The Economic Impact of the Green Industry in the United States

This study estimates the economic impacts of the U.S. environmental horticulture industry (also known as the Green Industry) to be $147.8 billion in output, 1,964,339 jobs,$95.1 billion in value added, $64.3 billion in labor income, and$6.9 billion in indirect business taxes, with these values expressed in 2004 dollars.Environmental Economics and Policy,

Economic impact of the Florida cultured hard clam industry

(29pp.

In Search of Quality: Using Quality Matters to Analyze the Quality of Massive, Open, Online Courses (MOOCs)

The concept of the massive, open, online course (MOOC) is not new, but high-profile initiatives have moved MOOCs into the forefront of higher education news over the past few years. Members of institutions of higher education have mixed feelings about MOOCs, ranging from those who want to offer college credit for the successful completion of MOOCs to those who fear MOOCs are the end of the university as we know it. We set forth to investigate the quality of MOOCs by using the Quality Matters quality control framework. In this article, we present the results of our inquiry, with a specific focus on the implications the results have on day-to-day practice of designing online courses

Investigating Peer Review as an Intentional Learning Strategy to Foster Collaborative Knowledge-Building in Students of Instructional Design

Peer review has been advocated for as an intentional strategy to support the knowledge and skill attainment of adult learners preparing for professional practice, including those students preparing for instructional design and technology practice. The purposes of this article are to discuss the practical application of peer review as an instructional strategy by articulating its use in both face-to-face and online Instructional Design courses and to formulate directions for future research on the use of peer review in instructional practice. Findings from a literature review of student-to-student peer review and the authors\u27 experiences with the use of peer review in Instructional Design courses are used to foster a discussion that interweaves both important scholarly and practical elements

STEM Education in Rural Schools: Implications of Untapped Potential

A large number of students in American public schools attend rural schools. In this paper, the authors explore rural science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education and the issues associated with STEM education for students, teachers, and parents in rural communities. Characteristics of rural STEM education are examined to highlight unique considerations for this context. The authors conclude with the recommendation that more research is needed that specifically addresses rural STEM education

Risk and Resilience of Somali Children in the Context of Climate Change, Famine, and Conflict

Climate change is an existential threat to all of humanity. Its impact on the children of Somalia provides insights into the severity of risks posed by climate change to current and future generations. Globally, there has been a continuous increase in mean annual temperatures since 1991 and scientists anticipate an increase of up to 4.3 degrees Celsius by the end of the century. Concomitantly, Somalia has experienced a decrease in annual rainfall, resulting in recurrent droughts. According to the UN’s emergency aid coordination office, these droughts have grown in frequency and intensity over the past three decades, fueling increased frequency of famine and contributing to internal conflict and civil war. In this article, the impact of climate change on children, exemplified by the plight of Somali children, is viewed through the lens of cumulative adversity and related consequences of poverty on malnutrition, illness, disruptions of family systems, and displacement, with a diaspora around the globe. The paper promotes a multi-systems resilience framework that guides strategies for addressing the complex, cascading crises that accompany climate change, exploring the construct of resilience from the individual/interpersonal level through family systems and communities, including a reframing of the Somali diaspora. The paper concludes with a series of global transnational policy recommendations based on children’s rights, the promotion of resilience, and approaching climate change from a child sensitive perspective, encouraging youth engagement and leadership, along with peace-building

Extended Life Testing of Duplex Ball Bearings

Sierra Nevada Corporations Space Systems performed bearing life testing for the Scan Mirror Motor/Encoder Assembly (SMMA), part of the Scan Mirror Assembly on-board the Aerosol Polarimetry Sensor (APS) on the NASA Glory Spacecraft. The baseline bearing life test duration extended beyond the launch date for the Glory Spacecraft; a risk that the program was willing to undertake with the understanding that if any anomalies or failures occurred before the required life was achieved, then the mission objectives or operating profile could be modified on orbit to take those results into account. Even though the Glory Spacecraft failed to reach orbit during its launch in March of 2011, the bearing life testing was continued through a mutual understanding of value between Sierra Nevada Corporation and our customer; with a revised goal of testing to failure rather than completing a required number of life cycles. Life testing thus far has not only exceeded the original mission required life, but has also exceeded the published test data for Cumulative Degradation Factor (CDF) from NASA/CR-2009-215681. Many lessons were learned along the way regarding long life testing. The bearing life test has been temporarily suspended due to test support equipment issues

Values Associated with the Apalachicola Bay Marine

Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,