Environmental Studies 600 Section 005

COMMUNITY-BASED RESEARCH WITH THE NATURAL STEP MONONA

Environmental Studies Certificate Seminar - Spring 2011

3355 Engineering Hall

Thursdays 2:25 – 5:25pm

WELCOME!

Facilitating a course that is designed to produce outcomes for both the community and the students is one of the most exciting things we do.  It can be a bit unnerving at times, since the success of the entire project requires fitting so many pieces together in a tight timeline.  But we have done it enough to know that it can work, and can have real impacts. So if you like learning by doing, are comfortable with a little unpredictability, and like to work in collaborative contexts, this course is for you.

COURSE GOALS

We have two goals for this course:

1.  to learn how sustainability concepts and practices are communicated, and the challenges involved in changing individual behavior, government policy, and business practice.

2.  to train students in specific methodological skills for conducting CBR in collaboration with a community organization.  Students will be involved in all phases of the research process, and will collaborate directly with The Natural Step Monona members throughout the project.

SPECIAL LEARNING NEEDS

Please inform us if you have special learning needs so we can adjust the course to meet those needs.

OUR PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION

When teachers realize they still have things to learn and students realize they have things to teach, and when everyone is in an atmosphere where teachers are encouraged to learn and students are encouraged to teach, everyone benefits.

Our job is to create and maintain a learning atmosphere where everyone feels comfortable taking intellectual and interpersonal risks, and to help you do your part in maintaining that atmosphere.  We welcome critiques of ideas, especially our own.  But please practice respect for each other as people while you question and criticize each others' ideas. 

CONSULTATIONS

Please consult with us whenever you have a question about course assignments, lectures, discussions, or readings. We will gladly discuss questions you have about the course material. You should also consult with us whenever you may find yourself interested in the issues raised in the course and you want to discuss further or get more information.

COURSE ORGANIZATION

There may be times in this class when the phrase "course organization" will sound like an oxymoron.  Project courses like this are somewhat like a line of dominoes--knock one down and the rest behind them also fall over.  Thankfully, there aren't that many dominoes, and they are easy to set up again.  The timeline of this project is not dependent on just you and us, but on the university bureaucracy (which has to approve our IRB application) and the community organization we will be working with.  For the most part, then, our class meetings will focus on troubleshooting where we are in the process.

However, we will also be engaged in a variety of in-class training exercises.  You will learn how to do community-based research from start to finish in this class.  We will co-design the methods, collect the data, collaboratively analyze the data, collaboratively write up the research results, and collaboratively organize a research launch and planning event.

CLASS PROCESS

This class will be a group effort.  Our job is to be project managers, trainers, and guides. Your job is to tell us what you need to learn to carry out the tasks of the project, what you need to have clarified to keep the project on track, and what skills you can bring to help troubleshoot when things go wrong.

COURSE WORKLOAD, REQUIREMENTS AND GRADING

In general, the workload for this class is average. The challenge is that it can be quite uneven unless you manage your time effectively.  You will see that the first few weeks are heavy with reading and activity.  We have, for the most part, "front-loaded" the preparatory work of the course so we can move into the project as quickly as possible. The reading load reduces more and more the further we get into the semester.   You will need to be available outside of class for a few hours, perhaps on a weekend or evening after class, as we will likely be in Monona itself collecting data.

In calculating your final grade, for the most part, we will base our assessment upon the completion of five major tasks. We believe that your efforts put into completing these tasks will have more learning values than the end product itself.  That being said, however, you should not underestimate the workload required for completing each task.  In addition, because this project is being designed jointly with TNS Monona, we will also ask for their contribution in assessing your final grade.

The grading components are described below.  For some components, we will be somewhat strict about the late penalty, since you can turn in “assignments” electronically even if you are infectious.

1.     Human Subjects Protection Online Training (10 points total)

All students have to complete the online Human Subjects Protection Training prior to the first day of class.  More information is available at http://www.grad.wisc.edu/research/wkshop/index.html#HST.  The training is at https://my.gradsch.wisc.edu/citi/index.php, choose "Human Subjects Protection for Education, Social & Behavioral Science Researchers."  Please submit a completion certificate as a pdf file in “Dropbox” in Learn@UW no later than Thursday Jan 27^th.  Please note that there is a -1 penalty point for every day late. 

2.     Readings Comments (14 points total)

Cite three specific issues based on the materials assigned each week and offer comments or questions.  Please indicate source and specific citation (author, article, page number, website address, or anything that can show which reading you got the information from).  If you come to class with a set of questions or comments for a broader discussion, it will help us have an engaged and informative discussion.  It could be as simple as three questions or three short comments, anything that arises from simple curiosity or critical commentary after reading the materials.  Clear writing and accurate interpretation of the materials will be the grading criteria.  The question submission for the week’s readings is due Thursday at noon in the “Dropbox” in Learn@UW; 50% reduction in points for each day late.

3.     Class learnings comments (total 33 points)

Cite three specific parts of each class session and briefly discussed what you learned from those portions of class.  Total length will probably be half a page to a page.  Clear writing and accurate interpretation of in-class source material will be the grading criteria.  The class learnings submission is due by the following Thursday at noon in the “Dropbox” in Learn@UW; 50% reduction in points for each day late.  If you miss a class you will not be able to complete this assignment, but that will only harm your grade if you do poorly on other requirements or miss multiple classes.  Each submission will worth 2 points for a total of 15 weeks, except the last submission that is worth a total of 5 points.  Guidelines for the last submission will be discussed later.

4.     Data collection and analysis (30 points total)

We do not yet have a specific formula to assess how you get your total 30 points here.  We will discuss this in class and negotiate a final agreement in writing.  It is likely that the tasks will involve conducting surveys door to door.  But the exact number and times are yet to be determined.  You will also likely be entering survey data into a database but again the exact requirement will be determined in collaboration with TNS Monona. 

5.     Draft Report (15 points total)

Upon the completion of data collection and statistical analysis, you will write a draft report.  The content of this draft report is going to be the base information for the event in May where we will reveal to the public the survey results and invite feedbacks from broader community.  The length, the topic, and whether it is an individual or a group task will be determined later after we learn together the results of the data analysis.

Your final grade will be assessed as follow:

COURSE WEBSITE

This course is supported online, where you will submit your writing and engage in out-of-class discussion.  You should be able to go to Learn@UW at https://learnuw.wisc.edu/ to login, where you will see the course listed. This will be primarily for you to upload assignments.  You can also use the "e-mail" link to contact your fellow classmates.

READINGS

All readings except The Natural Step for Communities are available on the Internet.  Some of them are in the form of electronic files that will be available at Learn@UW https://learnuw.wisc.edu/.  For other readings, we will provide links that are all verified as of January 10.  Please let us know if you find any bad ones.  We apologize to anyone using screen readers who must contend with only barely accessible pdf files. 

Since this course is about to share the true role of community, the book for the course will be available at a locally-owned and community-based bookstore:

Rainbow Bookstore Cooperative
426 W Gilman St
Madison, WI 53703-1009
(608) 257-6050

There is only one required book for this course:

Sarah James and Torbjörn Lahti. (2004).  The Natural Step for Communities: How Cities and Towns can Change to Sustainable Practices.  Gabriola Island, BC, Canada: New Society Publishers

We are also recommending a book "Research Methods for Community Change," for the training section of the course.  It is not, however, required.

Randy Stoecker (2005).  Research Methods for Community Change: A Project-Based Approach.  Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications Inc.

COURSE CALENDAR

     **Remember to print out the readings or bring your pda/laptop to class with an electronic version.

     **We may add readings as the semester progresses.  You can always find the most up-to-date list in the electronic version of the syllabus at Learn@UW website.

WEEK 1 - January 20

Introduction to the Project: including the Philosophy of CBR and the History of TNS Monona

Read:

-   Randy Stoecker, Creative Tensions in the New Community Based Research http://comm-org.wisc.edu/drafts/cbrtensions.htm

-   TNS Monona, The History of TNS Monona

-   TNS Monona http://tnsmonona.org (review entire website)

Tasks for students:

-   readings comments are due at noon before class

-   meet with Heather Gates, the Executive Director of TNS Monona

WEEK 2 – January 27

Defining the Research Question and Outlining the Research Methods

Read:

-   Randy Stoecker, Research Methods for Community Change: Chs. 1, 3, and 7

Suggested readings:

-   Andrew Sayer, Method in Social Science, Ch. 6 and Ch. 9

-   Randy Stoecker, Research Methods for Community Change, Ch. 5 and Ethics Appendix

Tasks for students:

-   Human Subjects Protection Training completion certificate, readings comments and class learnings are due at noon before class

WEEK 3 – February 3

Defining the Research Question and Outlining the Research Methods

Read:

-   John W. Creswell, Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Methods Approaches, Ch. 9 – Quantitative Methods

-   Lucy Suchman and Brigite Jordan. (1990). Interactional Troubles in Face-to-Face Survey Interviews.  Journal of the American Statistical Association, 85(409):232-242, http://www.lifescapes.org/Papers/Interactional%20Troubles.pdf

-   Writing Guide: Survey Research at Colorado State University http://writing.colostate.edu/guides/research/survey/index.cfm

Suggested readings:

-   Questionnaire Design and Surveys Sampling http://home.ubalt.edu/ntsbarsh/stat-data/surveys.htm

-   Therese Seibert. (2002).  Designing Surveys That Count.  Presentation at a workshop co-sponsored by The Community Research Center At Keene State College and Monadnock United Way, July 24, 2002. http://www.keene.edu/crc/forms/designingsurveysthatcount.pdf

-   Sara Ball, Despite allure of Internet surveys, old-fashioned, face-to-face interview still best, Stanford expert says, http://www.news.cornell.edu/stories/March07/Krosnick.cover.SB.html

-   Bruce McFarlane and Ron Garland. (1994) A Comparison of Mail and Face-to-Face Survey Methods: New Zealand Health Professionals.  Marketing Bulletin, 5:71-81, Research Note 4, http://marketing-bulletin.massey.ac.nz/V5/MB_V5_N4_McFarlane.pdf

-   Allyson L. Holbrook, elanie C. Green, and Jon A. Krosnick. (2003).  Telephone versus Face-to-Face Interviewing of National Probability Samples with Long Questionnaires.  Public Opinion Quarterly, 67(1):79-125.

Tasks for students:

-   readings comments and class learnings are due at noon before class

-   complete IRB paperwork

-   discuss and refine survey questions, methodologies, and survey sample with TNS Monona

WEEK 4 – February 10

The Natural Step Framework

Read:

-   Sarah James and Torbjörn Lahti (2004).  The Natural Step for Communities: How Cities and Towns can Change to Sustainable Practices.  New Society Publishers

Suggested readings:

-   TNS Monona, Arc 1/Session 1: Introducing The Natural Step Framework

Tasks for students:

-   readings comments and class learnings are due at noon before class

WEEK 5 – February 17

Grassroots Environmental Justice Movement

Read:

-   Riley E. Dunlap and Angela G. Mertig. 1992. ‘The evolution of the U.S. environmental movement from 1970 to 1990: An overview.’ In American Environmentalism: The U.S. Environmental Movement, 19701990, ed. Riley E. Dunlap and Angela G. Mertig. Philadelphia, PA: Taylor and Francis, pp. 1‐10.

-   Giovanna Di Chiro. 1998. ‘Environmental justice from the grassroots: Reflections of history, gender and expertise.’ In The Struggle for Ecological Democracy: Environmental Justice Movements in the United States, ed. Daniel J. Faber. New York, NY: Guilford Press, pp. 104–35.

-   Jason Corburn. 2003. Bringing local knowledge into environmental decision making: Improving urban planning for communities at risk. Journal of Planning Education and Research 22: 420‐433.

Suggested readings:

-   Robert D. Bullard. 1993. ‘Anatomy of environmental racism and the environmental justice movement.’ In Confronting Environmental Racism: Voices from the Grassroots, ed. Robert D. Bullard. Cambridge, MA: South End Press, pp. 15‐39.

-   Brian Wynne. 1996. ‘May the sheep safely graze? A reflexive view of the expert‐law knowledge divide.’ In S. Lash, B. Szerszynski, & B. Wynne, eds., Risk, Environment and Modernity: Towards a New Ecology. London: Sage, pp. 44‐83.

Tasks for students:

-   readings comments and class learnings are due at noon before class

WEEK 6 – February 24

From Knowledge to Action

Read:

-   Robert E. Jones and Riley E. Dunlap. (1992). The Social Bases of Environmental Concern: Have They Changed over Time?  Rural Sociology 57 (#1, Spring):28-47.

-   JH Falk, M Storksdieck & LD Dierking (2007). Investigating public science interest and understanding: Evidence for the importance of free-choice learning. Public Understanding of Science 16: 455-469.

-   Anja Kollmuss & Julian Agyeman. (2002). Mind the gap: Why do people act environmentally and what are the barriers to pro-environmental behavior? Environmental Education Research 8:239-260.

Suggested readings:

-   Kent D. Van Liere and Riley E. Dunlap. (1980).  The Social Bases of Environmental Concern: A Review of Hypotheses, Explanation and Empirical Evidence.  Public Opinion Quarterly 44:181-97.

-   Stern, Paul C., and Thomas Dietz. (1994).  The Value Basis of Environmental Concern.  Journal of Social Issues 50(3): 65-84.

-   Florian G. Kaiser, Sybille Wolfing, and Urs Fuhrer.  (1999). Environmental Attitude and Ecological Behaviour.  Journal of Environmental Psychology 19:1-19.

-   Nick Allum, Patrick Sturgis, Dimitra Tabourazi & Ian Brunton-Smith. (2008). Science knowledge and attitudes across cultures: a meta-analysis. Public Understanding of Science 17: 35-54.

Tasks for students:

-   readings comments and class learnings are due at noon before class

WEEK 7 – March 3

Communication skills for community works

Read:

-   Bob Dick.  Communication.  Resource Papers in Action Research.  2000.  http://www.scu.edu.au/schools/gcm/ar/arp/communicn.html

-   Robert Bolton, People Skills: How to Assert Yourself, Listen to Others, and Resolve Conflicts, Chs. 1-2.

Tasks for students:

-   readings comments and class learnings are due at noon before class

-   make plans for interviews (dependent on IRB approval)

-   conduct survey interview role play

WEEK 8 – March 10

Conducting survey interview: everything from knocking the doors to leaving the doors (note that this session maybe rescheduled to meet community members who will be part of the survey efforts)

Read:

-   TBD

Tasks for students:

-   readings comments and class learnings are due at noon before class

-   make plans for interviews (dependent on IRB approval)

-   design quantitative analysis framework (entering data, choosing software)

-   meet with TNSM core group who will be part of the survey efforts

WEEK 9 – March 17

*** Spring break – no class ***

WEEK 10 – March 24

Collecting the Data

Read:

-   TBD

Tasks for students:

-   readings comments and class learnings are due at noon before class

-   begin interviews (dependent on IRB approval)

WEEK 11 – March 31

Toward Data Analysis

Read:

-   John F Hall, Introduction to Survey Analysis, http://www.marketresearchworld.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=544&Itemid=60

-   Re-read Week 3 materials – oral survey,

Tasks for students:

-   readings comments and class learnings are due at noon before class

-   continue survey interviews, troubleshoot

-   enter interview results

-   report on initial interviews

WEEK 12 – April 7

Analyzing and Validating Interview Data

Read:

-   preliminary survey results

Tasks for students:

-   readings comments and class learnings are due at noon before class

-   continue survey interviews, troubleshoot

-   enter interview results

-   analyze survey results

WEEK 13 – April 14

Writing up Quantitative Research

Read:

-   preliminary survey results

Tasks for students:

-   readings comments and class learnings are due at noon before class

-   enter interview results

-   write preliminary report

-   finish survey interviews

WEEK 14 – April 21

Moving Toward Action

Read:

-   Event Plan.Com http://www.event-plan.com/ (read all grey links) no reading assigned

-   preliminary report

Tasks for students:

-   readings comments and class learnings are due at noon before class

-   make plans for launch event

-   discuss and continue writing report draft and distribute

WEEK 15 – April 28

***TBA***

Tasks for students:

-   readings comments and class learnings are due at noon before class

-   finalize launch event plans

-   finalize report

WEEK 16 – May 5

Launch event/celebration

Tasks for students:

-   final class learnings are due the following day, May 6; writing guidelines will follow