UMass Amherst Campus Green Building Resources

UMass Amherst is a STARS Gold institution that has received numerous awards for its sustainability efforts in higher education. To celebrate the physical elements of the campus sustainability achievements, and to inform campus staff, faculty and students how to support green building projects, Campus Planning and Design & Construction sponsored a presentation to the campus community on Campus Green Building Resources: LEED and Beyond. Ludmilla Pavlova-Gillham, Senior Campus Planner reviews the commitment UMass Amherst has made to sustainable design and construction and the range of sustainability/LEED resources available to campus staff, faculty and students as they work on planning, designing and constructing a sustainable campus. The presentation also assists staff in navigating the LEED rating systems, provides an in-depth review of campus-wide programs and practices that support LEED building certification, and is meant to encourage discussion of what additional resources are needed to facilitate on-going renovation and modernization work that supports a green campus

E-learning for Critical Thinking: Using Nominal Focus Group Method to Inform Software Content and Design

Background: Undergraduate nursing students are often confused by multiple understandings of critical thinking. In response to this situation, the Critiique for critical thinking (CCT) project was implemented to provide consistent structured guidance about critical thinking. Objectives: This paper introduces Critiique software, describes initial validation of the content of this critical thinking tool and explores wider applications of the Critiique software. Materials and Methods: Critiique is flexible, authorable software that guides students step-by-step through critical appraisal of research papers. The spelling of Critiique was deliberate, so as to acquire a unique web domain name and associated logo. The CCT project involved implementation of a modified nominal focus group process with academic staff working together to establish common understandings of critical thinking. Previous work established a consensus about critical thinking in nursing and provided a starting point for the focus groups. The study was conducted at an Australian university campus with the focus group guided by open ended questions. Results: Focus group data established categories of content that academic staff identified as important for teaching critical thinking. This emerging focus group data was then used to inform modification of Critiique software so that students had access to consistent and structured guidance in relation to critical thinking and critical appraisal. Conclusions: The project succeeded in using focus group data from academics to inform software development while at the same time retaining the benefits of broader philosophical dimensions of critical thinking

Competitive Engineering: Structural Climate Modifications To Enhance Youth Athletes\u27 Competitive Experience

Competitive engineering (CE) is a structural-based approach to changing the competitive environment of youth sports to provide more nurturing competitive experiences. Thus, in youth sport, CE attempts to enhance a variety of psychosocial outcomes by making systematic changes to the competitive environment in which athletes perform. A working CE model is presented that employs four CE strategies (i.e., modifying structure, rules, facilities and equipment) to promote athlete engagement goals based on athlete-directed sandlot sport principles (i.e., increasing action and scoring, keeping scores close, enhancing personal involvement, and maintaining positive social relationships) in order to attain intrinsic motivation outcomes, particularly competence, autonomy, relatedness and Row while promoting an autonomy supportive climate. Discussion focuses on how the CE model can best promote research and intervention to enhance competitive climates in order to promote better sport experiences for all youngsters

UMass Amherst Collections 2013

During the Campus Master Planning effort the need to better understand and plan for the UMass Amherst collections was identified and an ad-hoc committee was created to help advance a better understanding of the existing collections and how best to plan for the future. The committee was comprised of Directors/ curators of campus academic collections, Campus Planning staff and other related campus professionals. The first task of the committee was to develop a basis for creating a planning framework for the academic collections. The Committee defined existing collections and set a framework and common language that enabled the classification and quantification of collections space on cam­pus. The UMass Amherst Collections 2013 report summarizes each collection, its mission and the contact person responsible for the collection. The term collection was defined to include all the campus holdings that are used for academic, research and outreach purposes, with the exception of the Libraries, which had recently completed a facilities Master Plan outlining strategies for future facilities

Social Support Seeking And Early Adolescent Depression And Anxiety Symptoms: The Moderating Role Of Rumination

This study examined how social support seeking and rumination interacted to predict depression and anxiety symptoms 6 months later in early adolescents (N = 118; 11-14 years at baseline). We expected social support seeking would be more helpful for adolescents engaging in low rather than high levels of rumination. Adolescents self-reported on all measures at baseline, and on depression and anxiety symptoms 6 months later. Social support seeking predicted fewer symptoms of depression and anxiety at low rumination levels but was not associated with benefits as rumination increased. For depression symptoms, social support seeking predicted more symptoms at high rumination levels. Results were stronger for emotion-focused than problem-focused support seeking and for depression compared with anxiety symptoms. These findings suggest that cognitive risk factors like rumination may explain some inconsistencies in previous social support literature, and highlight the importance of a nuanced approach to studying social support seeking

Realising a vision - a partnership approach to education capturing the enterprising spirit of the young people of North Tyneside

This paper describes and explains how three separate initiatives, for linking education with business and industry, were integrated to give a model for action in widely different types of school. Each author worked on one initiative, and this model was then the outcome of combining their expertise and experience. The rationale and philosophy behind the following three initiatives was explored. Provision of training days for advisory staff on the potential use of the Banking Information Service multi-media resource "Financial Planning and Management of Design Technology Projects". An interdisciplinary enquiry by the Advisory Team for Technology of North Tyneside Education Authority into the delivery of the National Curriculum within the context of a local initiative entitled "Schools Mean Business". Commissions undertaken by student teachers in connection with the TVEI/Initial Teacher Training Programme of Newcastle Polytechnic. The outcome was the provision of a model for action, to be described fully in the paper, within five local authority schools; a first school, a middle school, two special schools and a comprehensive school. Each school established its own partnerships between one another, with higher education via student commissions, with local industry, with initiatives led by local councils, and in a number of other ways. Schools set up programmes of study using the process of technology, exploring the implementation of the National Curriculum beyond subject boundaries - programmes requiring trust, flexibility, and a vision of education as a whole. The work done in the schools will also be illustrated in our poster presentations at the conference

Planning for Campus Collections 2013

During the Campus Master Planning effort the need to better understand and plan for the UMass Amherst collections was identified and an ad-hoc committee was created to help advance a better understanding of the existing collections and how best to plan for the future. The committee was comprised of Directors/ curators of campus academic collections, Campus Planning staff and other related campus professionals. The first task of the committee was to develop a basis for creating a planning framework for the academic collections. The Committee defined existing collections and set a framework and common language that enabled the classification and quantification of collections space on cam­pus. The UMass Amherst Planning for Campus Collection 2013 report to academic Deans provides an overview of the Campus Planning Collections Study and proposes a vision for future planning efforts

Taming the Brut: Education, Conservation and Advocacy

Is Brutalism part of your architectural biography? Midcentury public concrete buildings are easy to dislike, are demolished at an increasing rate, and comprise hundreds of millions of GSF . Join a panel of experts to discover how the conservation and adaptation of these “Bruts” is a principal strategy for climate action. Explore innovative solutions for Brutalist building reuse and conservation as part of a carbon zero initiative, learn how to develop an effective marketing and advocacy campaign for historic preservation, and learn why such advocacy matters for a circular economy and for the next generation of architects in practice. LEARNING OBJECTIVES 1. Discuss the historical context and current perceptions (both positive and negative) of midcentury modern and Brutalist public architecture, and articulate methods for determining architectural significance to owners and the public. 2. Make the case for existing building renovation and historic preservation in the context of climate change and the circular economy. 3. Explore new methods for designing, justifying, and implementing net-zero energy and zero carbon approaches in existing buildings. 4. Identify key elements of a successful marketing, sustainability, and conservation education campaign that engages design and construction consultants, owners, public architects and administrators, community stakeholders, and the public