CORNELL UNIVERSITY FIELD PROGRAM IN EARTH AND ENVIRONMENTAL SYSTEMS: CONNECTING STUDENTS WITH COMMUNITY

The Field Program in Earth and Environmental Systems (EES) is an undergraduate semester-length program at Cornell University, available to any student interested in Earth's natural systems. The EES Field Program is located on Hawai'i Island each spring semester. Instruction is entirely field-based. Students learn from hands-on activities spanning a variety of topics, including volcanology, watershed hydrology, oceanography, biogeochemistry, and cultural and historical studies. The Hawaiian Islands are an outstanding natural laboratory for the study of the Earth system. Students are confronted with a real natural system, but one in which physical parameters such as rainfall, temperature and substrate age can be adjusted simply by moving from place to place around the island, or across the archipelago. Additionally, the cultural values of traditional Hawaiian society strongly emphasize sustainability, stewardship, and the responsible use of natural resources.

The experience of program faculty after three years of field-based instruction suggests several things about student learning in this environment. The first is that the students have been removed from their comfort zone and that this does indeed make them uncomfortable – at least at first. Students are forced to confront new modes of learning, are forced to learn independently, and from each other. They are pushed hard to attempt things that are outside of their previous experience. The unequivocal result is that the students become more capable and independent learners. Second, the projects that students undertake are embedded in a real-world context, either as part of an ongoing scientific study or as community service. In this case the students are inspired and empowered by the opportunity to make a real and substantive contribution. They are highly motivated to learn and to achieve, and are very successful. Connecting the curriculum to the community that hosts us has been the most successful aspect of the EES program.

While the physical setting of the EES Field Program may be unique, opportunities to push students into new modes of learning and to connect the curriculum to real-world issues are available almost anywhere. When students apply their skills within the community their learning is unparalleled, to the benefit of all.