Course Portfolio
Enviromental Studies 101 is one of Western's largest lecture classes.
In the Fall of 1999, Scott Brennan used many multimedia tools to
motivate his students. Integrating web discussion groups, powerpoint
presentations, video, and audio clips, ES 101 became not just another
large lecture class. The following essay describes how Scott Brennan
prepared for his class.
Bringing the Big Outside Indoors
by Scott Brennan
When I first learned that I would be responsible for teaching
Western Washington University's (WWU) largest lecture course, Environmental
Studies (ENVR) 101, in the fall of 1999 I was more than a little
concerned. Enrollment in the course typically runs close to 450
students who come together in WWU's largest lecture hall for three
one hour meetings each week. A class of 450 students can conjure
at least a hint of stage fright in even the most seasoned presenter
and it definitely flies in the face of all that we know about appropriate
and viable pedagogical processes. In addition to the size of the
class, the challenges associated with bringing critical environmental
issues to life in a large lecture course were chief among my concerns.
Despite these factors I was able to approach my assignment as a
tremendous opportunity rather than as an overwhelming challenge.
I benefited tremendously from the support of the Center for Instructional
Innovation, the faculty and staff of Huxley College of Environmental
Studies, and most importantly from the active involvement of former
and current ENVR 101 students.
Background
I received my teaching assignment in the spring of 1999 just days
after accepting a summer-long position with Denali National Park
Wilderness Centers, Ltd., an environmental education and ecotourism
company based in the heart of Denali National Park and Preserve
in Alaska. This seasonal work opportunity afforded me an opportunity
to pursue my research interests and to live and work in the heart
of Denali National Park. It also meant that I would spend the three
months immediately preceding fall term, time I desperately needed
to develop exciting, engaging and decidedly high-tech multimedia
curriculum, living in the attic of an old Alaskan wilderness lodge
where the only source of electricity would be twin diesel generators.
The lodge sits 30 miles north of Mount McKinley and 90 miles of
single lane, unpaved park road from the nearest pavement in a neighborhood
where grizzly bears and caribou are far more common than ethernet
connections, fax machines, or even personal computers. I knew that
I had my work cut out for me.
Before I left for Alaska, I spent as much time as I could with
current and former ENVR 101 students to learn of their experiences
and impressions of the course. One of the students I interviewed,
whom I'll call "Nate," said the following when I asked
him what I should know about college freshman and sophomores that
would help me teach the course effectively and engagingly.
"You need to remember," Nate said, "that the only
time we are ever in one room with that many people our same age
is when we're at a concert, or maybe in a big movie theatre. And
you need to remember that we grew up watching television. A lot
of television, a lot of talk shows. "
I think that Nate was telling me that if I hoped to connect with
450 students and engage them on a personal level that I needed to
make it colorful, and noisy, and animated. And maybe, just maybe,
a little bit entertaining. I knew that this last possibility might
draw the attention of those purists whose adherence to blackboard
and chalk and oratorical excess approaches the ascetic. But since
the students I had talked with had been very clear in their desire
for a participatory multimedia experience, I decided to oblige them.
What I didn't learn until much later, however, was the fact that
what the students were asking for was not much different than with
the leaders of the CII and the FIGs project were asking for. The
students just used simpler, more accessible terms to describe their
desires.
Developing Curriculum Deep in the Alaskan Bush
I arrived at Camp Denali, a cluster of 50-year old cabins and
an old, but nicely restored wilderness lodge on Monday, June 14.
I had traveled a thousand-odd miles by plane, bus and truck to arrive
as close to the edge of civilization as you can get. I had seen
four or five grizzly bears and as many moose and caribou in the
final hours of the trip and the laptop computer I had carefully
cradled in my lap for something approaching a day and a half seemed
decidedly out of place. Despite the incongruities, I set to work
on my curriculum development as soon as I could. I would often work
in the enduring luminescence of early evening or on the mornings
of my days off from work around camp. During the mosquito free wind
storms and the long daylight hours, I took advantage of my portability
and produced course content, including PowerPoint slides, outside
and in full view of Mount McKinley and much of the Alaska Range.
My curriculum development objectives were fourfold.
- To develop a course
website that would provide traditional curricular resources
as well as interactive discussion areas/bulletin boards constructed
by CII staff.
In addition to posting the course syllabus and lecture highlights
as well as relevant links, I intended to make regular writing
assignments that the students would complete and submit electronically
to the discussion board. Once posted, these writing assignments
were available for all students in the class to review, analyze
and critique on line and during structured in-class discussions.
[ Discussion
Board ]
- To prepare PowerPoint presentations that paralleled and expanded
upon the course texbook, Environmental Science: A Study of Interrelationships
by Eldon Enger and Huxley College's Dean Brad Smith.
With the support of CII staff, I was able to collect a large database
of audio and video clips as well as still photos and other images
that supplemented the simple text of the slide presentations.
One resource I found to be particularly valuable was the archive
of audio news stories from the National Public Radio archives
at http://www.npr.org.
- To provide students with opportunities to study real environmental
problems in the context of real places and the real people who
are trying to solve these problems.
There are several important reasons I used multimedia case studies
to illuminate key environmental concepts, processes and problems.
First of all, environmental issues are best understood in the
context of real places and tangible concepts students can easily
grasp. For example, many students would have difficulty understanding
ozone depletion if we asked them to "first, consider the
ozone molecule." Such a concept is too abstract and too far
removed from the daily lives of students to be an effective entry
point for this important discussion. A better approach would be
to start with a real place, real people and tangible objects or
organisms affected by ozone depletion.
For instance, by relating the story of sheep ranchers (real people)
in Australia (a real place) discovering an increase in eye lesions
among their sheep (concrete, tangible organisms) we allow students
an accessible entry point to understanding the ozone depletion
problem and to investigating the effects of concomitant UV radiation
increases. This case-based approach was central to my approach.
A second important reason for using a case study based approach
is that students learn best through stories. Stories provide the
context, questions, drama, and personal involvement that will
encourage students to become interested in environmental problems.
Once this interest is generated through a place-based story, students
will be much more interested in learning the scientific terms,
processes, and tools that they can then use to unravel the mystery
of the sickened sheep and the hole in the ozone, or any other
environmental problem.
The use of audio, video and in-person guest speakers greatly enhanced
the real world content of the course.
[ Example of Real
Life Multimedia Presentation ]
- To give students an opportunity and incentive to think critically,
form arguments, opinions and their own lines of reasoning about
pressing environmental problems.
In the spirit of Nate's advice, I wanted to develop a series of
questions or dilemmas that I could present students with once
we had covered fundamental concepts and processes in class. In
one such exercise, students watched a recent PBS documentary entitled
"Affluenza." This film portrayed the connection between
a consumer-driven society and environmental, social and political
problems. Its interdisciplinary nature appealed to me but I was
also interested in encouraging my students to discuss potential
solutions to the problems it portrayed.
[ Student comments
on "Affluenza" ]
I believe that student comments on the course speak well to the
veracity of Nate's comments and the overall objectives of the
CII and the FIGs project.
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