Critiquing the Learning Design of a SENCERized Team-Based Activity

A team-based learning activity is presented that was created to support a university-level course with an integrative theme of environmental sustainability. Students in a General Education "Environmental Biology" course were asked to relate academic concepts to real-world scenarios by creating a hypothetical ecoresort on an island that had suffered severe habitat degradation. The Earth Charter helped guide student understanding of how to balance ecological, social, and economic needs. Furthermore, the SENCER approach to educational practice helped teach the science through complex social issues. Student-generated media (in the form of a webpage) helped learners integrate and showcase their gains in knowledge and skills. The "ecoresort activity" is critiqued against educational best practices, by aligning its design with Fink's Taxonomy of Significant Learning and Merrill's Principles for Instructional Design. Finally, practical recommendations (with an accompanying facilitator's guide) are provided that should help STEM educators calibrate interacting variables during technology-enhanced course designs: permeable learning spaces, assessment strategies, and social learning settings.