Performing Department
Ag Experiment Station
Non Technical Summary
This project will develop a hybrid online/in-class course addressing climate change in the Caribbean. The course will be offered as an undergraduate and graduate level course, developed as a multidisciplinary and multi-department collaboration with faculty at UVI in agriculture, marine, and environmental sciences. The course will be developed in consultation with leading subject matter experts across the U.S., including leading scientific originations like the National Academy of Sciences and the American Society for the Advancement of Sciences. The course will be developed in consultation with local and regional stakeholders.The University of the Virgin Islands is an English speaking, minority-serving land-grant institution located in the Caribbean. UVI has agricultural research programs as well as educational and research programs in marine and environmental sciences. UVI is uniquely equipped to develop this project for the USVI and the Caribbean. We will develop this course in consultation with our colleagues at the University of Puerto Rico, the University of Florida, the University of Hawaii and the University of Guam as well as others in the mainland, but we are uniquely positioned to address the "on-the-ground" impacts of climate change in the Caribbean. UVI has a well developed telecommunications infrastructure and is well positioned to leverage this technology in the development of a new online educational program.
Animal Health Component
0%
Research Effort Categories
Basic
(N/A)
Applied
(N/A)
Developmental
(N/A)
Goals / Objectives
This project will develop an innovative hybrid online/in-class course addressing climate change in the Caribbean. The project will develop will facilitate communication and collaboration among a multidisciplinary mix of faculty and outside experts working in consultation with the regional and local agencies working on climate change adaptation. The course will develop a cadre of students well versed in the issues of climate change and how agricultural, marine, and environmental sciences can help inform the development of adaptation strategies. These students will be prepared to help their communities respond and adapt to the impacts of climate change in the Caribbean. The course will be offered as an undergraduate and graduate level course, developed as a multidisciplinary and multi-department collaboration with faculty at UVI in agriculture, marine, and environmental sciences. The course will be developed in consultation with leading subject matter experts across the U.S., including leading scientific organizations such as the American Society for the Advancement of Sciences. The course will be developed in interactive consultation with local and regional stakeholders.
Project Methods
Develop preliminary description of the course o Develop a 2-3 page brief description of the proposed course, including the purpose, format, online and in-class approach, and content and provide a draft syllabus for the course and/or certificate program.Initial stakeholder Input o Share the description with all appropriate UVI faculty, particularly in agriculture, marine and environmental sciences and also appropriate social and economic sciences. Modify the description based on feedback.o Share the description with representative stakeholder group leaders that are engaged in agriculture and food production, fishing and diving, tourism, rural economic development. Modify the description and proposed activities based on this feedback. The first round of stakeholder involvement will be "one-on-one" with phone calls or direct visits. Based on this feedback, a survey of a larger representation of stakeholders will be developed if deemed necessary.o Share the description and draft syllabus with appropriate university government agency representatives that might provide input and resources for the course. This input will be developed from one-on-one meetings, calls and email exchanges.o Report on the proposed activities with the members of the Caribbean Food Crops Society, the Southern Association of Agriculture Experiment Stations Directors (SAAESD), Southern Academic Programs Section (S-APS) and the Association of Public and Land Grant Universities (APLU).o Share the draft syllabus with appropriate leading experts at NAS, AAAS, NASA, USDA and universities for further review and suggestions.Course curriculum and syllabus development o Having now incorporated the stakeholder input from diverse groups into the development of the draft syllabus and having received suggestions on the content and format of the course, the syllabus will be revised and submitted to UVI's internal processes for offering the course as a Special Topics offering.o The course could be offered as early as the Spring of 2017.Course content development o The lectures and course content will be developed by Dr. Nipp and the UVI Project Team, described previously.o UVI faculty will take the lead for specific lectures and video clips that will be embedded within other lectures, particularly to tie together larger issues and information to their application in the context of the Caribbean.o Subject matter experts at other universities, agencies, and organizations will be asked to provide guest lectures or video clips, similar to that provided by UVI faculty, to be imbedded in course lectures to increase interest, relevance and interactivity.o Video and text materials for the course will be reviewed, updated if newer or more appropriate materials have been developed.Incorporation of content into online platforms o The course content will be incorporated into an online course platform chosen by UVI to be consistent with UVI's online course policies. At UVI the platform may be Blackboard.o The course materials will be organized so that each class section includes a traditional lecture for 10-15 minute intervals, followed by a Q&A or discussion about key concepts. For the "online" course format, the student will need to answer the content answers correctly before continuing. If the course is offered in combination with an "in-class" real time teacher, their presentation would be stopped at this point for class discussion and group problem solving.o Each class will also include a mix of short video clips to better illustrate key concepts. For example, video animations of the development of atmospheric currents through the development of air cells centered at the equator and then shaped by the Coriolis effect are much easier to visualize as an animation than as a static drawing.o Students will also be asked to prepare in advance for class discussions, either in-person or in online chat groups.o This course is being developed at two levels: undergraduate and graduate. While the overall format and content of the material will be the same for both classes, the graduate level version of the class will have supplementary requirements and materials and the questions that will need to be answered and discussed will require a greater level of technical expertise.Beta-testing of the course and stakeholder input o Several students in the biological and marine sciences will be asked to work through specific classes to make sure that the online format is understandable and easily navigated.o Similarly, several students and faculty will be asked to "beta-test" small segments of the course to make sure that the presentation of material is engaging and useful.o We will meet again with stakeholder's that include local agencies and interest groups to update them on revisions and updates to the course.First offering of the course o In this first offering of the course, it will be offered "online" with lecture and assignments being completed by the students online. In addition, there will be regularly scheduled discussion section where the remote course instructor and guest lectures will interact with students in real-time, to engage in discussions about the content of the course but also to assess the effectiveness of the online materials.o Students will have assigned tasks to complete before each session to facilitate engagement and interactions.o Early in the course, students will be asked to help design and then lead student projects. Possible projects include: Presenting a paper about the potential impacts of climate change on agriculture or marine resources in the Caribbean; engaging in a mock policy debate replicating a floor debate in the U.S. House of Representatives; developing a "Plan of Action" for one of UVI's government agencies; or, developing a student lead discussion about climate change to serve as a component for the next offering of the course. Students will be asked to complete one team project and one individual project as part of the course.First assessment of the course and lessons learned o At the beginning of the course, students will be tested for their knowledge of key concepts and facts and assessed for their abilities to communicate what they know. They will also be surveyed regarding their opinions about climate change. They will be assessed and surveyed again at the end of the course to see how well they have learned key concepts and to re-assess their ability to communicate what they know.o Students will be asked for their feedback and suggestions at the end of each section of the course.Second offering of the course o We will modify and improve the course based on lessons learned in the first offering of the course.Second assessment of the course and lessons learned o As in the first course, at the beginning of the second course, students will be tested for their knowledge of key concepts and facts and assessed for their abilities to communicate what they know. They will also be surveyed regarding their opinions about climate change. They will be assessed and surveyed gain at the end of the course to see how well they have learned key concepts and to re-assess their ability to communicate what they know.o Students will be asked for their feedback and suggestions at the end of each section of the course.Communication of findings and results o The findings and results of the project will be shared with the SAAESD, S-APS, APLU and other appropriate regional and national university association meetings. Presentations will be developed for the Caribbean Food Crops Society, NACTA, AESS, and other appropriate professional science and educational associations. Articles will be developed for appropriate journals. We will be in discussions with our colleagues in Extension and eXtension to see how the resources from this project might help inform the development of products and resources of use to them in future projects.