Ensinar ciências na perspectiva da sustentabilidade: barreiras e dificuldades reveladas por professores de biologia em formação

A presente investigação parte de uma visão global sobre as dificuldades relativas ao ensino de biologia na perspectiva do desenvolvimento sustentável e da formação de professores dessa área para atuarem no ensino básico. Tem como objetivo identificar os temas relacionados ao ambiente e ao desenvolvimento sustentável que são considerados difíceis de serem ensinados, caracterizando os motivos dessas dificuldades. A pesquisa se desenvolveu numa abordagem qualitativa e quantitativa. De forma geral, identificou-se que os participantes da pesquisa indicam dificuldades em incluir questões sobre desenvolvimento sustentável em suas futuras aulas e que a ausência da abordagem multidisciplinar ou interdisciplinar corresponde a uma razão importante para as dificuldades em ensinar na perspectiva da sustentabilidade, uma vez que isso possibilitaria aos alunos fazer uma análise do ambiente do ponto de vista das dimensões sociais e econômicas, além de poderem avaliar os aspectos éticos a elas relacionados

Determinants of Integration and Its Impact on the Economic Success of Immigrants: A Case Study of the Turkish Community in Berlin

Using a new data on 590 Turkish households in Berlin, we investigate the determinants and impact of integration on economic performance. We find that usual suspects such as time spent in Germany and education have positive impact, while networks have no impact on integration. There is strong evidence that political integration and the degree of full integration promote income. Using endogenous switching regression models, we show that local familial networks increase the income of unintegrated migrant groups only, while transnational networks decrease it. We also find that education is more welfare improving for integrated than non-integrated immigrants

Birds in the playground: Evaluating the effectiveness of an urban environmental education project in enhancing school children's awareness, knowledge and attitudes towards local wildlife.

Children nowadays, particularly in urban areas, are more disconnected from nature than ever before, leading to a large-scale "extinction of experience" with the natural world. Yet there are many potential benefits from children interacting with nature first-hand, including via outdoor learning opportunities. Urban environmental education programmes typically aim to increase awareness and knowledge of local biodiversity and to promote positive attitudes and behaviour towards the environment. However, limited research has been conducted evaluating to what extent these interventions achieve their goals. Here, we explore and assess the influence of a six-week bird-feeding and monitoring project conducted within school grounds ("Bird Buddies") on individual awareness, knowledge and attitudes towards birds by primary school children. This initiative was conducted across eight (sub-)urban primary schools within Brighton and Hove (UK), with 220 participating children (aged 7 to 10). Via pre- and post-project questionnaires, we found evidence for enhanced awareness of local biodiversity, alongside significant gains in both bird identification knowledge and attitudes, which were greatest for children with little prior exposure to nature. Many children expressed a keenness to continue improving the environmental value of their school grounds and to apply elements of the project at home. Student project evaluation scores were consistently positive. Mirroring this, participating teachers endorsed the project as a positive learning experience for their students. One year after the project, several schools were continuing to feed and watch birds. Collectively, the findings from this study highlight the multiple benefits that can be derived from engagement with a relatively short outdoor environmental activity. We therefore believe that such interventions, if repeated locally/longer term, could enhance children's experience with nature in urban settings with combined positive environmental impact

Equity fund ownership and the cross-regional diversification of household risk

We explore the link between portfolio home bias and consumption risk sharing among Italian regions using household-level information on consumption, income and portfolio holdings. Since equity funds are typically diversified at the national or international level, we use data on equity fund ownership to proxy for regional home bias. Cross-regional patterns of equity fund ownership are qualitatively consistent with simple portfolio theory: regions with more asymmetric business cycles are more diversified because they have higher fund participation rates (the extensive margin of diversification) and higher average holdings of equity funds (diversification’s intensive margin). Also, fund holdings increase with the exposure of non-tradable income components (such as labor or entrepreneurial income) to regional shocks. Finally, interregional consumption risk sharing increases with fund holdings and this effect seems strongest when participation is widespread. Increased equity market participation could substantially improve interregional risk sharing

Differential fertility and intergenerational mobility under private versus public education

10.1007/s00148-012-0445-5Journal of Population Economics263907-94