Playful Learning Landscapes seeks to transform everyday spaces into playful learning opportunities to maximize "the other 80 percent" of time that children spend outside school. It lies at the intersection of the growing Child Friendly City movement and a global development agenda that calls for access to high-quality early childhood…

Observes early social interactions in free play settings of Israeli kibbutz and urban preschool children. Kibbutz preschoolers displayed some aspects of more advanced group functioning (e.g., coordinated play) but also more behaviors reflecting affective distancing (e.g., solitary play, reduced affective expression, verbal aggression). (Author/NH)

A sample of five sites of recent urban renewal activity in Sandwell, West Midlands, U.K. formed the basis for an audit survey of the nature and degree of associated change in a broad set of physical, built, and infrastructure environmental parameters. Data were mostly derived from questionnaire surveys of professionals with specific environmental…

The elderly have generally been portrayed as needy recipients of services; only recently has attention been paid to their contributory role. To explore the nature and characteristics of helping behavior among urban elderly, 117 residents of senior citizens' housing sites in Detroit completed the Altruism Scale for the Elderly and a second measure…

Although Black communities bear a disproportionate environmental burden because of institutional and locational factors, few Blacks have joined the national environmental movement. Social justice and environmental equity are compatible goals, and the Black community could take advantage of indigenous resources to develop strategies. (FMW)

Presents a method of determining environmental improvement by calculating a ratio of the measurement of environmental quality before and after an improvement project. Applies the method for four case studies in South Wales. (TW)

A 1983 survey of Texas homebuyers reveals a high degree of mismatch between the preferred and actual residence of homebuyers. Such mismatch is examined using social/psychological, life-cycle, racial, socioeconomic, and occupational factors as possible explanations. Questionnaires mailed to a stratified random sample of 960 homebuyers across 12…

Study examined whether 50 Korean children made conceptual distinctions between morality and social convention. Findings indicated that, at all ages, children treated moral transgressions as more generally wrong and independent of rules than conventional transgressions. (Author/RWB)

Describes the relationships between immigrants and established residents in one community in Philadelphia that is being affected by economic restructuring and suburbanization of wealth. A paradigm of host-guest relationship has emerged as established residents attempt to assert social control over newcomers with often higher educational levels and…

Describes a study in Nigeria comparing achievement in biology with a student's preference for cooperative or competitive learning situations. Proposes that rural children prefer cooperative learning strategies while urban children prefer competitive ones. Presents data proposing that learning preference (cooperative vs competitive) directly…

Compares the survival strategies of low-income urban households in a squatter settlement in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil with those of such households in other regions. Suggests, uses, and criticizes a simple additive model of survival household activities. Identifies important factors that emerge, and suggests issues for further research. (Author/BJV)

The first section of this document contains definitional papers prepared by three sections of the North American Association for Environmental Education (NAEE). They are: (1) "The Challenges of K-12 Environmental Education" (Harold Hungerford and Trudi Volk); (2) "'Environmental Studies': Towards a Definition" (Royal Harde);…

The interactions between computer use and access by adolescents and their computer-related opinions and values are presented in the framework of a "manifold model" of computer interactions. This model emphasizes the complexity and multidimensional nature of the system of variables in which such interaction is embedded. For this study,…

This paper describes the Manifold Access Model, which has been developed for the simultaneous representation and analysis of the interrelationships between five variable clusters: (1) computer access; (2) personal and social attitudes and values with respect to computer use; (3) self-assessed competence and confidence with respect to computer use;…

Presents the results of a field study done on 7 wells providing 37% of the total aquifer production for 4 municipalities in Puerto Rico. Each sampled well showed signs of contamination by heavy metals, nitrate, and semivolatile organic compounds. Although found in low concentrations, current development threatens groundwater quality. (MJP)