Global Warming

Sharon Anthony and Sonja Wiedenhaupt, The Evergreen State College, Olympia, Washington

Global Warming is part of a first-year learning community at The Evergreen State College. It was organized around the following questions: Is it really getting hotter? How do we make sense of what different people are saying about global warming? Do we need to do something about it? And if we do, how could we better use what we know about climate change to impact people's behavior?

The course is designed for a class of thirty-five and is team taught by a chemist and a social psychologist and takes both a scientific and psychological approach to answering the above questions. It explores the energy producing strategies that scientists believe contribute most to climate change and presents the basic chemistry and mathematics needed to understand those processes, including unit conversions, VSEPR theory and Lewis structures, an introductory understanding of the electromagnetic spectrum, balancing equations, and stoichiometry. It also looks as the non-scientific aspects of global warming, such as the public policy that has evolved around global warming, and the types of images and information about climate change that are presented in the public domain, including advertisements, newspaper and magazine articles.

Pedagogical strategies used in the course include exploratory writing assignments, experiential learning (through field trips to a wind-farm, a dam on the Columbia River, and a coal mine), collaborative research projects, and oral presentations. The culminating project is the creation of a campaign that reflects the students' conclusions about global warming, based on their research, and that aims to convince the public to take appropriate action. The goal of the project is to integrate the science of global warming with the psychology of influence and students evaluate the effectiveness of each other's campaigns. Students are required to submit a reflective portfolio at the conclusion of the semester that documents and explains advances in their learning as a result of the course.

Course Learning Goals for Instructors and Students

Teaching and Learning Goals

• This course has several learning goals for students:
• Working collaboratively
• Communicating clearly through writing and speaking
• Critical and integrative thinking as demonstrated through written work and discussions.
• Understanding of topics in introductory chemistry including unit conversions, VSEPR theory and Lewis structures, an introductory understanding of the electromagnetic spectrum, balancing equations, and stoichiometry.
• Understanding of topics in introductory social psychology including judgment and decision making, influence, and methods of persuasion.