Description

The Four-Dimensional Ecological Education (4DEE) framework, endorsed by the ESA Governing Board in November 2018, is the culmination of 30 years of work by the ecology community to clearly define ecological literacy. This framework provides innovative ways to engage students in ecology by incorporating multiple dimensions and elements at the same time, thereby providing problem-solving approaches that go beyond a linear sequence of topics. Although most work with the 4DEE framework so far has focused on teaching students majoring in ecology or biology, in an age of rapid global environmental change it is vitally important for all students to gain key ecological skills and become ecologically literate citizens. Previous work in teaching non-majors has identified a few individual topics as building blocks in the foundation of ecological literacy. However, the 4DEE framework allows us to propose a method to unite ecology concepts that connects science to society, thereby building a more holistic ecological perspective and awareness along with skills that we identify as being most important for non-majors.

This poster showcases a 4DEE rubric, identifies the parts most important for the non-major audience, and provides specific examples of integrating multiple dimensions within the context of real‐world challenges. Often creating a whole new course within a non-majors program is not possible, so we propose three scales for incorporating 4DEE: (1) a lesson, (2) a module or project, and (3) an entire course syllabus. This approach will allow for an easier, phased transition of traditional courses to a 4DEE framework. A lesson is designed by adding one or more practice and explicit attention to one cross-cutting theme to a topic that involves both a core ecology concept and a human-environment interaction idea. A module or project includes several practices and cross-cutting concepts that are woven into solving a real-world problem. A non-majors course syllabus addresses specific learning objectives for the key elements and all of the practices and cross-cutting ideas, as well as an appropriate subset of the core ecology and human-environment concepts. The 4DEE framework is an effective benchmark to develop or re-design, as well as assess, how ecology is taught to non-majors, especially as themes of environmental issues and sustainability are becoming more of a university-level focus.

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