Ithaca College

Message from Wade Pickren, PhD
Director, Sponsored Research

Saturday, November 1, 2014 –8:30 am – 4:00 pm – CNS 208

The theme of the PKAL Upstate Regional Network fall meeting at Ithaca College is the use of a multidisciplinary approach and sustainability themed questions to enhance student understanding of 21st century problem solving. 

The methods presented may be applicable to making connections between ICC courses.  Although the focus of the workshop is STEM, the MSE project methods apply to any discipline-based course that wants to make meaningful connections to other courses in any other discipline sharing a common theme. 

Morning session speakers will be Dr. Jason Hamilton and Dr. Thomas Pfaff and will examine the need for developing 21st century problem solvers and a framework for connecting disciplines through sustainability themed questions.

Afternoon sessions will have participants work in multidisciplinary teams to create discipline based sub-questions to address an overarching sustainability themed question such as “What are the Current and Future Impacts of Global Climate Change on Polar Bears?”, and a group discussion of barriers / solutions for implementation of sustainability into the curriculum. The afternoon will also include a participant poster session.

Please follow the link to sign up:

Register Here

Agenda is as follows:
8:30 – Registration and continental breakfast
9:15 – Welcome & Introductions
10:00 am – Keynote, Jason Hamilton, Professor/Chair of Environmental Studies and Sciences
Why Sustainability in the STEM Curriculum Matters
11:00 am – Tom Pfaff, Professor of Mathematics and Director of Ithaca College Honors
Multidisciplinary Sustainability Education Project Experience
Noon – Lunch
1:00 pm – Identifying Key Questions and Sub-questions in Multidisciplinary Groups
2:00 pm – Poster Session
3:00 pm – Brainstorming and Sharing of Barriers:  Solutions for Implementation of Sustainability in the Curriculum
4:00 pm – Meeting Concludes

This event is sponsored in part by the National Science Foundation grant DUE-0837721,Multidisciplinary Sustainability Modules: Integrating STEM Courses, and the US Department of Education, FIPSE Program funded Sustainability Improves Student Learning (SISL) initiative.

Host Contact
Dr. Michael “Bodhi” Rogers; mrogers@ithaca.edu

For questions or additional information, please email acadfund@ithaca.edu , call MaryAnn Taylor at 274-1206 or go to the Events Calendar.

Individuals with disabilities requiring accommodations should contact MaryAnn Taylor at mataylor@ithaca.edu. We ask that requests for accommodations be made as soon as possible.