PSE 450Teamwork and

Leadership in an Environmental Science online course at UW

Rob Harrison

Problems with large classroom courses1) What about students that

can't attend all lectures?2) UW quarter system 10 weeks vs 15 weeks, so getting sick is a serious problem

Problems with larger ESC1101) More large classrooms

not available (272 courses not taught in 2001)

2) Dean’s office at CFR resistant to allocating resources

3) Dept chair cut resources for ESC110 using budget cuts as reason

4) Disruption a problem5) Office hours became a nightmare

The Large Class Instructor's Dilemna982 students

4 hour/day240 minutes/day

14400 seconds/day14.7 seconds/student/day

Opportunities for Technology1) Campus completely

networked2) Students increasingly had their own computers and skills to use them

3)UW started "CATALYST" for helping faculty use technology

4)Because of limited classroom space, UW instituted a program to support online courses with $$$

Opportunities for Technology$$$ can be useful in

teaching5 credit course

$570/student

40% recovery

$228/student

800 students = $136,800

$6500/TA = 21 TA's

Can we Innovate?

1) Create online course while keeping best aspects of classroom course.

2) Idea came from a potential student and a week-long project with UW Teaching Academy.

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Construction of ESRM1101) Starting Point

2) Syllabus3) FAQ4) Lectures5) Distribution list

6) Other resources

Requirements for ESRM1001) 3 exams

2) Discussion list 3) Group project 4) Peer review 5) "W" requirement credit can be made through combination of writing/review/rewriting

6)Field trip (smaller lecture course only)

Need for Teamwork for large classes:- Instructor/TA’s need to provide good contact with students- When an item becomes due and ready to grade, a huge amount of total effort must be focused to get it graded so that students can have results in a timely manner- Sometimes Instructors/TA’s get sick or have other problems. - The “team” should be able to keep the entire process going. It is far more difficult to reschedule an exam for 1000 students than with a small class, as there are very few places at UW where the class can meet.

Need for Leadership:- In order to get an individual item done, one person needs to be in charge and delegate. - Each TA takes responsibility for one item, and delegates work to others. - That TA makes sure it gets done on time.- The Instructor is in final charge, and steps in when a TA can’t come through.

Database for peer evaluations of projects

Denise Lynn Dawson Peer ReviewProject 106/The Great Barrier Reef

1. The chosen colors for the project are effective; upon opening the website one gets a real feeling of being in and around the sea. The pictures are also powerful. One can see what sort of plants and animals live in amongst the reef. The links provided underneath every picture is a fantastic feature; I was able to go to the separate websites and learn about what was going on in the pictures. The sites themselves have been well chosen; there is a lot of information available and it is easily accessible. Although there is a link provided that gives an introduction to the barrier reef (what it is and what it contains, etc...), I think a short introductory paragraph would be a good thing on the main page; maybe on the right-side of one of the top pictures. My guess is that this is already planned; the position of the pictures suggests that there is more information coming at a later date.

2. 2. It was fascinating to learn about the Gorgonians (red sea fans); although they look like plants, they are really animals. Because they take decades to reach maturity they are especially sensitive to changes in their environment. Like many other coral reef inhabitants they are being threatened by water pollution and detrimental disturbances caused by humans (such as the effects of tourism).

3. 3. There are no graphs or tables posted at this time to review. It is great that a link has been provided to a page that will give information on what can be done to save the barrier reef. I might suggest however, that this link would be more effective if it were positioned after the Manmade Threats link and Natural Threats link, as this seems a logical progression.

4. 4. I found nothing distracting about the website, although the tagline with the webpage creators; names are in a font that is difficult to read on my computer.

5. 5. It is difficult to assess what information might be beneficial to add since not all information is available at this time. I might suggest that a section be included on the importance of the barrier reef to the entire global ecology; how the many species that live in amongst the reef are of a necessity to the health and well-being of the planet. What would the consequences be if the reef were destroyed? Can the fallout from this destruction even be calculated? I would suggest the book;The Global Casino: An Introduction to Environmental Issues; by Nick Middleton. Page 96 has a reference to the effects of the damages done to coral reefs. The book as a whole describes how the destruction of individual ecosystems is affecting the planet, and it also describes some possible solutions.The Human Impact on the Natural Environment; by Andrew Goudie outlines some of these same issues. Great job. I look forward to coming back to this site!

An example project peer evaluation (2141 of these)

Date: 01/21/2004, 10:58 PM Author: Marci Furutani Subject: RE: Environmental health with growing population

I want to first point out that most of this increased population is occurring in developing countries. In fact, the United Nations predicts in the next fifty years over 90% of the world’s population growth will be attributed to these nations. Secondly, although the world’s population is increasing, I do not believe that the population growth itself has caused shortages of natural resources, but rather inefficient and ineffective governments and economic conditions have caused these shortages. I will discuss these inefficiencies in my post.

Many developing nations partake in unfriendly environmental practices and policies simply because they have no choice. The economic consequences of converting to friendly ones are too great. Developing nations have many alternatives for combating this phenomenon; these include ensuring proper resource pricing and defining property rights.

One way of preserving natural resources is ensuring proper resource pricing. Governments of developing nations often design pricing schemes that exacerbate resource shortages or encourage unstable methods of productions. These governments are corrupt and implement energy, water, and agricultural subsidies that benefit the rich and politically powerful, rather than those in poverty. The shift of misdirected subsidies from the rich to the poor would ensure higher incomes for those who really need it. Perhaps, with this increased income they could begin partaking in more eco friendly policies.

Another option the governments of developing nations has for combating the depletion of natural resources is defining property rights. The cost of investing in water sanitation and better farm equipment and techniques is expensive, often wiping out entire lifetime savings. Furthermore, there is considerable risk involved in these ventures. Many working farmers of developing nations do not hold the title for their land. Instead, landlords have to right to confiscate land at any time, even land that has been improved upon by tenants. Thus, there is little incentive to invest in equipment and techniques that would stop the exhaustion of natural resources.

The burden of depleting natural resources does not only lie on the shoulders of developing nations, but also developed ones. As mentioned in previous posts the world is interdependent, what happens in one part of the world inevitably affects other parts. Thus, we have a moral obligation to assist developing nations and to ensure our own continued healthy existence. Two options developed nations have to combat the depletion of natural resources are investing in research and development and providing debt relief.

To combat the depletion of natural resources developed nations can invest in research and development. Research and development is a long, arduous, and expensive process. To be a successful, a nation must have both money to finance it and human capital. Developing nations often do not have these resources. Developed nations can play a positive role in designing technologies applicable to the environments of developing nations as well as making these technologies accessible to developing nations.

Developed nations can also provide debt relief to developing nations. Rather than focusing their available capital on paying debts and having money flow outwards, developing nations would have more money for social, economic, and environmental programs. Another similar option would be reconciling debt in exchange for environmental considerations that focus on issues such as soil erosion or deforestification. In essence, these debt relief programs would allow developing nations more flexibility to make more sweeping changes in order to secure sustainable development.

Although the problem of over-population primarily occurs in developing nations, the answer to preserving our planet’s natural resources lies in the policies of both developing nations and developed ones. From the standpoint of the developing nations, ensuring proper resource pricing and defining property rights is one way of combating this problem. Developed nations can also assist by providing debt relief and research and development. If these strategies are applied in conjunction with each other we can make great strides in the struggle over increased population and the depletion of natural resources.

An example project discussion list (3092 of these)

Makeup exams individually created