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Institutions of higher education play an important role in training citizens who can thoughtfully and critically make decisions that impact the sustainability of our planet. While researchers have determined competencies that students need as environmental and sustainability professionals, less is understood about how to achieve these outcomes within complex learning environments, such as experiential learning settings. We apply a learning landscape framework to conceptualize connections among curricular and programmatic features and student learning outcomes on Dartmouth College’s Environmental Studies Africa Foreign Study Program. We describe the results of 31 semi-structured interviews with alumni of the program. Results demonstrate that program design and pedagogical strategies, coupled with student activities, influence both cognitive and affective student learning outcomes, and that all learning elements are mutually influencing. Further, we identify two emergent learning outcomes, appreciation for reflection and introspection and capacity to engage with complexity, identified by considering learning at a landscape scale.
Karen Hutchins Bieluch; Alexandra Sclafani; Douglas T. Bolger; Michael Cox. Emergent learning outcomes from a complex learning landscape. Environmental Education Research 2021, 1 -20.
AMA StyleKaren Hutchins Bieluch, Alexandra Sclafani, Douglas T. Bolger, Michael Cox. Emergent learning outcomes from a complex learning landscape. Environmental Education Research. 2021; ():1-20.
Chicago/Turabian StyleKaren Hutchins Bieluch; Alexandra Sclafani; Douglas T. Bolger; Michael Cox. 2021. "Emergent learning outcomes from a complex learning landscape." Environmental Education Research , no. : 1-20.
There is increasing interest in using “real-world pedagogy” to train students in ways that make them better able to contribute toward a more sustainable society. While there is a robust body of literature on the competencies that students need as sustainability professionals, there is a lack of specific guidance in the literature on how to teach for competency development or on how to structure a program or course to support competency development. Our research addresses this gap in the literature through a description and autoethnographic reflection on the design and early implementation of a “real-world” course. The course is from the Environmental Studies Program at Dartmouth College (Hanover, NH, USA), but it takes place in the environs of the Gobabeb Research and Training Centre in the Namib Desert of Namibia and in nearby Topnaar settlements. Our research objective was to articulate strategies to address the primary pedagogical challenges that we faced during the design and first five iterations of the course. These include: How do we frame this course and communicate it to students in a way that is understandable and works within the particular context and constraints of the course? Can we provide students with a coherent framework that helps them to understand the approach and also provides a platform for thoughtful consideration, acquisition, and retention of appropriate competencies? How do we develop collaborations with our community partners that are ethical and effective? How do we frame these real-world experiences in a way that allows for students to integrate their experience with the theory and broader empiricism they learn on campus? To address these pedagogic challenges, we framed the course as a research-based course, more specifically community-based research (CBR), conducted in a social-ecological system (SES). We developed lower-level strategies for implementing this framing, including preparing students for collaborative research, encouraging student ownership of their learning, linking theory to research, and thoughtfully navigating time constraints. Furthermore, program-level and student-level engagement with community have been critical for avoiding becoming “helicopter researchers.” Drawing on our personal reflections and those of our community partners, we conclude with a discussion of emergent outcomes and the next steps for continual improvement and adaptation.
Douglas T. Bolger; Karen Hutchins Bieluch; Flora E. Krivak-Tetley; Gillian Maggs-Kölling; Joseph Tjitekulu. Designing a Real-World Course for Environmental Studies Students: Entering a Social-Ecological System. Sustainability 2018, 10, 2546 .
AMA StyleDouglas T. Bolger, Karen Hutchins Bieluch, Flora E. Krivak-Tetley, Gillian Maggs-Kölling, Joseph Tjitekulu. Designing a Real-World Course for Environmental Studies Students: Entering a Social-Ecological System. Sustainability. 2018; 10 (7):2546.
Chicago/Turabian StyleDouglas T. Bolger; Karen Hutchins Bieluch; Flora E. Krivak-Tetley; Gillian Maggs-Kölling; Joseph Tjitekulu. 2018. "Designing a Real-World Course for Environmental Studies Students: Entering a Social-Ecological System." Sustainability 10, no. 7: 2546.
Sustaining coupled natural and human systems requires multiple forms of knowledge, experiences, values, and resources be brought into conversation to address sustainability challenges. Transdisciplinary research partnerships provide the opportunity to meet this requirement by bringing together interdisciplinary scientists with stakeholders in some or all stages of the knowledge production process. However, building partnerships to produce sustainability outcomes is a complex process requiring an understanding of the social psychological and contextual variables impacting partnerships. Here, we explore local government officials’ (LGOs’) preferences for participation in these partnerships. Using data from a statewide survey, we develop a theoretically and empirically derived model to test the relationship between a suite of factors and LGOs’ preferred transdisciplinary partnership style. We find collaboration preferences are influenced by LGOs’ confidence that researchers can help solve problems, experience with researchers, the severity and type of problem(s) occurring in the community, and partner trust. Assessing stakeholder partnership expectations may assist partners with co-designing flexible research processes that address collaboration expectations, foster dialog and social learning among project partners, and that increase the potential of research to influence change.
Karen Hutchins Bieluch; Kathleen Bell; Mario Teisl; Laura A. Lindenfeld; Jessica Leahy; Linda Silka. Transdisciplinary research partnerships in sustainability science: an examination of stakeholder participation preferences. Sustainability Science 2016, 12, 87 -104.
AMA StyleKaren Hutchins Bieluch, Kathleen Bell, Mario Teisl, Laura A. Lindenfeld, Jessica Leahy, Linda Silka. Transdisciplinary research partnerships in sustainability science: an examination of stakeholder participation preferences. Sustainability Science. 2016; 12 (1):87-104.
Chicago/Turabian StyleKaren Hutchins Bieluch; Kathleen Bell; Mario Teisl; Laura A. Lindenfeld; Jessica Leahy; Linda Silka. 2016. "Transdisciplinary research partnerships in sustainability science: an examination of stakeholder participation preferences." Sustainability Science 12, no. 1: 87-104.
Bridie McGreavy; Laura Lindenfeld; Karen Hutchins Bieluch; Linda Silka; Jessica Leahy; Bill Zoellick. Communication and sustainability science teams as complex systems. Ecology and Society 2015, 20, 1 .
AMA StyleBridie McGreavy, Laura Lindenfeld, Karen Hutchins Bieluch, Linda Silka, Jessica Leahy, Bill Zoellick. Communication and sustainability science teams as complex systems. Ecology and Society. 2015; 20 (1):1.
Chicago/Turabian StyleBridie McGreavy; Laura Lindenfeld; Karen Hutchins Bieluch; Linda Silka; Jessica Leahy; Bill Zoellick. 2015. "Communication and sustainability science teams as complex systems." Ecology and Society 20, no. 1: 1.