Progress 08/01/11 to 07/31/15

Outputs
Target Audience:We advertised our new degree programs and course offering through webpages:http://soilcrop.agsci.colostate.edu/soils-land-use-and-climate-change/andhttp://warnercnr.colostate.edu/mgmato reach as large a traget as possible. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?During the course of the project, the scientists PIs received significant training through group and one-to-one meetings with Dr. Meena Balgopal. Dr. Balgopal instructed on development of course materials for in person and the online classes, novel teaching and evaluation approaches such as use of learning by writing methods, use of conceptual maps to assess student pre-course knowledge, use of grading rubrics, etc. During the last year of the project, Dr. Jennifer Soong and Dr. Claudia Boot worked as assistant lecturers for the project and received training in course design and delivery, use of RamCT and Canvas, student evaluation and on line class development, while the PhD candidate Joselyn Lavallee received training in video production for on line teaching, and learning assessment. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?We presented our work at the ASA-CSSA-SSSA annual conference, and developped web pages ad hoc for this project products. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Nothing Reported

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? In the four years of the projects we achieved all major project goals. As result of this project we now offer: 1) a new Baccalaureate concentration in "Soils, Land Use and Climate Change" as part of the course offerings of the Department of Soil and Crop Science (DSCS), College of Agricultural Sciences (CAS), Colorado State University (CSU); 2) a Master of Greenhouse Gas Management and Accounting (MGMA) as part of the course offerings of the Department of Ecosystem Science and Sustainability (DSCS), Warner College of natural Resources (CAS), Colorado State University (CSU); 3) Three new courses SOCR400: Soils and Global change: science and impacts, the cap-stone course SOCR401: Greenhouse gas mitigation, land use and management and the graduate course ESS524: Foundations for Carbon and Greenhouse Gas Management, with the SOCR400 available both in person and on-line. During this last year we completed the development of the on-line version of the SOCR400 course, completed the shooting and production of the method videos and all the paperwork to have the online course approved by the CSU curriculum committee. All courses produced under the framework of this project are now approved and available for offering. In order to assess the efficacy of the video teaching method we also expanded the previous year study and repeated our testing of the Summer Soil Institute students. We are currently analyzing the data for publication (Balgopal, Lavallee and Cotrufo, in preparation).

Publications

• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2014 Citation: Lavallee J.M., Balgopal M.M. & Cotrufo M.F. Do video labs provide authentic learning experiences in higher-level online agriculture and climate change courses, the annual meeting of the ASA-CSSA-SSSA, in Long Beach, November 2014

Progress 08/01/13 to 07/31/14

Outputs
Target Audience: We tried to reach as broad a target as possible, and in fact invested in the development of a dedicated web page for our concentration. We also hoped to reach families in Colorado by a journal article on our concentration but our press release, and CSU today news was not picked up by any of the Colorado newspaper. The Concentration and courses were advertised through the same regular channels that the Departments of Soil and Crop Science and of Ecosystem Science and Sustainability use to advertise their courses. Changes/Problems: Due to the delay in the University Curriculum Committee approval of the online version of the SOCR400, we are still working at the development of the on-line material and they will be completed in the coming year. Because the on-line course on Soils Land use and climate change was not offered we did not have enough information and teaching experience in this subject to organize a conference session about it, as planned. However, we will participate (see publication above) to the ASA-CASA-SSSA meeting this year to bring results from our study on the effectiveness of teaching soil ecology methods via videos. Finally the request for the approval of the Master Plan C in Greenhouse Gas Management and Accounting was kept on hold by the CSU Curriculum Committee, thus it has not been activated yet. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? This year professional training occurred through one-to-one meetings of Dr. Meena Balgopal and the other PIs on the project. Dr. Balgopal worked closely with Dr. Cotrufo and Jocelyn Lavallee on the development of course materials for the online version of SOCR400. Online laboratory materials were developed and evaluated during a summer soil institute to determine how to improve materials to maximize student learning outcomes. In addition, she met with Drs. Conant and Ogle to review their instructional and assessment plans/ practices in their respective courses. Dr. Cotrufo met several times with experts at the Teaching and Learning Institute and at the Division of Continuing Education (CSU On-line Plus) to receive training on the development of on-line scientific courses. Dr. Balgopal and Jocelyn Lavallee also participate to these training sessions. We found them particularly informative and now have a very clear idea of best practices and available software and platforms to develop the material for on-line courses and to offer them. Unfortunately the CSU UCC committee did not appear to share the same opinion of these experts, and did not consider teaching of laboratory protocols through method videos, such as this we developed on soil organic matter fractionation (https://www.dropbox.com/s/hchb55rqizfdfkw/Soil%20Fractionation%20Video.m4v) for the SOCR400, as a “lab” experience. As a result, we initiated a comparative study this summer (for which we obtained IRB approval) testing the differences in learning outcomes of participants (n = 24) who learn about soil organic study methods through videos compared versus in-person laboratory experiences. The pre and post test data are currently being analyzed. In the meantime, we will continue developing those videos for the course, and they will contribute to the course as a formal lecture credit. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? Lavallee J.M., Balgopal M.M. & Cotrufo M.F. submittedtheabstract titled: “Designing Authentic Learning Experiences through Video Labs in a Higher Level Online Agriculture and Climate Change Course”, for presentation at the annual meeting of the ASA-CSSA-SSSA, in Long Beach, November 2014. the abstractwas accepted (Abstract ID# 87902), SSSA DIVISION: SOIL EDUCATION AND OUTREACH The new B.Sc. concentration was advertised by a press release and it’s now accessible on the web, through a dedicated web page. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? During the next reporting period the course ESS 524-Foundations for Greenhouse Gas Accounting and Management and the courses SOCR400 – Soils, Land use and climate change will be thought in person, while we will keep working and complete the online version development. The SOCR401 will be offered in the Fall of 2015, as well as the on-line version of SOCR400 and ESS524. We will continue working at our professional development, and advertising of the new concentration to progressively increase enrollment. Additionally, we expect approval of the Masters Plan C in Greenhouse Gas Management and Accounting, which was kept on hold by the CSU Curriculum Committee,and thus to activitate itin the Fall term 2015.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? We developed the syllabus for the on line version of the courses: SOCR400: Soils Land use and Climate change, and ESS524: Foundations for Greenhouse Gas Accounting and Management and submitted them for approval to the CSU Curriculum committee. While the ESS524 was approved, the SOCR400 was not. This course was proposed having the same structure as the in-person version, with two lectures and one lab credits. Unfortunately after several reiterations, the course was not approved on the basis that the laboratory module was not “hands-on”. The course is approved subject modification to a three lecture credits. Paperwork will be resubmitted in the Fall 2014. The new B. Sc. Concentration on Soils, Land Use and Climate Change was launched in March 2014, through a press release http://www.today.colostate.edu/story.aspx?id=9771 . Students can now access information on the concentration also through a specific web page http://soilcrop.agsci.colostate.edu/soils-land-use-and-climate-change/ that we designed ad hoc for this concentration, which also include an introductory video. Students’ enrollment is open and we also used part of the matching fund from the CSU College of Agricultural Sciences to offer scholarships, as advertised on the web page. We offered the course ESS524 and are progressing with the on-line development of that course. We made significant progress with the shooting of the material to produce the method videos for teaching on-line of methods in soil ecology and biogeochemistry. In order to assess the efficacy of this teaching method we are also conducting a study where we divided a group of students (who attended the Summer Soil Institute) in two and exposed one of them to the in person hands-on, and the other to the video version of 3 laboratory procedures (i.e., Soil Organic Matter fractionation; Isotope labelling; Enzyme activities). All the students took a pre and a post-test which assess their comprehension of the procedure. The study is in progress and results will be presented at the annual meeting of the ASA-CSSA-SSSA, in November 2014 (Lavallee et al., 2014).

Publications

• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2014 Citation: Abstract ID# 87902, Submitted to SSSA DIVISION: SOIL EDUCATION AND OUTREACH. Annual ASA-CSSA-SSSA meeting, Long beach, CA, November 2014. Title: Designing Authentic Learning Experiences through Video Labs in a Higher Level Online Agriculture and Climate Change Course. Author(s): Jocelyn Lavallee1, Meena M Balgopal and M. Francesca Cotrufo

Progress 08/01/12 to 07/31/13

Outputs
Target Audience: The targeted audience of the new B. Sc. concentration and more generally of the new courses developed in this project is a new group of “unconventional” students of Agricultural sciences because it opens access to a novel and growing work market in GHG inventory and management, as well as to continuing education and research. Moreover, the new concentration and courses also meets needs of the more conventional agricultural students, preparing the farmers of tomorrow: increasing their awareness of climate change and ability to adapt to and potentially mitigate it, while increasing farming profit by improving C and GHG management. The need for the expertise provided by these courses is felt both in the US and, possibly more, in developing countries, thus target audience are also foreign students. Unfortunately, CSU took longer than expected to approve the new concentration (now due for approval this Fall) and thus wehave not yet started to advertise it. A large campaignwill be arranged next Spring to attrach the above target students. Changes/Problems: The major delays and changes to this project derived from the fact that Colorado State University changed its policy on cross-listing (combined) undergraduate and graduate courses, which are not any longer allowed. Despite we appealed and submitted paperwork twice, the curriculum did not approve our proposals for cross-listing of the courses SOCR400/500: Soils and Global Change: Science and Impacts and SOCR401/501: Greenhouse Gas Mitigation, Land Use and Management. Thus we had to change our plans, and two new and independent graduate courses were developed by Dr. Conant (ESS524) and Dr. Ogle (ESS545). Additionally a Master plan B was developed, which also lists the SOCR400 in the requirements, thus assuring the proposed integration of the undergraduate and graduate courses (Goal 4). Due to the delay in the University Curriculum Committee approval of the capstone course (SOCR401), the approval of the concentration is still under way – impeding to start advertising in time for enrollment this Fall. As a consequence both the SOCR400 and 401 were not offered this fall for lack of student enrollment. We will start enrolling student in the new concentration in the Spring 2014 and hope to have enough students to fill the courses next Fall. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? This year professional training occurred through one-to-one meetings of Dr. Meena Balgopal and the other PIs on the project. In particular Dr. Balgopal worked closely with Dr. Cotrufo on the development of best assessment practices for the SOCR400, and more recently she is working with Dr. Cotrufo and Dr. Conant on the development of the on-line courses syllabus and material. Dr. Balgopal also worked in the class with Dr. Cotrufo to teach students the use of conceptual maps. Dr. Cotrufo participated to the North American Colleges and Teachers of Agriculture (NACTA) Conference in Virginia in June 2013, where she was exposed to a very stimulating community of educator and discussed advanced teaching strategies – for example on the development of lectures and laboratory on-line modules. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? Dr. Cotrufo, PI, attended the North American Colleges and Teachers of Agriculture (NACTA) Conference in Virginia in June 2013. The theme of the 2013 NACTA was "Crossing Disciplinary Boundaries”, which was a great opportunity to share the innovative aspects of this project. This was achieved by presenting a poster entitled “Soils, Land Use and Climate Change: A New Baccalaureate Concentration which Crosses Disciplinary Boundaries”, authored by the members of this project’s Professional Learning Community: M. Francesca Cotrufo, Meena Balgopal, Rich Conant, Steve Ogle and Keith Paustian. In that occasion she disseminated the results of this project to a large community of peers. Several colleagues, from other Universities showed interest in the development of a similar Baccalaureate concentration on global changes in the agricultural sector. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? During the next reporting period the course ESS 524-Foundations for Greenhouse Gas Accounting and Management will be thought for the second time, and we will complete the development of the on-line version of the courses SOCR400 and ESS524. The SOCR400 and SOCR401 will be offered in the Fall of 2014. We also plan to organize a conference session on the “Teaching and training on Climate Change and GHG management and mitigation in the agricultural sector” at the annual meeting of the ASA-CSSA-SSSA in 2014, and we will submit a session proposal in due time. A major task for next year, and one to which we will devote large attention, is the advertisement campaign for student enrollment in the new concentration and courses. We have already started discussing strategies and will work hard to meet the proposed targets for student enrollment.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? We accomplished most of the major goals proposed for completion by the second year. We developed the capstone course: SOCR401: Greenhouse Gas Mitigation, Land Use and Management, and for the graduate course: ESS545: Applications in GHG Inventories. These courses were approved by the University Curriculum Committee and will be taught in Fall 2014 or 2015, depending on approval of the degree programs. We offered the two new courses developed the year before, e.g., SOCR400- Soils and Global Change: science and impacts and ESS 524-Foundations for Greenhouse Gas Accounting and Management. Both courses received very satisfactory students’ assessments as reported in the external evaluator’s II year report. The new B. Sc. Concentration on Soils, Land Use and Climate Change was developed and submitted for approval to the CSU curriculum committee. We also developed a Plan C Masters in Greenhouse Gas Management and Accounting. This degree program is in phase 2 review by the University, and should be fully approved during the Spring semester 2014, or shortly thereafter. Within the concentration a 3-hour internship course (SOCR 487) was designed for students to go out to the host organizations where they will work for 6-8 week minimum (e.g. over summer). Finally we started the design and the development of the teaching material for the on-line version of the courses SOCR400 and ESS 524.

Publications

• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2013 Citation: Cotrufo, M.F., Balgopal, M., Conant, R., Ogle S. and Paustian, K. (2013) Soils, Land Use and Climate Change: A new Baccalaureate concentration which crosses disciplinary boundaries. NACTA Journal 57, Supplement 1: p.77.

Progress 08/01/11 to 07/31/12

Outputs
OUTPUTS: During the first year of the project we completed several activities and products, which are listed below. The Professional Learning Community (PLC): is made up of the participants of the grant project.PLC members, guided by Meena Bagopal, selected 3 education-related topics to work on: Constructing class syllabi using the "Understanding by Design" framework; Instructional Strategies (including problem-based learning and cooperative jigsaw activities); and Assessment (including the use of concept inventories, rubrics, and concept mapping). A PLC meeting was dedicated to each topic. Baseline enrollment and graduate data: Two metrics important to this project are "enrollment" and "baccalaureate graduation" in Soil and Crop Sciences at CSU, with the 2011-12 used as baseline. The PI and External Evaluator developed the metrics and data display tables. The design of the new B.Sc. Concentration entitled: "Soils, Land Use and Climate Change", was completed and the paperwork submitted to the Chair and Faculty council of the Department of Soil and Crop Science at CSU for discussion and approval. The new 3 credits (2 lectures + 1 lab) course SOCR400: "Soils and Global Change: science and impacts", was designed, approved and is currently being offered (Fall 2012). This course provides undergraduates state-of-the-art knowledge on the effects of current global environmental changes on soils, and the field and laboratory methods currently available to study these issues. An inquiry-based lecturing method is used. Lectures are delivered as interactive presentations. Laboratory classes consist of hands-on experiences and visits to several field sites. Students are evaluated based on their critical thinking, knowledge of the subject, ability to synthesize knowledge in conceptual models and to evaluate these models. The new 1 credit recitation course SOCR580a6: "Soils and Global Change" was designed and approved as an experimental course. In this course, graduate students have the opportunity to read and discuss the state-of-the-art literature on the effects of current global environmental changes on soils. The course focuses both on scientific findings and methods. Lecturing and evaluation methods are as for the above course. The new 4 ( 2 lectures + 2 labs) credit course ESS545: "Applications in greenhouse gas (GHG) Inventories" was designed and submitted for approval. This course provides students with the capability to conduct GHG emission inventory assessments, and to apply different tools used in the GHG inventory field. Proficiency will be evaluated based on the estimated emission results and student interpretation of findings in each lab. The students will use a selected tool(s) to design and implement an assessment of current/historical GHG emissions and mitigation potential for a specific area, entity or other relevant domain. Design of the course ESS524: "Foundations for GHG management and accounting". This 3-credit course surveys biogeochemistry, emissions (history, trends and drivers) and policies intended to limit emissions. This course relies on several of the approaches developed in coordination with the PLC. PARTICIPANTS: During the first year of the project, the following individuals worked on it: Dr. M. Francesca Cotrufo (PI), prof. at the Department of Soil and Crop Sciences at CSU, coordinated the overall execution of the project, and participated in the PLC activities. She designed the SOCR400 and SOCR580a6 courses and is currently teaching the SOCR400. Together with Dr. Paustian and Dr. Keske she designed the new B.Sc. on "Soils Land Use and Climate Change". Dr. Meena Balgopal is Assistant Professor of Science Education at CSU. She designed, coordinated and lead all the PLC activities. She also designed with Dr. Cotrufo an exploratory study in the course SOCR400, which focuses on using writing-to-learn and concept-mapping activities as a means to increase climate literacy of participating students. Drs. Balgopal and Cotrufo examined the course syllabus to construct meaningful prompts that tie together the laboratory/discussion experiences with lecture content material. Dr. Cotrufo went through Institutional Review Board training in order to collect data from human subjects. Dr. Richard Conant, Assistant Professor at the Department of Ecosystem Science and Sustainability developed and is currently teaching the course ESS524. He also engaged in the PLC. Together with Dr. Oegle, he developed a new professional master's degree in GHG management and accounting. Dr. Catherine Keske, former Associate Professor of Agricultural Economics in the Department of Soil and Crop Sciences, collaborated with Drs. Cotrufo and Paustian at the design of the B.Sc. concentration curriculum and participated to the PLC activities. In August 2012, dr. Keske left CSU. Thus, she will not be able to offer her contribution to the course "GHG mitigation, Land use and management". However, we have identified a GTA for that course who has experience with the economic contents of the course material, and will assist with delivering them. Also we will make use of guest lecturers from the CSU economic department, and invite Dr. Keske for guest lecturing if that will be compatible with her new appointment. Dr. Stephen Ogle, Associate Professor at the Department of Ecosystem Science and Sustainability, has designed the course ESS545, engaged in the PLC activities and together with Dr. Conant designed the new master degree reported above. Dr. Keith Paustian, Professor in the Department of Soil and Crop Sciences, collaborated with Drs. Cotrufo and Keske at the design of the B.Sc. concentration curriculum, participated to the PLC activities and is working at the design of a new undergraduate course in Land use and management. Dr. Rose Shaw is the Independent Evaluator on the project. She observed a PLC meeting at CSU, wrote and disseminated an observation report. She prepared metrics, communicated with project stakeholders and developed the evaluation questions for the PLC. She kept updated reading all project documents and materials and reviewed meeting notes. She developed two evaluation forms (A form for tracking changes in instruction was developed and it will be implemented in Yr-2), conducted interviews, administered a survey and wrote an annual report on the project. TARGET AUDIENCES: The targeted audience of the new B. Sc. concentration and more generally of the new courses developed in this project is a new group of "unconventional" students of Agricultural sciences because it opens access to a novel and growing work market in GHG inventory and management, as well as to continuing education and research. Moreover, the new concentration and courses also meets needs of the more conventional agricultural students, preparing the farmers of tomorrow: increasing their awareness of climate change and ability to adapt to and potentially mitigate it, while increasing farming profit by improving C and GHG management. The need for the expertise provided by these courses is felt both in the US and, possibly more, in developing countries, thus target audience are also foreign students. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: The award received was lower than the funding requested. This required a change in the proposed activities, and we can no longer form and host a workshop for an external advisory committee as originally proposed. In August 2012, Dr. Keske left CSU. Thus, she will not be able to offer her contribution to the course "GHG mitigation, Land use and management". However, we have identified a GTA for that course who has experience with the economic contents of the course material, and will assist with delivering them. Also we will make use of guest lecturers from the CSU economic department, and invite Dr. Keske for guest lecturing if that will be compatible with her new appointment.

Impacts
During the first year of the project new courses and a new B.Sc. concentration were designed. The courses design included novel teaching and evaluation approaches that the faculty PIs on the project learned during the project PLC meetings, such as use of learning by writing methods, use of conceptual maps to assess student pre-course knowledge, use of grading rubrics, etc. In the Fall of 2012 two of the courses (SOCR400 and ESS524) are being delivered and courses outcome on the student population is being monitored.

Publications

• No publications reported this period