David Koetje Professor of Biology, Calvin College Debra Rowe President, U.S. Partnership for Education for Sustainable Development Corrine Taylor Director, Quantitative Reasoning Program, Wellesley College Amy Wilstermann Associate Professor of Biology, Calvin College Getting to the Point: Teaching STEM Content Through Societal Challenges
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David Koetje Professor of Biology, Calvin College Debra Rowe President, U.S. Partnership for Education for Sustainable Development Corrine Taylor Director,
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D a v i d Ko e t j eP r o f e s s o r o f B i o l o g y, C a l v i n C o l l e g e
D e b r a R o w eP r e s i d e n t , U. S . P a r t n e r s h i p f o r E d u c a t i o n f o r S u s t a i n a b l e D e v e l o p m e n t
C o r r i n e Ta y l o rD i r e c t o r, Q u a n t i t a t i v e R e a s o n i n g P r o g r a m , We l l e s l e y C o l l e g e
A m y Wi l s t e r m a n nA s s o c i a t e P r o f e s s o r o f B i o l o g y, C a l v i n C o l l e g e
Getting to the Point: Teaching STEM Content Through Societal
Challenges
Framing the Question
Why teach sustainability/societal issues?
Developing competence: national trends
What do we want students to know?
What do we want students to be able to do?
Benefits of Teaching Sustainability
“Sustainability Improves Student Learning”SISL!
13 Academic Disciplinary Societies as Founding Members AIBS, NNN, ACS, ASEE, APA, NABT, AAPT, SIGCSE,
ACTE, MAA, NAGT All STEM disciplines - Biology, Math/QR, Chemistry,
Engineering, Psychology, Physics, Computer Science, Geosciences, Career and Tech Ed
Online Resources with Starter Kit for Faculty
Sustainable Development…
“meeting the needs of the present without comprising the ability of
future generations to meet their needs”~ “Our Common Future,” United Nations Brundtland Report,
1987
Triple Bottom Line of Sustainability
StrongEconomy
SocialWell-being
Flourishing Environment
SustainableSociety
Economics as if people and the planet mattered
Education for a Sustainable Society:
“enables people to develop the knowledge, values and skills to participate in decisions …, that will improve the quality of life now without damaging the planet for the future.”
Higher Education
Private Choices and Behaviors-Habits
Public Choices and Behaviors-Laws
Sustainable Communities
Sustainable Economies
Ecosystem
Ecosystem
EcosystemEcosystem
Green jobs: the obvious choices
Traditionally, community college, career and technical education, and even the National Science Foundation focus on technicians:
• Energy auditor• Wind energy technician• Insulation and weatherization technician• Photovoltaics (solar electricity) installer• Thermal solar installer (hot water and space
heating and pool heating)
• Industrial Engineer• Engineering Manager• Green products distribution designer/manager • Sales & Marketing Staff for Sustainable Products• Brownfields Real Estate Developer• Sustainable Business Process Designer• Corporate Recycling Manager• Environmental Economist• Sustainability Entrepreneur• Environment, Health and Safety Director• Environmental Quality Certification Specialist• Geographic Information Systems Specialist
Partial list of jobs: all need STEM -the less obvious choices???
• Hazardous Materials Handler• Sustainable Operation Manager/consultant• Socially Responsible Investment Advisor• Sustainability Officer• Trainer/Educator for Green Jobs• Sustainability Communications• Fostering Sustainable Neighborhoods Community
Partial list of green jobs: All need STEM - the less obvious choices????
The Pervasiveness of Sustainability
• STEM is crucial to career skills for a sustainable future.
• Every job will have a green/sustainability component to it, since we all make related decisions in all of our jobs.
• Doing nothing supports energy waste, toxins, food chain disruption and ecosystem destruction. Costly in dollars and in human suffering of billions - unacceptable.
• Green Ribbon Schools!!!
• Including Green/Sustainability into Career Pathways - National Association of State Directors of Career and Tech Ed – Food, Agriculture and Natural Resources – June 2012
• Funds from multiple federal agencies in energy/ environment/climate change – e.g. CAMELclimatechange.org Integrate from NSF, NOAA, EPA, FIPSE…
• Sustainability Improves Student Learning - Mobilizing Disciplinary Societies on Behalf of our Students … and our Planet, Sustainability and STEM - Textbook and civic engagement/ policy/resources/professional development - http://www.aacu.org/pkal/disciplinary societypartnerships/mobilizing/index.cfm
1. U.S. - Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education – www.aashe.org Sign up for the free bulletin and search the extensive resources and share what you are doing
2. American Association of Community Colleges and its members colleges – a leader in greening the curricula and the community – visit their Sustainability Education and Economic Development Resource Center at www.TheSeedCenter.org
Student Learning OutcomesACPA President’s Sustainability Taskforce, 2006 – College Student Educators International
1. Each student will be able to define sustainability.
2. Each student will be able to explain how sustainability relates to their lives and their values, and how their actions impact issues of sustainability.
3. Each student will be able to utilize their knowledge of sustainability to change their daily habits and consumer mentality.
4. Each student will be able to explain how systems are interrelated.
5. Each student will learn change agent skills.
6. Each student will learn how to apply concepts of sustainability to their campus and community by engaging in the challenges and solutions of sustainability on their campus.
7. Each student will learn how to apply concepts of sustainability globally by engaging in the challenges and the solutions of sustainability in a world context.
These outcomes match international declarations and other countries’ learning outcomes…Svanström, Lozano-G, Rowe (2008) “Learning outcomes for sustainable development in higher education”, International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education; Volume: 9 Issue: 3; 2008
Student Learning OutcomesACPA President’s Sustainability Taskforce, 2006 – College Student Educators International
Relationship with Microbes: Microflora, Infectious and Inflammatory Diseases
Developing Learning Objectives
Biology 123 Learning Objectives
Articulate global challenges facing contemporary biology.
Diagram systems interrelations of these challenges.
Use collaborative problem-based learning and scientific reasoning to effectively address complex, real-world problems.
Effectively communicate the results of collaborative work.
Approach the learning process with mindfulness and gain skills in accurately self-assessing one’s learning.
Developing Learning Objectives
Biology 123 Learning Objectives
Relate new knowledge to existing understandings, recognizing and correcting misconceptions.
Apply core scientific competencies and biological concepts to assess information and effectively answer questions. Understand biodiversity, ecological interrelationships, evolution, climate
change, ecological risks, and interconnections between these concepts.
Understand interconnections between agricultural production practices, food/social systems, ecological sustainability, human health/nutrition and food policies.
Explain origins and dynamics of infectious diseases, including factors that affect transmission; understand the basic functioning of our immune system and gain a new appreciation of the natural “microflora” in/on the human body.
Thinking in Systems
Goals:Appreciate connectedness of ____ to sustainabilityUnderstand system dynamics and behaviorsAppreciate effect of actions on a system
Resources:Thinking in Systems, Donella MeadowsCmap Tools http://cmap.ihmc.us/Vensim http://www.vensim.com/
“A system is a set of things – people, cells, molecules, or whatever – interconnected in such way that they produce their own pattern of behavior over time. The systems may be buffeted, constricted, triggered, or driven by outside forces. But the system’s response to these forces is characteristic of itself, and that response is seldom simple in the real world... The system, to a large extent, causes its own behavior!”
- Thinking in Systems, p. 2
Thinking in Systems
Components of a system:
Stocks (e.g. populations) that are coherently organized (Meadows, p. 11).
Flows of information or materials
Loops (self-governing feedback) Balancing loops function as
brakes Reinforcing loops function as
accelerators
Discussion
Thinking broadly, identify some of the sustainability issues in your field.
Select one of these issues and consider some practical ways to integrate systems thinking into analysis of this issue.
Systems Thinking
Collaborating:National Reform Recommendations
New Biologists need…
• depth of knowledge in a discipline, fluency in several others
• quantitative , computation, and interdisciplinary communication and collaboration skills
New Biology curricula need to emphasize…
• interconnections among biology system levels and across disciplines
• science as a collaborative exercise that solves real-world problems
Labov, J. B., A.H. Reid, and K. R. Yamamoto, CBE – Life Sciences
Education, 9, 2010.
Collaborating
With colleagues – modeling collaboration:Team approach to teachingAcross disciplinary boundaries
With and among students:Partner with students in course development
processTeam problem-solving activities
Engagement in Local Challenges
Our “Laboratory”Plaster Creek Watershed
Pedagogical ProgressionService-learning ProjectsPlace-based Research
Community PartnershipsWest Michigan Environmental Action CouncilWest Michigan Land ConservancyGrand Rapids Parks
Empowerment as Change Agents
Goals:Recognize world’s big problems, yet remain hopefulProvide opportunities to develop collaboration and
problem-solving skills within a local context
Examples:Service learning – recognize
challenges and meet local change agents
Place-based research – usedisciplinary knowledge andskills to contribute to local solutions
Example Activity
Diet for a Hot, Fat, and Crowded World
Assessment Strategies
Linking Assessment with Learning ObjectivesHow do you know that a particular learning activity
promotes learning?How do you know that your students are meeting your
learning objectives in your course?How do you know that your students are gaining skills,
literacy, and competencies in your program?
Using Direct and Indirect MeasuresFormative and Summative AssessmentsCritical Thinking AssessmentAssessment of Student Attitudes and Perceptions of
Learning Gains
Assessment Tools
Formative summative assessments Formative assessments help to identify misconceptions;
summative assessments gauge whether learning activities have been effective in reconstructing these conceptions.
Comparisons provide direct measurements of learning gains.
SENCER-SALG (www.salgsite.org) SALG aids reflection and connection within and between
courses. Measures students’ attitudes and perceptions of learning
gains.CAT (www.criticalthinkingtest.org)
The CAT is a nationally-normed short-answer test that measures components of critical thinking and problem solving that faculty across disciplines think are most important.
Your goal: Develop a lesson plan that teaches your
disciplinary concepts and skills through a sustainability issue.
Identify opportunities to: use systems thinking, collaborate, engage with local challenges, empower students as change agents, use diverse assessment strategies
Discussion
What challenges inhibit change at the classroom level? Department or division level? Institutional level?
How have others overcome these challenges?
Some Specific Challengesfrom the Pre-conference Survey and FAQs
Coverage Issue: How do I introduce new material into an already jam-packed course?
Resource Issue: Where do I find resources? Do I need to develop my own?
Interdisciplinary Issue: How do I integrate material that is outside my area of expertise?
Incentive Issue: What can I do to insure that these efforts are recognized and rewarded at my institution?
Promoting Systemic Change
Strategies
Challenges
Solutions
Connecting to National and Global Efforts
Benefits of Teaching Sustainability
Focus Questions
1. What are you going to take back to do at your home institution?
2. What will it take to accomplish this? What resources do you need? Who else should you involve?