While many measures could immediately reduce the environmental burden of disease, making such changes requires scientific literacy that informs environmentally-driven decision making. The purpose of the "Breathe, Eat, Touch" project is to use environmental health as a strategy to transform undergraduate education in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) and create a broadly educated citizenry that understands the intersection of natural sciences and the mathematical science of public health.
In this project, the interdisciplinary team of investigators is developing, implementing, and evaluating an environmental health learning experience that exemplifies STEM education in the undergraduate liberal arts curriculum. One outcome is a collection of new undergraduate environmental health learning resources that are portable and transferable, inquiry-based, and experiential.
The project involves:
* engaging students in the design and implementation of new learning materials for classroom and laboratory-based courses;
* deepening students' understanding and enhancing ownership of material by developing a database of service learning opportunities where undergraduates develop resources to enhance STEM education in secondary schools and other community-based programs;
* enhancing the pedagogical skills of faculty through workshops on best practices in teaching;
* developing cross-disciplinary faculty knowledge in chemistry, biology, and epidemiology through an integrated team-teaching experience;
* assessing student learning gains with and without a formal laboratory component, and assessing effective practices in interdisciplinary teaching; and
* disseminating the "Breathe, Eat, Touch" approach and resources to two-year and four-year postsecondary institutions through print and online mechanisms.
