The Technique
While trying a variety of techniques to help learners develop a detailed perspective on climate inquiry, one thing I’ve found is that, to move away from a traditional science focus, students need to connect to their own lived experiences and future-focused concerns and hopes. This has also allowed me to enhance the student-centered aspect of the course experience.
What worries you about climate change?
I use this initiating question to connect the course content and readings to the affective aspect of each learner. It also acts as a pre-assessment about the issue that learners are aware of already. It helps me tap into the most relevant and current student-focused concerns so I can customize course activity that supports these particular climate concerns.
I deliver courses both on-campus and online. This initiating question works in both spaces. In class, sticky notes are used to build a wall of climate anxiety. We can move the notes around to group responses and then do coding of sticky note groupings. This goes a long way in identifying and organizing the complex thoughts of the whole group.
In my online classroom, we use Mentimeter to see the groupings in the summaries presented, and we talk about the similarity (affinity maps) that result from students’ responses to the question.*
What gives you hope?
This is the next question posted. We then repeat the cycle of building a wall of responses and cluster these into groupings — or analyze the Mentimeter results in conversation.
We now have enough “data” for students to “take action” through project work. I ask learners to pick a topic that is meaningful to them on which to do some research** that will further their learning in this area.
This affinity mapping technique initiates action research but also has the students develop a communication strategy to share their learning beyond our classroom walls. By the end of the course, the group will have developed methods to mobilize knowledge from course learning!
* These groupings become a curated short list of “research starters” so that they can “take next steps.”
** I suggest that they start with Project Drawdown and, next year, will suggest Regeneration as well as starting points for their research project.
How I use It *
For this activity in an on-campus classroom, you need large board spaces cleared off and two sets of different colored sticky notes. In an online course, you need to have both questions set up in Mentimeter.
- To begin the first stage of discussion, write the initiating question at the top of the board where you will collect your concern statements.
- As learners write responses to the question “What causes you the most concern?” on their sticky notes, ask for response volunteers, and place their sticky notes on the board.
- Then, collect a few more responses from volunteers with different answers so that you can start mapping/clustering by placing the sticky notes far apart (if the responses are at a distance fro