Instructor Materials: Overview of the Mapping the Environment with Sensory Perception Module

This module will help students develop an understanding of the systemic impact pollutants have on the environment and how geoscientists and other concerned parties investigate that impact and use the results to communicate and to develop containment and remediation strategies. Sensory data (specifically scents, sounds, and sights) will be collected and used to trace the movement of contaminants through the environmental system. While geoscientists may ultimately rely upon chemical analyses of water, soil, and air samples, the initial effect of contamination is most often noted when people detect alterations of their lived spaces through sensory experiencesâ€"by the way their environment smells, sounds, or looks. Thus, fully understanding and characterizing environmental problems requires an interdisciplinary approach that draws not only from the geosciences, but also from social science and humanities fields in which human experience, narratives, and images are interpretable data. Mapping sensory impacts will help students develop an understanding of how individuals living in proximity to environmental hazards are directly affected by those hazards.

During this three-week module on mapping the environment with sensory perception, students will analyze a variety of quantitative and qualitative data collected and developed by geoscientists, social scientists, writers, government agencies, and activists. The module is designed to foster synthesis between sensory perception (what they smell, taste, hear, see, or feel) and geoscientific data to facilitate deeper analysis of environmental issues by engaging with data as characterized by multiple disciplines. Students will develop and express an understanding of the connections between chemicals that can be detected in the environment, the movement of those substances through the environment under variable environmental conditions, and the impact those substances may have on the lived experience of residents. For example, students investigating an odor will need to consider its source, the factors that affect its movement into and through the environment, and the experiences of those subjected to the odor. In so doing, students will gain an understanding of how sensory experiences connect with quantitative pollutant data and develop their systems thinking skills. Students will do field investigations, engage with case studies, and create a map of an environmental setting using their sensory perceptions. The use of immediate, personal sensory experience allows students to develop a deeper understanding of an environmental setting, thus making clearer the connections to more abstract numerical results associated with field equipment or laboratory results. The module includes: team-based data collection, discussion-based activities, mapping, and reflexive writing assignments.

The sensory data is an immediate indicator of the environmental impact experienced by a community and serves as an indicator of a geologically degraded physical environment that may be hidden from view. The sensory data will help students understand the social as well as the physical impact environmental degradation has on a community, and will ultimately demonstrate the value of an interdisciplinary approach to environmental problem-solving.

Overarching Module Goals

• Students will evaluate the environmental (social and geologic) impact of a selected site or sites on a community using sensory data that they have collected with a data collection plan they have developed.
• Students will evaluate the interaction of qualitative and quantitative environmental data sets (including data sets from case studies and data they and their peers have collected), identify patterns and interactions observed, and develop a comprehensive overview of the study area.
   
• Students will create a map that will communicate the environmental impact (social and geophysical) of a selected site or sites to an interdisciplinary audience using sensory data.

Assessments Associated with Overarching Goals

• Students will write a two-page reflection paper relating to a case study analysis Summative Assessment #2: Case Study Reflection & Rubric (Microsoft Word 54kB May16 16)
• Students will write a short paper describing their justification for data selection and map design Summative Assessment #3: Sensory Mapping Reflection & Rubric (Microsoft Word 174kB May16 16)
• Students will produce maps to communicate sensory data they collected Summative Assessment #4: Sensory Map & Rubrics (Microsoft Word 49kB May16 16)

Timing

The three-week module is designed for a class that meets for two 75-minute sessions each week. It begins with students analyzing data sets to classify the data as qualitative or quantitative and identifying the circumstances in which the data would most appropriately be used. Students are then asked to maintain a log of sensory experiences and analyze the data collected. Students progress to the development of data collection protocols and a field data collection plan with which small groups will go into local neighborhoods or around their campus and collect sensory data (sights, scents, sounds) for presentation to the class. While the fieldwork is taking place outside of class, students will, during class time, analyze one or more case studies to evaluate data collection and presentation in those cases.

The module is designed for face-to-face interaction in a course that uses lecture, lab or both. The module can be modified for an online course by substituting asynchronous discussion threads for in-class group activities; fieldwork would require students to either coordinate their activities and meet face-to-face or to design field studies that would allow comparison of collected observational data between their locations.

The module may be shortened to two weeks by removing the case study section and beginning the module mid-week to allow students a weekend for field data collection between the third and fourth sessions. Alternatively, if the class meets three times a week, the six 75-minute sessions can be compressed and presented in order. If the class meets for two lectures and one lab session each week, the materials for each week's session can be spread out over the three weekly sessions.

Suggestions for specific timeline implementations are provided below:

Show plan for implementing the module over three weeks

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Three-Week Module Plan

(six 75-minute sessions or nine 50-minute sessions)

Week 1

First session

• Unit 1: Data Set Analysis & Reflection (in-class activity)
• Unit 2: Sensory Log (introduced at the end of class session, homework assigned)

Second session

• Unit 2: Sensory Log (homework due)
• Unit 2: Holistic Reflection (in-class activity, homework assigned)
• Unit 3: Sensory Data Collection Protocol Development, Part 1 (in-class activity, homework assigned)

Third session (if class meets three times/week): Additional time to develop data collection protocols. May have groups use protocols in the field and develop critiques, especially if this is a lab session.

Week 2

First session:

• Unit 2: Holistic Reflection (homework due)
• Unit 3: Sensory Data Collection Protocol Development, Part 2 (homework due, in-class activity)
• Unit 3: Fieldwork Planning and Investigation (in-class activity, field work assignment)
• Note: Group fieldwork should take place after this session and prior to the second session of week 3.

Second session:

• Unit 4: Case Study Analysis, Expert Groups (in-class activity)

Third session (if class meets three times/week): Additional time to plan field work. May have groups present fieldwork plans to class and exchange suggestions for adjustments to plans. May have groups conduct fieldwork, especially if this is a lab session.

Week 3

First session:

• Unit 4: Case Study Analysis, Group Presentations and Class Discussion (in-class activity)
• Unit 4: Case Study Analysis, Reflection (homework assigned)

Second session

• Unit 3: Fieldwork (results due)
• Unit 4: Case Study Analysis, Reflection (homework due)
• Unit 5: Sensory Map Development (in-class activity, homework assigned)

Third session (if class meets three times/week): Additional time for map preparation. May have students share drafts of maps in pairs or small groups and exchange suggestions for adjustments to maps or clarification of material in short paper.

Show plan for implementing the module over four course sessions

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Four-Session Module Plan

(four 75-minute sessions, should extend over two weekends to provide for student data collection)

Week 1

First session:

• Unit 1: Data Set Analysis and Reflection (in-class activity)
• Unit 2: Sensory Log (introduced at the end of class session, homework assigned)

Week 2

First session:

• Unit 2: Sensory Log (homework due)
• Unit 2: Holistic Reflection (in-class activity, homework assigned)
• Unit 3: Sensory Data Collection Protocol Development, Part 1 (in-class activity, homework assigned)

Second session:

• Unit 3: Sensory Data Collection Protocol Development, Part 2 (homework due, in-class activity)
• Unit 3: Fieldwork Planning and Investigation (in-class activity, fieldwork assignment)
• Note: Group fieldwork should take place after this session and prior to the next session.

Week 3

First session:

• Unit 3: Fieldwork (results due)
• Unit 5: Sensory Map Development

Significant elements

Students will work collaboratively throughout the module. The groups will range in size from pairs (Units 1 and 2) to four to six members (Units 2, 3, 4, and 5). The groups formed in Unit 3 will plan and implement a field investigation (Unit 3) and report the results (Unit 5). Different groups should be used for Unit 4. Students need to be able to work collaboratively and learn from each other as well as the instructor. If the class has not worked in groups prior to undertaking this module, the instructor should discuss the importance of working in groups with the class during the first class session. (see the Starting Point project Cooperative Learning module for a more in-depth discussion of cooperative/collaborative learning)

Student groups will need to be able to go into the field to collect data either individually or in groups. It is strongly recommended that data collection take place in groups, or at a minimum in pairs, to ensure the safety of the students. The instructor should encourage each group to agree upon a day and time for fieldwork during their first meeting (this takes place in the second session of the module) so that students can make arrangements to their personal schedules. The instructor should also encourage students to set aside more time than they might deem necessary to accommodate unforeseen circumstances and still complete the necessary fieldwork.

Common student misconceptions

One of the underlying goals of the module is to help students understand the nature of data from collection to classification to use in characterizing a study area. To that end, students need to identify misconceptions about data.

The first misconception is that data must be numerical (quantitative). This is addressed by presenting and discussing different types of data in the first session and by having students collect sensory data, which is primarily qualitative.

The second misconception is that expensive equipment is needed to collect data. Students will use their senses as their primary data collection instrument. In addition, the instructor may allow students to use inexpensive smartphone/tablet apps to supplement sensory data collection.

The third is that data is not subject to biases. Throughout the module students analyze how data is and can be used to characterize a site and how data selection and presentation will impact how different audiences perceive the site.