This project improves a Bachelor course in the Environmental Sciences programme by enabling students to: 1) Acknowledge and work with the complexity of real world problems, 2) Frame societal problems from diverse standpoints, and 3) Find innovative and responsible solutions for these problems. This project includes the development of group assessment methods and a tutor-training programme.
Abstract
This project implements the findings of a previous Innovedum proposal in the new course for first-year, Bachelor students (Umweltproblemlösen) in the Environmental Sciences programme. Following this course, students will be able to: 1) Acknowledge and work productively with the complexity of real world problems, 2) Frame societal problems from diverse stakeholder perspectives, and 3) Find innovative and responsible solutions for these problems. The basis for this course design will be an integration of design thinking methodologies with a systems modelling approach (Frederic Vester). Students will learn how to reconcile a broad, systems understanding of a particular problem with a sensitivity to how individual actors within the system might view the problem. The implication of this simultaneous top-down, bottom-up understanding is that students are able to clearly identify the key elements of a complex problem and better able to design effective solutions.
In addition to the objectives and activities for the course, we will develop methods for assessing students metacognitive and affective learning abilities, which are core to their capacity for creative work, and empathetic behaviour with other students and stakeholders. Finally, we will develop a replicable and scalable training programme for the tutors tailored to their role as coaches.
Success factors
• Students have produced feasible, creative prototypes to address complex environmental problems by focusing on the importance of identifying the relevant problem framings, rather than focusing exclusively on optimising solutions.
• Students are guided in how to effectively collaborate in groups and given an opportunity for self- and group- reflection, which contribute to personal development benefiting their future careers, in addition to building up disciplinary knowledge.
• Students learn how to integrate feedback from real-world stakeholders, with scientific knowledge, in order to come to a useful and actionable understanding of the system under study.
Innovative elements
Students practice design thinking in the context of systems thinking, which means that they not only develop creative solutions but are expected to account for the possible social, ecological, and technical consequences of such creations.
Room for improvement
To understand the impact of our approach, we need to track how students apply the concepts we teach in the years after the course is over because the learning that takes place is transformative.
Opinion of students
• Students realise that the way to approach difficult, complex problems is to “fail forwards”. They gain courage to try new ideas, even when there is no certainty that it will succeed. This is a lesson they carry forwards in their lives.
• Students realise how difficult it is to work intensively in a group, but through the process, they can learn a lot about who they are and how to be compassionate towards others who are different from them.
• Students learn how to clarify and question their own assumptions through learning how to receive critical feedback and discussions with the instructors and each other. As a result, students learn how to not hang onto their ideas, but rather receive critical feedback to continuously improve their original assumptions.
Tips for lecturers
• When faced with a new style of learning, students may be resistant at first, but they always recognise your concern for them. Don’t be discouraged by their initial reactions if you know why you are making the changes you are.
• Students are under a lot of other pressures. When you are asking them to be creative, it adds pressure rather than alleviates it. We found it helpful to explain to students that it is not their fault that they feel this pressure, but for them to view new experiences as an enrichment to their lives rather than an inconvenience.
• Students appreciate when they know why you are doing things the way you are doing it. They also appreciate when expectations are crystal clear.
• It is important to separate learning goals from teaching goals and to consider if these are the same or different and to set your priorities based on a unified set of goals.
Links and downloads
Authors
Applicant
Dr. Christian Pohl
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Manager
Dr. BinBin Pearce
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Contact person
Dr. BinBin Pearce
bin.pearce@usys.ethz.ch
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Department
D-USYS
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Institute
TdLab
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Filing date
01.03.2016
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Period
01.07.2016 to 30.09.2017
