Environment and Engagement in German Studies: Projects and Resources for Critical Environmental Thinking

Abstract

Environmental issues have received significant attention in German Studies for a number of years, leading to innovations in both research and pedagogy. More recently, attention has focused on applied pedagogical practices such as service‐learning projects and bilateral exchanges related to environmental sustainability. While these initiatives offer numerous potential benefits, as shown in research on high‐impact practices, and while the topic may attract students to learn German, these forms of teaching entail a range of challenges and questions for educators that are distinct from the work traditionally carried out in German language pedagogy. This co‐authored article offers resources for working through these challenges and introduces a collection of free online materials currently in development. We suggest a model of critical environmental thinking in the classroom that asks students to use the target language to reexamine familiar concepts and daily practices connected to the environment and apply their knowledge of other cultures to multimodal projects.

The presence and absence of race in world language education literature

“…Articles across the historical span of the literature framed race as a “problem of our day”: Fitz‐Gerald (1921), Doyle (1941), Coleman (1946), Choquette (1950), Marjama (1979), Henderson et al (2020), and MacDonald (2021). More recently, articles identified race as a social issue in target cultures as well (e.g., Bauerlein & Shertzer, 2019; Baumgartner, 2012; King, 2021; Kost & Peabody, 2021; Willeke, 2001). While naming race as a social problem, articles also highlighted how the WL field has positioned itself as race neutral, or even as a solution to racial issues.…”

The Effect of Augmented Reality Technology on Environmental Thinking, Environmental Behavior and Attitude toward Environment Variables in Science Lesson

“…The fact that AR technology develops positive thinking towards the environment can be clarified because AR technology demonstrates situations that cannot be shown in the classroom environment, and the participants examine the concepts interactively. The use of interactive teaching materials in the classroom positively affects the development of environmental thinking compared to traditional education (Kost & Peabody, 2021). The fact that AR technology enables positive environmental behavior can be clarified by the fact that AR technology is effective in behaviors.…”

“…However, in these studies, there are statements about how environmental education should be to gain individuals the concepts of environmental thinking, environmental behavior, and attitude toward the environment. Environmental thinking and behaviors; In addition, improving the ability to raise individuals with positive attitudes in educational environments: this education: attract students' attention (Batres Quevedo, 2020;Kim et al, 2018), uses technologies that increase learning performance (Chang et al, 2011;Chen & Huang, 2009;Jormanainen et al, 2018) also depends on the use of techniques and technologies that provide positive attitudes towards the lesson (Chang et al, 2011;Marcinkowski & Reid, 2019), and the use of techniques or technologies that provide the demonstration of unsuitable or dangerous situations in the classroom environment (Kost & Peabody, 2021). Considering the educational contributions of augmented reality (AR) technology, these expressions are closely related.…”