Abstract

Climate change presents multiple “wicked” problems requiring expertise from multiple disciplines. No one discipline could consider all aspects of the challenge before the global society. With this in mind, contributions from various disciplines must be synthesized and applied holistically. This paper reviews the development and delivery of an interdisciplinary, problem-based undergraduate course focused on climate change and details the broad institutional support received. The integration of substantial service-learning projects is also discussed. This paper includes a brief overview of the required administrative infrastructure, the students involved, an outline of the course content, a description of the pedagogies employed, and the observed learning outcomes.

Author

Caroline Hackerott

Caroline Hackerott has been a university administrator and instructor for 30 years and is currently an assistant professor of Emergency Management at North Dakota State University. She received her PhD from Oklahoma State University in Emergency Management. Her research interests include community-based adaptive capacity, issues involving rural communities and disasters, the scholarship of teaching and learning in Emergency Management and Homeland Security Higher Education, and the application of Social Routine Theory in response and long-term recovery.

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No. 6 An Interdisciplinary Approach to Undergraduate Climate Change Course Development