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  Scents of Place: exploring self, place and planet through botanical fragrance

  Jennifer L. Kitson and Donna M. Sweigart

  This learning module provides instructors with an experiential field guide for introducing students to the United Nations Inner Development Goals Framework through self-guided mindful smelling activities and reflection prompts related to botanical fragrance. The interdisciplinary nature of this module allows for use or adaptation in a wide range of courses looking for outdoor, place-based and self-guided experiential learning to explore the role of botanical fragrance for people, plants and pollinators. The overarching goal is to deepen students’ connections to their senses (and scents) of self, place and planet through exploring botanical fragrance with mindful smelling. The learning activities in this module are designed to be used together or separately, as a stand-alone activity (from 15 to 75 minutes) without any additional preparation, or in conjunction with other course materials and learning objectives.

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  Crowdfunding Your DIY Project: Introducing Students to Kickstarter

  Jason W. Luther

  The purpose of this learning module is to help instructors consider how crowdfunding can serve as a meaningful way to build culturally rich, entrepreneurial projects. Such projects — which include film, music, publications, video and board games, art, performance, and technology — invite amateurs to not only articulate their vision of the world, but to ask others to participate in it, telling their story publicly in such a way that their network feels compelled to support them. While the obvious value of crowdfunding is that it financially supports the work of creators, it also uses the exigence of capital to lead communities into forms of mutual aid where their identities or needs are represented through a creative process and a final product.

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  A Climate Policy Primer

  Ted Howell

  The following learning module provides instructors with the materials to introduce students to a top-level overview of climate change solutions and their costs/benefits through the lens of market-based policy interventions. The core of the module is a 75-minute class plan designed to be plugged-in to a single class period by any instructor; that said, individual pieces of it can be adapted to a shorter class session or combined with the additional resources provided to span more class time.

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  Business Policy as Responsible Leadership: A Collection of Open Educational Resources for Integrating Sustainability into the Strategy Curriculum.

  Richard Jonsen

  This collection of instructional materials is designed for undergraduate management instructors desiring to integrate sustainability into the Business Strategy Curriculum.

  There are five sections:

  • Introduction and Overview
  • Economics of Mutuality
  • Summative Cases Focused on Sustainability
  • Classroom Discussion Cases with Sustainability Themes
  • Preparing Students for Discussion of Controversial Topics

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  Computer Science Principles with C++

  Seth D. Bergmann

  This textbook is intended to be used for a first course in computer science, such as the College Board’s Advanced Placement course known as AP Computer Science Principles (CSP). This book includes all the topics on the CSP exam, plus some additional topics. It takes a breadth-first approach, with an emphasis on the principles which form the foundation for hardware and software. No prior experience with programming should be required to use this book. This version of the book uses the C++ programming language.

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  Computer Science Principles with Python

  Seth D. Bergmann

  This textbook is intended to be used for a first course in computer science, such as the College Board’s Advanced Placement course known as AP Computer Science Principles (CSP). This book includes all the topics on the CSP exam, plus some additional topics. It takes a breadth-first approach, with an emphasis on the principles which form the foundation for hardware and software. No prior experience with programming should be required to use this book. This version of the book uses the Python programming language.

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  Shoulder Surgical Preparation Educational Video

  Deep Patel BS, Catherine Fedorka MD, and David Fuller MD

  This series of open educational videos provides an in depth overview of various surgical preparation procedures. These instructional videos could be of interest to various medical and health science trainees in a variety of fields such as nursing or medicine. All patients featured in this video series have signed consent and release forms authorizing the release of these educational videos.

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  Hip Surgical Preparation Educational Video

  Deep Patel BS, Kenneth W. Graf MD, and David Fuller MD

  This series of open educational videos provides an in depth overview of various surgical preparation procedures. These instructional videos could be of interest to various medical and health science trainees in a variety of fields such as nursing or medicine. All patients featured in this video series have signed consent and release forms authorizing the release of these educational videos.

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  Foot and Ankle Surgical Preparation Educational Video

  Deep K. Patel BS, Eric Freeland DO, and David A. Fuller MD

  This series of open educational videos provides an in depth overview of various surgical preparation procedures. These instructional videos could be of interest to various medical and health science trainees in a variety of fields such as nursing or medicine. All patients featured in this video series have signed consent and release forms authorizing the release of these educational videos.

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  Spine Surgical Preparation Educational Video

  Deep K. Patel BS, Julio Rodriguez MD, Vishal A. Khatri MD, and David Fuller MD

  This series of open educational videos provides an in depth overview of various surgical preparation procedures. These instructional videos could be of interest to various medical and health science trainees in a variety of fields such as nursing or medicine. All patients featured in this video series have signed consent and release forms authorizing the release of these educational videos.

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  Computer Science Principles with Java

  Seth D. Bergmann

  This textbook is intended to be used for a first course in computer science, such as the College Board’s Advanced Placement course known as AP Computer Science Principles (CSP). This book includes all the topics on the CSP exam, plus some additional topics. It takes a breadth-first approach, with an emphasis on the principles which form the foundation for hardware and software. No prior experience with programming should be required to use this book. This version of the book uses the Java programming language.

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  Hand and Wrist Surgical Preparation Educational Video

  Deep Patel BS, Alisina Shahi MD, and David Fuller MD

  This series of open educational videos provides an in depth overview of various surgical preparation procedures. These instructional videos could be of interest to various medical and health science trainees in a variety of fields such as nursing or medicine. All patients featured in this video series have signed consent and release forms authorizing the release of these educational videos.

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  Are Humans Natural? Part 4: Human-Nature Relational Values through Time

  Nathan Ruhl and Sirena Pimenta

  This activity assumes students have a background in evolutionary theory, so students without such a background should have additional instruction prior to conducting this part of the activity. Consider a discussion of mechanisms that drive evolution, including genetic drift, natural selection, and gene flow. Evolution is a change in gene frequencies in a population over the course of several generations.

  Genes are the genetic code controlling many individual characteristics or traits, so the frequency at which genes occur dictates, in large part, the frequency at which individual characteristics or traits exist in a population. The frequency of a gene can increase or decrease due to selection (including natural, sexual, and/or artificial selection), genetic drift, gene flow, and/or genetic mutation. Natural selection is the evolutionary process whereby certain individuals have traits that are better suited for their environment, and thus have a better chance at reproductive success compared to other members of the same species. Over many generations, selection favors genotypes with the most advantageous traits and other genotypes die off, causing the gene frequency of a population to change and evolution to occur.

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  Problems, Solutions, and Opportunities for Engineers and Scientists

  Mary K. Barillas and Stephen P. Fernandez

  In this module, students spend time reflecting on major problems facing society today (ex: poverty, hunger, health, education, clean water/sanitation, etc). They then compare their findings to the major societal challenges identified by the United Nations through the UN Sustainable Development Goals, the National Academy of Engineering - if the class is an engineering class - or the National Academy of Sciences - if the class is a science class. Finally, the students reflect on the major career paths for students graduating with engineering/science degrees and then, more specifically, for students graduates from their college and/or university (Rowan University College of Engineering, in our case). Students then reflect on the degree to which companies that are likely to employ them, are engaged in solving the problems they previously identified. Finally, students identify other non-conventional careers where they can address some of the problems they identified.

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  Integrating Humanities into Environmental Engineering Classrooms

  Sarah Bauer

  In this module, students will be exposed to the broader context of several major components within the area of environmental engineering by integrating humanities into the environmental engineering classroom. This module includes lecture content pertaining to the areas of (1) solid and hazardous waste management and (2) management of air pollution. This module will help provide students with a background of these subject areas by: introducing students to the history of waste management practices and regulations in the United States and exposing students to various major air pollution episodes throughout history and the implications air pollution has on human and environmental health. This module is best used prior to lecture content regarding the engineering principles and technologies associated with these areas of environmental engineering. Through various lecture content included in this module, students will be exposed to the cultural, ideological, political and historical context in which environmental problems occur. This material was created as part of an upper-level introductory course in an undergraduate environmental engineering curriculum.

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  Why Do Frames Matter?

  Samantha T. Crown

  In this assignment, students examine the coverage of a single event from two different points of view. They analyze the frames used in each report and determine how the journalist uses those frames to construct meaning and encourages a way of thinking about an environmental issue. What frames are represented in the reports? How might this also impact what is included in the report and how a journalist represents environmental issues?

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  Exploring Environmental Justice through Listening: An Environmental Design Case Study in Camden, NJ

  Jennifer L. Kitson and Ted Howell

  This learning module is designed to introduce humanities questions into environmental engineering, planning, technology, and science courses. This module simulates cooperative and interdisciplinary environmental problem solving in an urban, industrial neighborhood which faced environmental injustice in the past. Using a neighborhood case study, students consider the historical context, five different stakeholder perspectives, and environmental justice dimensions of this community as integral to their technical design proposals related to one or more of the following topics: urban park development, waste and stormwater management, brownfield redevelopment and living shorelines. Through exposing students to research data obtained through humanities methods, such as environmental history, community planning, and oral history, this learning module tasks students with twinning social and technical objectives in environmental design and engineering solutions. Active listening activities using audio files are assigned to meaningfully engage students with the lived experiences and perspectives of environmental professionals, government agencies, and community members in the past and present as part of proposing sustainable (future) solutions.

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  Exploring Environmental Issues Using Eco Art

  Mahbubur Meenar and Ted Howell

  Ecological and environmental art, or “Eco Art,” describes works of art that engage issues related to the environment, ecology, and/or sustainability. Broadly, Eco Art serves as a compelling means of conceiving humanity’s relationship to the natural world. In part because ecological topics such as climate change, extinction, and pollution are dominated by scientific discourse, Eco Art offers new pathways for artistic expression and for understanding ecological issues. In the words of art writer Linda Weintraub, Eco Art “stands out from the din of environmental warnings, policies, and campaigns because its content is enriched by artistic imagination and its strategies are emboldened by artistic license.” The concept of Eco Art can be used to provide initial exposure to various environmental issues, including but not limited to climate change, environmental justice, environmental ethics, water quality and quantity, air quality, waste management, recycling, toxic land redevelopment, green infrastructure, and environmental design.

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  Are Humans Natural? Part 2: Exploring Human-Nature Relational Values and the Balance of Nature

  Nathan Ruhl

  This learning module is part of a series of modules that seeks to help students develop human-nature relational values. Relational values are more readily developed when the methods employed reference species/environments/landscapes/situations that students are familiar with already and may encounter during their everyday lives. In this activity students are asked to consider whether nature is in balance. The idea that nature is in balance extends deep into human history, but modern scientific evidence clearly demonstrates that nature is not in balance. Despite scientific evidence, the perception that nature is stable or in balance persists in human culture. This activity challenges misconceptions about how nature changes over time, demonstrates that this fallacy extends far back into human history, and explores our current scientific understanding.

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  Are Humans Natural? Part 3: Nature Relatedness and the American Dream

  Nathan Ruhl and Taylor Dobson

  This learning module is part of a series of activities designed to encourage students to develop relational values with nature. In this activity, students reflect on their relationship with nature and consider the impact of their plans/goals for the future on the environment and the larger goal of sustainability. Students evaluate their relationship with nature through the Nature Relatedness (NR-6) Test (Nisbet and Zelenski, 2013), compare their NR-6 score to others, consider how their goals (“dreams”) are related to the American Dream, and speculate on the attainability of sustainability given our individually driven goals for the future. This activity challenges students to consider whether their individual dreams for the future are compatible with a sustainable interaction between humans and nature.

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  Environmental Cost vs. Health Benefit of Radioisotope Usage in Medicine

  Nicholas Whiting

  This module is developed for implementation in a class that discusses the use of radioisotopes in a biomedical setting. The inspiration is a class I teach (Advanced Biomedical Instrumentation), which covers the use of radioisotopes as tracers in biomedical imaging (scintigraphy, SPECT, PET, etc.). The goal of the module is to go further in depth regarding the environmental impact of the use of radioisotopes (from their generation to their disposal—keeping track of any radioactive byproducts), and compare that to the potential for benefits in the quality and/or quantity of a patient’s life (does using the radioisotopes allow patients to live longer, fuller lives).

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  Computer Organization with MIPS

  Seth D. Bergmann

  This book is intended to be used for a first course in computer organization, or computer architecture. It assumes that all digital components can be constructed from fundamental logic gates. The book begins with number representation schemes and assembly language for the MIPS architecture, including assembler directives, pseudo-operations, and floating point instructions. It then describes the machine language instruction formats, and shows the student how to translate an assembly language program to machine language. This is followed by a chapter which describes how to construct an assembler for MIPS. This chapter may be omitted without loss of continuity. This is followed by an introduction to boolean algebra and digital logic, then a possible design of the MIPS datapath. The book concludes with a description of the memory hierarchy, including cache memory, RAM, and virtual memory. Each section concludes with a list of exercises (solutions are available to instructors who have adopted this text in a course).

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  Contingency, Evolution, and the Nature of History

  William Carrigan

  This module explores the nature of history. Popular perceptions of history rely upon two flawed ideas. First, employing a naive interpretation of the theory of evolution, many believe that history is a slow march of progress toward more complex species and, after the development of humans, more complex human societies. Second, another prevalent attitude is that the history of life contains patterns that repeat and can be predicted if studied. Instead, this module emphasizes the role of luck and contingency in the history of life both before and after the arrival of homo sapiens. Beginning with an exploration of why these popular theories persist, the module will explore contingency through such critical moments as the Cambrian Explosion, the end of the dinosaurs, and moments after the arrival of homo sapiens such as the fall of Carthage, the Chinese decision to end its ocean-going exploration before the discovery of the Americas, and even the failed assassination attempt of Adolf Hitler in Munich in 1939. The result will be a richer more nuanced understanding of the nature of history and of change over time.

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  Sustainability as a Moral Problem

  David Clowney

  This module explores the ethics of sustainability. “Sustainability” has become a buzz-word for any kind of environmentally positive activity. The word inherits its special meaning from the term “sustainable development,” introduced in Our Common Future, the 1987 UN commissioned Brundtland Report, as a way of describing the joint goals of economic development for poorer countries and environmental preservation/restoration. In the words of that report, sustainable development is development that “meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs,” and is constrained by “the ability of the biosphere to absorb the effects of human activities.” Sustainability is frequently thought of in technical terms: how many people will the planet hold, how can we reduce our environmental impact while living decent lives. This module presents sustainability as first and foremost a moral rather than a technical challenge. It is a moral challenge for social as well as personal ethics. That is, it is a challenge for societies, institutions and governments as well as for individuals. The module provides students with a simple framework for thinking about moral issues. It also guides them in considering the unique challenges posed by collective moral problems of this kind, where the effect of individual actions seem inconsequential, while their aggregated effect is of profound moral importance. These challenges are intensified in this case, where issues of justice and moral considerability arise for our relation to future as well contemporary human generations, to citizens of other nations as well as our own, and to non-human as well as human life. They are further intensified by our current global reliance on unsustainable use of energy and resources, and on unsustainable production of waste. Finally, they are intensified by the apparent unsustainability of current forms of economic organization. The module features a variety of readings, videos, role-plays and activities designed to allow students to explore ways of meeting these challenges.

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  Thinking through the future of climate change with fiction

  Ted Howell

  What happens when scientists use fiction to envision our future in a world radically altered by climate change? Who is most thoroughly to blame for our inability to sufficiently react to the horrific, even apocalyptic, future we’re told is coming for our children and grandchilden? This module dives into these questions via the short book The Collapse of Western Civilization, written by Naomi Oreskes and Erik M. Conway. In this short, reader-friendly essay, Oreskes, a science writer who permanently changed how we talk about climate change, and Conway, a NASA historian, write a “history of the future” from the vantage point of 2093. The book offers a unique perspective on climate change and the future we’re heading towards by using fictional narrative, rather than relying on models and graphs, and by adopting a tone equally shocking to readers accustomed to thinking about climate change in terms of numbers and to readers who envision our future as an apocalyptic wasteland. Of particular interest is the book’s frank discussion of the failure of scientists to communicate their findings with the public and their commitment to hallowed principles like statistical significance and the burden of proof. Ultimately, the book and the module prompt fascinating discussions about what Oreskes and Conway call “the most startling aspect” of their story: “the people of Western civilization knew what was happening to them but were unable to stop it. Knowledge did not translate into power.” Module Resources: The module includes slideshows that introduce the book and generate classroom discussion, links to supplementary videos and short readings, and an easily adaptable assignment sheet that asks students to consider the strengths and weakness of various methods of communicating information about climate change.