PROJECT SUMMARY What does it look like when students are asked to integrate science learning with their own beliefs and values to make decisions about complex problems? Student writing from a general education science course on abrupt climate change was analyzed for "integrative insights" or moments when students went beyond the classroom content to discern new connections and understandings.

RESEARCH QUESTION One of the greatest challenges in science education is preparing students to tackle real problems that are increasingly complex and science-rich. Too often, people bring a dualistic mindset to science knowledge; either science has "the answer" or it doesn't. When science does not or cannot provide a clear and simple answer, decisions are often made that exclude the insight that science may provide. In order to explore these ideas in the classroom, my Carnegie study addressed the question: What does it look like when students are asked to integrate science learning with their own beliefs and values to make decisions about complex problems? The evidence I collected, primarily student writing, parses this question in smaller pieces. Before introducing the final project where students were asked "What should be done to reduce human vulnerability to climate change?", writing assignments asked students to articulate their beliefs about the natural world, their understanding of the nature of science, and their understanding of the new science they were learning (abrupt climate change). This project was carried out in collaboration with Trish Ferrett from Carleton College. Trish is an amazingly creative and integrative thinker and a generous collaborator. She taught a similar course as a first-year seminar at Carleton. In her Carnegie snapshot, she describes all the ways she observed her students "go beyond" in their learning. Trish Ferrett's Carnegie Project Snapshot

Hope College is in Holland, Michigan; a town with a strong Dutch immigrant history. THE CONTEXT- GENERAL EDUCATION MATH AND SCIENCE (GEMS) AT HOPE COLLEGE Knowing something about the college, the course, and the students provides insight into decisions about course design and provides a context for analyzing student writing. THE COLLEGE Hope College is a small, liberal arts college (~3000 students) with a primarily regional student population (most are from western Michigan or the Detroit or Chicago areas). The students are primarily white Protestant or Catholic and traditional college age. Many come to Hope because it's a Christian college and/or because of the strong science/premed program. THE COURSE The syllabus contains the following course description: The purpose of this course is to examine our beliefs about science and how science knowledge integrates, or doesn't, with our own beliefs and values. We will do this by exploring the topic of abrupt climate change, which is the capacity of Earth's global climate to exhibit rapid and unpredictable change. The course is part of the general education curriculum at Hope. For most students in the class, this will be one of only two science courses they take in college, and many enroll reluctantly. Some may have misconceptions about science as a way of knowing, and some may be openly suspect because of a perceived conflict between science and their Christian faith. So in order for them to be able to learn and use science, it is critical to get issues of beliefs and values on the table from the very beginning. The course is divided in three parts and the goal is that the parts build toward enabling students to integrate science in reflective thinking and decision making. 1. How does science work? What is "science as a way of knowing?" These questions are approached from several perspectives. Students start by learning some science by analyzing real data; but not just any science, the "extraordinary" science of abrupt climate change. Then they examine the history of abrupt climate change, following the "two steps forward, one step back" path scientists took to reach our current understanding of the science. Finally, they consider the role of beliefs and values in science. In what ways did beliefs and values influence the development of the scientific understanding of abrupt climate change? 2. Why should we care about understanding science? Students learn about the impact of climate change on humans through two historical case studies. They start by examining the role of climate change on societies, but quickly learn that climate change is intertwined with other factors such as environmental problems and socio-political issues. 3. Let's try it. The role of science knowledge in decision making. For the final project, students are asked the question, "What should be done to reduce human vulnerability to climate change?" They pick a place in the world and use the science they have learned to make predictions about the future impact of climate change on the region. They include in their analysis environmental problems and information about social, economic, and political issues in the area. Their suggestions for reducing human vulnerability must be clearly supported by their evidence, and they must explain how the suggestions are congruent with their personal beliefs and values. Abrupt Climate Change Syllabus The syllabus describes the goals for general education mathematics and science courses (GEMS) at Hope College and the more specific learning goals for the course. Abrupt Climate Change Course Schedule The course schedule lists the reading and writing assignments for each class period and a short description of how class time is used.

Greenland ice cores provide evidence for abrupt climate change. EVIDENCE OF INTEGRATIVE LEARNING The abrupt climate change class was a two-credit, half-semester course (7.5 weeks). It met twice a week for two hours per session. The course was taught twice in one semester with 24 students in the first half of the semester and 23 in the second. There were seven student writing assignments in the class and a final integrative "snapshot" using the KEEP Toolkit. Four of the seven writing assignments (numbers 1, 2, 3, and 5) were integrative in nature. Copies of all student writing were saved. Other evidence that was collected includes: A pre/post survey (the Interdisciplinary Student Assessment of Learning Gains or ID-SALG) about interdisciplinary learning and the nature of science, which is part of a larger project at Hope and Carleton Colleges on interdisciplinary learning. Pre/post responses to the question "How does science work?" Board notes from several classes; these are student-generated summaries of small group discussion. Some in-class reflections from students of the integrative "moves" they saw happen in class that day. Writing Assignment 1 Students are asked to describe their beliefs about the relationship between humans and the natural world. Writing Assignment 2 Students are asked to choose a site for their final project. They are asked to describe the climate of the site and why they chose it (why they care). Writing Assignment 3 Students are asked to find examples where beliefs and values have influenced the development of the science of abrupt climate change. Writing Assignment 5 Students are asked to use Malcolm Gladwell's ideas from "The Tipping Point" about "abrupt social change" to describe the science of abrupt climate change. Final Projects Students completed their final projects using the KEEP toolkit. This gallery shows the final projects for the second half-semester class.

Thermohaline circulation is the integrative force in ocean waters. RESEARCH FINDINGS Student writing assignments were designed to build toward the final integrative decision making project. After teaching the class twice and analyzing student writing, I found four "integrative dimensions" where students "went beyond" class content and produced new insights involving science knowledge and/or beliefs and values. INTEGRATIVE DIMENSIONS 1. Across science and non-science disciplines -- "Tipping points" in the physical world were explored in the context of Malcolm Gladwell's framework for abrupt social change in The Tipping Point.Students developed new analogies that used concepts from social science to explain the physical science they were learning. 2. Between science knowledge and the values of science -- The role of beliefs and values in constructing new science knowledge was explored through reading about the history of abrupt climate change.Students observed how scientists' beliefs about climate as something that changes only very slowly limited their ability to "see" the abrupt climate change evidence in front of them. 3. Between science knowledge and personal values -- Students reflected on the ways their personal values shape their beliefs about the physical world and how those beliefs shape what they think should be done about climate change. Many students wrote of their belief in the importance of human "stewardship" of natural resources, some saw a divine hand in the geological cycles they learned about, and others invoked the importance of social justice in making decisions about climate change. 4. Combining science and personal beliefs in decision making -- Students used their new science knowledge to make predictions about climate change in different parts of the world. These predictions helped shape their decision about what should be done to reduce human vulnerability to climate change.

Greenland ice core records show abrupt changes in climate (click on figure for more info)

Project Bibliography Resources on abrupt climate change, the nature of science, student intellectual development, and national calls for reform of science education are provided. Acknowledgements

Students in GEMS 295-01A STUDENT VOICES "I think this analogy between social change and abrupt climate change works very well. It is true that it only takes a few people to start a social epidemic. And it only takes something as small as the molecule made up of carbon and oxygen to cause something as drastic as global warming." Across science and non-science disciplines: This student is making a climate change analogy to a concept in The Tipping Point. "Scientists pride themselves on being the ones who deal 'strictly with the facts.' Values, it is said, have no room when so much factual evidence is present. As hard as they may try to make this true, values are a very sneaky sort of creature. They find their way around in the most inconspicuous of ways, even when one doesn't want them there. This is true in science, and with a little probing into some science history they can be brought forth." Between science knowledge and the values of science: This student points out that it can be difficult to "see" the influence of values in science, but they can be revealed when science is viewed in its historical context. "Something I have been thinking about is that Earth is relatively stable. Looking back, it is shocking to think that all of these periods of glaciation and warming occurred. But at the same time, the Earth has done a pretty good job of regulating itself. As a Christian, I have to attribute this to God's providence, but I also wonder if God always intended for climate change." Between science knowledge and personal values: This student is bringing in personal beliefs to make sense of the ice age cycles. This doesn't necessarily mean she doesn't understand the scientific explanation. It may be more a search for deeper meaning (the big "why") in the observed cycles. "I see it as being very important that cities, states and nations and their respective governments take environmental issues seriously because, in the end, polluting and abusing the earth affects everyone. I think this belief comes from my religious beliefs and the fact that I feel that people should be stewards of God's creation." Combining science and personal beliefs in decision making: This student integrated their belief in the stewardship of earth's resources to support their decision to address environmental concerns.

LESSONS LEARNED AND NEXT STEPS SOCIAL SCIENCE AS A "GATEWAY" TO SCIENCE As Trish Ferrett describes for her project, students were able to critically and fruitfully apply the concepts of abrupt social change described in The Tipping Point to learning about abrupt climate change. Not only did they come up with new and insightful analogies, but several clearly said that the human focus of the social science gave them a "way in" to the science. HISTORICAL CASE STUDIES AS A "GATEWAY" TO THE NATURE OF SCIENCE Historical case studies that emphasize how and why new science knowledge was developed can help students understand the roles of beliefs and values in science. By reading about the history of abrupt climate change, students developed an understanding of how scientists could ignore or dismiss data that did not match their beliefs about climate. For me, the goal was to introduce the socially constructed nature of science without plunging the students into naive relativism. Analysis of student writing indicated that students understood the role that scientists' values can play in scientific progress, but there was little evidence of understanding the role of epistemic values (controlled observation, reproducibility, etc.) in science. HISTORICAL CASE STUDIES AS A "GATEWAY" TO COMPLEXITY AND TO WHY WE SHOULD CARE One of the challenges in a general education course is engaging the reluctant science learner. Trish said that her students were very curious about the impact of climate change on humans. With that advice, I was able to find some information of the impact of the last abrupt change (The Younger Dryas) on ancient societies. Then we looked at the impact of climate change on Mayan civilization, using Jared Diamond's Collapse. Diamond uses a five-point framework for analyzing social collapse. Climate change is one of the factors. This allowed us to "up" the complexity for our final projects and consider climate, environmental changes and sociopolitical factors. NEXT STEPS Even though we worked hard in class, using small group and whole class discussion, to articulate the connections between student decisions about climate change and their own beliefs and values, this information did not show up in everyone's final snapshot. Next time I will ask them to write a short piece on this and turn it in to me for feedback. Then they can put it in their snapshot. While teaching the class, there were two important developmental leaps I saw my students make that I would like to specifically look for the next time I teach the class. One was a richer understanding of the interconnectedness of life on Earth (see the picture and quote in the title box of this snapshot; a "polder" is low land protected by dikes). The other was the ability to consider consequences on longer time scales. For 18 year olds, this can be particularly challenging. In their final project oral presentations, students said things like, "As we learned in this class, we have to consider the impact of this on the other side of the world." I look forward to learning more about student concepts of interconnectedness and time scale.