Background and Context

Course History

Course Management

We had approximately 35 students in the class and did not have any TAs. Both faculty were in the classroom during all class times. Usually only one of them was actively involved in presenting, while other was a model learner. Sharon Anthony took the lead in preparing and presenting chemistry lessons while Sonja Wiedenhaupt was responsible for the psychology presentations. There were several activities that were neither chemistry nor psychology focused, but were directly related to climate change. We designed and presented these activities together. The 35 students were together most of the time, but were divided into two groups, each with one faculty member, for seminar discussions. We took a 3-day field trip to Eastern Washington to visit a wind farm, a large dam on the Columbia River, and a coal-mine. Since it the course took place late in the spring, we were able to camp out in a group site at a state park. The field trip was not absolutely essential, but was definitely a highlight for our students. Faculty teaching a similar course in a different part of the country could take field trips focusing on different energy sources.

The majority of the chemistry materials used in the course were adapted from the ChemConnections chemistry module What Should We Do About Global Warming? By Anthony, Brauch, and Longley, Wiley, 1998, ISBN 0-471-32638-0. ChemConnectons consists of a group of chemistry professors from liberal arts colleges, research universities and community colleges who designed a curriculum to invoke an active, thematic approach to chemical education. Approximately 15 modules on current environmental, biomedical and technological topics have been developed for the first two years of the college curriculum. These modules can be easily adapted to use in introductory level chemistry classes and in interdisciplinary learning communities such as this one. More information on ChemConnections modules is given at their website.