Overview
To foster peer learning by engaging students in collaborative exploration and presentation of sustainability topics where the cohort demonstrated lower proficiency, as identified through the TASK results, while contextualizing sustainability within their own disciplines.
Learning Objectives
By the end of this activity, students will be able to:
- Analyze sustainability knowledge gaps using cohort-wide TASK results.
- Investigate and interpret sustainability topics using the TASK Navigational Charts.
- Describe sustainability subjects using the four TASK categories:
- Key Concepts and Definitions
- Current State and Trends
- Major Causes
- Systemic Impacts
- Contextualize sustainability knowledge within their specific discipline or field of study.
- Communicate sustainability concepts effectively to peers.
Preparation
- Compile cohort results: Review the TASK results for the class, identifying the lowest-scoring subject areas across the cohort.
- Suggest reference materials: Encourage students to review the TASK Study Guides available on the platform. Suggest any other references relevant to the area of study.
- Form student groups: Divide students into small, diverse groups (3–5 students), and assign each group one low-scoring subject to explore.
Instructions
Title: “Bridging the Gap: Peer Teaching for Sustainability”
Part 1: Deep dive exploration (group work)
- Study the assigned subject area: Use the TASK Study Guides, and provided references to build a strong understanding of the topic.
- Structure your understanding using the four TASK™ categories: When describing your assigned subject, clearly address each of the following:
- Key Concepts and Definitions: What are the essential terms and ideas?
- Current State and Trends: What is the current global or regional situation? What trends are emerging?
- Major Causes: What are the root drivers or contributing factors?
- Systemic Impacts: What are the broad and interconnected effects on society, economy, environment, etc.?
- For Lever of Opportunity subjects, focus only on the first two points.
- Contextualize to your discipline(s): Connect your subject to your field of study (e.g., engineering, health, business, education). Explain real-world implications and interdisciplinary connections.
- Prepare your presentation: Prepare a 10 minute engaging presentation for your peers. Your presentation must include:
- Clear explanation of your subject, organized using the four TASK categories.
- Disciplinary relevance and applications.
- Real-world case studies or examples.
Part 2: Peer teaching session
- Each group delivers their presentation to the class.
- Follow with brief Q&A or guided discussion.
Part 3: Individual reflection (post-session)
- Submission: 300–500 words
- Reflect on:
- What new sustainability knowledge did you gain from peers?
- Which topics or systemic connections were surprising or most impactful?
- How can this knowledge influence your practice or thinking in your field?