Collaborative Course Design

Abstract & Objectives

Course Material Inflow

Course Material Outflow

Course Material

Stock

Collaboration with Professors

Discovery of New Materials

Elimination of Old Materials

Independent Research

Independent Revision

INVESTIGATERead through course materials assigned by professors. Discover

new readings and course materials via

independent research.

ORGANIZEEliminate assigned

course materials which are not useful or have superior substitutes. Categorize readings

according to similar uses or subject matter.

ANALYZEPrepare oral and/or written summaries about pertinent

resources, their contents, and their applications.

Extrapolate from these resources to make

suggestions about course goals, structure, and content.

PROVIDE FEEDBACK

Discuss weekly findings with professors. Provide my

student perspective regarding course design,

course difficulty, assignment feasibility, and the clarity &

usefulness of readings.

COLLABORATEFor 30-60 minutes weekly,

meet with professors to discuss course goals, program objectives,

readings, assignments, and novel ideas for their

courses.

For Principles of Sustainability Science, my primary research material was Bert J.M. de Vries’ Sustainability Science, a textbook which uses a

system dynamics perspective to unify sustainability theories across the

social sciences and the natural sciences. In addition to de Vries, I

utilized numerous academic journal articles, conference papers, video lectures, and sustainability course

syllabi from other universities.

For Climate Policy & Technology, my research materials primarily included academic journal articles discussing

anthropogenic climate change, mitigation strategies, and energy technologies. To cover the policy

portion of the course, I also incorporated several industry reports,

energy use forecasts, government documents, and environmental action

plans.

Materials & Methods

Week Day Topic1 Tues. Course Introduction: Defining Sustainability

Thurs. Sustainability Science: An Emerging Discpline2 Tues. Interpretations of Sustainability

Thurs. Measuring Sustainable Progress: Eliminating the Greenwashing3 Tues. Introduction to System Dynamics

Thurs. Applications of Systems Science in Sustainability4 Tues. Modeling Complex Systems

Thurs. Systems Modeling in Sustainability: Reconstructing Lakeland5 Tues. Energy: The Unifying Principle

Thurs. World Energy Flows: Electricity, Transportation, & Uses6 Tues. Thermodynamics, Energy Efficiency, & Implications for Sustainability

Thurs. Fossil Fuel Stocks, Energy Systems, & Impacts7 Tues. Toward a Sustainable Energy System: Alternative Energy & Renewables

Thurs. Anthropogenic Climate Change: Sustainable Mitigation & Adaptation8 Tues. Earth Systems: Water, Soil, & Vegetation

Thurs. Human Impacts: Land Degradation, Eutrophication, & Pollution9 Tues. Ecosystem Dynamics in Sustainability: Population Ecology, Limits to Growth, and

Food Webs

Thurs. Sustainability & Nature: Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services10 Tues. Anthromes: Land Cover Change, Agriculture, & Agro-Food Systems

Thurs. Global Industrial Agro-Food Systems: Models & Implications for Sustainability11 Tues. Renewable Resources: Stocks, (Un)sustainable Extraction, & Economics

Thurs. Renewable Resource Systems: Resource Chains, Models, & Implications for Sustainability

12 Tues. Nonrenewable Resources: Stocks, Exploration & Extraction, Depletion, & Economics

Thurs. Industrial-Nonrenewable Resource Systems: Resource Chains, Models, & Implications for Sustainability

13 Tues. Sustainability Economics: Growth, Development, & Homo economicus

Thurs. Optimizing Our Future: Competing Goals, Visions, & Models14 Tues. Presentations/Closing Assignments

Thurs. Presentations/Closing Assignments

Integrating Sustainability Across Penn CurriculaLuke Saputelli

ISAC 2013Climate Policy & Technology

Professor Andrew Huemmler

Climate Policy & Technology• Identify available and developing strategies and technologies for mitigating anthropogenic climate change.• Analyze economic, political, and social hurdles associated with the implementation of these strategies.• Discern between those strategies which are currently viable and those which require ongoing research and development.

Principles of Sustainability Science• Characterize sustainability science as a unifying discipline centered on the analysis of interactions between complex human and natural systems. • Develop tools and methods for quantifiably measuring sustainable progress. • Apply systems modeling techniques to selected topics in sustainability and identify how these models enhance students’ understanding of sustainability science.

Principles of Sustainability ScienceProfessor Alain Plante

Social Economic

Environmental

Access to HealthcarePublic Transportation Use

Level of Education

Income Distribution

GDP Per CapitaIndustry Employment

Air, Water, & Soil QualityGHG Emissions

Biodiversity

Professor Plante and I placed a strong emphasis on

developing methods for quantifiably measuring

sustainability. We found that sustainability indicators (examples listed above) are both a flexible and effective

system for measuring sustainable progress.

The inherently interdisciplinary nature of sustainability proved an initial challenge for Professor Plante and

me. We observed that one cannot confine a sustainability issue to one field alone – all sustainability issues involve overlapping (often competing) human and natural

systems. We concluded that an integrated

systems approach is essential to studying

sustainability science.

Sustainability science necessitates bridging gaps between overlapping human and natural systems. Examples include ecosystems, economic, energy, and resource systems. This course utilizes STELLA

modeling software (shown above) to enhance visualization of these interacting systems.

The early stages of designing this course

centered on characterizing sustainability as a unique academic discipline. The

result: bridging elements of several disciplines.

Unlike Principles of Sustainability Science, Climate Policy & Technology is already an existing course at Penn.

Hence, my work with Professor Huemmler focused on top-down

restructuring rather than bottom-up construction. The primary focus of

this restructuring was updating course content in a manner that

reflects current strategies and technologies to mitigate climate

change. In the past few years alone, there have been great strides in both mitigation technologies and policies discussed in this course. In contrast,

other technologies and policies in the course have become obsolete or have

been deemed ineffective. Through reading industry reports, academic

journal articles, and attending outside conferences, I eliminated several outdated materials and

added comparable new materials which reflect current standards and

technologies.

In addition to replacing outdated course materials, my work also entailed synthesizing

new materials. These materials were generally PowerPoints or brief reports about topics which Professor Huemmler wished to incorporate more soundly into his course.

Some examples of these topics include alternative fuels, the Kyoto Protocol’s Flexible

Mechanisms, sustainable buildings, and Obama’s climate proposals. The above and

right images reflect these topics.

Integrating Sustainability Across the Curriculum (ISAC) pairs Penn students with Penn instructors in a collaborative effort to incorporate

sustainability topics into Penn courses. As an ISAC intern, I worked alongside Professors Andrew Huemmler and Alain Plante to revamp and

design their respective courses: Climate Policy & Technology and Principles of Sustainability Science. An initial task of mine was to

develop concise objectives for each course: