the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Recently, Solving Complex Problems was recognized with a American Acade
Matthew Jungers ASU/NASA Space Grant Fellowship, Fall 2013 Final Report
‘Solving Environmental Problems’: A Senior Capstone Class for Arizona State University’s School of Earth and Space Exploration The School of Earth and Space Exploration (SESE) at Arizona State University is interdisciplinary by design. It brings together geologists, astrophysicists, and engineers with the understanding that future success in scientific research on Earth and in Space requires a variety of expertise. However, beyond the sphere of interdisciplinary academic research, there is a pressing need for scientists and engineers that can communicate the importance of their research to the public and to policy makers. A changing global climate and increasingly scarce natural resources are at the heart of many current environmental problems that require novel solutions. However, the development of solutions for problems such as increasing both the productivity and environmental sensitivity of conventional energy production requires collaboration between academic research, industry research and resources, public opinion and understanding, and government support across all levels. Ultimately, the primary responsibility for communicating the gravity of a given environmental problem should fall to the scientists and engineers conducting primary research on a solution. The senior capstone class for SESE, Solving Environmental Problems, is designed to help outgoing seniors understand the importance - and the inherent challenges - of designing and communicating solutions to complex problems. Solving Environmental Problems will be offered for the first time at Arizona State University during the Spring semester of 2013. The class is designed around the model of a class, Solving Complex Problems, that Dr. Kip Hodges (SESE’s founding director) first developed while at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Recently, Solving Complex Problems was recognized with a American Academy of Arts and Sciences (AAAS) Science Prize for InquiryBased Instruction (http://www.sciencemag.org/content/338/6111/1164.full). The goal for this ASU/NASA Space Grant Fellowship was to work with Dr. Hodges to develop course materials for the Spring 2013 semester and future semesters in order to ensure the establishment and future success of this class at Arizona State University. The target audience for the class is outgoing seniors from SESE’s Earth and Environmental Studies B.A. track (18 students are enrolled for the Spring 2013 semester, and future semesters should average ~30 students).
Technical Approach The primary driving force behind the success of Solving Environmental Problems is the collaborative research of student teams throughout the semester. The instructors present the students with a directive or problem, and the onus is on the students to determine how to most
efficiently parse the problem into component parts for each research team. For example, the class directive for the Spring 2013 semester is: Design a protocol for environmentally sensitive hyrdraulic fracturing for shale gas extraction, and evaluate the environmental cost and economic benefit of applying this technique in western New York State. How exactly to approach successfully addressing this problem is up to the students. Some possible research teams may include an engineering team focused on the mechanics of hydraulic fracturing, a hydrology team to evaluate potential contamination for groundwater by fracking fluids, a geology team to characterize the geologic formation targeted for gas extraction, and a business team to quantify the monetary cost-benefit of the endeavor. Although the students determine the focus of each team, students are randomly assigned to teams by the instructors. The nature of these research teams can change during the semester as the students realize that more emphasis is needed on some aspect of the problem that they overlooked early in the term. To help direct the students’ choice of research teams, we provide the class with a series of case studies that are peripherally related to the term’s environmental problem. For example, an article on earth fissures in Arizona will be provided this semester to help students understand potential unexpected outcomes of human-induced changes in a region’s groundwater pore pressure. It is left to the students to build off these case studies and compile research materials on more germane topics such as fracking-induced earthquakes. Throughout the semester, each team builds a collaborative research report that ultimately will be used by the class in its cost-benefit analysis of the term’s directive. These research documents will be shared via a new educational software environment, Kno. To facilitate the use of their new software, Kno has graciously agreed to provide each student with a loaner iPad for the Spring 2013 semester. The class’ final report will be organized into an e-book that will be available for download via Kno. An added benefit of providing Kno as a collaborative space for the students is the ability to track each student’s use of the educational technology through the semester (with the students’ permission, of course), and evaluate how best to adapt the technology for future classes.
Evaluation Assignments and assessments for Solving Environmental Problems are non-traditional. Students’ final grade is comprised of a class grade (40%), a team grade (30%), and an individual grade (30%). The class grade is set by how well the entire class comes together as a group to collaboratively solve the term’s directive. The class will be evaluated on the basis of their final e-book product, and their final, public presentation of their solution’s design. A component of the term’s first assignment for each research team is the a set of standards that they believe their team needs to meet in order to receive an ‘A’ for their team grade. The instructors help evaluate how realistic the teams’ standards are, and then each team will
ultimately be graded based on the rubric that they established for themselves. Individual grades are a function of attendance and class participation, contributions to team projects, weekly journal entries on students’ assessment of the educational technology (i.e., Kno) used for the class, and an individually generated annotated bibliography on preliminary research that is due early in the semester. Outcomes, Impacts, and Sustainability Currently, there are 18 students enrolled in Solving Environmental Problems for the Spring 2013 semester. The impact of this semester’s effort will be evaluated both through the assessments outline above, and series of three informal student surveys conducted at the beginning of the semester, mid-semester, and at the end of the semester. The goal of the surveys is to determine what students identify as their academic strengths, and how interested they are in communicating their scientific knowledge to a public audience. A goal of this class is to help students understand that pressing environmental problems are unavoidably interdisciplinary in terms of the science and engineering involved, and the success of any solution requires the political and economic backing that positive public opinion provides. In the future, this class, a senior capstone class for SESE, will have an enrollment of at least 30 students each year, so the direct impact of this fellowship will grow over time. Indirect participants will include the audience for the students’ final public presentation of their design, as well as any individuals that download the students’ final e-book report. In addition to developing course materials for the Spring 2013 semester (for which I am a Teaching Assistant), I also compiled case study materials for two future incarnations of Solving Environmental Problems. I have teaching materials related to directives on water resources in the American Southwest and non-military nuclear waste disposal which ensure two additional semesters of Solving Environmental Problems will directly benefit from this ASU/NASA Space Grant Fellowship.
