Climate Science across the Curriculum at GAC

We seek to increase climate science literacy among Gustavus Adolphus College students and faculty and improve student understanding of the implications of climate change in disciplines across the liberal arts curriculum at Gustavus by

  1. Identifying and removing barriers for faculty incorporation of climate-related content in courses outside the geosciences.
  2. Developing climate science primers and modules for use by non-specialist faculty in existing non-geoscience courses in the humanities, social sciences, arts, and natural sciences.
  3. Implementing modules in existing Gustavus courses and assessing the impact on student climate literacy.

Description of Successful End State

Faculty across disciplines will increase climate science literacy and facility with climate science concepts as a result of teaching circle activities and the climate science module implementation that follows. Faculty within and outside climate science disciplines will establish robust lines of communication and collaboration regarding teaching climate change in the classroom. Climate science faculty members (development team) will develop modules that introduce key climate science concepts (CSCs) for courses in which climate science is not a main course topic, but for which the consequences and implications of climate change are important. Non-climate-science faculty (adopting faculty) will integrate these modules into 10-12 courses across non-climate science disciplines, making use of their newly acquired climate science literacy. Students in these courses will be able to describe at least one line of evidence or one mechanism for climate change. In addition, students will be able to articulate the relationship of climate change to the specific field of the modified course.

Early Indicators

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Project Activities

  1. Teaching circles - workshops that explore climate science and the relevance of climate change to disciplines across campus - will identify topics CSC modules and pair module developers with faculty members whose courses will be modified.
  2. Members of the development team will create climate science primers (basic CSC, delivered via video or podcast) and modules (short classroom activities for use in non-geoscience classrooms) for use by non-specialist faculty in existing non-geoscience courses in the humanities, social sciences, arts, and natural sciences.
  3. CSC modules will be tested by geoscience and non-geoscience faculty, modified if necessary, and implemented in existing Gustavus courses.
  4. Campus-wide dissemination efforts will share primers, modules, and results with a broad cross-section of faculty.

Progress to Date

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In the News

Leadership Team

Julie Bartley, Gustavus Adolphus College
James Dontje, Gustavus Adolphus College
Jeff La Frenierre, Gustavus Adolphus College
Cindy Johnson, Gustavus Adolphus College
Michele Koomen, Gustavus Adolphus College
Laura Triplett, Gustavus Adolphus College
Anna Versluis, Gustavus Adolphus College

Workspace

Faculty Survey