Faculty Focus
Tiffany MacQuarrie
Associate Director for Global Academic Engagement
Former Associate Teaching Professor, English; Professor in Charge of EDGE
M.S. Robert Morris University
I appreciated working with both Tareq and Noah for my first EDGE experience. We favored the need for strong structure, communication, and organization as we planned the project and embraced the needed flexibility as the project rolled out.
EDGE Fall 2019
ENGL 202C: Technical Writing
This course focuses on writing for students in scientific and technical disciplines and the collaboration with Arava Institute of Environmental Science (AIES) and the Introduction to Environmental Science, which included a project that can be on any subject concerning environmental science, was a good partner. Both classes were traditional face-to-face delivery with Penn State’s students numbering nine and Arava with 21 students and a 7 hour ahead time difference.
We met several times via Skype or Zoom to discuss the project. On October 9th, AIES instructors Tareq and Noah met with me via Zoom to finalize the EDGE project. The instructors kept in touch about once a week via email. Students were encouraged to meet on their own using What’s App and Skype. All class joint meetings were held using Zoom technology.
Global Learning Objectives*
Upon successful completion of this course you will be able to:
- Formulate practical yet elementary solutions to global challenges that use at least two disciplinary perspectives.
- Synthesize other perspective when investigating subjects within natural and human system.
*These objectives were created using the Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) Critical Thinking VALUE Rubric. Retrieved from https://www.aacu.org/value-rubrics
Students worked together in groups to research a question or subject relevant to environmental science. This might be an “analytical report” and it might be a “suggested solution to a certain problem.” The deliverable was a presentation presented simultaneously in Pennsylvania and in Israel using PowerPoint and Zoom.
Tareq and Noah (Arava faculty) suggested appropriate topics and put together groups for each of the five topics (approximately 4-5 AIES students and 2 PSU students in each). I had my students self-select PSU group members and then each chose one of the topics presented. Students were then grouped according to their selected topic.
Project Topics
Genetically Modified Food
Nuclear Reactors
Biodiversity
Are we experiencing a 6th mass extinction?
Overpopulation
What will the predicted population be in 2100? What can be done about it?
Plastic in the Sargasso Sea and Red Sea
Student groups each chose a sea close to the partnering institution.
What surprised me the most was the turmoil that people across the world also face. While America is a (relatively) safe place in comparison, the danger that the students faced in Israel (the bombing/shooting) made me more aware of the struggles of actively living in a foreign land rife with political turmoil/terrorism. Hearing of this experience made me more appreciative of the work and life that these students go through.
Tareq, Noah, and I met again on December 23 to assess the program. We discussed the challenges of the project and suggested changes to the project as we move forward. We agreed to partner again in Fall 2020.
Challenges We Encountered
- Time – Between the various holidays of both institutions and AIES class field trips, it was challenging coordinating meeting times.
- Technology — We used PowerPoint and Zoom for research presentations. Much time was wasted coordinating shared screen of presentations. It is challenging to hear and understand remote presenters when the faces on the screen were so small. (I wonder if it would be better to have each institution display the PowerPoint on their own screen instead of shared screen to allow opportunity to make faces larger (1/2 screen presentation and 1/2 screen Zoom camera) or perhaps use handouts of presentation to allow full screen for faces.
- Determine a way to handle students in groups who stop participating.
- Students desired more time to get to know one another beyond the project. I will definitely recommend that more time is devoted to ice breakers before introducing the project.
- Another challenge was that since different majors were represented, not all students were knowledgeable about their selected topic.
- We need to allot at least 2 hours for the final presentations. Perhaps we could split presentations into two class sessions instead of one.
- It may be beneficial to have students present their portion in their class or at least present to the instructor before the synchronous meeting as a quality check.
Arava’s Sign (English, Arabic, Hebrew)
Talha and Tareq in front of the earthbag dome (Arava Project)
Tareq and Tiffany at the Jordan River
Tiffany in front of Arava Sign
Background and Interest In EDGE
I selected my Technical Writing course as I was partnering with an environmental class. Since technical writing focuses on writing in science, engineering, and technology fields, I felt this course was a good fit.
Connecting and Collaborating
I was introduced to Tareq via email in the fall of 2018. We met twice via Skype before my visit to the Arava Institute of Environmental Sciences (AEIS) in April 2019. I toured the campus and met some faculty and students. We discussed tentative ideas for a project during my visit.
Following my visit, Tareq and I met again in September using Zoom and he introduced me to Noah Morris, his co-instructor.
Traveling and Visitation
If possible, I strongly recommend visiting the institution of your partner. Visiting gave me an opportunity to understand the focus of AIES and its students. AIES is not similar to Penn State in that it is not a degree-granting institution. Students often attend Arava for either a semester or two semesters. Their students could be undergraduate students attending as a study abroad opportunity or internship. Some students are also graduate students. AIES as described on their website “offers students an exceptional opportunity to learn from leading professionals while forming friendships and developing skills that enable them to lead the region and the world in solving today’s most pressing environmental challenges.” It is unique in that the institute is housed on a kibbutz (communal living); therefore, students live among the families of the kibbutz.
Visiting also helped to strengthen the relationship with my partner, Tareq. (At the time of my visit, I did not meet Noah Morris.) Having Tareq provide a tour of the Institute, kibbutz and surrounding area gave us time to share possible ideas for our project, but it also gave us time to learn about each other’s background, family, culture, and community.
