Biology 4400 – Environmental
Issues Instructor Joanne Tippett
Aims
·
Learn skills
Ř
group
dialogue
Ř
teamwork
Ř
creative
thinking
Ř
strategic
planning
Ř
ecological
design
·
Apply
principles and concepts learned in lectures to a real-world project
·
Deepen
understanding of sustainability and its applications
·
Develop
ideas for a Science and Technology Building at Dominican
Process
There
is roughly one lab session per week, as well as some time allocated during the
field trips for this work. In these sessions, you will be working in small
groups. This semester, we will be using the design and planning of
landscape restoration focused on the two creeks on campus as the practical
exercise. This will also involve looking at the proposed new science
building. There is a site for the building, agreed upon in the master plan for
the campus. We will be looking at possible ways to increase the
sustainability of the building, as well as gathering ideas from students as to
what sorts of programs and projects you would like to see supported by
such a facility. We will also look at how a new facility could affect the
land and surrounding area, taking a holistic view of the energy and material
flows in the area. This is the preliminary stage of what we hope will be a
broad based student participation in this design project. This is not intended
to produce a finished architectural design, but rather to provide ideas
and possible ways to integrate sustainability principles into the eventual design
of the building. We will look at the landscape around the creek as well as
at the creek bed itself.
Some
of the time will be spent in learning design skills necessary for completing
the project. Much of the sessions will be spent on designing and working on
the group project. All of these steps will be useful for the final
project, though at times it may be hard to see the link. At times, we will be
repeating steps. This is not intended to bore you with needless
repetition. The point of these stages is to go deeper into the design process.
No project manager ever goes through a planning process without reviewing
stages, seeing what is missing, what has been learnt in the meantime, and
adding additional information.
You
will be using the sustainable Pathways Design Process, developed by Joanne
Tippett, during these lab sessions. For many of the lab sessions, will you be
given worksheets that build up to make a participant's manual. These will
lay out the group exercises that you are to complete in lab sessions. You will
need a binder to keep these papers together. The questions on the work
sheets should be filled in as part of group discussions.
Lab
work will be assessed regularly, though observation and feedback in class,
though not with a letter grade, as the main part of the assessment will come
from the final product. This assessment will include observation of
participation during lab. This stage of the assessment will give me an idea of
your progress and participation. I will be keeping track of this ongoing
assessment. Each group should keep all of the charts and work in progress
towards the final design together with a clip, with your group's name on
the package.
The
group project is the culmination of the lab work and a small amount of work
outside of lab towards the end of the semester, and will be presented in the
time that is set aside for a final exam. The group project is worth 15% of your
final grade.
Each
group will have 15 minutes to make an oral presentation and answer questions
about their project. This should be supported by presentation boards showing
the final design and some of the process work showing how you have arrived at
this design, and should be supplemented by a 3-5 page typed summary of the
project. As well as the written summaries and presentation materials that you
use in the final presentation, each team should hand in all of the supporting
material which you have completed during the labs at the time of the final
presentation.
Criteria for assessment:
§
Content
20%. This will require some research on your behalf to learn more about the
topic that your team chooses to explore in depth.
§
Synthesis
of information learned during course 20% I am looking for is application of
principles learned in lab with the concepts and information learned in
lectures.
§
Originality
of thought 25%. This means that you need to ask questions and apply your own
thinking to the process and materials. Coming up with your own ideas and
exploring them in the light of the group project and in the light of your
research and practical experience.
§
Communication
15% (e.g. in oral presentation - clear prose, well presented material, you have
thought about what you wish to say and how you will say it, for writing:
clarity, grammar, spelling)
§
Participation
10%. This will be determined by instructor’s observation of lab sessions, and
from assessment of the work handed in by students that has been completed
during the lab session (e.g. group charts).
Each
individual will choose one aspect of the overall planning project that they
wish to explore in more depth and will investigate this further outside
of class as an individual project. This assignment will involve learning
more about the principles being explored in lab, an elaboration of their
application to the overall design process and investigation into how the chosen
topic fits into the overall plan. This project will include contacting at
least one local group for information. Web sites are appropriate sources
of information for this project.
Individual Projects (brief written report (500 – 1000 words) as
well as 5 minute oral presentation) are due on Monday April 1.
The projects are worth 20% of the overall grade, and will be
assessed on content as well as oral presentation.
Topics:
Choose
one of the following topics. If there is an aspect of creek restoration that
you are interested in and would like to investigate that is not on this list,
check with the instructor before proceeding.
Criteria for assessment:
§
Content
20%. This will require some research on your behalf to learn more about the
topic that your team chooses to explore in depth.
§
Synthesis
of information learned during course 20% I am looking for is application of
principles learned in lab with the concepts and information learned in
lectures.
§
Originality
of thought 25%. This means that you need to ask questions and apply your own
thinking to the process and materials. Coming up with your own ideas and
exploring them in the light of the group project and in the light of your
research and practical experience.
§
Communication
15% (e.g. in oral presentation - clear prose, well presented material, you have
thought about what you wish to say and how you will say it, for writing:
clarity, grammar, spelling)