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Environmental Pollution & Public Health (Project EDDIE) used in an introductory Environmental Challenges course

Author(s): Susan Gass

Dalhousie University, Earth and Environmental Science

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Environmental health is a field of study within public health that is concerned with human-environment interactions, and specifically, how the environment influences public well-being. In this module, students will explore how environmental…

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Environmental health is a field of study within public health that is concerned with human-environment interactions, and specifically, how the environment influences public well-being. In this module, students will explore how environmental pollution impacts public health through comparing cancer rates of areas with known environmental pollutants to the national average through a t-test. Students can further their knowledge by comparing the concentrations of atmospheric pollutants in areas with known sources to control sites without such sources. Project EDDIE modules are designed with an A-B-C structure to make them flexible and adaptable to a range of student levels and course structures.

Licensed under CC Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International according to these terms

Version 1.0 - published on 30 May 2023 doi:10.25334/ENXG-1H86 - cite this

Adapted from: Environmental Pollution & Public Health (Project EDDIE) v 1.0

Keywords

  1. public health
  2. Project EDDIE
  3. pollution

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Description

This module uses data to show why taking care of the environment is important in a way that even the most anthropocentric student can identify with (not wanting to have their health harmed by pollutants).  It also introduces hypothesis testing and p-values at a very low-level, so that students who haven't taken a statistics class can complete some basic interpretation.  As the term "significant" is often misused in everyday life when referring to data, this arms the student with knowledge of what that term actually entails in science.

My introductory course in Environmental Challenges: Analysis and Solutions includes two lectures per week plus a weekly tutorial. This course enrollment is 120 students, approximately 50 majors in Environmental Science and 70 non-majors. The tutorials are run by teaching assistants under the guidance of the instructor and have 20 students in each group.

The course aims to introduce students to quantitative reasoning as a method to address and better understand current environmental challenges. Working with data in this EDDIE module allowed students to deepen their understanding of the science behind the course concepts. Specifically, this EDDIE module was an excellent fit because it ties together three learning objectives in the course including concepts around air pollution, challenges with fossil fuel extraction, and the connections between human health and the environment. The module specifically matches with case studies already being discussed in the course readings and lectures including the case study of mountain top removal coal extraction in the Appalachian Mountains.

I adapted the module slightly so that Parts A and B were taught in the lecture period as a demonstration, and then students completed Part C during the 80-minute tutorial the following next week. The students easily drew the connections between the EDDIE module and the course learning outcomes.

I used the following additional resources:

  • a story map which provides more details on the Louisiana Cancer Valley produced by ProPublica an independent nonprofit newsroom. We explored the map as an introduction to Part B. 
  • a short YouTube video which explains t-tests as part of the lecture for Parts A and B.

The students were assessed based on their participation during the tutorial and handed in the last three questions from Part C to be graded. Students completed Part C during their 80 minute tutorial under the supervision of a teaching assistant. The teaching assistants ensured students were completing the steps for Part C and students were awarded 1 participation point for doing so. The last three questions in the handout were worth 4 points for a total of 5 points. The students were encouraged to work on these questions at home and hand them in the following week. The assignment was one of nine tutorial assignments and was worth 2.2% of the overall course grade. 

 

Notes

This module helped students reach the following three course learning objectives:

  • Describe the environmental, social, and economic impacts of using fossil fuels
  • Describe the health, economic, social, and ecological consequences of air pollution.
  • Build quantitative reasoning and critical thinking skills

I assigned three chapters as background reading from their course textbook “Environmental Science for a Changing World” by Karr (2021). Module 10.1 Air Pollution which was assigned and discussed on week 2, Module 9.1 “Coal. Bringing down the Mountain” was assigned and discussed during week 4, and Module 4.3 “Environmental Health and Toxicology” was assigned the week they completed the EDDIE module.

I adapted the Powerpoint slides from the original EDDIE module to include more background information from the course textbook and some slides of the results that we will get from Parts A and B. I removed the video about smog as we had already covered smog earlier in the course. 

Rather than have students work through the handout for Parts A and B, I incorporated the instructions and questions into my lecture Powerpoint presentation. Part C was used as the handout for students in their tutorial the week after the lecture of Parts A and B.

I changed question 23 in the original handout for Part C to have students look at the data from 08-14-2020 which demonstrated the PM2.5 levels in California during a severe wildfire season. As some of my students are from the western part of Canada which has been experiencing increased wildfire activity, I decided this may capture their attention.

The material in this EDDIE module scaffolded effectively with the existing course material. I ran the tutorial several weeks after  we discussed air pollution and mountain-top removal in lecture and as we were discussing human health and the environment. Therefore, it provided an opportunity for review of the earlier material and demonstrated how content throughout the course is connected in various ways. In the lecture, I tried to work through the ProPublica Cancer Valley Storymap but there was too much information to cover so I had to cut the review of the story map short to move forward with the data analysis demonstration. Next time, I would assign the story map as a reading before we start the module. 

Having the teaching assistants guide the students through Part C at the front of the class worked well and prevented those students less familiar with Excel from getting lost or falling behind. Those students who preferred to move a little quicker were able to do so because the written instructions are very detailed.

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