Global views: Improving understanding of environmental issues through peer learning

Metha M. Klock, Department of Environmental Studies, San Jose State University, San Jose, CA, Tracy L. Hmielowski, Biology Department, Scott Community College, Bettendorf, IA and Becky J. Carmichael, Communication across the Curriculum, College of Science, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA

Background/Question/Methods
Global understanding of environmental issues may be improved through peer-peer interactions. Connecting with peers allows learners to consider different perspectives by identifying shared experiences. To examine the role of peer-peer interactions in environmental education, our project took a collaborative, multi-institution approach to facilitating conversations among students from different colleges across the country. Educators at San José State University (SJSU), in San Jose, CA, Scott Community College (SCC) in Bettendorf, IA, and Louisiana State University (LSU) in Baton Rouge, LA conducted a cross-institutional scaffolded project where students met virtually to discuss their experiences with specific environmental issues. We enlisted students from non-majors biology courses at SJSU and SCC in this semester-long group project and students from LSU acted as meeting facilitators. Groups were assigned topics such as pollution, invasive species, and energy, and individuals within groups chose subtopics for further investigation. Students at different universities met virtually during the semester to discuss environmental topics and to share information learned through researching local issues. Together, they developed a website (http://bit.ly/GlobalViewsFall20) showcasing their collaboration. Students were surveyed pre- and post-project to determine whether attitudes towards, depth of knowledge, and familiarity with environmental issues was influenced by participation in the project.
Results/Conclusions
Our results indicate that peer-peer communication about current environmental issues promotes broad and fine scale understanding of environmental topics. Results from the survey suggest that students involved in this project believe that environmental issues are of key importance and are of significant global concern. Following participation in the project, students at SJSU felt that they were more familiar with global environmental issues and that their personal choices impacted individuals in other parts of the country and world. Students reported high levels of agreement that environmental issues on a global level impact them on a local level. Students from SCC reported particularly high levels of concern with climate change and felt strongly that their actions impact people in other parts of the world. Collectively, we found that promoting peer-peer interaction across multiple regions about similar environmental topics is an effective way to promote learning and engagement with current environmental issues. In particular, this project served to enhance knowledge and understanding about how similar environmental issues impact people in different parts of the world. We suggest that broadening understanding about environmental issues among individuals across regions will help create global citizens that work collectively to reverse the course of environmental degradation.