EDUCATING CITIZENS ABOUT EARTH RESOURCE ISSUES: THE NEED FOR AN INTERDISCIPLINARY , GLOBAL APPROACH

Modern industrialized societies use ever increasing amounts of Earth and energy resources. Yet, the general public knows little about the resources they use, their geologic origin, how they are extracted, processed and refined or their ultimate disposal at the end of their useful life cycle. Citizens often have a negative view of the extractive industries and fail to realize that they are necessary to maintain a high standard of living. Yet, citizens are increasingly faced with complex resource issues. To make informed decisions about resource use, citizens need a strong background in geology, economics and social context. To prepare citizens to deal effectively with the future resource issues, a geologist and an international studies scholar have collaborated to create a new type of geoscience course. Our innovative, interdisciplinary courses use scientific concepts firmly grounded in relevant social and global contexts to prepare students for their lifelong roles as citizens. The courses create a learning experience that integrates scientific disciplines, bridges the gap between the natural and social sciences, places science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) in relevant social context and introduces students to the complexity and multifaceted nature of resource use. By setting science in social context, these courses explicitly reveals science's connection to students' everyday lives. The courses are developed by two disciplinary experts, but taught by a single instructor, who models the interdisciplinary learning we want students to accomplish. This interdisciplinary approach helps non-STEM students learn that science, engineering and technology are fundamental to solving resource problems. Conversely, STEM students discover that scientific solutions to resource issues must converge with cultural, social, political, economic and religious norms or perceptions to be viable. At the same time, the interaction of STEM and non-STEM students helps lower the barriers between these disciplines and promotes comprehensive and multifaceted examination of resource issues. Our experience with these courses suggests strongly that this approach is necessary to produce an informed citizenry capable of addressing effectively the resource issues humankind will face in the future.