PRAGMATIST ECOLOGICAL ECONOMICS: FOCUSING ON HUMAN-NATURE RELATIONSHIPS AND SOCIAL-ECOLOGICAL SYSTEMS

I propose pragmatist philosophy as a companion for ecological economics, a research tradition with a focus on addressing sustainability issues and integrating ecological principles, economics, and the broader social sciences. Ecological economics laudable goals include balancing competing values, tradeoffs, and insights for more equitable decision-making. However, the field is built upon somewhat tenuous philosophical and theoretical foundations, which has resulted in a muddled body of literature, concerns about relativistic science, and questions about the future viability of the field. To address such concerns, I propose and articulate pragmatist ecological economics. Generally, joining pragmatism and ecological economics provides established beliefs about: the nature of reality with a contextual ontology; the way we learn via Dewey’s experience model; the way to assess knowledge based upon deliberative democracy and ‘wary assessment’ and; a clear purpose to communicate, understand, and facilitate social learning about the human-nature relationship. Specific recommendations include a core subject matter (a comprehensive understanding of human-nature relationships), integration of normative sustainability, and a focus on better processes and methods that synthesize across big ideas (e.g., relationship to place research, ecosystem services). I stress that all approaches to understanding the human-nature relationship provide different, partial understandings. Consequently, I demonstrate a ‘research menu’ framework by weighing into a methodological debate between Q- and R-methodology. Finally, I propose that a social-ecological systems perspective and a pragmatist ecological economics are compatible, as the former can help the latter better achieve its applied goals by orienting the understanding of the human-nature relationships within the larger system

Stuck in the middle: Generation Xers lived experiences in the workforce while navigating between Baby Boomers and Millennials, and perceived impact on their job satisfaction

2015 Spring.Includes bibliographical references.Generation Xers are defined as those individuals born between the years of 1965-1980, and represent between 46-49 Million in the U.S. population, and are considered a much smaller cohort than Boomers (80 Million) and Millennials (78 Million). Gen Xers argue that they are overshadowed by the notable influence of the Boomers and a perceived anticipation of the Millennials to become "the next great generation" in the workforce and as such, describe themselves as "stuck in the middle" while waiting for Boomers to retire so they may advance in their careers. However, pronounced demographic trends may have exacerbated Gen Xers' perceptions of neglect and being stuck in the middle. These demographic trends include Boomers continuing to work and Millennials entering the workforce and bringing with them vastly different work preferences, values and expectations than the proceeding generational cohorts. These two dimensions --Boomers continuing to work, and Millennials entering and beginning to influence the workforce--suggest a potentially enigmatic challenge for the smaller but still relevant cohort of Gen Xers with the potential impact on Gen Xers being relatively unknown. This exploratory study was to examine the unique workforce experiences of Gen Xers as it related to being stuck between the Baby Boomers and Millennials and thereby, gain understanding of the perceived impact to their job satisfaction. To describe, understand and find meaning in the participants co-constructed findings, a hermeneutic phenomenology methodology was utilized that was grounded in a constructivist paradigm. The findings from this study represent the individual, shared and co-constructions of six participants which resulted in twelve global themes. The twelve themes include: 1: "Stuck in the middle" is experienced and expressed differently by Gen Xers; 2: Gen Xers have anxiety about their professional future; 3: There are challenges unique to Gen Xers; 4: Gen Xers have perceptions about themselves and their work role; 5: There are generational similarities and differences; 6: Unique work culture impacts generational issues; 7: There may be economic influences on their career; 8: Historical context shapes who Gen Xers are as adults; 9: Baby Boomer influences contribute to job dissatisfaction; 10: Extrinsic motivators; 11: Intrinsic motivators; 12: Job satisfaction or dissatisfaction can carry over to life. The global themes are further comprised of organizing and basic themes to provide additional breadth and depth of understanding of this phenomenon. The study concludes by acknowledging that the voices of the Generation X participants have been heard through the compilation of their personal stories. It is noted that their stories and experiences were largely influenced by three primary factors which include recognition of the individuality of Gen Xers, lack of mutual exclusivity between generational cohorts, and the significance of context in understanding one's lived experience. Finally, drawing from the findings, recommendations are provide to inform research, theory and practice

The Importance of Water-Based Ecosystem Services Derived from the Shoshone National Forest

There is a wide range of goods and services being provided to humans by water resources (e.g. hydropower and recreation), but there is also a diversity of stakeholders that require or desire these benefits, also known as water-based ecosystem services, for everyday life. Land managers working for the United States Department of Agriculture Forest Service in the semi-arid Rocky Mountain Region are tasked with the difficult job of managing scarce water resources in the face of competing human pressures and natural forces (e.g. climate change). Water management decisions on public lands can potentially impact the availability of a wide range of benefits derived from water to a wide range of stakeholders. This project aimed to inform policy-makers and land managers about the range of benefits people derive from water within and flowing from the Shoshone National Forest (SNF), and the importance of those water benefits to stakeholders in northwest Wyoming. Additionally, this project aimed to understand the perceptions of stakeholders regarding the threat of climate change, and other factors, to their ability to receive certain water-based ecosystem services. The use of literature review, focus groups, and pilot tests helped to identify 34 water-based ecosystem services being derived from the SNF. An understanding of stakeholder preference for those 34 ecosystem services was obtained through the use of a preference elicitation method called Q-methodology, which was administered to 96 stakeholders covering a broad range of interests. Factor analysis of the 96 surveys yielded four major perspectives that explain, in a nuanced fashion, 48% of the study variance. The four viewpoints were named the environmental perspective, agricultural perspective, Native American perspective, and recreation perspective. The preferences for each of the four viewpoints with regard to water-based ecosystem services are presented holistically, however, each of the viewpoints is partly defined by two ‘most important’ ecosystem services. Those ‘most important’ water-based ecosystem services were water quality (‘most important’ to two different viewpoints), household/municipal use (‘most important’ to two different viewpoints), Native American cultural and spiritual values, commercial irrigation, river-based fishing, and biodiversity conservation. The threat of climate change to the ability of stakeholders to receive their most important water-based ecosystem services was acknowledged by the majority of stakeholders but, in many cases, there was skepticism that climate change is anything more than a natural trend. Additionally, stakeholders were concerned about water quality, federal and state government management and regulations (e.g. reservoirs and in-stream flow management), and other competing uses impacting their ability to receive their most important ecosystem services

A Qualitative Study of Contributing Factors of Early Career Teacher Burnout

Understanding factors contributing to teacher burnout is important to understand so it can be prevented. Teacher attrition is on the rise and is directly affecting student achievement. To combat this prevalent issue in our schools today, districts and school leadership need to support and develop teacher self-efficacy. To do this, they need to provide support to their teachers through positive affirmation, checking in frequently, and providing proper time and resources needed for teachers to feel successful at their job. This qualitative study explored the contributing factors of early career teacher burnout. The research questions (RQ) for this study are as follows: RQ1: What do early career teachers grades PreK–8 in public schools identify as contributors to stress and burnout? RQ2: What factors do early career teachers grades PreK–8 in public schools perceive as contributing to their self-efficacy? RQ3: How do early career teachers grades PreK–8 in public schools develop self-efficacy? The data was collected through a single 20–30-minute interview with each of the 18 participants. This research examined several issues: (a) what teachers identify as contributing factors to stress and burnout, (b) what teachers perceive as contributing to their self-efficacy, and (c) how teachers develop self-efficacy. Results showed a lack of support, resources, and time led to their feelings of stress and burnout, and support from administration and the proper amount of time and resources to prepare their lessons contributed to higher self-efficacy levels. Research results were organized into three themes: Theme 1: Teacher Confidence; Theme 2: Teacher Stress Factors; Theme 3: Administration and District Support

From online enhanced to wholly online: reflections on e-learning developments in teaching psychology

Deakin University has determined that every undergraduate student enrolled from 2004 will undertake at least one unit wholly online, without the usual face to face teaching that is a major component in on campus study. In response to this policy, Research methods in psychology has been developed as a wholly online unit and offered in 2004 as one of the first wholly online units to be run in the University. The design of the unit builds on the development and use of digital media and online technologies in teaching first and second year units. This paper outlines the antecedents of the unit&rsquo;s design and operation, along with its current wholly online teaching and learning environment. The relationship between the use of digital resources and online features is mapped against key concepts and skills to be mastered in the unit. Distinctive student attributes to be developed in relation to the subject being offered wholly online are considered. The move to new e-learning territories of wholly online environments raises important research questions. An approach to researching wholly online teaching and learning environments in the discipline of psychology is detailed as a response to illuminating key dimensions of a significant development in e-learning in higher education.<br /

Issues arising from an online resource-based learning approach in first year psychology

This paper reports on an evaluation of an innovative, online resource-based learning (RBL) approach used in first year psychology at Deakin University. The evaluation revealed a number of critical issues that must be considered to ensure effective implementation of an RBL approach. Emphasis is giveen to educational considerations covering the use and value of a diversity of print and electronic learning resources, online discussions and face-to-face teaching arrangements. The importance of strong integration of all elements of the learning environment, and provision of clear guidelines to learning are highlighted.<br /

Employing surfactant-assisted hydrothermal synthesis to control CuGaO2 nanoparticle formation and improved carrier selectivity of perovskite solar cells

Delafossites like CuGaO2 have appeared as promising p-type semiconductor materials for opto-electronic applications mainly due to their high optical transparency and electrical conductivity. However, existing synthetic efforts usually result in particles with large diameter limiting their performance relevant to functional electronic applications. In this article, we report a novel surfactant-assisted hydrothermal synthesis method, which allows the development of ultrafine (~5 nm) monodispersed p-type CuGaO2 nanoparticles (NPs). We show that DMSO can be used as a ligand and dispersing solvent for stabilizing the CuGaO2 NPs. The resulting dispersion is used for the fabrication of dense, compact functional CuGaO2 electronic layer with properties relevant to advanced optoelectronic applications. As a proof of concept, the surfactant-assisted hydrothermal synthesized CuGaO2 is incorporated as a hole transporting layer (HTL) in the inverted p-i-n perovskite solar cell device architecture providing improved hole carrier selectivity and power conversion efficiency compared to conventional PEDOT:PSS HTL based perovskite solar cells

The emergence of an online learning community in first year tertiary studies in psychology

The introduction of an online supported, resource based learning environment into a large, multi-modal first year psychology unit led to the spontaneous development of a small, but active, learning community. While off campus students were more active online contributors, many other students &quot;observed&quot; these interactions, not actively contributing but finding the discussion postings valuable to their learning. Overall, use and perceived value of the online communication facilities were related to how confident students were that they had an appropriate study strategy, with off campus and older students reporting greater confidence in their study approach. The results highlight that the nature and function of learning communities for large, multi-modal foundation units are quite different to those typically articulated in the literature and are worth further investigation.<br /

Room Temperature Nanoparticulate Interfacial Layers for Perovskite Solar Cells via solvothermal synthesis

We present a solvothermal synthetic route to produce monodispersed CuO nanoparticles (NPs) in the range of 5-10 nm that can be used as hole selective interfacial layer between indium tin oxide (ITO) and perovskite active layer for p-i-n perovskite solar cells by a spin casting the dispersions at room temperature. The bottom electrode interface modification provided by spherical CuO-NPs at room temperature promotes the formation of high quality perovskite photoactive layers with large crystal size and strong optical absorption. Furthermore, it is shown that the nanoparticulate nature of the CuO hole transporting interfacial layer can be used to improve light manipulation within perovskite solar cell device structure. The corresponding p-i-n CH3NH3PbI3-based solar cells show high Voc values of 1.09 V, which is significantly higher compared to the Voc values obtained with conventional PEDOT:PSS hole selective contact based perovskite solar cells