Brownfield Action: Expansion and Evaluation of a Proven Inquiry-Based Approach to Teaching and Learning Environmental Science

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Interdisciplinary (99)Brownfield Action (BA) is a web-based, interactive, three-dimensional digital space and learning simulation in which students form geotechnical consulting companies and work collaboratively to explore and solve problems in environmental forensics. A NSF-CCLI-Proof of Concept grant allowed successful implementation and evaluation of a pilot test of an adapted module of BA in an upper level hydrology course at Connecticut College and, by developing a prototype on an industry-standard technology platform, proves that BA can be completely modularized and distributed to a broad spectrum of potential users. Barnard College in conjunction with the Columbia Center for New Media Teaching and Learning is now 1) developing a fully-modularized platform, rewriting and reprogramming the software, and creating robust server capabilities; 2) testing the fully-modularized version at four different sites; 3) providing independent professional evaluation of these tests with a focus on student learning; and, 4) preparing of all the supporting materials required for the modularization, the test sites, and the teacher training workshops. After completion of this Phase 2 project, BA will be ready for commercial promotion, dissemination, and distribution to colleges, universities, high schools, government, and corporate users. BA's civic-minded, inquiry-based learning approach successfully combines the advanced use of digital space with the environmental, economic, and civic importance of brownfields and the toxification of the environment. As such, BA is making contributions to both teaching and learning as well as to the application of digital technology in the classroom. Used for six years at Barnard College, BA has established itself, through a series of independent professional evaluations, as a highly successful pedagogical model for teaching introductory environmental science. This model, where interdisciplinary scientific and social information is integrated within a constructivist learning environment, improves student learning and has the ability to transform the teaching of environmental science throughout the country. Further expansion and implementation of BA will have a broad impact on public knowledge of environmental science by bringing these methods, known to enhance the understanding of scientific information (especially among non-science majors, women, and other groups traditionally underrepresented in the sciences), to instructors nationwide.