I just finished teaching a 200-level course on Marine Science at Western Washington University and this quarter, just as last quarter, I offered the students extra credit if they wrote a letter to their representative about an ocean issue and proposed solution to the problem that they learned about in class. The letters must come in an addressed, stamped, unsealed envelope and this year I received more than 40 of them, some of them stuffed with scientific studies we had read, many of them calling for more marine protected areas. It's a really rewarding assignment for them and for me. I'm curious if there are other techniques that combine citizenry and science in the college classroom?
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Jennifer Jacquet is a Ph.D. candidate with the Sea Around Us Project at the UBC Fisheries Centre. She works closely with Dr. Daniel Pauly, who coined the term Shifting Baselines, the syndrome on which this blog focuses.
Josh Donlan is a conservation scientist and a Visting Fellow at Cornell University. He often hides out in the backcountry of the Teton Mountains, pondering bygone giant beavers and ground sloths. He also is also the founder and Director of Advanced Conservation Strategies and has a habit of restoring remote islands.
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Extra Credit for Participating in Democracy
Category: Solutions
Posted on: June 23, 2008 7:05 PM, by Jennifer L. Jacquet
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And I'm curious about the societal implications that it takes the offer of some compensation - in your case extra credit on a grade scale - to get people to participate in democratic actions in a fundamental way. Makes one wonder what your students got in the way of civics and U.S. history in highschool.
Posted by: Philip H. | June 24, 2008 7:51 AM
Jennifer,
I work at Western Washington University on Sustainability Education for New Teachers research funded by the Russell Family Foundation and I want to applaud your application of civic engagement to your students' coursework. This is exactly the kind of imbedded curricular reinforcement we need to see in order for a more sustainable and socially just future to emerge. In answer to your question about other techniques to combine citizenry and science in the college classroom, I would encourage you to check with the Facing The Future curriculum that we here at Woodring College of Education are currently testing as a Teacher Preparation tool. If you'll pardon the redundancy, we are researching how to teach teachers to teach through the lens of sustainability. Many of Facing The Future lessons for secondary school can be adapted for college level coursework. You can visit their website for more information at: http://www.facingthefuture.org/
In response to Philip H's comment, I agree that participation in democratic actions is fundamental and that education to do so needs to occur before college level. I think it is also important to clarify that from a researcher's standpoint, one cannot assume that the 40 students who wrote letters to their representatives would NOT have done so without the inducement of extra credit from their teacher. This is exactly the kind of research question that we need more understanding about in order to know how best to impart a sense of stewardship to our students for the world we all inhabit: what motivates people to participate in creating a sustainable lifestyle that allows for economic equity, environmental protection, and social justice for ourselves and for future generations?
Posted by: Irene Hinkle | June 24, 2008 9:49 AM