SustEd+syllabus

Sustainability Education Spring 2013, STSS 4965, TF 2:00-3:50, Sage 4112
Professor Kim Fortun, fortuk@rpi.edu, x2199, Sage 5112. Office hours Fridays 1-2, and by appt.

What knowledge and thought styles are needed to advance environmental sustainability? How can educators cultivate the kind of knowledge and thinking needed? How can sustainability educators reach kids of different ages, and different kinds of communities? This course will examine these questions through review of varied ways environmental education can be conceptualized and delivered. We will also develop and deliver our own educational materials, experimenting with ways social science and humanities research findings can be translated for different audiences – extending what the National Science Foundation calls the “broad impact” of the research.

The course will have five **learning outcomes**. You should:
 * Expand your understanding of key factors shaping US children’s’ education today.
 * Expand your understanding of how environmental education is developing in the United States, and internationally.
 * Extend your understanding of how research findings can be woven into educational outreach programs, broadening the impact of the research.
 * Develop your own teaching, curriculum development and mentoring skills.
 * Develop your own environmental and educational values.

Your grade for the course will be based on the following percentages: Active Participation 30% Contact Hours 20% Mid Term Essay 10% Curriculum Review and Innovation 25% Cumulative Essay 15%

REQUIRED TEXTS
Required reading will be accessible through the wiki for Rensselaer’s EcoEd Research Group: http://ecoed.wikispaces.com/ **// COURSE POLICIES //** Attendance is required. Unexcused absences will result in a 2% reduction from your final grade. An excused absence (for illness, emergencies and approved Rensselaer activities) can be made up through submission of an extra film annotation (see details below). Documentation for excused absences should be obtained from the Student Experience Office, 4th floor Academy Hall, x8022, se@rpi.edu. Printed copies of assignments are due in class as indicated on the schedule below. For each day an assignment is late, you will lose 1% from your overall (cumulative) grade. If your midterm essay is a day late, for example, it can contribute at most 4% to your overall grade.

All assignments should also be posted in your wiki portfolio. You are required to attend both films in the STS Sustainability Studies Film Series (on Sundays, 4-6pm: Feb 24, April 14). If you are unable to attend these films, they can be made up through submission of extra film annotations, following the template below. Academic honesty of the highest order is expected. It is not acceptable to submit work done for another class in this class, though it is acceptable to build on previous work. Talk to me if you have questions about this. Nor, of course, is it acceptable to submit work done by someone else as your own.

Citations must be included for both indirect and direct quotation, providing clear documentation of sources. Special care must be taken to properly cite digital resources. Please see the Student Handbook for complete guidelines on academic honesty. Here is a useful review of plagiarism: []. //If I am able to confirm plagiarism or another form of academic dishonesty on any assignment in this course, you are likely to fail the entire course.//

You may appeal a grade through a written statement describing the grounds on which a change of grade should be considered appropriate. Before initiating a formal appeal, feel free to talk to me. If you decide to pursue an appeal, the written statement must reference one of the three criteria identified in the //Student Handbook// as grounds for appeal. According to the //Handbook//, the "allegation must be based upon a violation of the course syllabus, a violation of Institute policy, or a violation of the student's rights under the Student Bill of Rights."


 * // ASSIGNMENT AND GRADING DETAILS //**

** 30% Active Participation ** Attendance is required, but attendance alone does not guarantee a high participation grade. The participation grade is based on the quality of participation in class discussions, planning and outreach to k-8 students. Beginning in week 3, you will be asked to present your reviews of existing environmental education curriculum modules, and your own ideas for new curriculum modules. Throughout the semester, you will be asked to provide feedback in class on course readings. Computers should be brought to class but should only be used for class-related activities. Other forms of electronic communication are not allowed. In preparing for class, plan to spend at least two hours out of class for every hour in class – so about 10 hours a week on homework (or, in the case of this class, on contact hours with students). ** 20% Contact Hours ** I expect you to have approximately 20 contact hours with K-12 students during the semester – in programs we’ll organize on the RPI campus, and through work with teachers in their classrooms during the regular school day. We will work out the logistics in class. If scheduling makes it impossible to build sufficient contact hours, film annotations may be used as an alternative (1 annotation = 2 hours).
 * 10% Midterm Essay ** Your midterm essay will require responses to approximately five questions related to class discussion and readings. Each response should be about 400 words long; overall, the essay will be approximately 5-8 pages. The exam should be written independently (i.e. without collaboration). Questions will be posted by February 12. The midterm essay is due in class Tuesday, March 5.


 * 20% Seven Curriculum Review and Innovation Memos ** Over the course of the semester, you will write five memos that evaluate 5 eco-ed curriculum modules now in circulation, evaluating what they accomplish, commenting on how they could be improved. A draft template for these reviews is below. You can review modules available at sites like this: []

You will also write two memos describing curriculum modules that help build the kinds of literacies the EcoEd Research Group has determined to be important when dealing with complex environmental problems. These modules can build on modules already developed by others; these modules should be structured to contribute to the cache of modules being built by the EcoEd Research Group.

Your review of modules that have already been developed will address these (and possibly additional) questions:
 * What organization developed the curriculum module you are evaluating?
 * What is the mission of the organization?
 * What is the educational mission and philosophy of the organization?
 * What does the curriculum module aim to teach? In other words: what are the learning outcomes supposed to be?
 * Do you think the curriculum is appropriated designed to produce the intended learning outcomes?
 * Does this curriculum teach the kind of literacies the EcoEd Research Group advocates?
 * What could be layered into this curriculum so that it addresses more of the learning outcomes that the EcoEd Group advocates?


 * 15% Cumulative Essay ** Your final exam for this course will take the form of a cumulative essay in which you will be asked to integrate and reflect on the insight you have developed about environmental education. There will be approximately ten short (400 word) essay questions. The best way to prepare for the exam is to deeply engage class reading material, films, discussion and presentations. Keeping a journal throughout the semester would be an excellent way to cultivate the kind of reflection expected. Questions will be posted by Tuesday, April 2. The exam should be written independently (i.e. without collaboration). The exam is due in class Tuesday, April 30.

** Excused Absences and Film Annotations ** Excused absences (from class or the film series) can be made up by writing film annotations. You may annotate any sustainability-related documentary, not only those screened in class or in the film series. You cannot re-submit annotations submitted in other classes. Credit will depend on complete coverage of the annotation questions, use of concrete examples from the film to illustrate points and high quality writing. Annotations can be in essay form, or can answer each question separately, but must be in complete sentences and paragraphs. It should be clear that you have moved beyond notes to a sophisticated analysis. Each annotation should be approximately 1000 words long. Indicate word count at the top. The questions to be covered are as follows:

1. Title, director and release year? 2. What is the central argument or narrative of the film? 3. What sustainability issues does the film draw out? 4. What parts of the film did you find most persuasive and compelling? Why? 5. What parts of the film were you not compelled or convinced by? Why? 6. What kinds of corrective action are suggested by the film? If the film itself does not suggest corrective action, describe actions that you can imagine being effective. 7. What kinds of literacy are cultivated by the film? 8. What would improve the environmental educational value of the film? 9. What additional information has this film compelled you to seek out? (Describe what you learned in a couple of sentences, providing at least two supporting references).