Kerry Byrne: Using Introducing the Wicked Problem of Global Food Security in Sustainable Human Ecology course at Oregon Institute of Technology
Explore the 'Wicked Problem of
Global Food Security' Module »
About this Course
Sustainable Human Ecology is the 400-level capstone course for Environmental Science majors and Sustainability minors.
Size varies by year
25
maximum
5
minimum students
Three 50-minute lecture sessions
one 170-minute lab per week
Syllabus for ENV 484 (Acrobat (PDF) 477kB Jul5 17)
ENV 484 Sustainable Human Ecology: Investigation of global interconnections between humans and natural systems through the study and application of ecological principles. Ethical and ecological considerations are used to solve complex environmental problems. Laboratories involve field work with local experts.
This is the required capstone course for Environmental Science majors and Sustainability minors. It is intended to ensure that every student graduating in the Environmental Science major and Sustainability minor is knowledgeable of the basic principles of sustainability (the environmental, social, and economic dimensions) and the interconnections between humans and natural systems. The course is structured around three main elements:
- An individual project where students evaluate their carbon foot print and make some change in their daily lives for a three-week period and blog about their experience;
- A set of required readings and discussions that cover a range of issues relating to sustainability science; and
- A campus-oriented group project that students will present to the OIT campus sustainability committee and interested other members of the OIT and Klamath Falls community at the end of the quarter.
In this course, students should be able to demonstrate an understanding of the environmental, social, and economic dimensions of sustainability. Specifically, students should leave this course able to:
- Define and understand the concept of sustainable development;
- Critically evaluate primary literature focused on sustainability;
- Understand how their actions affect the environment, and become more aware of the interconnectedness between humans and natural systems; and
- Work collaboratively with students from diverse disciplines to conduct a campus-oriented sustainability research project and communicate the findings in written and oral format to your peers and the OIT community.
As my course is the capstone course for Environmental Science majors, students have a strong background in ecology and systems thinking already. However, at the outset of this academic year, I desired to bolster my coverage of food security in the course, because I know it is a topic of student interest based on past course reviews. This module was also attractive to me because of the use of ArcGIS Online – students in the Environmental Science major are required to take at least one full year of GIS courses, typically around their sophomore year. I wanted to capitalize on one of the strengths of our program and have students do a more quantitative analysis using real data.
One of the things I really liked about this module is that it was open-ended. I had a few students in the class that were not very enthusiastic about the materials, so they did the bare minimum required. However, I also had students that were incredibly interested in the material and really went above and beyond my expectations- the materials allow some students to learn a little and not put in very much effort, while at the same time allowing the higher achieving students to really aim for the stars! Because of this, everyone could stay engaged at different levels and I didn't lose anyone in this class that really varied in terms of enthusiasm and grade expectations. A few of the group presentations and chocolate story maps were mediocre; while a few other groups and chocolate maps were really quite outstanding; and these students really sought out additional materials for their analyses.
The materials allow some students to learn a little and not put in very much effort, while at the same time allowing the higher achieving students to really aim for the stars!
My Experience Teaching with InTeGrateMaterials
I modified this unit to focus our time on topics that I knew students hadn't covered in other courses or my course. I used Unit 1, and Units 4 – 6, and also developed a short powerpoint based on the reading materials provided in Unit 2 about the definition of a "Wicked Problem."
Relationship of InTeGrate Materials to my Course
I covered the module in three 50-minute lecture sessions, and one 170-minute lab session. I have divided my ten week course into approximately weekly modules, and I implemented the Global Food Security module about half-way through the term (see syllabus). I used a combination of short lectures and group exercises in class to implement the module.
I used portions of Unit 1 and Units 4 – 6 in this course, and also developed a short PowerPoint based on the reading materials provided in Unit 2 about the definition of a "Wicked Problem."
Unit 1
- On the first day of the unit, I began class by asking students to spend five minutes independently thinking about the following prompt: "When you hear the words food security, what images, places, characteristics come to mind? Spend a few minutes writing your impressions (a couple sentences). You could also search for images that illustrate your thoughts." Instead of having students submit it on the course management system, at the end of five minutes I had students shout out their responses and I wrote them all on the white board.
- Next, I reviewed key concepts and definitions in the Instructor Review PowerPoint (I did not modify the powerpoint)
- After these activities, there were about 15 minutes left in class. I had students begin working on the AGO Chocolate activity using laptops in the classroom. NOTE: if you plan on using this activity, be sure to have students sign up for accounts (or get access to the University account) ahead of class time, so it doesn't waste time. For me, this took a little prep in the days leading up to the activity. None of the students completed the activity in class, so they completed it for homework that was due two days after assigned. I modified the InTeGrate assignment slightly, and allowed students to select a chocolate bar of their choice and map the path of the ingredients from across the world to their hometown (where they grew up). That way, it insured that students didn't copy each other, because no two students had the same hometown in my class. It was very interesting to observe the varying levels of effort – some students stuck to Hershey's and only mapped cacao, sugar, and milk, while other students selected obscure brands of chocolate and mapped a suite of ingredients (vanilla, nuts, milk, cacao from multiple sources, etc.).
Units 4-6
- Before lab, I assigned two students to each of the three regions, and posted the assigned pre-class readings before we met as a class.
- At the beginning of lab, I introduced the concept of a "wicked problem" using the reading from Unit 2 as a guide to create a brief powerpoint. Once the students were familiar with the concept, I used the powerpoints from Unit 4 to introduce the three locations that students would investigate for Unit 4. I found it important to express to students that each region had unique issues affecting it, and unique data sets were provided to help them address some of the issues. This was important, as each group really had to work independently on creating their AGO analyses using different types of data.
- I had posted the case study materials for each region on the course management software before class, so after my lecture, I let the students begin small group work (in pairs) brainstorming the food security issues that they thought were important in their region in the context of wicked problems. Students had about 100 minutes to begin thinking about their presentation that would take place the following week. Students had about 100 minutes to work with their partner using laptops in the classroom to discuss, conduct analyses, and do research for their presentations the following week. They also had the class period the following day (50 minutes) to work on their presentations using the class laptops. In total, they had about 150 minutes to work on the analysis/presentations during class time. The rest they had to do outside of class.
- In the class discussion after the lab/lecture period the students were given to work on their presentations, students were assigned a reading on ameliorating food desert conditions in the United States.
- The following week (6 days after I had introduced the assignment), students gave 15-minute presentations to the class; assuming the audience was either the mayor of NYC, the Governor of Nebraska, or CARICOM. I posted the grading rubric for their presentations (unmodified from InTeGrate) on the course management software the week prior.
Assessments
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Unit 1:
- Students submitted their assignments for the AGO Chocolate activity on the course management software.
-
Units 4-6:
- I assessed their final presentations using the rubric provided by InTeGrate (unmodified).
- I asked the following question on midterm as a short essay question:
- What makes food security a "wicked problem"? As we've learned from our case studies, food security issues may vary from place to place. What are the similarities and differences among these issues in Nebraska, New York City, and the Caribbean?
Outcomes
My goal in incorporating this module into my course was to bolster my coverage of food security in the course, because students in previous years expressed it was of interest to them. In addition, this module was also attractive to me because of the use of ArcGIS Online – I wanted to capitalize on one of the strengths of our Environmental Sciences program and have students do a more quantitative analysis using real data. This module helped me achieve each of these goals and it definitely got students more engaged in the material; as each product they created was unique to them or their group; and was based on real-life data. I will definitely continue to use the module if I teach the course in the future!
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