9455632 Hanson The project 1) actively involves faculty, global change scholars, and people with expertise in pedagogy in the development of introductory-level, activity-based course modules on the human dimensions of global environmental change, and 2) establishes a process within the Association of American Geographers (AAG) for the development, evaluation, and dissemination of these and other active-learning modules of introductory courses. The first goal addresses the needs to a) infuse recent global change scholarship into the introductory undergraduate curriculum and b) actively involve students in the learning process. The second goal seeks to address the current absence of any formal mechanism within the discipline of geography for the sharing of teaching and learning resources among undergraduate instructors. The principal expected outcomes are modules that speak to the three broad components of global environmental change: 1) the human and physical causes or driving forces of change; 2) the environmental consequences produced by these forces; and 3) the human responses to these environmental consequences. Central to these modules are the concepts of a) how human causes, environmental impacts, and human response vary by location (geographic area), and b) how the relationships among components are affected by the spatial and temporal scales of analysis (local, regional, global; decadal, centennial, millennial respectively). The project also establishes a clearinghouse within the AAG to disseminate the modules for use in introductory courses nationwide. The modules will be available to all instructors of some 500,000 students who are enrolled in introductory geography courses annually. Once this project is completed, the AAG clearinghouse will continue to develop and disseminate activity-based undergraduate learning materials.
