2018 Conference

Workshop

“EcoTypes: Exploring Environmental Ideas With Your Students” is a half-day training workshop for environmental studies & sciences (ESS) instructors interested in the online EcoTypes initiative (ds.lclark.edu/ecotypes/), administered by Prof. Jim Proctor of Lewis & Clark College. The concepts and skills students develop by participating in EcoTypes are applicable to a wide range of ESS courses spanning the natural sciences, social sciences, and humanities. Students will learn to think more systematically, and with better theoretical and empirical grounding, about a wide range of fundamental ideas that motivate how they and others make sense of environmental issues. The EcoTypes survey and website offer rich resources toward these ends, but can be overwhelming without adequate instructor guidance. The workshop will train instructors so that they can provide this guidance to their students, whether or not instructors have a scholarly background in exploring environmental ideas. The workshop will include (a) a background in environmental ideas, and understanding/measuring these ideas via typologies; (b) an introduction to the theory and methodology behind the EcoTypes survey; (c) guidance toward interpreting individual and group EcoTypes survey results; (d) exploration of all resources currently and potentially available on the EcoTypes website; (e) teaching tips toward effective integration of EcoTypes into courses; and (f) anticipated next steps in the EcoTypes initiative, including potential research collaboration opportunities. The workshop is led by Jim Proctor, who has published extensively in environmental theory and has a strong empirical background in attitudinal research. Additional assistance and testimony will be provided by existing ESS faculty participants.

Summary:

EcoTypes (ds.lclark.edu/ecotypes) is a self-assessment survey and website your students can use to explore a wide range of environmental ideas; to date over 1000 students have completed the survey. The workshop, led by Prof. Jim Proctor, will train instructors how to use these resources.

The workshop will include (a) a background in environmental ideas, and understanding/measuring these ideas via typologies; (b) an introduction to the theory and methodology behind the EcoTypes survey; (c) guidance toward interpreting individual and group EcoTypes survey results; (d) exploration of all resources currently and potentially available on the EcoTypes website; (e) teaching tips toward effective integration of EcoTypes into courses; and (f) anticipated next steps in the EcoTypes initiative, including potential research collaboration opportunities.