Utilizing problem-based learning to facilitate interdisciplinary pedagogy for political ecology

When attempting to understand global ecology, there is a significant amount of political bias. Environmental education (EE) is inseparable from political ecology as climate change and sustainable living practices conversations grow within and between many countries around the world. In the United States and throughout European countries, environmental science and political science are popular topics for undergraduate students. However, there are deficits in the connection between the two. An interdisciplinary pedagogy is crucial to learn political ecology, and active learning skills are required for students to retain such interdisciplinary understanding. Active learning, such as problem-based learning (PBL), supports higher information retention because it facilitates self-exploration as students decipher and solve problems. Researchers in this study wanted to explore two concepts; if political ecology is a useful way to address politics within environmental education, and if problem-based learning is a good approach to learning about these interdisciplinary concepts.

The researchers were members of the political science department at the University of Exeter where the study was conducted. This study took place during the 2018-2019 academic year and was the first political ecology class in the undergraduate program: Land, Power, and Politics: a critical problem-based approach. The course was 11 weeks long, occurred in the spring term, and consisted of weekly hour-long lectures and PBL lessons. There were 13 second-year political science undergraduate students enrolled in the class. The main themes of the class centered on concepts of land ownership and its political ties. The researchers used topics like agrarian ecology, radicalism, and emancipation to facilitate conversations connecting topics such as these to.

In class and for this study, the students self-organized into two groups of four and a group of five students. There were five weekly PBL problems that included different global political ecology issues. Each group was assigned a fictitious political sponsor for the problem they were given in the weekly problem. The PBL framework included group collaboration, so during the weekly hour-long lecture, groups would convene for ten minutes, lead an activity for 20 minutes, and then work in groups or individually on separate tasks for the week. Essays were assigned to assess the retention and understanding of the week's PBL problem. Groups reported out through a written report and a group presentation. The researchers assessed knowledge retention through the essay assignments, and group dynamics were used to evaluate the PBL structure.

The researchers found that the PBL proved to be a successful way to incorporate political ecology into EE for most students. Positive final grades, student reflections, and attendance all suggested it was a good pedagogical approach. They reflected on it in three themes; this approach was good, and sometimes difficult, for teaching and learning complex, interdisciplinary topics; group work promoted learning and forming solutions together; and PBL was unfamiliar for many students. The first two weeks were critical to form relationships in the class that would later aid students while self-organizing into groups. After the third week, the overall morale of students had increased and facilitated efficient group discussion of the weekly problem. Students were able to broaden their academic knowledge through global political ecology problems and develop social skills by cooperating with their group. The researchers also noticed that group leaders naturally formed within each group. Yet, the leadership role became burdensome and took away from the cohesiveness and engagement of those students within their group. The researchers also found that the PBL framework required ample time and energy, for teachers and students. The PBL framework may also have benefitted some students over others. Some students may be more engaged in the specific type of learning, such as active learning; for others the interdisciplinary learning and heavy group work, was more challenging. The researchers in this study noticed an influence of social status on groups; those groups that were made up of students not first-chosen by their classmates faced challenges with inter-group relations.

Researchers also noticed that because students self-organized into groups, those who did not have a higher social status had more difficulty forming relations with their group members. Groups that were often made up of alternate students who were not chosen firstly by other students to be in a group for group-picking faced challenges with inter-group relations and assignment progress. This highlights a limitation with PBL in the realm of social dynamics.

This study prompted the researchers to recommend that PBL can be a successful strategy for environmental educators hoping to integrate politics into their lessons. In using PBL, they also suggest group dynamics through leadership skills and communications should be highlighted at the beginning of teaching within PBL. Accompanying workbooks or textbooks may benefit students by learning through an additional resource.