USING PRACTICAL COMMUNITY-BASED PROJECTS TO INFUSE ETHICS INTO GEOSCIENCE CURRICULUM

For many students, growing up in a world where the validity of climate change is still debated, where situational ethics is seen daily in the news and on popular media, learning that their professional actions matter and have consequences is an import lesson to learn before they enter the work force. Together with the South Carolina Emergency Management Division and County Emergency Managers the College of Charleston uses a project-based approach to jump start students’ ethical and professional development. Hazards and emergency management is a realm where even the smallest detail may help save a life. By creating team based emergency management projects that fill the needs of the local community, students learn the importance of the work of a geoscientist.

Five to six students work as a team to work on projects that the emergency managers would not have been able to complete due to budget or personal issues with in their counties. These real world projects are completed by the student teams for the counties and become part of each counties emergency management strategies. Students learn that their actions and decisions matter and the data is information for managers, planners and positions, and can become the basis of their reputations.