Cynthia Fadem: Teaching Climate of Change in Environmental Geology at Earlham College

Unit 1 with Case Study 1.1

• Required preparatory reading and made comprehension quiz optional
• Embedded comprehension quiz in moodle2 with instantaneous assessment
• Created gallery walk with the following prompts:
• The difference between human response to short- vs. long-term climate change is
• The ability of a society to adapt to climate change depends on
• The climate of any particular place is affected by
• What are these? How are they different?
• [drew example of positive feedback loop]
• [drew example of negative feedback loop]
• The following human societies have been impacted by climate
• variability
• short-term change
• long-term change
• Had each group present the poster/prompt at which they ended the walk, summarizing all the responses present
• Provided oral assessment at the end of each presentation, affirming their frustrations, clarifying stated misunderstandings (using the class itself for feedback), and connecting their concerns to topics coming up in the rest of the module
• Provided a makeup assignment for those who missed class, since the entirety of the assessment was in-class activity.
• Case Study 1.1 makeup assignment - Fadem (Acrobat (PDF) 23kB Dec16 13)

I used the discussion questions to create the gallery walk, with some components that could apply prior knowledge from class and the required reading for that day. This structure encouraged students to discuss both the facts from the reading and their "bigger picture" implications with each other, creating individual and consensus responses for the posters.

The presentations went well, with students synthesizing general opinion/thoughts on the prompts and in some cases realizing/stating social relationships with the issues involved. There were only two phases to the in-class activity; students seemed equally and appropriately engaged in both the gallery walk and presentations (even when they were not the ones presenting).

This plan was effective in getting students to discuss and think about these issues as they apply to both past and present. It also readied them to think about the most important issues to be developed throughout the module: dealing with our future in a changing climate.

Unit 2 with Case Studies 2.1, 2.2, & 3.1 (lab)

• Completed abbreviated version of Case Study 2.1 together as a class
• abbreviated Case Study 2.1 - Fadem (Acrobat (PDF) 440kB Dec16 13)
• Had students complete lab assignment (case studies 2.2 and 3.1) in small groups
• combined Case Study 2.2 & 3.1 - Fadem (Acrobat (PDF) 873kB Dec16 13)
• Traveled the class answering questions as they arose and made sure students were on track (as did my TA)

I chose to shorten and use Case Study 2.1 as an introduction to the kinds of spatial data students would utilize in the rest of Units 2 and 3. (I also added context and images at the beginning of the exercise.) Using the assignment in this way was also helpful in terms of clarifying terminology and the difference between first- and second-order data sets (e.g., precipitation vs. precipitation anomaly).

For the lab assignment I edited 2.2 and combined it with 3.1. Edits consisted of adding context and images at the beginning of the exercise and changing question wording to conform to my teaching style.

Unit 3 with Case Study 3.2

• Drew the ENSO process on the board with prompts from the students
• Gave shortened version of Unit 3 lecture to save more time for the exercise
• Had students complete Case Study 3.2 in small groups

At this point in the module, students were just getting a handle on ENSO. It was the perfect time to dig into that knowledge and subsequently enable a segue via climate records into glaciers.

Unit 4 with Case Study 4.1

• Had students remind each other of what an anomaly is
• Had students complete edited version of Case Study 4.1 in small groups
• edited Case Study 4.1 - Fadem (Acrobat (PDF) 1MB Dec16 13)

My 4.1 edits consisted of adding context and images at the beginning of the exercise, changing question wording to conform to my teaching style, and tightening table formatting.

Students were well able to complete the exercise, and most finished early. They really got into it and were surprised by the impact and importance of albedo changes.

In the future I would include more material to frame the exercise and increase its power. I would either introduce the exercise with a short lecture or include some leading questions connecting albedo to the greater climate system (in line with what I added as context edits). Such additions would allow students to apply more directly the state of glaciers to past and future climate fluctuations, as well as provide a nicer segue to 4.2 and 5.1.

Unit 5 with Case Study 5.1

• Provided student Unit 5 lecture notes and Case Study 5.1 assignment/study sheet as preparatory reading
• Broke students into model groups
• Introduced assignment (game "rules" and scenarios)
• Had students run their models at their own pace
• Stopped students with 10 minutes of class left to debrief

Having the preparatory readings worked very well, and the vast majority of students came ready to play. The game went smoothly and was largely uneventful (but would be a bit more exciting if I had used the wild cards), with students commenting on its "climatic" limitations while playing. One group completed all five rounds of play, but the others only made it about halfway. The debriefing time was valuable, as I was able to affirm their observations and contrast this simplified modeling exercise with the climate system and the complex computer models built to represent it. Students completed the remainder of the questions in the activity as homework.

Case Studies 4.2 & 5.2 (lab)

• Had students complete lab assignment (4.2 and 5.2) in small groups
• combined Case Study 4.2 & 5.2 - Fadem (Acrobat (PDF) 2.7MB Dec16 13)
• Traveled the class answering questions as they arose and making sure students were on track (as did my TA)

For the lab assignment I edited 4.2 and combined it with 5.2. Edits consisted of removing basic math questions, adding context and images at the beginning of the exercise, changing question wording to conform to my teaching style, and tightening table formatting. As we have not done any Excel exercises, the graphing was a bit of a challenge for some of them, but was simple enough that my TA and I were quickly able to help those with questions.

Unit 6 with Case Study 6.1

• Assigned revised survey response form and short article about climate change adaptation and mitigation in the Great Lakes region (at the beginning of which I had typed the definitions for those terms) as preparation
• edited Case Study 6.1 survey - Fadem (Acrobat (PDF) 81kB Dec16 13)
• Unit 6 adaptation/mitigation reading - Fadem (Acrobat (PDF) 1MB Dec16 13)
• Had them add their survey result to the chart on the board when arriving and then briefly discuss with partners which things from the article they thought were adaptation or mitigation
• Led whole-class discussion of these and the example scenarios (from the assessment section for this activity), which kind they were, and which kind were more effective/important
• Moved to whole-class discussion of the survey results for the six Americas, social vulnerability, and how these sets of classifications intersect with one another and with political/practical action in terms of mitigation/adaptation initiatives
• Summarized module outcomes
• Provided a makeup assignment for those who missed class, since the entirety of the assessment was in-class activity.
• CoC InTeGrate Module Case Study 6.1 makeup assignment - Fadem (Acrobat (PDF) 36kB Dec16 13)

The provided examples/case studies for this activity were too complicated and varied to be able to complete the unit objectives in the time available. I substituted an article I used in another course, as I know it provides a good example of current human change due to climate change, makes for good discussion material, and is short and conversational enough for students to read quickly. I did not use a jigsaw or gallery walk, because reading comprehension was assured and I wanted the whole class to participate in the same discussion (partially because it was the summation of the module, but also because understanding rather than engaging these concepts is critical to the module's success).

As in the Unit 1 gallery walk and presentation, students were incredibly engaged, and the class was a success. I think the whole-class format for these discussions as well as the ability of students to respond to and critically examine as a class issues incredibly applicable to their lives that are very important to them left them feeling great about the course and the module.