This work is supported by a National Science Foundation (NSF) collaboration between the Directorates for Education and Human Resources (EHR) and Geosciences (GEO) under grant DUE InTeGrating Grand Challenges into Your Courses through Local Projects Sarah Fortner, Amber Burgett, Ruth Hoff, Sheryl Cunningham

Meeting grand environmental & public health challenges facing humanity will require a savvy public, a new kind of workforce, and a broader understanding of the earth by all who engage these issues Approach: Integrate learning about Earth with an understanding of the issues we face, – Develop capacity for teaching higher order, interdisciplinary problem solving skills, – Open up new venues for learning USGS Barefoot Photographers of Tilonia Interdisciplinary Teaching for a Sustainable Future

Wittenberg’s Implementation Program: STEAM Effort to Build Capacity for a Theme or Program Across Disciplines (InTeGrate Module Implementation Underway by Witt faculty & SOCHE partners) First Year Seminar Programming (Underway) Interdisciplinary Projects that Address Grand Challenges: Mission-aligned, Career- relevant

What outcomes are central to addressing local challenges in sustainability & public health? (from InTeGrate & from your discipline (faculty) or your role in the community (stakeholders)? What have we learned through our own partner work or the literature on best practices that might help us improve our effectiveness? How can this work best document impacts & strategies for community-based learning? (for students, faculty, & stakeholders) Questions guiding design & assessment

Themes Unite Diverse Stakeholders & Build Capacity Supporting positive development of green spaces (e.g. urban agriculture, rain gardens, community development, the nexus of any of these) Healthy environments (human, ecosystems) Sustainability awareness (e.g. climate literacy event) and/or incorporate sustainable practices (e.g. waste-free)

Brief Introductions Name, Effort or Department you represent Why are you interested in this effort?

Expert Panel What projects do you work on or have interest in that relate to the themes? (Positive Development of Green Space, Improving Public Health through Investigation & Outreach, Events to Promote Sustainable Action, or Hosting Sustainably Managed Events) What skills or habits (ways of thinking) are key to these projects? Other questions?

Key Skills/Habits Systems thinking (impact of one thing on another) Pragmatic Rhetoric (Attitude/Behavior Gap) Involvement throughout process/empowering people involved throughout process Relationship building Collection of Data Involve kids (kids change family) Nexus between reality & achievement Relevance with course or lives of students Professionalism/Mindful of Client Deliver what is promised/frame expectations realistically Barriers: time, fit, class size, developmental stage

Brainstorm & Share *take notes on page 1 What are some of the connections between the projects experts have interests in & your discipline? What are shared habits/skills important to their work that might be of value to your students?

What outcomes are central to addressing local challenges in sustainability & public health? (from InTeGrate & from your discipline (faculty) or your role in the community (stakeholders)? What have we learned through our own partner work or the literature on best practices that might help us improve our effectiveness? How can this work best document impacts & strategies for community-based learning? (for students, faculty, & stakeholders) Key Outcomes

Commitment 6 contact hours (e.g 1 hour meetings to introduce background, relevant skills, 3 hours of project work) Follow Rubric Use assessments Consider the scope of your project for your class.

Creating Successful Projects Backward design around central outcomes 1.Identify desired results → learning outcomes a.What knowledge is worth being familiar with? b.What knowledge and skills should students master? c.What concepts or skills should students retain well beyond the course? 2.Determine acceptable evidence → assessment a.Consider a wide range of assessments b.Match assessments to learning outcomes 3.Plan learning experiences a.Use instructional strategies that foster engagement b.Design activities that give students practice

Key learning outcome: Addressing Grand Challenges: Food, water quality & quantity, biodiversity, climate change, infectious disease Addressing grand challenges requires interdisciplinary thinking, & building problem solving capabilities Partnerships maximize the relevance of issues to students

Is climate change an issue to address now or in the distant future? Mean answers above (n=44). 4=We should address this challenge now with decisive action 3=We should address this challenge in the next few decades *Significant changes observed in student attitudes after partnering with local stakeholders & hosting event Are climate and energy issues important to many fields? Mean answers to the left (n=44) 5= Important to all or almost all sectors 4= Important to most sectors 3= Important to some sectors *Significant change in student attitudes after partnering with local stakeholders & hosting event

Key Learning Outcome Analyzing Authentic Data Each stakeholder is concerned with issues that can be measured or understood through evaluating data. Evaluating data requires critical thinking- essential for our students across disciplines. Successful projects have: Collected & analyzed new data of stakeholder interest Analyzed data from the stakeholder, or publically available sources to build understanding or frame the interdisciplinary connection Clark County Maximum Seasonal Temperature Model, USGS

Collecting authentic data: Biodiversity and water quality in an urban rain garden 13 species identified 376 individuals Diversity index of 0.856, high diversity for urban habitat

Key Learning Outcome Systems Thinking Articulates the linkages and interactions between the components in the system explored. (Clear examples are given of components and interactions are described).

Key Learning Outcome Systems Thinking Articulates the linkages and interactions between the components in the system explored. (Clear examples are given of components and interactions are described).

Key Learning Outcome Reflection on Implications for Stakeholder Consideration of diverse others is central to problem solving. Successful projects incorporate student ideas, interests, & enthusiasm, with attention to how these serve a specific community stakeholder. Strong projects include specific recommendations that improve the project during the next implementation, or set the stage for additional inquiry.

Reflection ●Considers how project serves partner interests ●Reflects on what they gained through working on an authentic project (post project)

Coffee Break:

Project Development Worksheet & Project Rubric (InTeGrate modified Inquiry & Analysis VALUE Rubric)

Work Time Work on page 2 of your project development worksheet Individually------> Partner to brainstorm

Reason for Assessment Understand if materials developed are effective Position our institutions establishing an evidence-base Contribute to Implementation Program Models Contribute to the understanding for service learning, lack of mixed method studies, need for rigorous approaches

Assessment Strategies 1.Student Project (Direct Assessment using Rubric) 2.Shared Materials, e.g. 1 page summary of project, or shared example of student work (e.g. created flier, website, event announcement) 3.RISC Assessment (Pre & Post Test) 4.Towson Community Service Impacts/Hagen Center Survey (Pre & Post Test) We will share 2, & combine results from 3&4. You will receive all data & your stipend when assessments completed.

Modified TOWSON Survey of Civic Engagement Assessment of impacts of Civic Engagement on attitudes on serving others, career interest, & topical relevance to society Some questions will align with those asked of Hagen Center for Civic Engagement Interns (Cross-cutting questions) We will provide a Google Form Survey that you can also access the results of. The survey should take ~10 minutes at most

Research on InTeGrated Science Curriculum (RISC) Used to study interdisciplinary or integrated learning Contributes to a larger study on authentic research based learning Physical & Social Sciences common users You enter other features/desired learning outcomes of your course chology/assessments/risc-survey

Learning gains compared to large pool pre & post course gains reported

Project Timeline & Final Questions? Stipends available for lunch or dinner meetings to collaborate, share ideas, or for guest speakers in classes. Keep receipts.