Learning and promoting urban sustainability: environmental service learning in an undergraduate environmental studies curriculum

Helicke, Nurcan Atalan

doi:10.1007/s13412-014-0194-8

Cited by 13 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 10 publications

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“…There is growing recognition of the significance of exposing students to sustainability education, which involves introducing the principles, values and practices of sustainable development into all aspects of learning (UNESCO 2005; Helicke 2014). Challenging, however, is presenting an abstract idea such as sustainability in a way that undergraduate students can gain a concrete understanding (Helicke 2014). One strategy in the pursuit of this goal is developing tangible exercises (pedagogical tools) that link the two, merging research ideas and methodologies (Helicke 2014).…”

Section: Promoting Sustainability Educationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Challenging, however, is presenting an abstract idea such as sustainability in a way that undergraduate students can gain a concrete understanding (Helicke 2014). One strategy in the pursuit of this goal is developing tangible exercises (pedagogical tools) that link the two, merging research ideas and methodologies (Helicke 2014). The carbon measurement exercise represents our attempt to do so in a way that develops a sense of awareness regarding sustainable practices (Sipos et al 2008).…”

Section: Promoting Sustainability Educationmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Promoting sustainability education through hands-on approaches: a tree carbon sequestration exercise in a Singapore green space

Ramchunder

Ziegler²

2021

Sustain Sci

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During a university class project related to climate change mitigation strategies, we utilized a university green space as a "living laboratory" for collaborative learning exercise to estimate landscape-level carbon biomass storage. The key objective of the exercise was to foster sustainability awareness with regard to the effectiveness of tree-planting initiatives to offset carbon emissions. Collaborative learning is a process by which students work together in small groups to accomplish a common goal. As experiences are active, social and student-owned, the process leads to the development of a variety of cognitive and transferable skills that are beneficial in academia and the workplace. Through data collection/analysis, the carbon biomass exercise not only allowed students to assess critically the efficacy of a tree-planting initiative as a means to sequester carbon, but they became aware of the difficulties in performing research on complex environmental issues. The intention of the research was to give students an opportunity to practice data collection, data analysis, problem solving, teamwork, communication and scientific literacy skills, meanwhile utilizing the campus open green space to enhance the knowledge discovery process. Informal assessment and discussions with students demonstrated that the activity was successful in reaching a wide range of students with varying backgrounds and initial attitudes about climate change mitigating strategies, which was our objective. Our case study demonstrates how learning objectives can be integrated with university sustainability initiatives to improve learning and student engagement. Finally, we see green spaces as dynamic settings for learning about physical processes and issues related to environmental management and sustainability.

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Section: Promoting Sustainability Educationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Promoting Sustainability Educationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Promoting sustainability education through hands-on approaches: a tree carbon sequestration exercise in a Singapore green space

Ramchunder

Ziegler²

2021

Sustain Sci

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“…However, because these conclusions are not tied to a specific type of service-learning program, how much they generalize to environmentally-focused service-learning remains to be seen. Work specifically on environmentally-focused service-learning tends to examine such facets as student learning or behavioral outcomes (Eflin and Sheaffer, 2006;England and Marcinkowski, 2007;Helicke, 2014;Hughes and Estes, 2005) or environmental outcomes (Yoshino, 2005), rather than implementation.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

E-Corps’ Implementation of Environmental Sustainability-Focused Service-Learning: Conditions Supporting the Establishment of an Epistemic Community

Campbell‐Montalvo

Campbell

Park

et al. 2021

JSTEM

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Background: Environmental sustainability-focused service-learning programs can aid communities in addressing environmental problems and provide students with hands-on training. Understanding the implementation of such programs can inform research and application. Purpose: We investigate the implementation of an environmental sustainability-focused service-learning program (E-Corps) at a large New England public university. Our inquiry sought to better understand epistemic communities by addressing the research question: What conditions, including contextual factors and resources (i.e., funding, university context) and people (i.e., faculty, their orientation to teaching, how they work together), supported the establishment of an epistemic community in the implementation of E-Corps? Methodology/Approach: We employ frameworks of 1) Design Based Implementation Research (DBIR), which considers problems from multiple stakeholders' perspectives, collaborative design, pedagogical theory and knowledge, and capacity for sustaining change, and 2) epistemic communities-the stakeholders recursively generating, using, and refining pedagogical knowledge. We thematically analyzed interviews with students (n=7), two rounds of interviews with faculty (n=7), and participant observations of four E-Corps team meetings (n=13). Findings/Conclusions: Findings show that epistemic community within E-Corps' implementation was supported by 1) an existing context of resources within the university, and 2) a robust university-partnership prioritizing community benefits with aligned instructor approaches. Our work informs both research on DBIR and epistemic communities as well as the practical implementation of university-community environmental partnerships.

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“…Experiential Environmental Education (EEE) immerses students in threatened environmental systems, enriching their experience with learning activities and applied projects that ideally contribute to environmental solutions. It inspires them to see and be inspired by the interconnectedness of environmental systems, to care about human connections to those environmental systems, to learn environmental knowledge, and to understand their role in conservation (Brenner et al 2013;Atalan-Helicke 2014;Jose et al 2017;Felege et al 2019;Moseley et al 2020). Geographic information system (GIS) provides additional tools for students to build environmental knowledge and understanding.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

GIS in the jungle: Experiential Environmental Education (EEE) in Panama

et al. 2021

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A University of Redlands travel course to Panama builds on Monty Hempel's legacy in environmental studies, Experiential Environmental Education, and geographic information systems (GIS) instruction at the University of Redlands. It follows his experience developing social relationships in Panama, and nearly 20 years leading an EEE travel course to Palau. This Panama course, nicknamed "GIS in the Jungle," tasks students with activities such as trail mapping, gathering original data with unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), landcover mapping of pastures and forests, and visualizing the distribution of above-ground forest carbon content. These GIS activities help students construct an understanding of rainforest conservation that integrates their experiences living, hiking, and collecting original data in that environment. UAV and GIS also provided a platform for interacting with indigenous peoples struggling to defend their rainforest territory from colonist deforestation. As Monty Hempel observed about this course, students use GIS and UAV to integrate their direct experience with ground-level fieldwork in the rainforest with a birds-eye view of the interlocking ecosystems and human impacts. Combined with direct rainforest experiences, GIS projects help students develop an understanding of nature's interlocking systems and the interdependence of life on Earth.

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Learning and promoting urban sustainability: environmental service learning in an undergraduate environmental studies curriculum

Cited by 13 publications

References 10 publications

Promoting sustainability education through hands-on approaches: a tree carbon sequestration exercise in a Singapore green space

Promoting sustainability education through hands-on approaches: a tree carbon sequestration exercise in a Singapore green space

E-Corps’ Implementation of Environmental Sustainability-Focused Service-Learning: Conditions Supporting the Establishment of an Epistemic Community

GIS in the jungle: Experiential Environmental Education (EEE) in Panama

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