Initial Publication Date: May 22, 2018
Tara Jo Holmberg: Introduction to Environmental Science at Northwestern Connecticut Community College
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Provenance: Tara Holmberg, Northwestern Connecticut Community College
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About this Course
Is a three credit, non-laboratory introductory science course for environmental science majors, education majors, and non-science majors.
23
students
Two, 80 minute lecture sessions;
Introduction to Environmental Science Syllabus_Spring 2017 (Acrobat (PDF) 511kB Sep8 17)
This course is designed to provide an overview of long-term effects on the well-being of the planet and its inhabitants. The course will examine ethics, attitudes and history; natural systems; population; global and regional environmental issues including: biodiversity loss, overconsumption of resources, food production and challenges, energy sources, pollution, waste, and urbanization; and economics, solutions, and attitudes, using current and historical topics as a lens to examine the complexities of these topics.
To provide the student with a basic understanding the major environmental challenges facing modern societies and understand the choices and trade-offs these challenges pose; to help students grasp the scientific principles underlying the basic phenomena of environmental change; to provide students with an understanding of the technologies associated with major environmental problems and the technologies that may help solve these problems; to assist students in distinguishing the environmental impacts of industrial and developing societies; to provide the student with a basic understanding of how different types of societies perceive different problems and pursue different solutions; to delineate how the issues discussed in the course are connected to the decisions and choices students make in their personal lives; to help students appreciate that the complexities and intricacies of environmental problems demand a holistic approach, manifest by team work and group communication.
As with my first semester using InTeGrate materials, I only used select units that best fit my course and modified the materials somewhat to adapt them to my physical classroom and also the technology available to my students (e.g. no GIS software). Hearing from the participants in the InTeGrate FMN was a wonderful lesson in adaptation. The faculty were very open to suggestions on possibilities as well as techniques and best practices from those who had come before them.
As a mentor for this semester's InTeGrate participants, I was able to reflect further on my own teaching and look at these modules through a new lens. It was also very helpful to confer with other educators on practices and techniques they were using in their classroom as they began to use these modules for the first time.
My Experience Teaching with InTeGrateMaterials
I enjoy using the InTeGrate modules and was excited to expand my use of them in this semester as compared to my first FMN. Reusing the same modules and optimizing their use, while also introducing new modules, allowed me to participate more deeply in the FMN, rather than just as a facilitator.
Relationship of InTeGrate Materials to my Course
This section will be posted soon.
Assessments
The units ALWAYS take more time than allotted. InTeGrate materials are well suited to any number of levels. Modifications of the Units and activities are easy! Make sure to plan ahead for their use, do not just rely on them as a "plug-in" for a lesson.
Outcomes
In a superficial comparison of Spring 2017 to Spring 2016, I can say that the introduction of the new modules helped students in two fundamental ways: they were more likely to complete the assignment, possibly due to increased engagement, and they were much more likely to achieve the standard ("C"). The sample sizes are two small to do a true statistical analysis but my hope is to be able to pursue this type of active research with these materials in the future.
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