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IPY: Adapting SENCER to the Arctic: Improving Polar Science Education as a Legacy.
Project Summary. We will use the innovative SENCER approach (Science Education for
New Civic Engagements and Responsibilities) to create a course that enhances both the infrastructure and pedagogical practices at University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF). Given UAF’s partnership in the University of the Arctic (UARCTIC) and International Polar Year (IPY, coming up in 2007) we have a timely opportunity to adapt and broadly disseminate SENCER’s best practices throughout the Arctic. UAF’s department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, the Honors Program, Alaskan Native Science and Engineering Program, and Environmental Quality Engineering will create a course, “Environmental Radioactivity, Stewardship and People in the North”. Among its innovations the course will include 1)an interdisciplinary exploration of radioactivity and stewardship in the biogeochemical, geopolitical, and cultural context of the circumpolar north and 2) engagement of students in communities via community-based research projects. The interplay of these aspects of the course is best illustrated in the scenario highlighting the impact of nuclear weapons development on Aleut communities. The ongoing research and monitoring of radioactivity by UAF faculty and students will be integrated into the course. This integration will engage diverse students with community organizations, industry and policy makers. A SENCER version of the SALG (Student Assessment of Learning Gains) instrument will guide the development of the course as we deliver it during the project period. The results of this assessment also will inform UAF and other institutions of the effectiveness of our curricular changes. Guest speakers from the Alaskan Native community will join us in exploring the impact of diversity on science policy and stewardship. The impact of nuclear weapons development on the Aleuts will be highlighted, as well as the future development of nuclear power in the Arctic.
IPY Impacts: This course would be a legacy of IPY, as part of the UARCTIC IPY cluster of 18 projects. This course “Environmental Radioactivity, Stewardship and People of the North” is based on the three UARCTIC values of (1) regional identity, (2) interdisciplinary, and (3) diversity which are the foundation of its efforts to build capacity and create a strong, sustainable circumpolar region. Dissemination across Alaska and the nation through publications and presentations will be carried out in an integrated and coordinated way with UARCTIC and IPY activities, so that this project’s impact will be very broad. Our target is all Arctic people, especially indigenous Alaskan Natives.
Intellectual Merit: Diverse students will discover state-of-the-art nuclear chemistry and health concepts. The SENCER model is especially appropriate in the rural Arctic where links between people and the land are still strong. Public policy serves as a matrix for activities related to nuclear testing. We will help validate the SENCER approach as an important context based method of teaching science, and add to the data for the SALG instrument for evaluation of learning by college students exposed to this new pedagogy. Without context, formal schooling in rural Alaska has little relevance to science from a different culture. Using real-world contexts, this course will engage students in a scholarly activity with creative thinking.
Broader Impacts: UARCTIC can adapt this model to develop other courses focusing on natural resources. This SENCER approach can be used with other Arctic resources (Gold, Coal, Fish) to engage students in learning; students will become teachers as they become engaged in their communities. This course will support the IPY (2007) activity, and increase community engagement, by using students from the rural communities as teachers. While the course itself is tied to the region in which it is offered, the project serves as a model for the development of other SENCER – type courses. The potential impact of this project is greater than the number of individuals directly involved with the radioactivity course. This course would significantly impact underrepresented students and provide a means of making one specific culture accessible to a wider audience. Our proposed course would serve as a model for science/civic engagement courses at other institutions.
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