Preparing Change Agents: Teaching to the BIG Question with First and Second Year Experiences
Type of Session
Full Presentation Panel
Abstract
With a three year grant from the Teagle Foundation (NY), Kapi'olani CC is integrating the following BIG Question across courses in its two-year degree and baccalaureate transfer program: “How do we build our commitment to civic and moral responsibility for diverse, equitable, healthy, and sustainable communities?” Four exemplary course models will be shared:
College Composition (English 100) includes a unit on Postapocalyptic Fiction and approaches social and environmental issues and dialogue on sustainability through a futures lens. Using a "postapocalyptic book club" format, students build a commitment to sustainability by extrapolating current realities into future possibilities.
Creative Thinking (Humanities, Interdisciplinary Studies, 161) students learn the skills and strategies necessary to imaginatively and creatively confront some of the most complex challenges facing our world and society. The course explores the aesthetic dimension of engagement, one of our General Education outcomes, and sees sustainability challenges as aesthetic problems of value and meaning.
Environmental Science and Ecology (Biology 124) students work with community partners to restore marine ecosystems by removing tons of invasive species. In the class lab, students learn ecological techniques and theory and communicate their research findings with community members who help frame their learning in the context of sustainable island communities.
Human Development (Family Resources 230) examines the lifespan from conception to death emphasizing the interrelationships of biological, cognitive and psychosocial development in a systems framework. Students examine larger social issues (homelessness, hunger, addiction), and how these issues relate to diversity, equity, health or sustainability. Students examine social issues through a systems frame fundamental to their attitudes towards unfairness or injustice.
Numerous year-long experiential and co-curricular activities provide ongoing engagement with the Big Question. Faculty assess student learning using required end-of-semester reflection prompts and a scoring rubric. Pre- and post-surveys are being used in fall semesters to assess learning gains.
Primary Contact
Dr Robert W Franco, Kapi'olani Community College, University of Hawaii
Presenters
Dr. Krista Hiser, Kapi'olani Community College, University of Hawaii
E-mail address (preferred) or phone number
Title of paper
Preparing Change Agents: English 100 and Postapocalyptic Literature
Carl Jennings, Kapi'olani Community College, University of Hawaii
E-mail address (preferred) or phone number
Title of paper
Preparing Change Agents: Creative and Interdisciplinary Thinking
Dr. Wendy Kuntz, Kapi'olani Community College, University of Hawaii
E-mail address (preferred) or phone number
Title of paper
Preparing Change Agents: Environment and Ecology