| Abstrakt: |
Climate change caused by global warming provided a compelling context to engage engineering and ecology students in a semester-long, interdisciplinary, service-learning activity. We addressed three levels of inquiry throughout the semester: global, institutional, and personal. At the global level of inquiry, traditional classroom lectures and discussions reviewed climate change science and the role of energy systems in climate change policy. At the institutional level of inquiry, students were collectively asked the simple question, "What would it take to make our campus carbon neutral?" The students' response, a detailed final report entitled "The Calvin College Carbon Neutrality Project," was presented in a public seminar with several administration members in attendance. At the personal level of inquiry, students (and faculty) participated in a Carbon Emissions Trading Simulation. Participants were allocated carbon credits for personal carbon-emitting behaviors that were bought and sold in a simulated market. Our efforts benefitted considerably from the involvement of the Vice President for Administration, Finance, and Information Technology, who acted as the customer for the Calvin College Carbon Neutrality project and as the government in the Carbon Emissions Trading Simulation. We realized numerous pedagogical, social, and institutional benefits from this initiative. We believe that interdisciplinary, service-learning experiences as described here provide invaluable tools for preparing today's students to meaningfully address the significant global, institutional, and personal environmental challenges that lie ahead. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
