Ramchunder Sorain J, Ziegler Alan D
Department of Geography and Bachelor of Environmental Studies, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore.
Faculty of Fisheries Technology and Aquatic Resources, Mae Jo University, Chiang Mai, Thailand.
Sustain Sci. 2021;16(3):1045-1059. doi: 10.1007/s11625-020-00897-5. Epub 2021 Jan 16.
During a university class project related to climate change mitigation strategies, we utilized a university green space as a "living laboratory" for collaborative learning exercise to estimate landscape-level carbon biomass storage. The key objective of the exercise was to foster sustainability awareness with regard to the effectiveness of tree-planting initiatives to offset carbon emissions. Collaborative learning is a process by which students work together in small groups to accomplish a common goal. As experiences are active, social and student-owned, the process leads to the development of a variety of cognitive and transferable skills that are beneficial in academia and the workplace. Through data collection/analysis, the carbon biomass exercise not only allowed students to assess critically the efficacy of a tree-planting initiative as a means to sequester carbon, but they became aware of the difficulties in performing research on complex environmental issues. The intention of the research was to give students an opportunity to practice data collection, data analysis, problem solving, teamwork, communication and scientific literacy skills, meanwhile utilizing the campus open green space to enhance the knowledge discovery process. Informal assessment and discussions with students demonstrated that the activity was successful in reaching a wide range of students with varying backgrounds and initial attitudes about climate change mitigating strategies, which was our objective. Our case study demonstrates how learning objectives can be integrated with university sustainability initiatives to improve learning and student engagement. Finally, we see green spaces as dynamic settings for learning about physical processes and issues related to environmental management and sustainability.
在一个与气候变化缓解策略相关的大学课堂项目中，我们将大学绿地用作“活实验室”，进行协作学习练习，以估算景观层面的碳生物量储存。该练习的关键目标是培养对植树倡议抵消碳排放有效性的可持续性意识。协作学习是学生以小组形式共同努力实现共同目标的过程。由于体验是主动的、社会性的且由学生主导，该过程会培养出各种在学术和职场中都有益的认知和可转移技能。通过数据收集/分析，碳生物量练习不仅让学生批判性地评估植树倡议作为碳封存手段的有效性，还让他们意识到在复杂环境问题上进行研究的困难。该研究的目的是让学生有机会练习数据收集、数据分析、解决问题、团队合作、沟通和科学素养技能，同时利用校园开放绿地来加强知识发现过程。与学生的非正式评估和讨论表明，该活动成功地覆盖了广泛的学生群体，他们对气候变化缓解策略有着不同的背景和初始态度，这正是我们的目标。我们的案例研究展示了学习目标如何与大学可持续发展倡议相结合，以改善学习和学生参与度。最后，我们将绿地视为学习物理过程以及与环境管理和可持续性相关问题的动态场所。
