Unit 3.2: Presentation and Reflection

Learning objectives:

1. Students will create a presentation, supported by hydrologic data, that aligns with the interests of their stakeholder group.
2. Students will assess an ecosystem services approach to land-use change.

This activity is intended to be used to create an artifact that constitutes Part I of the Module Summative Assessment (Microsoft Word 2007 (.docx) 25kB Sep4 16). The activity gives students the opportunity to integrate the knowledge gained throughout the module. It is highly adaptable and can be modified for a wide variety of uses; it could be expanded to include other topics that might be discussed in a civic forum. The amount of structure provided by the assessment can vary based on the level of course, from being highly structured to largely determined independently by the individual student groups.

Class Size: This activity can be adapted for a variety of class sizes.
Class Format and Time Required: This activity is designed for at least two 50-minute lecture periods if students will be giving oral presentations. During the first class period (and likely out-of-class time), the students will work in groups of 4–5 students to develop their group presentations. During the second class period, each group will give a presentation regarding their stakeholder group's position on the proposed land-use change. Instructors will need to consider the size of the class and the individual group sizes in terms of structuring the presentations. Ideally, the instructor should assemble a panel of 2–5 individuals, representing a range of the stakeholder groups presented in the activity, to whom the student groups should give their presentations.
Special Equipment: Student groups should have a computer with access to the Internet as well as results from work in Unit 2.3.
Skills or concepts that students should have already mastered before encountering the activity: This activity assumes mastery of basic concepts of ecosystem services and the hydrologic cycle through the completion of Units 1 and 2.

Class Period 1

Students should use the whole class time—and likely some out-of-class time, too—to prepare their group presentation. If students completed the Unit 2.3 Assessment (Microsoft Word 2007 (.docx) 20kB Sep4 16), they should be encouraged to use components of that presentation.

The purpose of the group presentation is to provide students the opportunity to role-play the likely responses of a particular stakeholder group to the proposed land-use change. In their group presentations, students evaluate a proposed land-use change and offer a strategy to mitigate the hydrologic impacts of the change. Because the focus of this module is on ecosystem services, each group's presentation should focus on how the proposed change will or will not affect the production of ecosystem services most important to the stakeholders they are role-playing/representing. [Note: Students may find that focusing on ecosystem services constrains their ability to make their arguments. The reflective questions in Part II of the Module Summative Assessment (Microsoft Word 2007 (.docx) 23kB Sep4 16) provide students an opportunity to reflect on the limits of an ecosystem services approach.]

In the presentation, each group will:

1. Provide an introduction that frames the proposed land-use change within the broader context of water resource challenges,
2. Identify themselves (i.e. their stakeholder group), including stating their organizational mission or objectives,
3. Describe the proposed land-use change from the perspective of their stakeholder group and propose a mitigation strategy,
4. Quantify the hydrologic impacts of the proposed land-use change and mitigation strategy,
5. Create a visualization to contextualize the stormwater calculator results in terms of the broader system in which the site exists, and
6. Describe impacts of the mitigation strategy from environmental, social, and economic perspectives of their stakeholder group.

Additional guidelines/instructions for each of these components are described in Part I of the Module Summative Assessment (Microsoft Word 2007 (.docx) 25kB Sep4 16).

Class Period 2

If a review panel or "board" representing some decision-making unit (Community Council, University Board of Trustees, City/County Planning Commission) is present for the class period, the panel should be introduced to the students. Most of the class period should be dedicated to the group presentations. The group presentations should be evaluated along the lines of the rubric supplied as part of the Part I of the Module Summative Assessment (Microsoft Word 2007 (.docx) 25kB Sep4 16). If time is available after the presentations, the panel and students should engage in a discussion about the proposed project. The panel members could bring up aspects of the proposed land-use change that were not addressed in the group presentations.

At the end of the class period, students should be assigned to individually complete for homework the reflective questions in Part II of the Module Summative Assessment (Microsoft Word 2007 (.docx) 23kB Sep4 16). This assessment will allow the students to broadly reflect on an ecosystem services approach, particularly regarding its strengths and weaknesses as a decision-making tool for natural resources management.

The group presentations should be assessed with Part I of the Module Summative Assessment (Microsoft Word 2007 (.docx) 25kB Sep4 16).

The reflective questions should be assessed with Part II of the Module Summative Assessment (Microsoft Word 2007 (.docx) 23kB Sep4 16).

Part I of the Module Summative Assessment (Microsoft Word 2007 (.docx) 25kB Sep4 16)

Part II of the Module Summative Assessment (Microsoft Word 2007 (.docx) 23kB Sep4 16)