the Environmental Attitudes of Higher Education Students Based on the Revised New Ecological Paradigm Scale.

Higher education is increasingly interested in its impact on the sustainability attributes of its students, so we wanted to explore how our students’ environmental concern changed during their higher education experiences. We used the Revised New Ecological Paradigm Scale (NEP) with 505 students and developed and tested a multinomial regression model to help us to understand what can be measured and how to interpret changes. Our results demonstrate that even small differences, not apparent when only mean NEP scores are reported for cohorts of students, can be modeled to reveal statistically significant trends. We advise further exploration of this instrument and its applicability to higher educations quest for sustainability-credibility.

Is the environmental literacy of university students measurable

We report the development and piloting of an evaluative instrument and process for monitoring the environmental literacy (EL) of undergraduate students in one large research-led university in New Zealand. The instrument addresses knowledge, affect and competencies in the general area of EL in line with this institution’s adoption of EL as a graduate attribute (or in a US context, a general-education learning outcome, and something to be fostered throughout a student’s education). The instrument and associated processes were designed to fit within conventional institutional mechanisms that manage student feedback on the quality of teaching. The instrument was tested with more than 600 students from more than eight programmes over the course of a year and its use stressed that students were anonymous within the survey. We conclude that evaluating (or in a US context, assessing) the extent to which students acquire EL is an achievable objective and is a reasonable expectation for any higher education institution that claims to foster this attribute.

Seeking Learning Outcomes Appropriate for "Education for Sustainable Development" and for Higher Education.

This article shares and extends research-based developments at the University of Otago, New Zealand, that seek to explore how students’ worldviews change as they experience higher education with us. We emphasise that sustainability attributes may be described in terms of knowledge, skills and competencies but that these are underpinned by affective attributes such as values, attitudes and dispositions; so that ‘education for sustainable development’ is substantially a quest for affective change. We describe approaches to categorise affective outcomes and conclude that ‘education for sustainable development’ objectives comprise higher order affective outcomes (leading to behavioural change) that are challenging for higher education to address. Our own work emphasises the need for student anonymity as these higher order outcomes are assessed, evaluated, monitored, researched or otherwise measured using research instruments that focus on worldview. A longitudinal mixed-effects repeat-measures statistical model is described that enables higher education institutions to answer the question of whether or not ‘education for sustainable development’ objectives are being achieved. Discussion links affect to critical reasoning and addresses the possibility of documenting and assessing the development of lower and mid-order affective outcomes. We conclude that ‘education for sustainable development’ objectives need to be clearly articulated if higher education is to be able to assess, or evaluate, their achievement.

Effects of low dose ibogaine on subjective mood state and psychological performance.

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE Root bark from Tabernanthe iboga has been used traditionally in West Africa as a psychoactive substance in religious rituals. In smaller doses it is reported anecdotally to have stimulant properties. AIM OF THE STUDY To evaluate the influence of a single 20mg ibogaine dose on psychological variables reflecting subjective mood state and a range of cognitive functions. MATERIALS AND METHODS 21 healthy male volunteers received single 20mg doses of ibogaine after 6 days pretreatment with double-blind paroxetine or placebo. We compared responses to a battery of psychometric tests and subjective mood ratings performed before and 2h after ibogaine dosing, and assessed relationships between changes in test scores and concentrations of active moiety (the sum of molar noribogaine and ibogaine concentrations). Psychological tests were chosen based on responsiveness to opioid and serotonergic ligands. RESULTS Ibogaine had minimal influence on psychological tests and mood ratings. The ability to selectively ignore distracting spatial information showed some evidence of modulation; however because this effect was limited to the less challenging condition calls into question the reliability of this result. CONCLUSION We were unable to identify stimulant effects after single 20mg doses of ibogaine. Future research is needed to confirm whether active moiety concentrations impact selective attention abilities while leaving other cognitive functions and mood state unaffected.

Greening the Curriculum to Foster Environmental Literacy in Tertiary Students Studying Human Nutrition

ABSTRACT Though sustainability is increasingly being incorporated into dietetic internships, there is a lack of literature documenting the teaching of environmental literacy in undergraduate nutrition. We report on how the implementation of a 2-week food sustainability module as part of an undergraduate second-year course in human nutrition affected students’ environmental literacy. We modified a previously published environmental literacy evaluation instrument to be nutrition specific, and this was adminstered to students before and after the module. Our research showed that, in a module as little as 2 weeks’ duration, it was possible to improve knowledge about food sustainability and shift attitudes in a “greener” direction.

Computerized testing in Parkinson’s disease: Performance deficits in relation to standard clinical measures

ABSTRACT Objective: This study assessed deficits associated with Parkinson’s disease (PD) at two time points separated by 1 year using a computerized neuropsychological battery, and determined interrelationships with conventional clinical measures of cognitive functioning (Montreal Cognitive Assessment; MoCA) and motor impairment (Part III of the Unified PD Rating Scale; UPDRS), as well as other factors known to influence cognitive dysfunction in PD. Method: Participants included 37 with PD and 47 controls. Linear mixed-effects models were developed for each computerized task. Results: Results showed that the PD group performed worse than controls on all of the computerized tasks at both time points. In contrast, MoCA scores differed between PD and controls only at follow-up. However, the MoCA detected decline over the year in the PD group, whereas only one of the computerized tasks did. In both groups, higher MoCA scores predicted better performance on some but not all of the computerized tasks. Surprisingly, UPDRS-rated motor impairment did not predict performance on any of the computerized tasks, and aside from older age, which predicted poorer performance on all but one task, the other factors—education, affective and impulsivecompulsive symptoms, sleep quality, dopaminergic medication—generally had no relationship with performance on the computerized tasks. Conclusions: The presence of performance deficits for all of the computerized tasks in the PD group compared to controls, but not for the MoCA at initial testing, indicates that the computerized battery was better able to detect deficits. However, in contrast to the MoCA, the current results call into question the suitability of the computerized battery as measured here for tracking decline.

Isotopic signatures in Mytilus galloprovincialis and Ulva latuca as bioindicators for assessing discharged sewage effluent in coastal waters along Otago Peninsula, New Zealand

ABSTRACT Sewage, waste organic matter from domestic and municipal wastewater, causes increased secondary productivity, eutrophication and trace metal contamination, reduced oxygen levels, and biodiversity which can lead to ecological disturbances in the natural aquatic ecosystem. The impact of sewage-derived organic matter (SDOM) on the nearshore marine ecosystem of the Otago Coast was assessed before, and 15 years after upgrade of the Dunedin sewage treatment plant. Carbon and nitrogen isotopic ratios in the tissues of sentinel organisms were used as bioindicators to elucidate the primary sources of nutrition the coastal environment. Mytilus galloprovincialis, a marine bivalve, exhibited a strong influence of SDOM from two sites in 2001. In 2015, M. galloprovincialis had a trophic enrichment factor of 3‰ (δ15N) and 1‰ (δ13C) when compared to the marine particulate organic matter (POM), suggestive of a dietary change away from the SDOM. Suspended POM collected from riverine and estuarine sources revealed other possible nitrogen sources from human-driven activities such as pastoral farming, application of organic manure and inorganic fertilisers, nitrification of ammonium from semi-urban septic tanks, and animal organic waste residues.

Monitoring surveying students’ environmental attitudes as they experience higher education in New Zealand

We investigate the environmental attitudes (EA) of New Zealand’s land surveying students and how they change during a four-year programme. We implemented a multi-cohort survey and developed a longitudinal statistical model of change. Findings suggest that although the EA scores of groups of students vary at different times within and between cohorts, there are no significant general trends when genders are combined. But females tend to start their studies with higher mean EA scores than males and this difference declines overtime. This occurs consistently across the four cohorts studied. This is discussed in relation to women’s role within the profession.