Abstract
The instructional module, Southeastern Forests and Climate Change, is an example of innovation in sustainability education. The module was designed for high school science teachers and developed as part of a research project on southern pine productivity in a changing climate. As a result, it combines climate science with pine ecophysiology and economic productivity. It also encourages classroom debate and role playing activities to explore relevant ethical issues. It deftly brings together science education and education for sustainability. The process of developing the instructional module utilized a needs assessment, experimentation, and evaluation which improved program quality. The summative evaluation provided insights about the success of the program. This tight coupling of evaluation and program development created a high quality product that educators are requesting and using.
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Acknowledgements
We thank the graduate students, teachers, and advisors who helped develop this instructional resource, particularly Stephanie Hall, Kristen Kunkle, and Richard Plate. We also thank our colleagues in the PINEMAP project, especially the PI, Tim Martin. This work was supported by the Pine Integrated Network: Education, Mitigation, and Adaptation project which is a Coordinated Agricultural Project funded by the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture, Award #2011-68002-30185.
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Monroe, M.C., Oxarart, A., Ritchie, T., Li, C.J. (2018). Innovative Instructional Module Uses Evaluation to Enhance Quality. In: Leal Filho, W., Marans, R., Callewaert, J. (eds) Handbook of Sustainability and Social Science Research. World Sustainability Series. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-67122-2_23
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