Location

University of Nevada Las Vegas, Student Union Room 211

Start Date

6-3-2009 1:15 PM

End Date

6-3-2009 2:45 PM

Description

AFTERNOON CONCURRENT TRACK 2: THE “STATE” OF CLIMATE CHANGE EDUCATION Moderator Scott Mensing Student Union Room 211 David Hassenzahl, Michael Collopy, Scott Mensing – NSHE EPSCoR Climate Infrastructure Grant Education Component Abstract: The Nevada System of Higher Education has received funding from the National Science Foundation EPSCoR program to develop climate change research infrastructure. This session will present information on what the Education Component is doing and plans to do, and solicit ideas on future climate education efforts for NSHE. Education is one of six components of this grant, and will support NSHE efforts on: Undergraduate research. Each school year and summer, funds are available to undergraduates at any NSHE institution of higher education to do research related to climate change. Graduate research. A number of competitive graduate research fellowships are available to graduate students at UNLV and UNR. Students propose research, supported by at least two faculty mentors. Curriculum development. A graduate student will work with the Component Lead to do research on climate education norms and methods across the United States and in Nevada. Part of this will be in anticipation of a 2010 NSHE Climate Education Conference, which will establish existing courses and programs, identify gaps, and propose course and program activities. K-12. The K-12 program will provide school-wide climate change education to middle school teachers in at-risk middle schools in Clark County and Washoe counties. A new cohort of teachers will be supported each year. Paul Buck – A Team Teaching Approach to Improving Climate Change Education in Nevada Middle Schools Abstract: The NSF EPSCoR RII Climate Change Infrastructure Award includes a small but important effort to build educational infrastructure among in-service middle school science, math, and English teachers at six Nevada middle schools. We will focus on whole school or whole grade level approaches, often referred to as a “professional learning community” or “community of practice” model, engaging a cohort of teachers at selected schools. Using specific elements of Nevada climate change research themes particularly relevant to each local community, this project will create a magnet school in one of the proposed themes at each school. The themes will be guided by the Nevada state science teaching framework and national science teaching standards. Target schools have student populations 50% or more minority and the proportion of science classes taught by teachers considered not highly qualified is above the school district mean. The use of graduate students to act as mentors and content links to in-service teachers will help develop a science research community that includes NSHE and middle school teachers working together. Donica Mensing, Hans-Peter Plag, Jen Huntleysmith – Assessing the State of Sustainability Education: A Case Study of Faculty Efforts at the University of Nevada, Reno Abstract: The University of Nevada, Reno established a Sustainability Committee in 2008, one goal of which is to strengthen the focus of the undergraduate curriculum on sustainability. In the process of implementing this goal, a faculty working group has discussed and come to agreement on several critical issues, including definitions, participation, methods, and culture. Discussion also led to recognition of a spatial component of sustainable development, in addition to the often referred to temporal component, and addressed the implicit ethical obligations that arise in considering these aspects of sustainability. Participation in the working group has been guided by the desire to be as cross-disciplinary as possible, explicitly including faculty from every college, on the understanding that sustainability naturally concerns almost all disciplines and areas of study. The initial method chosen by the committee to collect data is a survey of both faculty and undergraduate students, to develop a baseline on which to assess the current coverage of sustainability issues by the undergraduate curriculum. A secondary goal is to assess and compare the strength and direction of personal attitudes about sustainability issues. Discussions have also stressed the need for developing a culture on campus that values sustainability as a practice and subject of inquiry. Efforts to address cultural, administrative, attitudinal, and practical barriers to improved teaching on these issues will also be discussed.

Keywords

Climatic changes – Research; Climatic changes – Study and teaching; Curriculum materials; Teachers –Training of

Disciplines

Climate | Curriculum and Instruction | Elementary Education and Teaching | Environmental Sciences | Junior High, Intermediate, Middle School Education and Teaching | Science and Mathematics Education | Sustainability

Comments

PowerPoint

PBuck_TeamTeachApproach_USIConf_PPt_03-06-2009.pdf (191 kB)
Paul Buck-A Team Teaching Approach to Improving Climate Change Education in Nevada Middle Schools, 12 PowerPoint slides

DMensing_AssessStateSustainEdu_USIConf_PPt_03-06-2009.pdf (628 kB)
Donica Mensing, Hans-Peter Plag, Jen Huntleysmith-Assessing the State of Sustainability Education: A Case Study of Faculty Efforts at the University of Nevada, Reno, 20 PowerPoint slides


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Mar 6th, 1:15 PM Mar 6th, 2:45 PM

Afternoon concurrent track 2: The "State" of climate change education

University of Nevada Las Vegas, Student Union Room 211

AFTERNOON CONCURRENT TRACK 2: THE “STATE” OF CLIMATE CHANGE EDUCATION Moderator Scott Mensing Student Union Room 211 David Hassenzahl, Michael Collopy, Scott Mensing – NSHE EPSCoR Climate Infrastructure Grant Education Component Abstract: The Nevada System of Higher Education has received funding from the National Science Foundation EPSCoR program to develop climate change research infrastructure. This session will present information on what the Education Component is doing and plans to do, and solicit ideas on future climate education efforts for NSHE. Education is one of six components of this grant, and will support NSHE efforts on: Undergraduate research. Each school year and summer, funds are available to undergraduates at any NSHE institution of higher education to do research related to climate change. Graduate research. A number of competitive graduate research fellowships are available to graduate students at UNLV and UNR. Students propose research, supported by at least two faculty mentors. Curriculum development. A graduate student will work with the Component Lead to do research on climate education norms and methods across the United States and in Nevada. Part of this will be in anticipation of a 2010 NSHE Climate Education Conference, which will establish existing courses and programs, identify gaps, and propose course and program activities. K-12. The K-12 program will provide school-wide climate change education to middle school teachers in at-risk middle schools in Clark County and Washoe counties. A new cohort of teachers will be supported each year. Paul Buck – A Team Teaching Approach to Improving Climate Change Education in Nevada Middle Schools Abstract: The NSF EPSCoR RII Climate Change Infrastructure Award includes a small but important effort to build educational infrastructure among in-service middle school science, math, and English teachers at six Nevada middle schools. We will focus on whole school or whole grade level approaches, often referred to as a “professional learning community” or “community of practice” model, engaging a cohort of teachers at selected schools. Using specific elements of Nevada climate change research themes particularly relevant to each local community, this project will create a magnet school in one of the proposed themes at each school. The themes will be guided by the Nevada state science teaching framework and national science teaching standards. Target schools have student populations 50% or more minority and the proportion of science classes taught by teachers considered not highly qualified is above the school district mean. The use of graduate students to act as mentors and content links to in-service teachers will help develop a science research community that includes NSHE and middle school teachers working together. Donica Mensing, Hans-Peter Plag, Jen Huntleysmith – Assessing the State of Sustainability Education: A Case Study of Faculty Efforts at the University of Nevada, Reno Abstract: The University of Nevada, Reno established a Sustainability Committee in 2008, one goal of which is to strengthen the focus of the undergraduate curriculum on sustainability. In the process of implementing this goal, a faculty working group has discussed and come to agreement on several critical issues, including definitions, participation, methods, and culture. Discussion also led to recognition of a spatial component of sustainable development, in addition to the often referred to temporal component, and addressed the implicit ethical obligations that arise in considering these aspects of sustainability. Participation in the working group has been guided by the desire to be as cross-disciplinary as possible, explicitly including faculty from every college, on the understanding that sustainability naturally concerns almost all disciplines and areas of study. The initial method chosen by the committee to collect data is a survey of both faculty and undergraduate students, to develop a baseline on which to assess the current coverage of sustainability issues by the undergraduate curriculum. A secondary goal is to assess and compare the strength and direction of personal attitudes about sustainability issues. Discussions have also stressed the need for developing a culture on campus that values sustainability as a practice and subject of inquiry. Efforts to address cultural, administrative, attitudinal, and practical barriers to improved teaching on these issues will also be discussed.