Shirley VincentVincent Evaluation Consulting, LLC · vincentconsult.com
Shirley Vincent
PhD Environmental Science
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45
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Publications (45)
There is growing support and interest in postsecondary interdisciplinary environmental education, which integrates concepts and disciplines in addition to providing varied perspectives. There is a need to assess student learning in these programs as well as rigorous evaluation of educational practices, especially of complex synthesis concepts. This...
As future decision-makers, students must develop interdisciplinary, systems thinking skills to make effective management decisions; however, systems thinking remains challenging for many students. Here, we use the Food-Energy-Water (FEW) Nexus as a framework to examine how drawings can help students cultivate systems thinking skills. Drawings can b...
The purpose of this chapter is to provide general concepts, principles and methods for planning and implementing evaluation processes for collaborative team projects. Evaluation is a process that involves collecting and analyzing information about a project or program's activities, characteristics, and outcomes. Its purpose is to make judgments abo...
This chapter will introduce the Employing Model-based Reasoning in Socio-Environmental Synthesis (EMBeRS) Framework for facilitating learning across disciplines and integrating those perspectives to address specific wicked problems.KeywordsKnowledge integrationInterdisciplinary teamworkInterdisciplinary learningSystems thinking
Interdisciplinary environmental and sustainability (IES) programs are different from other fields because they focus on a complex integration of humanities, social, and natural sciences concepts centered on the interactions of coupled human and natural systems. The interdisciplinary nature of IES programs does not lend itself to traditional discipl...
Modelling complex socio-environmental problems requires integration of knowledge across disparate fields of expertise. A key challenge is understanding how social learning across disciplines occurs in scientific research teams, in order that integrated knowledge is co-created. This article introduces a new framework for training researchers to inte...
The interdisciplinary research (IR) that is necessary for the creation of innovative solutions for the many complex environmental challenges facing society requires collaboration and the sharing and integration of knowledge from different disciplines in teams. Higher education programs should deploy effective pedagogical approaches to train student...
While addressing racial inequality in the higher education curriculum and promoting an inclusive curriculum in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) remain contentious issues, little is known about the processes by which racial inequality in the curriculum manifests. Theory and higher education research on curricular development indicat...
Interest in and understanding of the various competencies that university sustainability and environmental graduate degree programs should aim for has increased in recent years. Yet empirical efforts that assess the effectiveness of programs from a competency building perspective have visibly lacked-particularly from a macro-perspective examining m...
This research report summary presents national trends in the scope and nature of higher education programs in the fields of environment, sustainability, natural resources and energy in the United States. The full report is exclusively available for NCSE members.
In this paper, we describe our research investigating design, teaching and learning aspects of the EMBeRS Summer School. In 2016, thirteen graduate Environmental Science students participated in a ten-day Summer School to learn about interdisciplinary approaches to researching socio-environmental systems. Using the Employing Model-Based Reasoning i...
Students of color remain severely underrepresented in many science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines, including environmental fields. Although there is a growing body of research on predictors of selecting a STEM major, generally, much less is know about factors, especially at the program level, that predict the enrollmen...
This special issue explores challenges and opportunities confronting higher education related to leadership at a variety of levels and the creation of linkages between students, faculty, administration, and community stakeholders necessary to address the many “wicked problems” facing society. One common thread among all the papers is that higher ed...
In inter- and transdisciplinary teams, diverse perspectives on a particular problem must be integrated into shared models of the problem. This process has been identified as a core challenge for socio-environmental synthesis research and education. There is little understanding of how to facilitate knowledge integration across perspectives. We gene...
In summary, IES programs are evolving, expanding, and gaining more prominence at colleges and universities across the United States. Many, if not most, programs are working closely with employers and other regional partners to design curricula that prepare students for a wide diversity of environmental and sustainability professions, including the...
This commentary is a response to the article by James Proctor titled “Theory In, Theory Out: NCSE and the ESS Curriculum” (Environ Stud Sci 5(2):218–223, 2015) which critiques the report Interdisciplinary Environmental and Sustainability Education on the Nation’s Campuses 2012: Curriculum Design (Vincent et al. 2013) and its findings related to env...
This essay describes the inequity faced by most interdisciplinary environmental and sustainability (IES) degree programs and the impact of that inequity on student and faculty experiences. Despite the urgent need for IES education and research to solve critical environmental and sustainability challenges, as well as high demand for IES education by...
The Center for Environmental Education Research (CEER) of the National Council for Science and the Environment (NCSE) conducts ongoing research to better understand the structure and curricula of interdisciplinary environmental and sustainability (IES) education and research programs in the USA. NCSE is a not-for-profit organization that specialize...
Environmental justice (EJ) issues and perspectives, which emphasize the disproportionate environmental hazards experienced by low-income communities and communities of color, are often excluded from higher education sustainability discourses and curriculum. Utilizing a national sample of 297 interdisciplinary environmental and sustainability (IES)...
Interdisciplinary environmental and sustainability (IES) academic programs have an important and distinctive role in education for sustainability: preparing sustainability-oriented problem solvers who work at the science-policy, science-management, and policy-management interfaces. IES programs are rapidly expanding at colleges and universities in...
This is a summary of the full report. The report is the second in a series presenting the results of the 2012-2013 Center for Environmental Education Research/National Council for Science and the Environment (CEER/NCSE) survey of interdisciplinary environmental and sustainability (IES) baccalaureate and graduate academic programs in the United Stat...
This article explores the results of the National Council for Science and the Environment’s 2012 census of interdisciplinary environmental and sustainability (IES) baccalaureate and graduate degree programs and the 2014 census of IES institutes and centers (IESICs) at research universities to identify how urban studies and IES education and researc...
This study argues that enhanced energy education will help resolve the dilemmas of mitigating climate change and thus promote sustainability. Without enhanced energy literacy among both the energy workforce and citizens, society will be hard-pressed to make strategic choices about energy. We build on previous work that defined energy literacy and p...
Interdisciplinary environmental and sustainability focused institutes and centers (IESICs) serve a crucial role in bridging the knowledge needs of society and the knowledge production capabilities of universities. They facilitate research, administer academic programs, support campus sustainability initiatives, and engage in collaborative problem-s...
This report outlines the inclusion of environmental justice curricular content in a national sample of interdisciplinary environmental and sustainability (IES) degree programs.
This is a summary of the full report. This report describes the results of the first empirical study of interdisciplinary environmental and sustainability (IES) and related credit programs and academic units at community colleges in the United States. It is the first research publication for NCSE's Community College Affiliate Program (CCAP). The da...
This is a summary of the full report. The report presents the findings from a 2013 survey of 340 directors of interdisciplinary environmental and sustainability (IES) institutes and centers. Analysis of the results using social science statistical methods reveal the nature and number the diversity of IES institutes and centers at colleges and unive...
This is a summary of the full report. The report presents the findings from a 2013 survey of 231 interdisciplinary environmental and sustainability academic program leaders who answered questions on ideal curriculum design for 242 undergraduate and 112 graduate degrees offered by their programs. Analysis of the results using social science statisti...
The integration of sustainability into higher education academic programs is occurring at an accelerated pace in response to international and national imperatives to rethink the way it serves the needs of society. Three case studies from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Northern Arizona University, and Kean University (NJ) outlines the academic...
ACTION ON CLIMATE change and energy is one of the top three priorities for President Barack Obama and his Administration as they begin their second term. However, all nations must make substantial changes to meet the challenges of stabilising the planet at a temperature that does not wreak havoc on the environment. Environmental education and scien...
This is a summary of the full report. This report presents findings from a census of all four-year colleges and universities in the United States regarding energy academic programs. The results include interdisciplinary and broad energy degree programs, certificates and minors in energy, and energy specializations in other fields.
The National Cou...
This is a summary of the full report. This report presents the findings of a census of sustainability academic programs at all four-year colleges and universities in the United States. It includes sustainability degrees, minors and certificates, and specializations in other fields.
The National Council for Science and the Environment (NCSE) is a n...
The integration of sustainability into higher edu-
12 cation academic programs is occurring at an accelerated
13 pace in response to international and national imperatives
14 to rethink the way it serves the needs of society. Three case
15 studies from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Northern
16 Arizona University, and Kean University (NJ) outl...
This is a summary of the full report. This report documents the results of a census of all interdisciplinary environmental and sustainability (IES) academic programs at 4-year colleges and universities in the United States. The report documents the rapid growth of the field, the emergence of new types of IES programs, and trends. A census of commun...
Interdisciplinary environmental degree programs (environmental studies/science(s) and similar programs) in higher education
in the U.S.A. are both diverse and dynamic in their curriculum designs. Though these characteristics afford flexibility and
adaptability, they are also seen as weaknesses that can undermine programs’ perceived legitimacy both...
The National Association of Environmental Professionals (NAEP) and other constituencies have advocated the development of core competency guidelines for environmental educational programs for many years. Despite the high level of interest, no consensus has emerged on program identity that could lead to their development. The lack of a clearly defin...
This report presents the results of an extensive study to identify the defining characteristics of the interdisciplinary environmental academic field and describe the diversity of programs' administrative and curricular structures. The study represents the first empirical study of interdisciplinary environmental higher education and revealed a cons...
Purpose
This study is the first of a five‐phase research project sponsored by the Council of Environmental Deans and Directors (CEDD), an organization of environmental program managers operating under the umbrella of the National Council for Science and the Environment. The purpose of the project is to determine if a consensus on core competencies...
This report includes the results of a study designed to reveal the number and nature of the perspectives of environmental leaders on ideal curriculum design for interdisciplinary environmental academic programs.
Problem statement: Stakeholder involvement processes have become an important component of environmental decision-making. This study investigated the role that stakeholders operating outside of official stakeholder processes may play in influencing the policy environment. An improved understanding of the public and political influences on environme...
Questions
Question (1)