Motivating change: An Interactive journey in sustainability in environmental concerns

Despite the grave environmental issues facing the world, little is being done to educate our future generation of consumers on resource consumption and waste generation. There is a need for major change in the approach to education about sustainability. In the classroom, environmental education has been presented statically through traditional teaching methods. Environmental education is evolving to include information on how a person\u27s efforts and behavior can affect global change. However, changes in education are not happening as rapidly as the deterioration of the environment. The sustainability of the environment requires action and reaction, therefore it requires a more interactive approach to education. Can education through interactivity result in major changes? Can the inclusion of computer graphics as an alternative approach to education promote and motivate change in a person\u27s behavior in relation to the environment? This thesis is an exploration of the role Computer Graphics can play in environmental education. It is divided into two main components, Design Center and Action Toolkit. Through interactive engagement of the user this thesis offers experiential learning that successfully communicates the issue of sustainability of the environment, creating the opportunity to develop a lasting change in their daily behavior

Connectivity, confidentiality and confidence: Key issues in the provision of online pro bono activities

The provision of pro bono activities for law students has become an established feature of the undergraduate legal education landscape in Law Schools in the United Kingdom (“UK”) and beyond, providing the experiential elements of clinical legal education programmes. Pro bono activities conducted online, or utilising and enhanced by technologies in other ways (for example, through the development of a mobile phone application providing legal guidance), are increasingly becoming a part of this offering, reflecting wider shifts within legal practice and society and an increasing recognition of the importance of digital literacy skills. This paper will situate these forms of online and technologically-enhanced pro bono activities both within the wider context of contemporary clinical legal education and also as a part of broader professional and societal shifts. It will explore a variety of innovative approaches being taken internationally, including work done by The Open University’s Open Justice Centre in the UK, before moving on to focus on a number of key challenges and opportunities which may arise through the increasing provision of these new forms of pro bono activities by Law Schools. These include the potential and pitfalls of the technology involved, issues with confidentiality (particularly in the context of online legal advice) and the issue of how to foster trust in the online environment. The paper will conclude with a number of suggestions for areas requiring further research and discussion to enable contemporary clinicians to fully utilise the potential of online and technologically-enhanced pro bono activities

Overcoming water scarcity and quality constraints:

CONTENTS: Brief 1. Overview / Ruth S. Meinzen-Dick and Mark W. Rosegrant Brief 2. Water for Food Production / Mark W. Rosegrant and Ximing Cai Brief 3. Domestic Water Supply, Hygiene, and Sanitation / Hans van Damme Brief 4. Emerging Water Quality Problems in Developing Countries / Wim van der Hoeck - -Brief 5. Water and Rural Livelihoods / Linden Vincent Brief 6. Water and the Environment / Elro Bos and Ger Bergkamp Brief 7. Dams and Water Storage / Jeremy Bird and Pamela Wallace Brief 8. Groundwater: Potential and Constraints / Marcus Moench Brief 9. Water Harvesting and Watershed Management / John Kerr and Ganesh Pangare Brief 10. Water Pricing: Potential and Problems / R. Maria Saleth Brief 11. Markets for Tradable Water Rights / Karin E. Kemper Brief 12. Recognizing Water Rights / Franz and Keebet von Benda-Beckmann Brief 12. Integrated Management of Water in River Basins / Mark Svendsen Brief 13.Water, Conflict, and Cooperation / Aaron T. WolfWater quality management., Water rights., Water-supply,

Graduate Connections- February 2008

In This Issue: Click on links to navigate the newsletter Navigating Graduate School........... 1 The Dissertation Presentation Good Practices in Graduate Education........................................ 4 Helping Students Avoid Plagiarism Code of Conduct for Teaching Teaching Tip ...................................... 5 Identifying Relative Importance Essential Connections...................... 6 Graduate Studies Web Site Graduate Bulletin Online Professional Development............... 6 Responding to Academic Job Offers PFF Call for Nominations Taking Charge of Your Professional Development Solving a Teaching Problem Interactions........................................10 Grad Award Winners Grad Student Association News Funding Opportunities.....................12 Resources for Researchers..............14 NEAR Center Grant Writing Seminar Announcements................................14 Grad Student Poster Competition 2008 Research Fair LGBTQ Reading Group Scam Alert Calendar.............................................15 Readers’ Corner................................16 Negotiating Graduate School Mark Your Calendar March 14 . . . Deadline to enter graduate student poster competition April 1-3 . . . Research Fai

Optimizing Website Design Through the Application of an Interactive Genetic Algorithm

The goal of this project was to determine the efficacy and practicality of “optimizing” the design of a webpage through the application of an interactive genetic algorithm. Software was created to display a “population” of mutable designs, collect user feedback as a measure of fitness, and apply genetic operations in an ongoing evolutionary process. By tracking the prevalence of design parameters over multiple generations and evaluating their associated “fitness” values, it was possible to judge the overall performance of the algorithm when applied to this unique problem space