CLIMATE CHANGE AND THE HUMAN EXPERIENCE IN A DANISH CONTEXT
COURSE: ECS 289A/ENV 289A; NS.
Instructor: Alexander Glass, Ph.D.
Cell Phone: TBA
E-mail: alex.glass@duke.edu
Teaching Assistant: Elizabeth Nist, B.S.
Cell Phone: TBA
E-mail: elizabeth.nist@gmail.com
Required Course Text: None, but required daily readings will be provided
Class Structure.- This course is mostly an outdoor-based, experiential learning experience and you should view any and all times we are together as a group as course time. Here is a list of the types of activities you can expect to participate in on our trip:
- classroom discussions
- classroom lectures and presentations
- nature hikes
- fossil collecting
- city walks
- museum, wildlife park, and aquarium visits
- botanical garden visits
- boat tours
- wildlife watching
- tidal flat, beach, and dune walks
- night hikes
- plant hikes
Aside from the trips and on-location visits, several full-day classroom sessions, as well as evening review and discussion sessions, are planned. Some will be held outdoors, making use of our incredible surroundings and resources. For the remainder, expect class to consist of lecture, multi-media presentations, discussion, or field exercises. Also, you will be asked to view short nature documentary excerpts on your own time. Information covered by these media will be included on quizzes and introduce important concepts ESSENTIAL to your understanding of the material we cover in the field.
Assessment.- Your course performance will be assessed based on short-answer field quizzes on field information (20%), as well as plant and animal identification quizzes (15%), a day-blog (10%), participation (15%), museum exercises (20%), and online quizzes covering documentary shorts (5%), and readings (15%).
Field quizzes.- There will be 3 “field information quizzes”, one for each week of our experience. Field information quizzes cover all of the factual and conceptual information we learn from field excursions, guides, site visits, and in-field lectures that you gather in your field notebook. Field quizzes do not cover information from the documentary shorts, faunal or floral lists, museum exercises, or course readings. Field quizzes will be administered in-class.
Dates of Field Quizzes: Thursday, July 7th; Friday, July 15th; Wednesday July 27th,
Plant and Animal Identification Quizzes.- You will learn about, and to identify species of plants and animals in each of the ecosystems that we will visit. Quizzes are administered in-class and are based on identifying plants and animals based on images. These can include extinct Holocene or Pleistocene fauna and flora.
Blog.-You will be asked to write one blog post based on one day of our experience for which you will heavily utilize the notes and observations you made in your notebook. The blog will be your way of demonstrating EVERYTHING you have learned that day, in addition to personal observations, experiences, anecdotes, etc. Imagine that you are scientist and travel writer and want to convey your experience to a highly educated audience.
Participation.- You will be assessed based on your participation in all aspects of the course, which includes classroom time, field excursions, and group meeting discussions. Assessment is based on the quality of your academic participation, as well as your role in our community (e.g. willingness to help out with chores, being on time, courtesy and respect for others, flexibility, enthusiasm, etc.)
Online Quizzes.- Online quizzes assess your comprehension of the information provided by the documentary shorts, online multimedia lectures, and some of the museum exercises. These are administered through Sakai and will provide you with feedback and unlimited attempts to correctly answer the questions until the due date and deadline.
Exercises.- These are exercises (i.e. worksheets etc.) that you will be asked to complete at some of the museums, wildlife parks, exhibitions, and in the field. Some of these exercises are group exercises. Exercises are checked but graded. However, be sure to look at posted keys so that you understand the material.
Documentaries.- Throughout the trip you will have access (through Duke Warpwire) to a series of short documentaries. You should watch these before or after the designated day’s activities, and take the relevant online quiz to assess your understanding of the material. Documentary information will NOT be assessed on the in-class quizzes unless the information was also covered in lecture, discussions, or in the field.
Field Notebook.- We will discuss details about how to use your field notebook upon arrival in Copenhagen.
Course Readings. – Course readings provide valuable context and background for sites we are visiting and our daily activities. It is useful to do them before the day’s activities but not necessary. Make sure you take the online Sakai quizzes that accompany each reading.
Academic Integrity.- Duke University holds its students to the highest standards of academic integrity and honesty. Academic dishonesty of any kind is not tolerated and might result in failure of the assignment, and/or course, and/or expulsion from the university. Plagiarism on written assignments will result in a zero for the assignment and might result in further disciplinary action through the university. As a Duke student you pledge to uphold the Duke Community Standard:
- I will not lie, cheat, or steal in my academic endeavors
- I will conduct myself honorably in all my endeavors
- I will act if the Standard is compromised
For more information on academic integrity and the Duke Community Standard see here.
Disability Accommodations.- Disability Accommodation: Students with disabilities seeking special accommodations must contact the Student Disability Access Office (SDAO) to obtain appropriate support.
If you are eligible for special accommodations for test/quiz taking times and environment, or if you require physical accommodations on field trips, please let us know well before the trip begins so we can assure that we can make the necessary preparations for you in Denmark.
