Instructor Stories and Adaptations

These resources describe how the module was adapted for use in different settings. We hope these stories inspire your own use of the module and give you insight into how to adapt the materials for your classroom.

Kate Darby: Mapping the Environment with Sensory Perception at Western Washington University. The module was used over three weeks in an upper division Environmental Justice seminar course with 18 students. The course was taught through Western Washington University's Fairhaven College of Interdisciplinary Studies, a nontraditional academic unit characterized by student-driven inquiry and curriculum and narrative assessments instead of grades. Most of the students enrolled in the class were pursuing majors or concentrations in Fairhaven, though a small number were environmental studies or science majors from Huxley College of the Environment. Most students entered the class with strong knowledge and concern for environmental and social issues, and little exposure to the natural or physical sciences. Our class met twice a week for 1-hour and 50-minute sessions, and we completed the module over six class sessions. The module occurred near the end of the ten-week quarter and was linked to previous discussions about the limits of scientific data in representing and drawing attention to the experiences of environmental justice communities.

Lisa Phillips: Mapping the Environment with Sensory Perception at Illinois State University. The module was used over three weeks in a 200-level undergraduate multimodal composition course with 15 students in a computer classroom. Several students enrolled in the elective course to meet general education requirements. A majority of the students were English majors focusing on the professional and technical writing track. The module complemented the course objectives that included analysis and composition of sensory rhetorics used across multiple modes—audio-visual, verbal, image-based, written. The module occurred in the final weeks of the semester and scaffolded onto prior course activities culminating in a department-wide showcase of student work. Student groups presented their mapping activities.

Michael Phillips: Mapping the Environment with Sensory Perception at Illinois Valley Community College. The module was used over three weeks in an introductory environmental geology course with 45 students in a lecture hall and small seminar as well as in an introductory environmental science course with 15 students in a classroom. Most of the students were enrolled in the course to satisfy their science general education curriculum requirement. The entire module was adapted to the course setting, and supplemental activities were incorporated into the weekly lecture sessions (and seminars).

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