Secondary School Students' Conceptions of Sustainability

Sustainability is a word that is frequently used and often without the understanding that it warrants. An understanding of sustainability is vital today as people need to adopt strategies to cope with issues caused by environmental degradation, social inequity and economic disparity. Education for sustainability has gained momentum after calls by international bodies to provide a vehicle for change to prioritise sustainability and integrate sustainable development at all levels of education. This thesis investigates what secondary school students understand about the complex concept of sustainability. It explores students’ conceptions of sustainability, their views about sustainability issues and the relationship between the students’ conceptions and their views about sustainability issues. This research used a mixed method approach to collect quantitative and qualitative data from questionnaires and follow up focus group interviews. Open and closed questions were used to investigate students’ conceptions of sustainability and these were compared to conceptions of sustainability that educators and scholars regard as important for citizens to hold for a sustainable future. Students’ views about sustainability issues were explored using modification of semantic differentials that were directly related to principles of sustainability that had been drawn from the literature. Data gathered were analysed using a thematic approach and simple statistical tests. Findings showed that students in this study had some understanding of sustainability. A minority of students held simple, one dimensional conceptions of sustainability but a significant number of students held conceptions that were more complex and multi-dimensional in nature. There were no students who held the expert conceptions of sustainability that scholars and educators regard as important, where environmental, economic, cultural, social and political conceptions are interrelated within an inter-generational setting. Findings also showed that students’ views of sustainability issues, determined from a series of differential statements, indicated that the majority of students agreed or strongly agreed with the sustainable view for most of the environmental, economic, cultural, social, political and inter-generational sustainability issues presented to them. Comparison of these findings indicated that a student who held a more complex conception of sustainability, and was able to identify a number of conceptions of sustainability, is more likely to make a sustainable choice on an issue if given the opportunity. These findings are encouraging but, because of the importance of sustainability, they suggest a need to further develop students’ understandings of this complex concept

An Exploration of Case Studies Surrounding the Accounting Environment

I formulated my thesis throughout my yearlong Accounting 420 and 421 class, an exclusive class for accounting majors in the Sally McDonnell Barksdale Honors College. Throughout the year we were assigned eleven different cases to complete, ranging from interviews, certifications, and in-depth case competitions. Each case was selected to teach us a new accounting topic for the week. Our knowledge expanded by using real companies and financial statements, to prepare us for the future. Instead of defending my thesis to the Sally McDonnell Barksdale Honors College, the class competed in two case competitions with Big 4 accounting firms. This unique experience allowed us to gain firsthand knowledge, while working with teams and receiving real firm feedback. The following thesis is a culmination of my individual cases

The Effect of Time-Restricted Feeding on Body Weight, Energy, Mood, Sleep, and Hunger Levels of Adults on Social Media

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of time-restricted eighthour feeding on body weight, self-reported energy, mood, and hunger scores, and selfreported sleep patterns of adult men and women on social media. Generally healthy adults ages 18 to 65 were invited on social media to participate in a five-week study which involved a one week of following their normal dietary patterns succeeded by four weeks of practicing time-restricted feeding of eight hours per day, also known as 16 hours of fasting. Daily surveys were created in Survey Monkey and distributed through the messaging platform, Remind, that gathered data concerning self-reported energy, mood, and hunger scores, sleep patterns, and times participants began and ended fasting for the previous day. Initial, midpoint, and final body weights were also self-reported and sent to the researcher. One hundred twenty-nine subjects participated in the study but only 86 met the requirements of submitting all three body weights and completing a minimum of five out of seven surveys each week. The majority of participants were female (81.39%), ages 18- 25 (36.05%), and worked in the health science/health care field (23.26%). There was a significant decrease in body weight and BMI from baseline to midpoint (2.03±5.11; .318±.742) and from baseline to final (3.49±7.08; .567±.742). Mood scores also decreased significantly, showing an increase in irritability/agitation throughout the study (.876±1.34). Hours of sleep increased significantly from baseline to after two weeks of intermittent fasting (.0781 ± .342) but not from baseline to after four weeks of intermittent fasting. There were no significant changes in self-reported hunger or energy scores. This study found supportive evidence that following time-restricted feeding in the short term may be effective for weight loss. Mood, specifically irritability and agitation, may also be negatively affected by time-restricted feeding. People may experience increased sleep duration but more research is needed to make conclusions at this time, particularly examining its effect long term

Book Reviews

Reviews of: Death, Belief and Politics in Central African History. By Walima T. Kalusa and Megan Vaughan Looking For Mrs Livingstone. By Julie Davidso

Book Reviews

Reviews of: Death, Belief and Politics in Central African History. By Walima T. Kalusa and Megan Vaughan Looking For Mrs Livingstone. By Julie Davidso

‘Pledging the future’:Investment, risks and rewards in the topographic mapping of Northern Rhodesia, 1928–1955

This article explores the uneven patterns of topographic mapping of colonial Northern Rhodesia (today Zambia). These patterns were generated in the years 1927–1931 and have an enduring effect today. Previous accounts describe colonial mapping in Africa as ‘incomplete’, but this is an inadequate conclusion. The article proposes that these unsatisfactory narratives of cartography can be corrected by applying the model of a cartographic economy to the close reading of archival sources. This model is used to interrogate topographic unevenness within the framework of the interests of diverse parties, with differing values and resources. It reveals that the patterns of topographic production were particularly strongly linked to aerial photographic projects. These projects documented areas that were preconceived as valuable. However, the article reveals that the cartographic economy was determined by more than just the value of the land, as the value of the cartographic representation itself could be manipulated independently. This perspective should be considered in the study of British mapping of other colonial territories.</jats:p