Considering Climate Change through an E-postcard Derek France and Kelly Wakefield Department of Geography & Development Studies, Parkgate Road, Chester, CH1 4BJ Pedagogy of Climate Change, Manchester, 2010

1.Literature 2.Context 3.Assessment details 4.Examples 5.Students experiences and perceptions 6.Conclusions Outline Pedagogy of Climate Change, Manchester, 2010

Literature.. A growing body of literature on the visual representation of climate change, (Brönnimann, 2002; Doyle 2007; Manzo 2010 and Nicholson-Cole 2005) Images of melting glaciers dominate the pictorial language of climate change, powerful symbols of a fragile earth at risk. (Doyle 2007, 129). Or convey discourses of fear, misery and doom (Boykoff, 2008, p. 249) Visions of a warming world are inherently political, bound up not only in the fingerprints and harbingers of climate change but also with geopolitical visions of the present and past (Manzo 2010, p97)

greater focus on technology will produce real benefits for all (Department of Education and Skills, 2005, p.2) HEFCE (2009, p.6) more cautiously states that, focus should be on student learning rather than on developments in technology per se, enabling students to learn through, and be supported by technology Oblinger and Oblinger (2005) characterise these students as the net generation who are digitally literate, highly Internet familiar, highly social and crave interactivity in image rich environments. Literature.. Pedagogy of Climate Change, Manchester, 2010

Context The assessment has two main components attached to ONE PowerPoint Slide presentation: 1.Digital imagery attached to one PowerPoint slide 2.Executive summary attached to the notes section of the PowerPoint slide Level 6, 20 credit climate change module for the last 3 years 25% of the assessment Pedagogy of Climate Change, Manchester, 2010

E-postcard: Briefing note Rationale Over most of their time on Earth, humans have been affected by climate but have not had a measurable impact on the climate system. Within the last two centuries, humans have begun to alter climate, although the magnitude of our impacts remains uncertain. Contemporary climate change is topical and currently top of the political agenda. Introduction In this assessment, you have the opportunity to construct a digital E-postcard (which could be sent to world leaders, like Gordon Brown) highlighting one potential impact of climate change and identify any mitigation strategies. Pedagogy of Climate Change, Manchester, 2010

1. Digital Imagery Identify ONE potential impact of climate change that would be of interest to the target audience and use one PowerPoint slide to utilize digital imagery to support your position. Use Nicholson-Cole (2005) 5 key visual characteristics:- easy to relate, scientifically certain as possible, clear message, attention grabbing and tailored for the target audience. Pedagogy of Climate Change, Manchester, 2010

2. Executive Summary Rationale: a brief explanation of the topic of study and why it is important Research evidence: a justified explanation of the academic research to support the potential impact of climate change Mitigation strategies: you will need to reflect on what steps need to be taken to reduce the potential impact of climate change Conclusion: bring together the current position for climate change. Pedagogy of Climate Change, Manchester, 2010

Assessment Criteria Pedagogy of Climate Change, Manchester, 2010

RGS-IBG International Conference, London, 2008

Student Evaluation Short questionnaire with a number of open questions to assess the student perception of the E-postcard assessment focusing on the: Impacts upon learning Engagement and understanding of the subject (+ve and -ve) Reflection on the real world Technical skills (+ve and -ve) Pedagogy of Climate Change, Manchester, 2010

A word cloud representing students perceptions of creating an E-postcard; most frequent words are in a larger font size. (All words occurring more than once have been included, n=136). Pedagogy of Climate Change, Manchester, 2010

Student Perceptions Motivated me to research the topic. It was a new way of producing information in a concise manner Valuable exercise because Ive learnt more about PowerPoint and the power of imagery Had fun creating the postcard section, bit different, could be creative Very difficult assessment to complete, harder than first imagined. Made me think more seriously about the evidence Pedagogy of Climate Change, Manchester, 2010

Student Perceptions Need more help with the computer. Would be nice to get some feedback before submission The images were a good addition as it helped visualise what we were writing about and helps my visual learning style I spent ages trying edit images! A lot of wasted time. Would have preferred just to do an essay Having to use imagery helped my research, as I was able to visualise the issue. This enabled me to clearly see the positive and negative sides of the question Pedagogy of Climate Change, Manchester, 2010

Conclusions Novelty factor of the assessment helps with student engagement Fun, enjoyable but also challenging Visualisation of climate change needs to engage the target audience, attention grabbing and memorable Formative assessment Digital submission Pedagogy of Climate Change, Manchester, 2010

Boykoff, M. T. (2008) The Cultural Politics of Climate Change Discourse in the UK Tabloids. Political Geography, 27 p Brönnimann,S. (2002) Picturing Climate Change. Climate Research, 22, Department for Education and Skills (2005) Harnessing technology transforming learning and childrens services Available online at (accessed 6 nd April 2008). Doyle, J. (2007) Picturing the Clima[c]tic: Greenpeace and the Representational Politics of Climate Change Communication. 16 (2) HEFCE. (2009). E-learning strategy. Retrieved August 20, 2009 from References

Manzo, K (2010) Imaging Vulnerability: the iconography of climate change. Area, 42(1) p Nicholson-Cole, S.A. (2005) Representing climate change futures: a critique on the use of images for visual communication. Computer, Environment and Urban Studies 29, Oblinger, D. G, and Oblinger, J. L. (2005) Educating the Net Generation. Educause. Available online at (accessed 5 nd April 2010). Prensky, M. (2001) Digital Natives Digital Immigrants. On the Horizon, 9, No 5. MCB University Press %20Digital%20Natives,%20Digital%20Immigrants%20-%20Part1.pdf (accessed 20 th April 2009). %20Digital%20Natives,%20Digital%20Immigrants%20-%20Part1.pdf References