Abstract

The Institute for Earth Systems Science and Policy (ESSP) will use funding provided by ESSE 21 to infuse a systems approach throughout the 4-year Bachelor of Science degree program.  Funds were applied for as an ESE Stage 3 institution since there is already an interdisciplinary team of faculty working together within a single department, a highly interdisciplinary B. S. degree in ESSP is offered, and included within that program are many courses that are uniquely interdisciplinary by design.  Some of the interdisciplinary courses were developed with funding received from ESSE in 1997-1998.
 
The group is now ready to move beyond mere interdisciplinarity to fully embrace a systems approach within the curriculum.   At present, students in the ESSP program learn about the perspective and techniques of systems theory and modeling within the confines of a single, required upper-division course (ESSP 320, Introduction to Systems and Systems Modeling).  Presented in this way, systems theory and systems modeling lack the impact they could have if distributed across the entire 4-year curriculum.  
 
The focus of this project will be the development, testing, revision, and dissemination of a concise, web-based faculty ©¯handbook©˜ and associated faculty professional development workshops to promote and facilitate the incorporation of systems thinking into a wide variety of different courses taught by different faculty.  The ESSP Program will serve as the guinea pig to develop and test the handbook and associated workshops; however, the on-line handbook itself would be written for, and ultimately made available to, a national audience of college and university educators.  
 
A professional web developer will transform the handbook into a beta version of a professional, globally accessible website.  The handbook will contain the following sections:
 
*     A brief introduction to systems thinking and the benefits of incorporating a system approach in classes and curricula.
*     A Concise Primer on systems vocabulary, theory, and modeling.
*     Key systems learning outcomes organized by the level (freshman, sophomore, junior, senior, graduate) at which it is recommended they be presented.
*     Suggestions for incorporating systems into individual courses and for sequencing the presentation of information across a multi-year college or university curriculum.
*     Examples for each level of concept from each of several discipline areas.
*     Literature cited and other recommended readings.