The following is a draft syllabus for an upper-division course on climate change policy. The sections included show a focus on the design of an online course, including AI use and netiquette.
This formative assessment would be suitable as a mid-semester assignment introducing students to municipal climate action plans (CAPs) - a key policy tool for adressing adaptation.
Formative Assessment: Introduction to Climate Action Plans
Overview: This week we will split our project groups into two teams. Team 1 (members of project groups A, C, and E) will examine the climate action plan (CAP) for the city of Albuquerque, NM, and Team 2 (members of groups B and D) will examine the climate action plan for the city of Boston, MA. The goal is to review a sample of municipal documents on climate adaptation and resilience and discuss how different physical locations and environments will need different climate strategies. Consider how you might convey similar information about your own city or town to the public through maps, graphics, text, and video.
Course Learning Objectives:
This assignment aligns with the following course learning objectives:
· Explore and then apply a sample of accessible online resources, including national, state, and local tools for climate change planning and policy development such as Climate Toolbox or the U.S. Climate Toolkit.
· Develop effective online communication skills to convey climate-related information to diverse stakeholders in your community. Explore ways to receive information and concerns from the public about climate impacts and risk through citizen science and public participation in policy development, with an emphasis on reaching diverse populations who may be disproportionately vulnerable to certain climate impacts.
Background Materials:
Team 1: Albuquerque
Review documents from the City of Albuquerque’s Climate Action Plan at https://www.cabq.gov/sustainability/climate-action-plan
Team 2:
Review documents from Boston Climate Action at https://www.boston.gov/departments/environment/boston-climate-action
Instructions:
For your assigned city, explore the documents, maps, or models on climate change available online through the CAP website. Write up a brief (1 page) summary of the CAP that includes a description of the likely climate impacts faced by the city over the next century, a list of key stakeholders and decision-makers involved, and the city’s reported progress towards achieving its climate goals. What maps or models did they use in building their CAP? Do you see any weaknesses or gaps in the city’s CAP?
Please post your summary on our full-class discussion board on Climate Action Plans (on Canvas in the Week 7 module) by Thursday of Week 7, and respond to at least one other student from the other team (for example, if you looked at Albuquerque, respond to a post about Boston). In your response, discuss what similarities and differences you notice between the CAPs for these cities.
Grading:
There are thirty points possible for this assignment, 15 points for your initial summary post, and 15 for responding thoughtfully to a member of the other team.
For 5 extra credit points, continue the discussion on another student’s post, from either team, furthering the discussion of the CAPs limitations and how the city might improve their work on adaptation and resilience in the future.
This discussion activity requires students to explore an online debate tool called Kialo, and craft arguments related to addressing sea level rise.
The summative assessment for this course is a final group research project that applies multiple climate projection tools to a city or region that is vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. The video clip introduces Climate Toolbox, and the assignment asks lab groups to use these tools to generate images or graphs relevant to their chosen location. The attached rubric shows how grading will be standardized fairly between groups.
