2018 Conference

Individual Paper Presentation

This paper introduces an innovative approach to sustainability education at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire.  We present the structure, delivery, and assessment results of a multi-section introductory sustainability laboratory that incorporates High Impact Practices (HIPs) and draws on concepts from the social sciences.  HIPs are increasingly incorporated into university courses to deepen student learning, support student success, and improve retention (Kuh and O’Donnell, 2013). The laboratory component for this 4-credit lecture-lab experience employed three HIPs: (1) lab sections with first year students only (FYO); (2) hands-on collaborative learning assignments (CLs); and (3) faculty rotation across all lab sections (FR).  All laboratory sections were scheduled at the same time to permit faculty to complete a series of exercises and then rotate to another section. Although faculty rotation is not listed specifically as a HIP, it does meet the high impact outcome of meaningful student-faculty interactions and access to different teaching styles to meet the needs of diverse learners. This experience also represents the first social sciences laboratory approved to meet the general laboratory requirement at the University of Wisconsin—Eau Claire.  We selected hands-on collaborative learning activities used by businesses and the social sciences. Examples of these activities include lifecycle analysis, stakeholder framing, and water, energy and transportation-related assignments that focus on behavioral factors.  All laboratory assignments were developed to use locally-based issues such as campus energy use, phosphorus pollution in local waterways, or lifecycle analysis of locally made products. Finally, because all laboratory sections were held at the same time, all students participated together in two local field trips and a climate change negotiation simulation.  To evaluate student success in achieving course-based learning outcomes, we present assessment data of student work and student feedback.