Recipient Organization
UNIV OF MINNESOTA
(N/A)
ST PAUL,MN 55108
Performing Department
Applied Economics
Non Technical Summary
The goal of the project is to build, implement and evaluate an integrated economics education program that equips high school students with the needed understanding of the key environmental, ecological, and related economic challenges facing the planet and its people. The project involves a four-prong approach.First, through professional development curricula and activities, the project will equip high school teachers in social studies, business, and agricultural education with knowledge in issues in sustainability and the environment and in economic concepts conducive for analyzing the issues. The project seeks to motivate high school teachers to become sustainability champions in their classrooms by providing them with economics professional development programs that address important societal issues that are of interest to them and their students.Second, the project will involve a social entrepreneurship co-curricular program that engages high school students in sustainability projects and allows them to participate in an annual Sustainability Summit in which they will share ideas and interact with key players in the field and compete with teams from other schools. Teaching economics while addressing important real-world problems brings economics to life, motivating students to become engaged life-long sustainability champions.Third, a Sustainability Ambassador program for undergraduate students at the University of Minnesota will be developed in which students will be trained and dispatched to area high schools to assist with teaching scientific aspects of the sustainability curriculum, allowing high school social studies, business, and agricultural education teachers -- typically not well-versed in the science side of the sustainability issues -- to focus on implementing other aspects of the sustainability curriculum such as active learning activities, lessons and case studies. Involving college students in the Sustainability Ambassador Program will provide the students with real-world leadership experience and builds confidence and communication skills that are essential for them to become sustainability champions as they move forward in their careers.Fourth, the project will involve a research component that assesses the efficacy and effectiveness of the teacher professional development program, the high school student co-curricular program, and the undergraduate student Sustainability Ambassador program. The evaluation results will be used for refining and revising the education programs developed.
Animal Health Component
100%
Research Effort Categories
Basic
(N/A)
Applied
100%
Developmental
(N/A)
Goals / Objectives
The goal of the project is to build, implement and evaluate an integrated economics education program that equips high school students with the needed understanding of the key environmental, ecological, and related economic challenges facing the planet and its people. The project will involve: (i) professional development activities for high school teachers in social studies, business, and agricultural education, (ii) active learning activities for high school students, (iii) service learning activities for college students, and (iv) an analysis of the effectiveness of the above three sets of activities on the learning outcome of the high school teachers, the high school students, and the college students. The ultimate goal is to equip and inspire both the high school students and the college students to become champions for innovative solutions to the sustainability problems they face.There are four objectives.Objective 1: To develop and implement a professional development program for high school social studies, business, and agricultural education teachers in Minnesota and nearby states to enhance their understanding of the scientific and economic aspects of the contemporary issues in sustainability and the environment, as well as the economic principles conducive for analyzing the issues. The model of training the trainers leverages limited resources, maximizing student reach year after year.The participating high school teachers in the professional development program will examine the source, the extent, and the implications of environmental and ecological problems; explore potential solutions that individuals and society can take to mitigate or solve these problems; explore the ramifications of actions and inactions on the long-term viability of the planet to sustain life, as well as on its enduring capacity to support economic activity and human well-being. All the above issues will be approached through an economics lens.Objective 2: To develop and implement a co-curricular program to allow high school teachers trained under Objective 1 to engage their students in active learning activities, lessons, and case studies that equip them with a basic understanding of the scientific and economic aspects of the contemporary issues in sustainability and the environment, as well as the economic principles conducive for analyzing the issues.The co-curricular program will include a social entrepreneurship component in which student teams will engage in sustainability projects and generate proposals that identify (i) the problem at hand and the consequence of inaction, (ii) the state of knowledge and solutions, (iii) the proposed solution/innovation and rationale, (iv) the projected outcome and potential challenges, and (v) a plan for implementation. Students will participate in an annual sustainability summit to share their proposals and ideas and interact with key players in the field. Teaching economics while addressing important real-world problems brings economics to life, motivating students to become engaged life-long sustainability champions.Objective 3: To develop a multi-disciplinary undergraduate-level course at the University of Minnesota that addresses the contemporary sustainability issues through an economics lens while exposing students to the scientific aspects of the issues. A service learning sustainability ambassador program (SAP) will be created for the course. Through the SAP, students will be dispatched to local high schools to assist with teaching scientific aspects of the sustainability curriculum developed in Objective 2, allowing high school social studies, business, and agricultural education teachers -- typically not well-versed in the science side of the sustainability issues -- to focus on implementing the active learning activities, lessons and case studies. The undergraduate ambassadors will also assist high school teachers to help their students get ready for the sustainability summit projects discussed in Objective 2 and will be involved in organizing and running the sustainability summit.Involving college students in the SAP provides the students with real-world leadership experience and builds confidence and communication skills that are essential for them to become sustainability champions as they move forward in their careers. Further, the college student ambassadors will bring a proactive message about sustainability to high school students who will regard them as positive role models, thereby maximizing the learning outcome.Objective 4: To design and implement evaluation procedures to assess the efficacy and effectiveness of the teacher professional development program in Objective 1, the high school student co-curricular program in Objective 2, and the undergraduate sustainability course (through an economics lens) and its sustainability ambassador program (SAP) in Objective 3. The evaluation results will inform the design and implementation of similar education programs in the future.Specifically, pre- and post-test materials on economics content and sustainability content will be developed for each of the three programs. Pre- and post-tests will be conducted for each implementation of the three programs.As will be discussed in the Method section, the student co-curricular program will be implemented in both the fall term and the spring term of 2019-20, 2020-21, 2021-22, and 2022-23 school years, with only the spring-term implementations receiving services/support from the SAP. To the extent that IRB permissions can be obtained from school districts involved, the pre- and post-test scores of the high school students will be used to assess the effectiveness of the SAP on the learning outcome of the high school students. The underlying hypothesis is that high school students who have access to the college sustainability ambassadors as their role models and mentors will perform better in their quest for sustainability and economics knowledge.Finally, as will be discussed in the Method section, an alternative undergraduate sustainability course (through an economics lens) without the service learning component will be offered in 2022 and 2023 (as demand for the course grows) -- so as to allow students who do not wish to go through the SAP to take the course. Subject to the IRB approval of the University of Minnesota, the learning outcomes of the two groups of students can be compared to ascertain the effect of the service learning on the learning outcome of the undergraduate students. A process will be put in place for recruiting students in the two groups to preempt or minimize self-selection bias, and changes in the pre- and post-test scores of the two groups will be compared and analyzed. The underlying hypothesis is that undergraduate students who have completed the service learning component of the program will become more committed, more confident and better equipped in continuing to pursue the path of serving as champions for the cause of sustainability.
Project Methods
The procedures to accomplish Objective 1 are listed below.Objective 1.1: Develop a five-day professional development program that addresses key sustainability issues through an economics lens (9/1/2018 ~ 6/30/2019). This objective includes the four steps below.Step 1.1A: Identify the topics in sustainability to be addressed, including energy, water, waste and design, agriculture and food, and social entrepreneurship in which students use their entrepreneurial talents to solve social, cultural, and economic problems related to sustainability.Step 1.1B: Identify the curriculum needs and the available curricula for high school students, both in the economic and scientific aspects of the sustainability issues identified. Determine the gap between what is available and what is needed.Step 1.1C: Consolidate what is available and bridge the gap identified by developing sustainability issue papers, and accompanying active learning activities, economics lessons and case studies.Step 1.1D: Design a five-day professional development workshop for high school teachers based on the curriculum developed in Step 1.1C.Objective 1.2: Pilot the five-day professional development program developed in Objective 1.1 (7/1/2019 and 8/31/2019). Revise the curriculum based on the pilot result.Objective 1.3: Implement the finalized professional development curriculum in Objective 1.2 on an annual basis: 7/1/2020 ~ 8/31/2020, 7/1/2021 ~ 8/31/2021, 7/1/2022 ~ 8/31/2022, and 7/1/2023 ~ 8/31/2023.The procedures to accomplish Objective 2 are listed below.Objective 2.1: Develop a co-curricular program for teachers trained under Objective 1 to engage their students in active learning activities, lessons, case studies, and sustainability projects/summits (9/1/2018 ~ 6/30/2019). This objective includes the four steps below.Step 2.1A: Each participating teacher's class will be divided into teams of three or four. Team members will read and discuss case study examples of relevant issues and identify a specific problem that they will tackle. Team members will work together to formulate a proposal for an organization or an innovation that could help address the identified sustainability problem.Step 2.1B: Each teacher teaching the curriculum will assemble an expert panel consisting of the teacher himself/herself and two other teachers in the school. Each team will present its proposal in front of the panel and answer questions. The panel will choose two winning teams, who will be invited to participate in an annual sustainability summit, held at the University of Minnesota, for which they will prepare poster presentations on their projects.Step 2.1C: The sustainability summit will consist of a keynote speaker and multiple panel presentations by university professors, industry participants, and representatives from government. In addition to the participating students and their teachers, corporate volunteers and other visitors will be invited to attend. In collaboration with the Minnesota Council on Economic Education, funds will be raised to cover the necessary expenses of the sustainability summit.Step 2.1D: In the sustainability summit, each student team will have a stand hosting its poster, and team members will make "elevator speeches" to visitors and answer questions. The top five teams will be selected by a panel of judges, and each will make a 15-minute oral presentation to the audience. The judge panel will then select the first-, second- and third-place finishers.Objective 2.2: Teachers trained under Objective 1.2 will be expected to pilot the co-curricular program developed in Objective 2.1 during the period of 9/1/2019 and 6/30/2020. Depending on individual teacher's schedule, the co-curricular program can be piloted either in the fall term of 2019 or the spring term of 2020, or both terms. Due to the timing of the undergraduate sustainability ambassador program (SAP) to be discussed in Objective 3, only the spring term implementation will receive the support from the SAP. The sustainability summit will be piloted in May/June 2020. Funds will be raised to provide participation stipends for the teachers in the pilot. The co-curricular program, including the sustainability summit will be revised in the summer of 2020, per results from the pilot.Objective 2.3: Implement the finalized co-curricular program in Objective 2.2 during the school years of 9/1/2020 ~ 6/30/2021, 9/1/2021 ~ 6/30/2022, and 9/1/2022 ~ 6/30/2023.The procedures to accomplish Objective 3 are listed below.Objective 3.1: Develop an undergraduate-level course that addresses sustainability issues through an economics lens (9/1/2018 ~ 12/31/2019). The multi-disciplinary course will contain both economics and sustainability contents and will involve sustainability experts as guest speakers. The course will also include a sustainability ambassador program (SAP) that engage students in service learning activities. The student ambassadors will be trained by the course instructor and will make and rehearse engaging presentations to give to high school classes. The student ambassadors will also learn about how to work with high school students, mentored by several high school Master Teachers affiliated with the Minnesota Council on Economic Education. The development of the course and the SAP will take place between 9/1/2018 and 12/31/2019.Objective 3.2: Pilot the sustainability course and the SAP developed in Objective 3.1 in spring 2020 (1/1/2020 ~ 5/31/2020). Funds will be raised to provide the undergraduate ambassadors with participation stipends. The course and the SAP will be revised in the summer of 2020, per results from the pilot.Objective 3.3: Implement the finalized sustainability course and the SAP in Objective 3.2 on an annual basis: 1/1/2021 ~ 5/31/2021, 1/1/2022 ~ 5/31/2022, and 1/1/2023 ~ 5/31/2023.Objective 3.4: As the demand for the sustainability course in Objective 3.3 grows, an alternative version of the course that does not include the SAP will be developed (9/1/2020 ~ 6/30/2021). This alternative course will provide opportunities for students who do not wish to engage in service learning to learning about sustainability through an economics lens.Objective 3.5: Pilot the sustainability course without the sustainability ambassador component developed in Objective 3.4 in spring 2022 (1/1/2022 ~ 5/31/2022). The course will be revised per pilot results in June 2022. The finalized course will be offered again in spring 2023 (1/1/2023 ~ 5/31/2023).The procedures to accomplish Objective 4 are listed below.Objective 4.1: Develop pre- and post-test materials for the programs developed in Objectives 1, 2 and 3. Conduct pre- and post-test for all implementations per schedule in Objectives 1.2, 1.3, 2.2, 2.3, 3.2, 3.3, and 3.5. Analysis results will be used to produce case study articles for education outlets.Objective 4.2: Assess the effect of the sustainability ambassador program (SAP) on the learning outcome of the high school students by comparing the pre- and post-test scores of two groups of high school students: those received SAP's support and those did not receive SAP's support. Depending on the number of data points available, this analysis can begin in summer 2020 and be updated as more data become available in the summer of 2021, 2022, and 2023. Analysis results could be used to produce journal articles and/or case study articles for education outlets.Objective 4.6: Assess the effect of the sustainability ambassador program (SAP) on the learning outcome of the undergraduate students by comparing the pre- and post-test scores of two groups of students: those in the sustainability course with SAP and those in the sustainability course without SAP. This analysis can begin in summer 2022 and be updated as more data become available in the summer of 2023. Analysis results will be used to produce journal articles and/or case study articles for education outlets.