What is Sustainability? Using Real-World Scenarios for Multidimensional Thinking and Personal Reflection (High School-College Undergraduates)
Summary
An introductory (100-level) environmental science lab was developed with an emphasis on reflection and application of sustainability concepts. Undergraduate students are often familiar with the term sustainability from an ecosystem perspective, but frequently do not have an in-depth understanding of the economic and societal aspects of sustainability principles.
Through a series of guided prompts, students were asked to use a multidisciplinary approach to examine the sustainability of the practices used in an applied agroecosystem scenario. Students discussed the environmental, economic, and social sustainability dimensions of these practices, which were then used to determine the overall level of sustainability. Then, students were asked to consider these concepts and consequences relative to a local analog. In their responses, emphasis was placed on their ability to demonstrate critical thinking of each pillar of sustainability, rather than on how realistic their ideas were.
Using their practiced skills in identifying and applying the three dimensions of sustainability, students were asked to reflect on one personal choice for each of eight aspects of daily consumption with the purpose of 1) devising a way to make each choice more sustainable, and 2) committing to one change utilizing SMART goal methodology. This task is meant to encourage students to examine their personal responsibility related to individual consumption and to remind them they have the power to facilitate change. By the end of this lab, students should understand the complexity of sustainability at various scopes and should have developed the skills to work towards achieving sustainability in their daily lives.
Context
Audience
This lab was used in a 100-level introductory environmental science course, "The Environment, Human Life, and Sustainability" at Washington State University. The course is a foundational prerequisite for environmental science degree seeking students, along with non-majors in environmental science meeting WSU's University Common Requirements (UCORE). Included in the non-majors group are pre-service education students taking the course to meet science content requirements.
Skills and concepts that students must have mastered
No prerequisite course work is required. Students at a senior High School level should have the necessary skills to complete this lab.
How the activity is situated in the course
This activity is structured as a stand-alone lab and/or as a take-home assignment, which can be delivered in a remote or face-to-face format. Each lab meets for 2 hours and 50 minutes weekly and is a required part of the course. The activity has the potential, with modifications, to be scaled down or compressed for a shorter time-period lab or scaled up as a component of a more comprehensive lab, based on instructor goals.
Goals
Content/concepts goals for this activity
- Understand and reflect upon the multidisciplinary context of sustainability.
- Characterize ecosystem services in an agrarian system.
- Consider the economic, social, and cultural consequences of human-environment interactions.
- Reflect on personal choices and identify how they could be more sustainable.
Higher order thinking skills goals for this activity
- Application of the multidisciplinary concepts (i.e., "Three Pillars") of sustainability to real-world scenarios at multiple scales (i.e. landscape and individual).
- Utilization of ecosystem services information to evaluate the consequences of human activity.
- Development of quantitative reasoning skills by calculating the monetary value of ecosystem services and human-derived replacements.
- Use of contextual and numeric information to calculate and infer economic and social viability of human-derived replacements for ecosystem services.
- Development of a SMART goal to achieve one personal change, with intention to execute goal.
Other skills goals for this activity
- Feeling of personal responsibility and vested interest for choices made.
- Increased awareness and reflection on the sustainability of one's actions.
- Sense of empowerment in preparing a SMART goal to achieve change.
Description and Teaching Materials
This activity was designed as a 2-part, single lab. Students were required to read in advance, a paper (Fischer et al. 2012) that discusses the institutional and personal barriers to sustainability. The goal of reading the paper was to get students thinking about the consequences of their actions and of societal behaviors, and to introduce the concept of sustainability.
Students were provided with a lab handout (see attached file) that provides context and specific step-by-step instructions for the lab.
The first part of the activity focused on defining and valuing ecosystem services and human-derived alternatives. Within the handout, a scenario is given to students explaining an example of when ecosystem services are no longer available and the potential consequences. Students are asked to calculate or devise differences in economic, social, and environmental value between these alternatives. Using these results, students were prompted to define and discuss the overall sustainability of these practices. Additionally, the concepts learned in this scenario are applied to a local (Washington State) example of similar ecosystem services and measures of value. Students are asked to reflect on the local economic, social, and environmental consequences if the results of the previous scenario were extended to the local system.
The second part of the lab extends the concept of sustainability to be viewed at an individual scale, rather than viewed at a landscape scale as in Part I. Students are directed to evaluate one current action or choice for each of eight categories of resource consumption. Then using what they learned previously about sustainability, students pose how they could change each of these actions and why this new action is more sustainable. The last activity emphasizes individual action. Students are asked to choose one of their aforementioned changes and write a SMART goal to achieve it. These activities are intended to allow students an opportunity to reflect upon their choices and to potentially build a sense of personal responsibility, control, and motivation to improve. The goal is to show students they each have the power and responsibility to seek more sustainable options.
Fischer, J., Dyball, R., Fazey, I., Gross, C., Dovers, S., Ehrlich, P.R., Brulle, R.J., Christensen, C., and Borden, R.J. 2012. Human behavior and sustainability. Front Ecol Environ, 10(3):153-160.
Fisher et al. 2012 reading (Acrobat (PDF) 1.3MB May1 21)
Student Handout for Sustainability Lab (Microsoft Word 2007 (.docx) 71kB May1 21)
Lab Introduction Slides for Teacher Delivery (PowerPoint 2007 (.pptx) 3.5MB May1 21)
Student Outcome #1 [educator-only file] -- educator-only file
HideTeaching Notes and Tips
This lab exercise was designed for a single, 3-hour lab but can be scaled down for shorter time period labs or scaled up as a component of a more comprehensive lab, based on instructor goals. Although used in a 100-level introductory environmental science lab, this exercise can be applied for High School students, an upper division college course, or other disciplines.
Delivery: Remote delivery of preparatory content (i.e. background material and introductions to the activities) is recommended to be performed synchronously. During the synchronous learning portion of the lab, the emphasis is for students to develop an understanding of sustainability and prepare for the discussion scenarios. Reading the materials and responding to discussion prompts is suitable for either synchronous or asynchronous learning. Students may work individually or in groups to respond to discussion prompts, with remote access to the professor's assistance. For face-to-face delivery, students should work in groups, with the instructor using prompts to facilitate discussion.
Students should be challenged to work through the calculations and interpretations of the first activity, but should not feel overwhelmed. Time should be spent explaining the goal of these modest calculations. Additionally, students may find difficulty in thinking about an ecosystem as a social and cultural resource, so most student emphasis will likely be in describing environmental and economic implications. Directing students to reflect on the social implications of the provided scenarios is important. Thus, time should also be devoted to describing this concept and relevant examples.
Self-reflection is an important aspect of this lab activity. Students should not feel like they are going to fail if they do not provide a complex response, but they should be challenged to address the constraints and consequences of their personal choices and explain precisely how their proposed changes will be more sustainable.
Assessment
Students are assessed by submitting the required assignment, addressing the focus and goals of the lab. The lab activity handout describes the assignment for each activity of the lab.
References and Resources
Student outcome #1_educator-only file.docx
Student outcome #2_educator-only file.docx
Introduction to Sustainability_Lab Slides.pptx