Upcoming Events
Workshop: Incorporating Systems Thinking within Environmental Curricula
Nov 11, 2022, 9:00 AM - 3:00 PM
Potomac Science Center, Woodbridge, VA
Workshop Details
Systems thinking is often described as a core capacity for understanding sustainability and a critical skill for the 21st century. As such, the event is part of a George Mason University Curriculum Impact Grant-funded project that seeks to convene faculty and graduate students to examine the current state of systems thinking pedagogies and explore how they are being incorporated within two undergraduate degree programs–the BS in Environmental Science offered by the Department of Environmental Science & Policy (ESP), and the BA in Environmental and Sustainability Studies offered jointly by the School of Integrative Studies and ESP. Further, the project seeks to create funded graduate teaching lines in courses that address these topics and develop a yearly orientation to prepare students to teach them.
Workshop participants will share their own best practices in teaching students about systems and identify opportunities to integrate systems thinking within courses and throughout program curricula. The event will be held at Mason’s Potomac Science Center and will include a catered lunch for participants. The first half of the workshop (9:30-11:30 am), comprised of introductory talks and a curricular review, will be live-streamed for those who wish to attend but are not available for the full day.
Date: Friday, November 11th, 2022
Time: 9:00 am - 3:00 pm
Location: Potomac Science Center, 650 Mason Ferry Ave, Woodbridge, VA 22191 (Morning presentations will be livestreamed)
Workshop registration link: https://gmu.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_bCTnNVrRcuRiJFk
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Schedule
9 am–Coffee, Registration, & Check-in
9:30 am–Welcome & Introductory Talks
- Design and Integration of the Environmental & Sustainability Studies BA and Environmental Science BS Undergraduate Programs → Andrew Wingfield
- Systems Thinking and Sustainability → Karen Akerlof
- Community Engagement: An Application of Systems Thinking → Jeremy Campbell
10:30 am–Systems & Systems Thinking in Mason’s Environmental Curricula
- Systems Thinking in ESS and ESP Syllabi → Meaghan Caruso
- Systems Thinking Pedagogies and Curriculum Mapping Survey Outcomes → Andrew Wingfield
- Student Experiences of the Curricula: A Network Assessment → Ted Chen, Meaghan Caruso, & Sean Kurth
11:30 am–Catered Lunch
12:30–Group Discussions
- Focal Systems in Curricula: Terminology and Pedagogical Approaches
- Connecting Systems Thinking Learning across the Curricula
- Program Recommendations