Construction Management Education in Canada: The History of the Establishment of Ontario's First Bachelor's Degree in Construction Management

This study examines the establishment of the first construction science and management degree program in Ontario. It illustrates the circumstances that led the Ontario construction industry to recognize the need for such an undergraduate degree program and to seek an educational institution as a partner in the planning, development and establishment of the undergraduate program. The paper displays how the industry faced obstacles such as a plan to regulate the industry by the Ontario government and the lack of incoming construction management degreed professionals from overseas. In addition, the paper displays the differences between existing engineering technology diplomas and the new bachelor degree in construction management and why the degree option will be beneficial to new students as well as graduates of the engineering technology diploma program. Finally, it displays how the Ontario construction industry leadership and reactiveness was the major factor in the establishment of the program and how industry participation and involvement is a key component in the success of undergraduate degree programs in construction management

Designing Persuasive Technology to Reduce Peak Electricity Demand in Ontario Homes

When it comes to environmental sustainability, the time that electricity is consumed matters. For example, using an air conditioner on a hot summer afternoon as the power grid is strained necessitates the use of more polluting sources to meet demand. There are a number of ways to target a reduction in peak demand: better electricity storage technology, for one, has the potential to level out these peaks. In the meantime, electrical utilities aim to incentivize a reduction in demand from households at these times through programs such as Time-of-Use Pricing, and critical peak demand response programs, such as peaksaver in Ontario. However, the effectiveness of these programs has been limited. In this thesis, we adopted the lens of persuasive technology to improve and support these programs, in order to encourage a reduction in electricity consumption in households at peak load times. To accomplish this, we conducted 18 interviews to examine the practices of households in response to these programs, and learn how they can be improved at the individual level. We found that Time-of-Use pricing encourages shifting some electricity demand, but only when it is convenient. We also found that while potentially effective at a larger scale, the peaksaver program in its current form is unattractive to participants. We then analyzed our findings using existing behaviour change models, including Fogg’s Behaviour Model for Persuasive Design. Using the three aspects of the model – motivation, ability and triggers - we identified where the existing programs are lacking and developed design implications for the design of persuasive technology to support reducing electricity consumption at peak load times. Finally, we designed a smartphone application based on these design implications, and conducted a preliminary evaluation in order to begin to assess their validity

The Social Construction of Sexuality in Primary School Classrooms

Through qualitative interviews with primary school teachers, this research sought to uncover how heterosexual privilege is maintained in talk about sexuality. More specifically, this research sought to identify the strategies used by teachers in talking to their students about sexuality. These strategies took shape in the following: a reliance on scientific explanations, deferring to others, a reliance on faith and religion, and the presumption that children are innocent and asexual. This research determined that these strategies were used to produce, reproduce, and maintain heterosexism and heteronormativity. The implications of this research are that schools are missing an important opportunity to create a safe and inclusive environment for ga

Great Lakes Focus on Water Quality: vol.3 iss.4

Many of you may ask that question next spring if you do not return the form on the back inside page of this issue. Future issues will be sent only to people who express interest in receiving them. A completely new mailing list will be generated from returned forms. Our mailing list has grown from 2,500 to nearly 15,000 names since Volume I, Issue l was published in the fall of 1974. It is now time to test whether everyone who gets Focus wants to continue receiving it

Global sustainability, innovation and governance dynamics of national smart electricity meter transitions

Smart electricity meters are a central feature of any future smart grid, and therefore represent a rapid and significant household energy transition, growing by our calculations from less than 23.5 million smart meters in 2010 to an estimated 729.1 million in 2019, a decadal growth rate of 3013%. What are the varying economic, governance, and energy and climate sustainability aspects associated with the diffusion of smart meters for electricity? What lessons can be learned from the ongoing rollouts of smart meters around the world? Based on an original dataset twice as comprehensive as the current state of the art, this study examines smart meter deployment across 41 national programs and 61 subnational programs that collectively target 1.49 billion installations involving 47 countries. In addition to rates of adoption and the relative influence of factors such as technology costs, we examine adoption requirements, modes of information provision, patterns of incumbency and management, behavioral changes and energy savings, emissions reductions, policies, and links to other low-carbon transitions such as energy efficiency or renewable energy. We identify numerous weak spots in the literature, notably the lack of harmonized datasets as well as inconsistent scope and quality within national cost-benefit analyses of smart meter programs. Most smart meters have a lifetime of only 20 years, leading to future challenges concerning repair, care, and waste. National-scale programs (notably China) account for a far larger number of installations than subnational ones, and national scale programs also install smart meters more affordably, i.e. with lower general costs. Finally, the transformative effect of smart meters may be oversold, and we find that smart electricity meters are a technology that is complementary, rather than disruptive or transformative, one that largely does not challenge the dominant practices and roles of electricity suppliers, firms, or network operators.publishedVersio

Impact Of Social Media Advertising On High Energy Drink Preferences And Consumption

Despite the surging appropriation of social media by marketers for communicative marketing of brands, what remains under-explored in literature is the capacity of social media platforms to influence student preferences for brands. This research gap is ironic given the growing literature on the potential of self-images shared on social media to influence consumers’ product preferences and purchase intentions. Drawing on Media Richness Theory, agency, extant literature and authors’ personal reflections on social media adoption for brand selection by students, this theoretical study examines how students navigate such platforms to make informed choices about energy drinks. The findings suggest while students exploited social media platforms intermittently to access energy drink brands, their brand preferences and choices were informed by personal agency (especially personal volition, peer influences, convenience and availability of brands) more than social media networks per se. The study contributes a conceptual model that integrate social media appropriation, consumer decision making, brand preferences and purchases. While the model is untested, its methodological strength lays in its reliance on extant literature, proven concepts, anecdotes of student consumption behavior and authors’ knowledge of social media, which are critical to deepening academics and policy makers’ understanding of social media-brand preference relations in real world contexts