Knowledge gain and behavioral change in citizen-science programs

Citizen-science programs are often touted as useful for advancing conservation literacy, scientific knowledge, and increasing scientific-reasoning skills among the public. Guidelines for collaboration among scientists and the public are lacking and the extent to which these citizen-science initiatives change behavior is relatively unstudied. Over two years, we studied 82 participants in a three-day program that included education about non-native invasive plants and collection of data on the occurrence of those plants. Volunteers were given background knowledge about invasive plant ecology and trained on a specific protocol for collecting invasive plant data. They then collected data and later gathered as a group to analyze data and discuss responsible environmental behavior with respect to invasive plants. We tested whether participants without experience in plant identification and with little knowledge of invasive plants increased their knowledge of invasive species ecology, participation increased knowledge of scientific methods, and participation affected behavior. Knowledge of invasive plants increased on average 24%, but participation was insufficient to increase understanding of how scientific research is conducted. Participants reported increased ability to recognize invasive plants and increased awareness of effects of invasive plants on the environment, but this translated into little change in behavior regarding invasive plants. Potential conflicts between scientific goals, educational goals, and the motivation of participants must be considered during program design.     

重构煤炭主体专业教育的公益性

从煤炭主体专业教育具有的公益性属性分析入手,指出煤炭主体专业的办学经费日紧和煤炭主体专业边缘化与去煤化,公益性日渐式微。建议从国家、高校、企业、个人家庭等各个层次全方位重构煤炭主体专业教育的公益性,加强国家利益至上,强化政府主渠道作用,在政策与教育投入要向其倾斜,优先发展与保障煤炭主体专业的教育,制定相关法规确保煤炭专业生源与人才培养质量,并在该领域就业。国家、企业、高校与个人家庭利益相关者都应在制度上强化各自应有的责任,从而形成一个多层次全方位良性互动发展的培养与吸纳人才的机制,确保煤炭主体专业教育的公益性,促进煤炭主体专业健康发展,满足安全生产的人才需求的供给,从而为煤炭安全生产提供重要保障。     

面向土木工程学科的安全工程课程探讨

为促进建设工程安全生产,针对土木工程学科高等教育,笔者采用文献检索和相关学科比较研究方法,探讨了建设安全工程课程设置原则与课程内容。分析表明:土木工程学科开设安全工程课程,为建设工程安全生产培养合格技术人才,是实现建设工程安全生产长效机制的重要条件;课程设置应以"以人为本,安全第一"安全是效益"的观念、"建筑安全,百年大计"的思想、防灾、环保、安全宜居的建筑理论、建筑安全工程与安全科学技术相结合的实战能力培养为原则;面向土木工程学科的安全工程课程知识点应包括:安全法规,事故致因原理与事故规律,职业健康安全管理体系,建筑设计及施工项目的安全性评价,安全监理,事故案例与实践能力教学等。     

Driver education and graduated licensing in North America: past, present, and future

PROBLEM: A stated objective of driver education in North America is to produce safer drivers, typically defined as drivers less likely to crash. This paper examines the extent to which driver education has achieved this objective independently as well as the extent to which such programs can support the success of graduated licensing in reducing young driver crashes. In so doing, it discusses past experiences, recent developments, and the future direction of driver education and training in relation to graduated driver licensing. METHOD: Literature review and synthesis. RESULTS: Driver education programs have yet to demonstrate consistent attainment of their safety objectives. Moreover, they have not been found to enhance the safety effectiveness of graduated licensing programs--indeed, some practices, for example, "time discounts" for driver education have actually had a detrimental effect on teen safety. DISCUSSION: Despite its disappointing safety record to date, it is important not to abandon driver education. In particular, there are opportunities to improve driver education so that it achieves its safety objectives, and ensure that programs in the future complement graduated driver licensing and contribute to its overall safety benefits. Current and future efforts to improve driver education and better integrate it with graduated licensing programs, however, need to be rigorously evaluated to determine what does and does not work to reduce young driver crashes, and as importantly, to understand why this is the case. IMPACT ON INDUSTRY: Improved driver education integrated with graduated driver licensing has potential safety benefits.     

工科学生工程安全素质培养的探索与实践

高等学校工科学生的社会职业定位是工程师,工程师的主要工作是从事工程的规划、设计、实施、运行和管理,其工程行为对工程安全具有至关重要的影响。随着现代工程向大型化、综合化和复杂化方向发展,工程安全已成为人类社会面临的重大问题,解决工程安全问题的根本途径之一是加强和改进高等工程教育,致力于提高工科学生的工程安全素质培养。对工科学生的工程安全素质培养,各高校可根据自己的专业优势和服务需求面而独具特色,以适应社会对工程安全人才多样性要求。湖南科技大学在工科学生的培养中,从培养目标的改革中加强了对工程安全素质的要求;从培养内容的改革中加强了对工程安全知识的传授;从培养方法的改革中加强了对工程安全技能的训练;各项改革中的措施在实践中取得令人满意的效果。     

HSE管理体系的基层安全教育培训探讨

安全教育培训是石油行业一项非常重要的安全基础性工作,扎实开展基层员工安全培训,提高安全综合素质,增强事故防范能力,防止发生不安全行为,才能真正达到预防事故的目的。本文从七个方面介绍基层安全教育培训的一些方法与实践,针对性强、实用性好,并已在基层单位取得了较好的效果。     

城市煤气输配过程中的变频调速自动恒压控制系统

将河南平顶山煤气公司原煤气输配系统改造成为自动恒压控制系统,从而提高安全系数,降低煤气输配电耗。     

关于“安全工程”专业本科教育的教改探讨

在讨论目前安全工程本科教育存在问题的基础上,提出了以培养安全工程专业的高级技术管理人才为培养目标。通过对各种能力需求的分析,还提出了课程设置的框架和实践环节的内容。强调了工厂安全评价与规划、产品安全设计两门课程的重要性,以保证安全卫生“三同时”制度的实施,并讨论了培养安全工程人才的各种模式。     

Reflections on 40 years of Disasters, 1977–2017

This reflection, based on a keynote address to celebrate the fortieth anniversary of Disasters on 14 September 2017, begins by considering some of the prevailing assumptions that existed at the time of the journal's creation. Next is a summary of significant milestones during the past 40 years, covering major global trends, changing disaster impacts, and key developments in disaster risk management. Contrasting approaches in the first and fourth decade of the journal's history are then followed by examples of changes in terminology in the disaster field as an indication of shifting values. The paper goes on to explore the context of 2017, with observations of problem areas such as the loss of knowledge, failures to tackle the root causes of disasters, shortfalls in international assistance, and some negative attitudes. It closes by evaluating some current positive occurrences, including a reduction in casualties, sharing of experience, technological advances, and dramatic improvements in disaster warning.     

The role of intergenerational influence in waste education programmes: the THAW project

Whilst the education of young people is often seen as a part of the solution to current environmental problems seeking urgent attention, it is often forgotten that their parents and other household members can also be educated/influenced via home-based educational activities. This paper explores the theory of intergenerational influence in relation to school based waste education. Waste Watch, a UK-based environmental charity (www.wastewatch.org.uk), has pioneered a model that uses practical activities and whole school involvement to promote school based action on waste. This methodology has been adopted nationally. This paper outlines and evaluates how effective school based waste education is in promoting action at a household level. The paper outlines Waste Watch's 'Taking Home Action on Waste (THAW)' project carried out for two and half years in Rotherham, a town in South Yorkshire, England. The project worked with 6705 primary age children in 39 schools (44% of primary schools in the project area) to enable them to take the "reduce, reuse and recycle message" home to their families and to engage these (i.e. families) in sustainable waste management practices. As well as substantial increases in students' knowledge and understanding of waste reduction, measurement of the impact of the project in areas around 12 carefully chosen sample schools showed evidence of increased participation in recycling and recycling tonnages as well as declining levels of residual waste. Following delivery of the project in these areas, an average increase of 8.6% was recorded in recycling set out rates which led to a 4.3% increase in paper recycling tonnages and an 8.7% increase in tonnages of cans, glass and textiles collected for recycling. Correspondingly, there was a 4.5% fall in tonnages of residual waste. Waste Watch's THAW project was the first serious attempt to measure the intergenerational influence of an education programme on behaviour at home (i.e. other than schools' own waste). It clearly shows that household recycling behaviour can be positively impacted by intergenerational influence via a practical school-based waste education model. However, although the model could potentially have a big impact if rolled out nationally, it will require seed funding and the long-term durability of the model has not yet been fully quantified.