ENVS 404
Environmental Communications and Education
University of Idaho at Idaho Falls

 

Description:
Overview of how humans learn about and discuss the natural world and their roles in it. Environmental communications and environmental education are emerging disciplines with roots into many traditional fields, including education, communication, psychology, journalism, natural resources management, political science, and ecology.

Course materials:
Most readings will be contained in a course packet. Additional reading assignments will be made by the students and instructor. Information searching, finding, and retrieval skills are important to the success of the course and vital to individual success in the course. In additional, students will be expected to keep abreast of current environmental issues.

Course format:
Class meetings will be a dynamic mix of lectures, discussions of readings, activities, and guest speaker presentations. Some time will be spent outdoors.

Evaluation:
Course grades will be based on these weights:

 

For more explanation, see "Explanations of Assignments" handout.

 


Tentative schedule:


Week 1
Getting to know each other, stating our expectations
What is EC and EE?
Basic communications theory
Constructivist learning theory
Sources of information about the world History of the term "environmental"

Readings:
Slosson, Edwin S. (1922). "Science from the Side-Lines." Century Illustrated Magazine, p. 471-476.

Nelkin, Dorothy. (1987). Selling Science: How the Press Covers Science and Technology. New York: W.H. Freeman and Company. pp. 1-32, 53-69.

Schoenfeld, A. Clay, Meier, Robert F., & Griffin, Robert J. (1979). "Constructing a Social Problem: The Press and the Environment." Social Problems, 27(1), 38-61.

Archie, Michelle, & McCrea, Ed. (1996, November). Environmental Education in the United States: A Definition. [Draft discussion paper] National Environmental Education Summit, Burlingame, CA.

Braus, Judy, & Disinger, John. (1996, November). Educational Roots of Environmental Education and Their Relationship to Its Current Status. [Draft discussion paper] National Environmental Education Summit, Burlingame, CA.

Ostman, Ronald E., & Parker, Jill L. (1987). "A Public's Environmental Information Sources and Evaluations of Mass Media.' Journal of Environmental Education 18(2), 9-17.

Week 2
Data, Information, Knowledge, Wisdom
Where does science stop and environmental information begin?
Framing
Communication vs. Education

Readings:

Fazio, James R. & Gilbert, Douglas L. (1986). Public Relations and Communications for Natural Resource Managers (2nd ed.). Dubuque, IA: Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company. pp. 3-12, 35-65, 83-119.

Entman, R.M. (1993). "Framing: Toward Clarification of a Fractured Paradigm." Journal of Communication, 43(4), 51-58.

Lewenstein, Bruce V. (1992). When Science Meets the Public. Washington, n"- American Association for the Advancement of Science. pp. 3-39.

Miller, Jon D. (1986). "Reaching the Attentive and Interested Publics for Science." In S.M. Friedman, S. Dunwoody, and C.L. Rogers (Eds.), Scientists and Journalists. Washington, DC: American Association for the Advancement of Science. pp. 55-69.

Trisler, Carmen E. (1993). Global Issues and Environmental Education. (Report No. SE 053 474). Columbus, OH: The Ohio State University, Clearinghouse for Science, Mathematics, and Environmental Education. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. EDO-SE-93-5).

Week 3 Bioregionalism and Ecosystem Management
Where are we and how do you know this place?
Case Study: Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem
Case Study: Eastern Idaho and the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory

Readings:

INEL Community Relations Plan

Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem Management Plan.

Andruss, Van, et. al. Home: A Bioregional Reader. Philadelphia: New Society Publishers, 1990.

Roush, Donny. (1996, April). Communicating about the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory's Environment.

Flynn, J., Slovic, P. & Mertz, C.K. (1993). "Decidedly Different: Expert and Public Views of Risks from a Radioactive Waste Repository.U Risk Analysis, 13, 643-648.

Week 4
Risk Perception and the Communication of Risk

Readings:

Sandman, Peter M. (1991). Risk = Hazard + Outrage: A Formula for Effective Risk Communication. [videotape] Akron, OH: American Industrial Hygiene Association.

Slovic, P. (1986). Informing and Educating the Public about Risk. Risk Analysis, 6, 403-415.

Slovic, P. (1987). Perception of Risk. Science, 236, 280-285.

Slovic, P. (1993). Perceived Risk, Trust, and Democracy. Risk Analysis, 13, 675-682.

Soden, D.L. (1995). "Trust in Sources of Technical Information." Journal of Environmental Education, 26(2), 16-20.

West, Bernadette, Sandman, Peter M. & Greenberg, Michael R. (1995). The Reporter's Environmental Handbook. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press. pp. 5-22.

Week 5 Environmental Journalism
The Mass Media and Environment
Environmental Magazines
Case Study: The Yellowstone Fires of 1988

Readings:

LaMay, Craig L. & Dennis, Everette E. (1991). Media and the Environment. Washington, DC: Island Press. pp. 17-28, 55-64.

Schoenfeld, A. Clay. (1983). "The Environmental Movement as Reflected in the American Magazine." Journalism Quarterly, 60, 470-475.

Smith, Conrad. (1992). Media and Apocalypse: News Coverage of the Yellowstone Forest Fires, Exxon Valdez Oil Spill, and Loma Prieta Earthquake. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press.

Roush, Donny. (Submitted). Magazines as a Medium for Environmental Communications.

Week 6 Media Effects
Public Relations, Greenwashing, and Environmental Backlash
EC at the Speed of Light
Readings:

McCombs, Maxwell. (1994). "News Influence on Our Pictures of the World." In Bryant, Jennings, & Zillman, Dolf (Eds.), Media Effects Advances in Theory and Research. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Schmidt, Karen F. (1996). "Green Education Under Fire." Science, 274, 1828-1830.

Rohwedder, Rocky, & Alm, Andy. (1994). Using Computers in Environmental Education: Interactive Multimedia and On-Line Learning. Ann Arbor, MI: National Consortium for Environmental Education and Training, School of Natural Resources, University of Michigan.

West, Bernadette, Sandman, Peter M. & Greenberg, Michael R. (1995). The Reporter's Environmental Handbook. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press. pp. 119-126.

 

Week 7

EE, Focus on Formal K-12
Project WILD, Project Learning Tree, Project WET EE in Idaho

Readings:

Selections from Project WILD, Project Learning Tree, and Project WET curricula and activity guides.

 

Week 8

EE Elsewhere, Non-formal and Life-long Environmental Interpretation

 

Readings:

Ham, Sam. (1992). Environmental Interpretation. Golden, CO: North American Press.

Tilden, Freeman. (1977). Interpreting Our Heritage, 3rd Ed. Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press.

Week 9

How Does Learning Occur in EE?
The Awareness-Knowledge-Behavior Disconnect

 

Readings:

Hines, J.M., Hungerford, H.R., & Tomera, A.N. (1986/87). "Analysis and synthesis of research on responsible environmental behavior: A meta-analysis." Journal of Environmental Education, 18(2), 1-8.

Hungerford, Harold, & Volk, Trudi. (1990). "Changing Learner Behavior Through Environmental Education." Journal of Environmental Education, 21(3). 8-21.

Sia, A.P., Hungerford, H.R., & Tomera, A.N. (1985/86). "Selected predictors of responsible environmental behavior: An analysis." Journal of Environmental Education. 17(2), 31-40.

McCrea, Ed, Disinger, John, McGlauflin, Kathy, & Simmons, Bora. (1996, (November). The Need for Environmental Education in the United States. [Draft discussion paper] National Environmental Education Summit, Burlingame, CA.

 

Week 10

EXAMINATION (Short essay, 8-12 questions; also could be take-home)
Ecopsychology: Is any of this new?
Environmental Psychology

Roszak, Theodore, Gomes, Mary, & Kanner, Allen (Eds.). (1995). Ecopsychology: Restoring the Earth, Healing the Mind. San Francisco, CA: Sierra Club Books.

Bragg, Elizabeth Ann. (1996). "Towards Ecological Self: Deep Ecology Meets Constructionist Self-Theory." Journal of Environmental Psychology, 16. 93-108.

 

Week 11

Advocacy vs. Objectivity
What is Radical?
Ecofeminism
Deep Ecology
Environmental Justice

LaMay, Craig. (1991). "Heat and Light: The Advocacy-Objectivity Debate." In LaMay, Craig, & Dennis, Everette, (Eds.), Media and the Environment. Washington, DC: Island Press.

Warren, Karen J. (1994). Ecological Feminism. London, England: Routledge.

Naess, Arne. Ecology, Community and Lifestyle: Outline for an Ecosophy. (1989). Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press.

Bullard, Robert. (1993). Confronting Environmental Racism. Boston, MA: South End Press.

 

Week 12

Toward Integration: Where are EC and EE heading?

Readings:

Student-assigned articles

 

Week 13

The Goal: Better Environmental Decisions, an Active Citizenry, and a Sustainable Society
Ecological Literacy
Information becomes environmental policy
The Global Village
Readings:

 

Hanselman, Dave, & Harvey, Michelle. (1996, November). Trends Likely to Influence Environmental Education: A Framework of Ideas from the Field. [Draft discussion paper] National Environmental Education Summit, Burlingame. CA.

Jamason, Barry, McCrea, Ed, & Spence, Talbert. (1996, November). Environmental Education Goals and Priorities. [Draft discussion paper] National Environmental Education Summit, Burlingame, CA.

Simmons, Bora. (1996, November). Environmental Education Guidelines or Excellence: What School-Age Learners Should Know and Be Able to Do. [Draft discussion paper] National Environmental Education Summit, Burlingame, CA.

Committee for the National Institute for the Environment. (1994). A Proposal for a National Institute for the Environment: Need, Rationale, and Structure. Washington, DC: Author.

Orr, David W. (1992). Ecological Literacy: Education and the Transition to a Postmodern World. Albany: State University of New York Press.

Roth, Charles E. (1992). Environmental Literacy: Its Roots, Evolution, and Directions in the 1990s. Columbus, OH: ERIC Clearinghouse for Science. Mathematics, and Environmental Education.

 

Week 14

Catch-up
Roundtable discussions: Can education be value-free?
Can communication be fair?
Is there anything that isn't EC and EE?

 

Week 15/Finals Week

"Communication, Education, and Environment in Eastern Idaho"
A Symposium by Students of the University of Idaho at Idaho Falls
(Presentation of final paper/projects by students, with invited guests)

Submitted by:

Donny Roush
Communciations Specialist
Environmental Science and Research Foundation
101 S. Park Ave., Suite 2
P.O. Box 51838
Idaho Falls. ID 83405-1838

Phone: 208-525-7071
Fax: 208-525-7036
roush@env.esrf.isu.edu