New Perspectives in Science Education

Through our research involving group projects in the organic chemistry lab,, in addition to the implementation of presentations and online discussion groups over two decades of lecturing Environmental Issues: A Chemistry Perspective, it has become clear that there are important learning opportunities that come from collaborating with one’s peers. Similarly, studies have shown that peer leadership in climate activism and behavioral changes, and collective activities in the face of ecological loss can provide the most impactful green learning opportunities. In his book The Self Delusion, Tom Oliver describes how we are much more than individuals, our individual actions are contagious and we can move from exhaustion to motivation and empowerment by combining our resources and transforming the entire systems that make up our world. Festivals and other cultural celebrations have the ability to provide the social connections necessary for mental health and learning, promoting fruitful discussions on the issues surrounding energy use and climate change. The unique celebrations that come from a gathering of artists, arts workers, arts enthusiasts and volunteers has the ability to empower each of them to become new leaders in the communication of positive energy and climate possibilities. As the University of Toronto’s Kate Neville emphasized: “Seeking joy, connection and community is a crucial part of collective action – the climate-stable, ecologically-vibrant future needs to have space to be imagined as a joyful one, not an apocalyptic one, even though we know there is strife and grief and loss and upheaval.” In partnership with the Trout Forest Music Festival, and thanks to funding from Heritage Canada, we have built two portable solar-powered sound systems and have been holding volunteer-led community concerts and energy discussions in northwest Ontario and Manitoba. We have found a new audience for these discussions and feel it is becoming an important avenue for the dissemination of this type of information.

1. Overcoming the hurdle from undergraduate lab to research lab: A guided inquiry structural characterization of a complex mixture in the upper-division undergraduate organic lab, Latimer, D., Ata, A., Forfar, C.P., Kadhim, M., McElrea, A. and Sales, R.; J. Chem. Educ., 2018, 95 (11), 2046-2049. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jchemed.7b00421

2. Writing as a Mode of Learning: Staged Approaches to Chromatography and Writing in the Undergraduate Organic Lab, Clary-Lemon, J., Gervacio, R. and Latimer, D.; J. Chem. Educ., 2019, 96 (5), 969-969. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jchemed.9b00072

3. A Counter-Narrative to Carbon Supremacy: Do Leaders Who Give Up Flying Because of Climate Change Influence the Attitudes and Behaviour of Others?, Westlake, S., Social Science Research Network, October 2, 2017. https://ssrn.com/abstract=3283157 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3283157

4. Mourning Climate Loss: Ritual and Collective Grief in the Age of Crisis, Atkinson, A. CSPA Quarterly, 2021, 32, 9-19.

https://static1.squarespace.com/ static/5e2dd59d90968a1bd3518c74/t/6086f3acb65ea1181894aca5/1619456975477/CSPA_Q32+2021.pdf

5. The Self Delusion: The Surprising Science of how We are Connected and why that Matters, Oliver, Tom,; Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2020. ISBN: 1474611745, 9781474611749.

6. Here’s how climate social scientists are finding their way in the era of climate crisis, Hoffman, M.; The Conversation, June 4, 2024.