Laura Rademacher: Environmental Science for Informed Citizens at University of the Pacific
Laura Rademacher
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Provenance: Laura Rademacher, University of the Pacific
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About this Course
An introductory, general education course for non-majors and majors.
~30
students
Two 105 minutes lectures and one 2-hour lab per week
ES Syllabus Fall 2016 (Acrobat (PDF) 144kB Sep18 17)
Investigative and interdisciplinary approach to the analysis of policy-relevant environmental problems in four themes: a) water resources; b) energy; c) climate; and d) land use with an emphasis on the interactions of humans with their environment. These four themes relate to issues for which there is active debate, both about our current understanding and about the possible policy solutions. The primary goal is to develop critical thinking skills that can be applied to analyzing environmental problems. A companion lab session will pursue similar topics and issues through more extensive scientific framework. Field work included.
(1) To learn to identify and describe the components of & interactions within the Earth System: Environmental Science is an investigation of how organisms and environments interact. This exploration of environmental systems inevitably includes geology, physics, chemistry, and biology, as well as social and political science and their many sub-disciplines. Studies of environmental science integrate sub-disciplines and cross traditional discipline boundaries to explain benefits to society. This leads us on to objective 2...
(2) To develop an understanding of environmental science's relevance to your life: Most of you are not (yet) Environmental Science majors. Why should you care about Environmental Science? Our society needs a forward-thinking, educated populace capable of understanding global issues and making informed decisions regarding social, economic, and environmental policies. You will need to be able to critically evaluate the information you need to make these decisions, which leads to the next objective...
(3) The ability to critically & dispassionately evaluate "facts": Earth Science underwent a revolution in the 1960's as profound as Einstein's relativity theory was to physics, or the theory of evolution was to biology. So, how do scientific revolutions happen? Find out about the scientific method – and understand the fundamental differences between "research knowledge" and "inherent knowledge". Understanding how scientists "know" things is as important as what they claim to know. This leads on to the final course aim...
(4) To look at the world with the skepticism and wonder of a scientist: If this course was only about learning "facts", we could distill a textbook into an incredibly dull list of definitions and facts. Of course, we will have to learn some definitions, but also learn how to constantly ask yourself (and me) "HOW do we know this?" and "HOW can I apply this way of looking at things to other subjects?" For example, we will emphasize the "systems" approach to the Earth by always looking for how one part of the system affects other parts (e.g. atmosphere, biosphere, oceans, solid Earth). You will leave this class with an increased capacity to integrate information and communicate about the Grand Challenges facing human society including climate change, energy independence, and water resources.
My course is an introductory environmental science course, which began as a traditional lecture and lab class. Over time, I've incorporated more opportunities for active learning in the classroom. The additional time spent engaging more deeply with topics has come at the expense of breadth, however, students respond favorably to spending additional time on the topics they find most compelling. The incorporation of integrate modules has provided new opportunities for active learning in the classroom. Most of the modules lead students through case studies, many of which are focused on regions outside of California. As most of my students are from California, the modules have been particularly compelling as they broaden my students' perspectives on these issues.
The modules emphasize systems and interdisciplinary thinking, which are hallmarks of the geosciences. These materials provide numerous opportunities to engage with issues from these perspectives.
My Experience Teaching with InTeGrate Materials
I integrated 3 modules (18 units) into my course, which constituted a significant fraction of our class time. The primary way in which I modified these modules and units was by supplementing with additional context and materials to link the modules together.
Relationship of InTeGrate Materials to my Course
My course is 15 weeks (30 lecture periods), and the modules were incorporated in the middle of the term. Prior to module implementation, I covered topics including where knowledge comes from, systems, plate tectonics, and human populations. I then included the "A Growing Concern" module, followed by the "Environmental justice and freshwater resources" module. I then included my own materials on energy, followed by the "Climate of Change" module. I wrapped up my course with an investigation of how might we move forward with our planet. Systems and interdisciplinary connections were common themes throughout the course, both through the InTeGrate materials and my own.
I tried to follow the unit outlines as closely as possible, with a few alterations described below.
A Growing Concern
- Impacts of land use: I included some additional introductory lecture (and reduced text on slides), I modified the response table for the landscape observations exercise to include explicit spaces for each photo, and I worked an example of the wrap-up homework in class to clarify instructions.
- Soil characteristics and their relationship to land use practices: I included some additional introductory lecture (and reduced text on slides), but mostly followed the activity as written.
- Natural and agricultural erosion rates: I included some additional introductory lecture (and reduced text on slides). I followed the activities, although I added some clarification on the calculations and the visualization activity.
- Using SoilWeb to investigate the soil beneath you: I used this unit as a lab activity, so I expanded the think-pair-share activity and the jigsaw activity.
- Predicting the effects of climate change on soil loss: My students struggled with completing homework, so some class was dedicated to "review" of homework to enable the class to move forward on topics. I also used a lot of time for covering the systems diagrams.
- Creating an agricultural "fact sheet": I used this module almost as is, although I gave my students more in class time to get started. I included additional "good" examples of fact sheets for perspective.
Environmental Justice and Freshwater Resources
- Introduction to environmental justice: I included some additional introductory lecture (and reduced text on slides/added images), added an exploration of EPA's EJScreen.
- The hydrologic cycle and freshwater resources: I used a water footprint survey I modified from elsewhere, rather than the one provided here, and I added a analysis and discussion of how we portray the hydrologic cycl.
- Streams and water diversion: I provided quite a bit more introductory material to this unit, particularly about watershed and boundaries. I used the rest of the materials close to as is.
- Women and water: I used this module close to as is, although I reduced some redundancy, and I expanded explanations around the sustainable water use adaptations.
- Hazardous waste and Love Canal: I've explored using different supporting videos for this module. I've also expand on the case study background to provide more context.
- Groundwater availability and resources: I included some additional introductory lecture (and reduced text on slides/added images).
A Climate of Change
- Forecasting climate variability and change: I used this module close to as is, although I expanded explanations around feedbacks
- Deciphering short-term climate variability: I used this module close to as is, although I expanded on the explanations for case study 1 and provided an abridged case study 2.
- Anomalous behavior: I used this module close to as is, although I expanded on the explanations of how to read the data, particularly the wind speeds.
- Slow and steady: I used this module close to as is. Since El Nino/La Nina is a large feature of California's climate, I expanded upon the descriptions. I used the Greenland activities as lab exercises and close to as presented.
- Systems@play: I used this module close to as is, but I expanded the discussion of the climate system quite bit. I used the activities close to as presented as lab activities.
- Adapting to a changing world: I added additional analysis on public perception of climate change. I used the gallery walk as written in "version 1".
Assessments
I used almost all of the multiple choice and most of the open response-type assessment questions on exams. Student received these reasonably well, as that was already the format of the exams. Students struggled more when they were asked to draw or explain a concept, and more practice in the spirit of the assessments should be provided to mitigate that difference. The different stakes between exams and homework/lab assignments may lead to lower performance on homework and lab assignments. Additionally, anything assigned as homework will automatically miss students who are not in class on a given day.
Outcomes
I envisioned students would gain a deeper understanding of the concepts covered through the expansion of active learning techniques. Because the InTeGrate modules may take more time than other activities and because the unit focus areas are different than the focus areas in my "pre-InTeGrate" course, I think in some cases students learned different materials, rather than deeper learning. My second goal was that I hoped students would take away enthusiasm for the subject matter. I do think that the incorporation of environmental justice and deeper case studies tied to places of interest piqued student interest in the topics.
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