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DataForAssessingSeasonalEffectsOnElectricityAndWaterForRepositoryThis Excel file contains data used to conduct a seasonal analysis to assess whether seasonal patterns exist in electricity use in dorms and whether these patterns differ by latitude. The first worksheet contains metadata.Fall 2010 Campus Conservation Nationals surveyThis online survey was administered to students attending colleges who participated in the Fall 2010 Campus Conservation Nationals competition. Not all schools who participated in the competition administered the survey.CCN_F10_survey.pdfSpring 2012 Campus Conservation Nationals surveyThis online survey was administered to students attending colleges who participated in the Spring 2012 Campus Conservation Nationals competition. Not all schools who participated in the competition administered the survey.CCN_Spring12_survey.pdfFall 10 Campus Conservation Nationals electricity, water, webhit, and commitment dataThis data file contains data at the dorm level collected by Lucid before, during, and after the Fall 2010 CCN competition. The first sheet contains metadata defining all variable names.Fall10_CCN_elec_water_webhits_commitments.xlsxSpring 2012 Campus Conservation Nationals electricity, water, and commitment dataThis data file contains data at the dorm level collected by Lucid before, during, and after the Spring 2012 CCN competition. The first sheet contains metadata defining all variable names.Spring12_CCN_elec_water_commitments_no.xlsxFall 10 CCN data aggregated at dorm level with psychological variablesThis data file contains data at the dorm level collected from our online survey and merged with the resource use data. The first sheet contains metadata defining all variable names.Fall10_CCN_dormagg_with_psych_variables.xlsxSpring 2012 CCN data with psychological variablesThis data file contains data at the dorm level collected from our online survey and merged with the resource use data. The first sheet contains metadata defining all variable names.Spring12__CCN_dormagg_with_psych_variables.xlsx “Campus Conservation Nationals” (CCN) is a recurring, nation-wide electricity and water-use reduction competition among dormitories on college campuses. We conducted a two year empirical study of the competition’s effects on resource consumption and the relationship between conservation, use of web technology and various psychological measures. Significant reductions in electricity and water use occurred during the two CCN competitions examined (n = 105,000 and 197,000 participating dorm residents respectively). In 2010, overall reductions during the competition were 4% for electricity and 6% for water. The top 10% of dorms achieved 28% and 36% reductions in electricity and water respectively. Participation was larger in 2012 and reductions were slightly smaller (i.e. 3% electricity). The fact that no seasonal pattern in electricity use was evident during non-competition periods suggests that results are attributable to the competition. Post competition resource use data collected in 2012 indicates that conservation behavior was sustained beyond the competition. Surveys were used to assess psychological and behavioral responses (n = 2,900 and 2,600 in 2010 and 2012 respectively). Electricity reductions were significantly correlated with: web visitation, specific conservation behaviors, awareness of the competition, motivation and sense of empowerment. However, participants were significantly more motivated than empowered. Perceived benefits of conservation were skewed towards global and future concerns while perceived barriers tended to be local. Results also suggest that competitions may be useful for “preaching beyond the choir” – engaging those who might lack prior intrinsic or political motivation. Although college life is distinct, certain conclusions related to competitions, self-efficacy, and motivation and social norms likely extend to other residential settings.

OBJECTIVE: First-time-in-college (FTIC) students, or college freshmen, are at a heightened risk of experiencing alcohol-related consequences, as these individuals are relatively inexperienced with alcohol and have tremendous pressure to assimilate to new norms. The current study investigates the use of a Deviance Regulation Theory (DRT) intervention, presented in a web-based format, to increase the use of Protective Behavioral Strategies (PBS) among FTIC students. METHOD: FTIC students (n = 157) completed weekly surveys for six weeks, which examined alcohol use and consequences, PBS use, and perceived PBS norms. Participants were randomly assigned one of three conditions: 1) a positive-framed message about individuals who do use PBS, 2) a negative-framed message about individuals who do not use PBS, or 3) a control group that received no messaging. RESULTS: Results suggest the negative-framed message increases PBS use across time for individuals high PBS norms, consistent with DRT. The positive-frame message did not change PBS use across time. However, the positive message was associated with more PBS use at the weekly-level when an individual had low PBS norms, consistent with DRT. Results also suggest PBS norms grew across time. CONCLUSIONS: These results provide initial support for the use of a DRT prevention program for FTIC students.

Code and data for the paper "Carbon neutrality should not be the end goal: Lessons for institutional climate action from U.S. higher education" File descriptions: 'HEI_analysis_OneEarth.Rmd' is the code with improved annotation and colorblind-friendly figures. All other data files are provided as excel and csv for convenience. 'working_master_data' contains data from the Second Nature reporting platform on emissions by category for each institution analyzed in the paper (measured in metric tons). All adjustments necessary to fill in the data gaps in this file are documented at the beginning of 'HEI_analysis'. 'offsets' contains data on the type(s) of offsets purchased by each school in their carbon neutral year (measured in metric tons). This data was assembled from a variety of sources which are documented at the beginning of 'HEI_analysis'. 'carbon_neutral_years' contains yearly counts of higher education neutrality goals that were reported to Second Nature as of November 2020.

Enhancing academic engagement in university students can help enrich students’ educational experience. Drawing on the Conservation of Resources Model and the Job Demand-Resources Model, this study aims to explore the links between undergraduates’ achievement goal orientation and academic engagement (AE), by examining the mediating functions of perceived school climate (PSC) and academic self-efficacy (ASE). Using whole-group sampling, 571 Chinese undergraduates were selected using a self-reporting method to explore the impacts of mastery-approach goals (MAGs) and performance-avoidance goals (PAGs) on AE, as well as the chain mediating effects of PSC and ASE. The findings show that both MAGs and PAGs have a positive, direct, predictive effect on university students’ AE. Additionally, both goal orientations indirectly predict AE through PSC and ASE, separately. The results showed there was also a significant chain mediating effect of PSC and ASE, where for both goal orientations, AE was positively predicted. This study highlights the role of environmental as well as personal factors in facilitating self-regulated learning among university students, and it discusses implications for future research.

This paper describes the work in progress for education in Electric Power, Control and Energy Systems (EPCES) at undergraduate and graduate levels, initially commencing in high schools. Further, the paper describes a methodology to build a robust pipeline of high school students who go on to choose electric power/control/energy as a field of study as undergraduates. This paper describes the graduate courses developed and being developed. This paper is based on previous papers and provides the updates since the results reported therein. Resulting from this process are students having the flexibility upon graduation to work in industry or to go on to graduate school and doctoral research, or to work in a field different than power/control/energy.

The prevailing need for a more sustainable management of natural resources depends not only on the decisions made by governments and the will of the population, but also on the knowledge of the role of energy in our society and the relevance of preserving natural resources. In this sense, critical work is being done to instill key concepts—such as the circular economy and sustainable energy—in higher education institutions. In this way, it is expected that future professionals and managers will be aware of the importance of energy optimization, and will learn a series of computational methods that can support the decision-making process. In the context of higher education, this paper reviews the main trends and challenges related to the concepts of circular economy and sustainable energy. Besides, we analyze the role of simulation and serious games as a learning tool for the aforementioned concepts. Finally, the paper provides insights and discusses open research opportunities regarding the use of these computational tools to incorporate circular economy concepts in higher education degrees. Our findings show that, while efforts are being made to include these concepts in current programs, there is still much work to be done, especially from the point of view of university management. In addition, the analysis of the teaching methodologies analyzed shows that, although their implementation has been successful in favoring the active learning of students, their use (especially that of serious games) is not yet widespread.

Despite the promise conservation paleobiology holds for using geohistorical data and insights to solve conservation problems, training in the field typically does not equip students to be competent environmental problem solvers. The intention of this perspective piece is to start a conversation about how we might train conservation paleobiology students better, focusing on the competencies needed to promote deep engagement with “wicked” conservation problems that are difficult to solve. Ongoing conversations regarding design of academic programs in sustainability, a field allied with conservation science, can inform our discussion. The sustainability literature has defined an interrelated set of “core competencies” that go beyond general academic competencies to enable real-world sustainability problem solving: systems thinking, temporal thinking, normative thinking, strategic thinking, and interpersonal competence. Conservation paleobiology is usually taught within geology programs, where students are exposed to systems thinking and temporal thinking. However, the remaining competencies typically are absent or insufficiently developed. To infuse these competencies into conservation paleobiology curricula, we recommend: (1) enhancing connections with sustainability programs and encouraging a more cross-disciplinary approach to training; (2) developing a “menu” of concepts and methodologies for each competence from which to choose; and (3) recognizing that different skills are appropriate at different levels of education and experience. The proposed competency-based framework serves as a shared reference that can be used to develop pedagogies to better prepare conservation paleobiology students to navigate the wicked conservation challenges of our time.

This article presents a case study of innovation in sustainability education in higher education. It does so by explaining the to-date progress of a multi-year reaccreditation process begun in 2016 for the College of Charleston (CofC), a public liberal arts and sciences university in Charleston, South Carolina of approximately 10,000 undergraduates and 1300 graduate students. The question addressed is how can a higher education institute strategically embed sustainability literacy that is focused on social/environmental engagement, in a way that contributes to measurable student learning gains? We argue that the leverage point of institutional reaccreditation provides a strategic entryway into embedding such sustainability across curricular and co-curricular settings in innovative capacities. We do so by discussing how sustainability education was implemented into a co-curricular civic engagement program, alternative break, to build students’ sustainability literacy at the College of Charleston. The article concludes by reflecting on lessons learned at CofC on how to use institutional reaccreditation as a driver of sustainability education through civic engagement in an era of socio-ecological collapse.

Family and caregiving leave are increasingly important dimensions for careers in academic science, and for vital, sustainable institutional structures. These forms of leave are intended to support equity, and particularly gender equity. A key question is how the actual use of leave affects critical milestones of advancement for women—compared to men—in (1) time to tenure and (2) the odds of promotion to full professor. We address this question with descriptive statistics and event history analyses, based on responses to a survey of 3688 US faculty members in 4 scientific fields within a range of Carnegie institutional types. We find that leave that stops the tenure clock extends time to tenure for both men and women—the effect is gender neutral. Promotion to full professor is another matter. Being a woman has a strong negative effect on the likelihood of promotion to full professor, and women are especially disadvantaged in promotion when they used tenure leave years earlier. These findings have implications for a life-course perspective on gender and advancement in academic science, the roles of caretaking and leave, and the intended and unintended consequences of leave policies for equitable and sustainable university systems.

Since the COVID-19 outbreak, online learning has become the norm. Primary school students require parental assistance and supervision due to their lack of digital media capabilities and safety concerns. This study uses the mixed research method to process and analyze the interview data of 10 primary school parents and 564 questionnaire data using topic coding and partial least squares structural equation model (PLS-SEM) to explore the factors influencing primary school parents’ choice of online learning and the mechanism of these factors on choice intention. The results show that online learning continuity and learning attitude development risk are two new variables affecting parents’ cognition of online learning. They have a significant positive impact on performance evaluation and risk perception. Perceived ease of use, performance evaluation, and perceived cost affect parents’ assessment of their children’s satisfaction with online learning during the pandemic. Parents’ satisfaction with online learning positively affects their intention to choose online learning. The results of this study can provide a reference for education departments and schools on how to carry out online teaching with higher quality in case of emergencies.