The National Council for Science and the Environment (NCSE), the Council of Environmental Deans and Directors (CEDD) and the American Indian Higher Education Consortium (AIHEC) are inviting proposals for Faculty Teams that will develop curricular resources to teach climate change and climate issues to American Indian students. The teams of faculty from Tribal Colleges and Universities (TCU) and non-TCU baccalaureate institutions will develop the culturally relevant curricular resources. The developed resources will then be used to teach the students.
Team Composition
Two or three teams will be selected to participate in a pilot of an NSF-funded climate change education project. Each team must include at least four faculty members – two each from TCUs and two from non-TCU baccalaureate institutions. The team must be multidisciplinary, composed of people with backgrounds in natural sciences, social sciences, cultural sciences and humanities. The teams should be organized based on shared interest, geographical location, and established institutional relationships (e.g. articulation agreements, research or curricular collaborations).
Each team will develop curricular modules that will provide cultural context for accurate and up-to-date information about climate change processes and phenomena and their expression in geographic regions where TCUs are located. The topics to be addressed will be determined by the team. The teams are encouraged to incorporate Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) to the extent appropriate.
The teams will design educational materials for use, with some modification, in a range of courses at community colleges and four year institutions. The resources should provide easily adaptable interdisciplinary content that can be used by faculty at any higher education institution. The learning resources developed by the teams may include learning activity descriptions, laboratory exercises (e.g., with datasets), entire lesson plans, and learning objects. The primary objective will be to develop and adapt content to optimise their use in Tribal Colleges and more broadly for American Indian students, including those at non-TCU institutions. They will also have value for students of other backgrounds who are interested in understanding American Indian perspectives and issues relevant to climate change.
Criteria for Selection of Teams
– Demonstrated understanding of American Indian cultural perspectives and traditional ecological issues with respect to climate change Multidisciplinary composition of team
– Use of effective techniques for teaching and learning
– Experience in working together as a team
– Record of success in completing projects in a timely fashion
– Innovative proposal for development and use of teaching resources
Compensation
Each team will receive a $10,000 honorarium to be divided equally among team members, who will be asked to sign a consulting agreement with NCSE. Each team may receive up to $8,000 for project expenses. Additional funds will be available for team members to for travel expenses to present their curricular resources at AIHEC and NCSE meetings. Disposition of these funds will be determined by AIHEC and NCSE.
Last date for submitting the proposals is September 26, 2011.
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