1. Ecology as a Model
for Teaching
Pavel Cenkl
pcenkl@sterlingcollege.edu
#ecosxsw17
bit.ly/ecosxsw

2. How can ecological thinking provide a
model for a more inten=onal and
dynamic pedagogy?
Can ecological thinking be scalable
across exis=ng courses, units, and overall
curriculum design?

3. 5 Majors
120 Students
…Majority Design Their Own Major
15 Full Time Faculty
150 Acres
35% of Our Own Food

4. Faculty in Environmental Humani=es
Associate Dean for Student
Learning Support and Advising
Director of Athle=cs
3 Job Titles

5. Teaching & Mentoring
Running / Environment / Climate
Curriculum Design
3 Sources of Inspira=on

6. Run across Iceland

7. Trail Running

8. Environmental
Philosophy

10. Making Connections:
Rhythms of experience
Ecological systems
Curriculum design

11. Classroom
Instruction
College-Wide Governance
Curriculum-Wide

12. Classroom
Instruction

15. Biomimicry

19. Nils Aslak Valkeapää, The Sun, My Father

23. engagement
experience
synthesis
reflection
observation
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
expectations&goals
m
ake
som
e
field
notes &
sketches
where? what? when?
Whatdidyoulearn
aboutyourself?
Whatdidyoulearnthatsurprisedyou?
H
ow
could
your
experience
connect to
the
BIP?
Howdoesyourexperienceconnecttocourseobjectives?
Whatconnections
canyoumaketo
priorexperience?
deep description:details, colors,unique aspects
use
all of
your senses
How might you
explore these ideas
and this
experience further?
H
ow
doesthis
experience
fitw
ith
the
restofASO
P?
Didyousee
theexperience
differentlywhen
writingaboutit?
W
hatdid
you
learn
aboutyourgroup?
Whatquestions doesthis experience raiseforyou?
ASOP Journal
Spiral Rubric
Fall 2014
Spiral Rubric

24. 1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
1014
5
16
expectations&goals
m
ake
som
e
field
notes &
sketches
where? what? when?
Whatdidyoulearn
aboutyourself?
Whatdidyoulearnthatsurprisedyou?
H
ow
could
your
experience
connect to
the
BIP?
esyour
nce
course
s?
ections
aketo
rience?
deep description:details, colors,unique aspects
use
all of
your senses
How might you
explore these ideas
and this
experience further?
H
ow
doesthis
experience
fitw
ith
the
restofASO
P?
Didyousee
theexperience
differentlywhen
writingaboutit?
W
hatdid
you
learn
aboutyourgroup?
Whatquestions doesthis experience raiseforyou?

25. Curriculum-Wide

26. “a material first approach,
priori=zing environmental
performance and material
behavior over form”
Neri Oxman, MIT MediaLab

27. Place-Based Learning

28. A place-based experien1al
curriculum not only empowers
—it demands—
interdisciplinary engagement.

29. Integrative Curriculum
Experiential Learning
Systems Thinking

30. College-Wide Governance
Scaling up par=cipa=on and engagement

31. Community

32. Work

33. WorkAcademics
Community
Engagement
Collaboration
Application
Systems Thinking
Creativity
Problem Solving

34. Resilient
Adaptive
Multi-scale
Ecological thinking
Interdependent
Deeply interconnected

35. Thank you.
Pavel Cenkl
pcenkl@sterlingcollege.edu
#ecosxsw17
bit.ly/ecosxsw