Center for Instructional Innovation and Assessment - Western Washington University's Teaching and Learning Center

1. Learning Environmental Science
Running time: 1 minutes, 47 seconds

Dr. David Shull, of Western Washington University’s Huxley College of the Environment, believes that students learn environmental science best out of doors in nature. He also thinks that an important component of environmental science education is to teach students to use critical thinking when evaluating claims concerning the environment.
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2. Large Class Service Learning
Running time: 2 minutes, 29 seconds

Dr. David Shull believes that one way to get a large environmental science class out into nature is by incorporating a service learning project into his class. He uses a WWU campus group, called LEAD, to help provide service learning opportunities for his students. Students work to restore local habitat, remove invasive species, and at the Outback Farm on WWU's campus.
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3. Critical Thinking in Large Classes
Running time: 4 minutes, 41 seconds

Dr. David Shull promotes critical thinking in his large environmental science course by assigning students to read articles that have opposing points of view on critical environmental issues, and carefully examining them to find flaws in the reasoning or science. Students answer questions online about the articles before the class meeting in which the articles are discussed, thus preparing them for more effective discussion.
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4. Maintaining Objectivity
Running time: 4 minutes, 1 second

Early on in his environmental science course, Dr. David Shull informs students about differing views on environmental issues. He views his own role in the course as that of a fact broker, and uses guest speakers to present differing views on sensitive environmental issues. This allows him to maintain his own objectivity and not be seen as promoting one side or the other on controversial issues such as climate change, genetically modified organisms, or offshore drilling.
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5. Going Paperless
Running time: 3 minutes, 46 seconds

Dr. David Shull, who teaches environmental science to students at Western Washington University, demonstrates to his large class how small acts can add together to have big effects. In his 450 student environmental science class, he puts his syllabus, some of his tests, and many assignments online, and uses electronic communication with his students. This allows him to go almost paperless in his large class, and save reams of paper in the process.
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