Great Ideas for Teaching (GIFTs) Climate Change at the Undergraduate Level

Session ID#: 122464

Session Description:
A recent study found that 74% of first-semester college students are worried about climate change (Harrod & Rolland, 2020). Today's undergraduate students face a future where responding to the impacts of climate change is inevitable, no matter the career path. Universities and other organizations are uniquely situated to prepare students for the future by developing the knowledge, skills, positive aspirations and experience to tackle the climate crisis. We invite abstracts that explore themes in undergraduate climate change education and training, including, but not limited to: trans- or interdisciplinary climate change courses or programs; learning to achieve national/international climate change learning goals, climate literacy standards and key competencies; or out-of-classroom experiential climate change learning. The goal of this session is to create a forum to discuss classroom and experiential activities for teaching climate change and associated learning research or evaluation, in order to better prepare tomorrow’s climate leaders and climate-informed professionals.
Co-Organized:
  • GC - Global Environmental Change
Index Terms:

0810 Post-secondary education [EDUCATION]
0825 Teaching methods [EDUCATION]
0840 Evaluation and assessment [EDUCATION]
0845 Instructional tools [EDUCATION]


Primary Convener:  Kristin Timm, University of Alaska Fairbanks, International Arctic Research Center, Fairbanks, AK, United States
Conveners:  Katie Spellman, University of Alaska Fairbanks, International Arctic Research Center, Fairbanks, AK, United States, Rebecca E. Hewitt, Northern Arizona University, Center for Ecosystem Science and Society, Flagstaff, AZ, United States and Benjamin W Abbott, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT, United States
Primary Liaison:  Kristin Timm, Scenarios Network for Alaska and Arctic Planning (SNAP), Fairbanks, AK, United States
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