The general objective of this curriculum development project is to prepare a handbook of exercises and teaching tools that can be used to teach environmental issues to a wide range of undergraduate engineering and science students. The curriculum will include a) modules that can be incorporated into individual disciplinary courses, and b) a complete curriculum for a self-contained course. The material will be prepared jointly by Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology (Rose-Hulman) and Carnegie Mellon University. Preparation of the materials includes initial preparation, implementation, evaluation, and revision. The specific components of the project are as follows: Develop teaching tools and exercises using a problem-based approach to teaching environmental awareness among undergraduate students. The material will be developed so it can be used in either courses devoted to environmental issues, or as independent modules in existing disciplinary courses e.g. thermodynamics, materials and energy balances, and so on. The material will be developed jointly with Carnegie Mellon University to enhance the variety of exercises developed, and the number of courses in which they may be used. Evaluate these teaching tools as part of courses currently taught at Carnegie Mellon University and Rose-Hulman. At Rose-Hulman, the materials will be used in a required class for junior civil engineering students. Using the materials at the two institutions will allow us to reach different groups of students. An important component of this project is to use the evaluations from these diverse disciplines (including engineering, social science, humanities, and natural science majors) to ensure that the material benefits a wide range of students. The evaluations will focus on a) did the students gain knowledge of environmental issues during the course, and b) did the course content affect students' careers in the short term. Prepare a handbook of the teaching tools and exercises that can be widely disseminated. Th e handbook will include the materials described above after revising them based on the evaluations.
