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Managing for a Changing Climate: A Blended Interdisciplinary Climate Course

Year: 2020
Type: article
Abstract: We developed a blended (or hybrid) interactive course—Managing for a Changing Climate—that provides a holistic view of climate change. The course results from communication with university students and natural and cultural resource managers as well as the need for educational efforts aimed at the public, legislators, and decision-makers. Content includes the components of the physical climate system, natural climate variability, anthropogenic drivers of climate change, climate models and projections, climate assessments, energy economics, environmental policy, vulnerabilities to climate hazards, impacts of climate change, and decision-making related to climate adaptation and mitigation efforts. To convey most of the content, the course-development team created over 50 short videos (3–10 min each) in partnership with experts from a variety of academic, government, and industry institutions. The blended course has been offered as an upper-division, undergraduate course in the Department of Geography and Environmental Sustainability and School of Meteorology (four times) and College of International Studies (in Italy, once) at the University of Oklahoma with over 100 total students. The course has also been presented online-only at no cost to the participants in four fall semesters with over 1,000 total registrations. Videos created for this course are freely available on the YouTube page of the South Central Climate Adaptation Science Center. This course and its associated materials comprise high-quality, formal climate training and education that can be adapted to other formal and informal education settings beyond the walls of the university.
DOI: 10.1175/bams-d-19-0242.1
Language: English
Subfield: Education
Open Access status: bronze
Award: THE OKLAHOMA SPACE GRANT CONSORTIUM (OSGC) CHARTER MEMBERSHIP INCLUDES CAMERONUNIVERSITY LANGSTON UNIVERSITY (A HISTORICALLY BLACK COLLEGE AND UNIVERSITY) AND THE STATE'STWO RESEARCH INSTITUTIONS OKLAHOMA STATE UNIVERSITY AND THE UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA. SINCEOUR ESTABLISHMENT IN 1991 PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT HAS CENTERED ON OUR FOUNDING MISSION TOFOCUS THE POWER OF OKLAHOMA'S HIGHER EDUCATION SYSTEM IN ADVANCING THE STATE'S PARTICIPATION INTHE AERONAUTICS AND SPACE INDUSTRY. INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT INCLUDES ACTIVITIES IN SCIENCE TECHNOLOGY ENGINEERING AND MATHEMATICS AND OTHER AERONAUTICS AND SPACE-RELATED DISCIPLINESTHROUGHOUT OKLAHOMA'S EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM. OKLAHOMA STATE UNIVERSITY AND THE UNIVERSITY OFOKLAHOMA CONTRIBUTE EXPERTISE IN RESEARCH AND THE STRENGTH TO SUSTAIN MAJOR DEVELOPMENTPROGRAMS. CAMERON AND LANGSTON UNIVERSITIES PROVIDE EXPERIENCE IN TRADITIONAL HIGHEREDUCATION PROGRAMS THAT SUCCESSFULLY RECRUIT AND GRADUATE UNDERREPRESENTED MINORITIES.OKLAHOMA BECAME A DESIGNATED STATE IN SEPTEMBER 2002 AND OUR MEMBERSHIP GREW FROM FOURAFFILIATES TO 16 AFFILIATES INCLUDING: FIVE ACADEMIC (EAST CENTRAL UNIVERSITY SOUTHEASTERNOKLAHOMA STATE UNIVERSITY SOUTHWESTERN OKLAHOMA STATE UNIVERSITY SOUTHERN NAZARENEUNIVERSITY AND THE UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA CENTER FOR SPATIAL ANALYSIS) A COOPERATIVE EXTENSIONSERVICE (APPLICATIONS ENGINEERING PROGRAM) GOVERNMENT (OKLAHOMA SPACE INDUSTRYDEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY NORMAN ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COALITION) TVT/O INDUSTRY (SCIENCEAPPLICATIONS INTERNATIONAL COMPANY FRONTIER ELECTRONICS SYSTEMS INC.) AND A MAJOR SCIENCEMUSEUM (STAFFORD AIR&SPACE MUSEUM) AND AN INFORMAL AEROSPACE EDUCATION ORGANIZATION STARBASE OKLAHOMA.WITH OUR DESIGNATED STATUS OKLAHOMA SPACE GRANT ESTABLISHED A NEW MISSION STATEMENT CROSSLINKINGOUR STATE'S ECONOMIC WORKFORCE AND AEROSPACE RELATED RESEARCH WITH NASA'SAEROSPACE WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT NEEDS: OSGC REPRESENTS A STATE-WIDE PARTNERSHIP OFUNIVERSITIES A COOPERATIVE EXTENSION SERVICE STATE GOVERNMENT CITY GOVERNMENT INDUSTRY AN AEROSPACE EDUCATION ORGANIZATION AND A MAJOR SCIENCE MUSEUM TO ENHANCE OPPORTUNITIESFOR OL<LAHOMANS TO UNDERSTAND AND PARTICIPATE IN NASA'S IVIISSION BY SUPPORTING PROGRAMS INSCIENCE TECHNOLOGY ENGINEERING MATHEMATICS AND OTHER AERONAUTICS AND SPACE-RELATEDDISCIPLINES THROUGHOUT THE STATE.BASED ON THE NASA EDUCATION OUTCOMES AFFILIATES UTILIZE THEIR INSTITUTIONAL STRENGTHS INDEVELOPING ACTIVITIES THAT CONTRIBUTE TO AN OVERALL BALANCED CONSORTIUM IN PROGRAMS ANDDIVERSITY. DURING THIS NEXT FIVE YEAR FUNDING CYCLE 2010-2014 ALL OF OUR AFFILIATES WILL CONTINUETO PLAY AN ACTIVE ROLE IN OUR CONSORTIUM BEING A STATE RESOURCE AND CATALYST FOR AERONAUTICS ANDSPACE-RELATED RESEARCH EDUCATION AND STATE ECONOMIC AND WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT.
OpenAlex ID: W3038913797
FWCI: 0.637
Cites: 19
Cited by: 3
Related to: 9