Overview
This year-long course continues with Unit 2 (post CALS 500) focused on continuing the conversations on Western and Traditional Indigenous Knowledges, theories, and perspectives on leadership, climate adaptation, resilience, and design thinking through guest speakers and course activities. Building on the course work completed to date in the CAL501 Learning Intensive, and the CALS 500 Climate Science, Impacts, and Services courses, you will continue to work with your team on the MACAL 501 design challenge through the Ideate stage of the design thinking process (Steps 4 – 5).
Drawing on the Unit 2 readings, and the learning to-date from previous courses, you will continue to develop your understanding of climate action, leadership, and other relevant topics. You will also contribute to your blog as a means to analyzing and synthesizing these perspectives and deepening your transdisciplinary lens on climate action leadership and the design challenge.
Activities & Assessment Overview
Please see Schedule for important dates for this Unit.
- Unit 2 Activity 1 – no readings
- Unit 2 Activity 2 – Complete TCPS2 CORE training (prior to any interviews and prior to UNIT 3 November 29th-Dec 5th, 2021)
- Unit 2 Activity 3 – Attend Synchronous Seminar
- Unit 2 Activity 4 – Meet with your team to continue your work on the MACAL 501 design challenge through the Ideate state of the design thinking process.
- Unit 2 Activity 5 – Contribute to the MACAL course community.
- Assignment 4. Unit 2 Blog Post
Unit 2 – Activity 1 | Preparation
This unit provides an opportunity to reconnect with your team based Design-thinking Challenge concept and process. Take a moment to remind yourself about the DT challenge and the concept that you are working on as a team.
Unit 2 – Activity 2 | TCPS2 CORE training *
*NB – this can be done at any time prior to Unit 3 (November 29th – Dec 5, 2021
This online tutorial TCPS 2: CORE (Course on Research Ethics) is an introduction to the 2nd edition of the Canada Tri-Council Policy Statement: Ethical Conduct for Research Involving Humans (TCPS 2). It consists of eight modules focusing on the guidance in TCPS 2 that is applicable to all research regardless of discipline or methodology. Completion of this tutorial is required as part of CALS 501, and required by or before September 7th, and prior to conducting any interviews of subject matter experts related to the Design Challenge. The Tutorial provides you with core principles and practices of ethical research and takes approximately 3 hours. . For those of you going on to do a thesis, or conducting research as part of your learning in the Practitioner Portfolio, this will be required.
You can find out more about TCPS2 here where you will also find the registration/account creation button that allows you to register and complete the tutorial.
You will receive a certificate of completion and you should save that for your own records and upload to the Moodle dropbox. Due Sept. 07 11:55 PDT (or before and prior to conducting any interviews).
Unit 2 – Activity 3 | Seminar (synchronous)
Please attend the Unit 2 Seminar, Wednesday September 8th, 16:00-17:30 PT. This seminar will be an opportunity to reconnect with each other and the evolving MACAL 501 Design Thinking challenge. It will include support group discussions about how your learning (in MACAL and elsewhere) might inform your team-based design challenge concept, with questions that support your critical reflections about your own challenges learning more about climate science and impacts through the MACAL 500 course and life and how to support others who experience similar and different challenges when thinking about climate change and what to do.
Unit 2 – Activity 4 | Continue your teamwork continue on the MACAL 501 design challenge
Your team is now taking what you did in the Learning Intensive and moving it through the Ideate part of the design thinking process. As a team, you will meet to discuss the concept to determine how any learning between the end of the Learning Intensive and now has informed your thinking on this challenge. This meeting should be scheduled following the Wednesday Sept 8th seminar. Use the CAL 501 Design Challenge Worksheet May 17 2021 Full to review the Ideate stage (Steps 4-5).
Your team will be picking up from where you left off in the Learning Intensive. This launches you into Step 4 Revising Defining and Ideation and working through till Step 5 – Deciding on the Final Team idea sketch. The Sketch can be uploaded to the Moodle Discussion forum, which provides a place for each team to review and provide feedback on each others’ final design sketches. Please introduce and briefly describe your sketch (intent, key elements, and what the prototype might achieve or contribute to) and also any questions you have that you might like some feedback on.
Each team should initiate a separate forum thread so that it is easier to track. This is a peer/collegial endeavour and we hope that you will engage with each other in that spirit to offer some constructive feedback, ideas for resources, questions that can support the continued creative thinking and design work.
Unit 2 – Activity 5 | Contribute to the MACAL course community
This is a reminder that really is in place for the entire program – to take time to review and comment on other blogs posts from your MACAL students prior to considering how to craft your next one.
Complete Assignment 4 – blog post (individual)
See the Assignment 4 description.
Think of your blog posts as critical academic reflection where you are analyzing and synthesizing as you make connections between theory and practice. Don’t forget to explore the resources on the RRU Writing Centre as well, specifically those focused on creating a detailed outline.
As a reminder, here is an overview of critical academic writing , no doubt you will find more resources as you go.
Due by November 14th 2021