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Promising Pedagogies

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Contemplative Inquiry on Climate Change: Playing with Perspectives
Abigail Lynam, Fielding Graduate University
Hour long contemplative exercise to explore the psychological, emotional and spiritual dimensions of learning about climate change. Guided perspective-taking exercise in small groups of 3-4 students, with discussion and reflective writing.

Bioregion Discipline: Philosophy, Interdisciplinary Studies, Environmental Studies, Other, Psychology, Education, Political Science/Policy
Bioregion Scale: Regional, Campus, National/Continental, Global
Bioregion Topical Vocabulary: Promising Pedagogies:Reflective & Contemplative Practice, Climate Change, Social & Environmental Justice, Sustainability Concepts & Practices

The Benefit of Acknowledging and Addressing Students' Uncomfortable Emotions when Learning about Environmental Issues: Fostering Growth and Change in Action-Oriented Exercises
Ellen Moore
Research reveals that if students are presented with negative information about environmental issues and they are not also provided with a plan for action, they often manifest denial on many levels. This exercise is designed to get students to directly address the emotions they face when learning about environmental issues and to make an action plan to address them in their individual lives.

Bioregion Discipline: Communication, Education
Bioregion Scale: Global, Local Community/Watershed, Regional
Bioregion Topical Vocabulary: Water & Watersheds, Pollution & Waste, Natural Resources, Human Impact & Footprint, Promising Pedagogies:Reflective & Contemplative Practice, Ecosystem Health, Ethics & Values

Systems Thinking and Civic Engagement for Climate Justice in General Chemistry: CO2 and PM 2.5 Pollution from Coal Combustion
Sonya Doucette, Bellevue Community College
Students apply chemistry to a climate justice case study using a systems thinking perspective in class and discuss the connections between chemistry and climate justice in a conversation with a community outside of the classroom for civic engagement. The instructor offers formative feedback during class time and in response to discussion posts. Feedback is meant to build understanding and application of concepts important to learning chemistry within a systems thinking context and using civic engagement to communicate how chemistry relates to climate justice.

Bioregion Discipline: Chemistry
Bioregion Scale: Regional, Global
Bioregion Topical Vocabulary: Energy, Promising Pedagogies:Case Studies, Pollution & Waste, Human Health & Wellbeing, Civil Society & Governance, Climate Change, Promising Pedagogies:Civic Engagement & Service Learning, Climate Justice, Cycles & Systems, Social & Environmental Justice

Human Health and Particulate Pollution in Wildfire Smoke: Fluid Flow and Wind Velocity Vectors in Physics
John Schaub, South Puget Sound Community College
Students learn about particulate matter pollution (PM 2.5 and PM 10) in wildfire smoke and its impacts on human health, as well as how it disproportionately affects marginalized groups and ways that individuals and communities can address these issues. They apply free body diagrams, Newton's second law, Bernoulli's equation, and vectors to study the atmospheric transport of particulate matter pollutants during a local smoke event. Students create an infographic, comic, poem, short story,or other artifact to contribute to a class zine to illustrate what they have learned.

Bioregion Discipline: Physics
Bioregion Scale: National/Continental, Regional
Bioregion Topical Vocabulary: Climate Justice, Human Health & Wellbeing, Promising Pedagogies:Civic Engagement & Service Learning, Climate Change, Social & Environmental Justice

Threading Climate Justice, an Equity Ethic, and Systems Thinking Through a General Chemistry Course
Sonya Doucette, Bellevue Community College
Using a series of case studies incorporated into lectures, activities, and laboratory sessions, I thread climate justice throughout the first quarter of General Chemistry. Case studies highlight social justice issues exacerbated by the climate crisis, which humanizes abstract chemistry content and engages students with an equity ethic. For some case studies, students use systems thinking to identify the compositions and phases of matter present in real-world environments and contexts.

Bioregion Discipline: Chemistry
Bioregion Scale: Local Community/Watershed, Regional, National/Continental, Global
Bioregion Topical Vocabulary: Climate Justice, Promising Pedagogies:Case Studies, Human Health & Wellbeing, Climate Change, Social & Environmental Justice, Cycles & Systems

Afghan Poppies, Climate Change and US Heroin: Thinking Systemically About Us and Them
Karen Litfin, University of Washington-Seattle Campus
This very simple contemplative exercise is rooted in my "Person/Planet Politics" approach, which invites students to into an experiential relationship with a global socioecological phenomenon: in this instance, Afghan poppy production. It can be adapted to a range of courses and a range of topics within those courses. The basic question is: "Who am I in relation to this?"

Bioregion Discipline: Sociology, Anthropology, Environmental Studies, Interdisciplinary Studies, Political Science/Policy, Economics
Bioregion Scale: Local Community/Watershed, Regional, Global, National/Continental
Bioregion Topical Vocabulary: Ecosystem Health, Promising Pedagogies:Case Studies, Reflective & Contemplative Practice, Lifestyles & Consumption, Human Health & Wellbeing, Human Impact & Footprint, Social & Environmental Justice, Climate Change, Ethics & Values, Food Systems & Agriculture, Cycles & Systems

Migration: An Empathy Exercise
Maureen Ryan, Western Washington University
Migration: An Empathy Exercise is a multi-step reflective exercise designed to build empathy and personal insight into processes of loss, change, and reconnection associated with the disruption of personal and cultural connections to landscape.

Bioregion Discipline: Interdisciplinary Studies, English, Geography, Environmental Studies
Bioregion Scale: Regional
Bioregion Topical Vocabulary: Promising Pedagogies:Reflective & Contemplative Practice, Sense of Place

What is the West?
Maureen Ryan, Western Washington University
What is the West? is a written reflective exercise, with associated readings and discussion, designed to 1) build insight into how personal experiences shape our perception of landscapes, 2) enhance knowledge of the geography and ecology of the American West, and 3) illuminate the role of water (or lack of water) in the natural and cultural history of the American West.

Bioregion Discipline: English, Geography, Environmental Studies, Interdisciplinary Studies
Bioregion Scale: Regional
Bioregion Topical Vocabulary: Cultures & Religions, Sense of Place, Promising Pedagogies:Reflective & Contemplative Practice

Courting Environmental Justice: Science, Community Knowledge and Public Health
Lin Nelson, The Evergreen State College
While this module was developed when we followed the federal criminal case around WR Grace and asbestos exposure in a small Montana mining town, it can be adapted for a range of learning experiences regarding environmental justice, argumentation, strategizing, remediation and sustainability.

Bioregion Discipline: Environmental Studies, Interdisciplinary Studies, Sociology
Bioregion Scale: Regional
Bioregion Topical Vocabulary: Pollution & Waste, Human Health & Wellbeing, Promising Pedagogies, Case Studies, Social & Environmental Justice

Water and Civic Responsibility: An Online Discussion Exercise
Rob Viens, Bellevue Community College
Students apply their science learning to regional issues related to water quantity and quality.

Bioregion Discipline: Interdisciplinary Studies, Environmental Studies
Bioregion Scale: Regional
Bioregion Topical Vocabulary: Promising Pedagogies:Civic Engagement & Service Learning, Pollution & Waste, Design & Planning, Water & Watersheds