Wicked problems have been characterised by their high epistemological and axiological complexities. These are the kinds of problems that may invade our classrooms because many of them concern many stakeholders, including our students. Several approaches have been developed to address wicked problems in various contexts. However, little is known…

Traditional social sector and international development organizations have prioritized measuring the impacts of their work for decades. Understanding the ways in which they are bringing about change or helping people and communities has long been part of the traditional social sector ethos. The Global Impact Investing Network (GIIN) was founded by…

The complex nature of contemporary challenges requires a culture of cooperation between academic disciplines. However, to what extent do educational systems prepare students to think beyond the boundaries of austerely defined and often entrenched academic fields? UNESCO has successively called for Environmental Education, Education for Sustainable…

College and university educators seek to increase student engagement in learning content, skills, and applications. To achieve this goal, we used transformative teaching techniques in the design of a World Challenge: a two-week, group-based, reflective course for sophomores leading their own learning in developing creative solutions to the problem…

From media news coverage to fluctuating gas prices, the topic of energy is hard to ignore. However, little connection often exists between energy use in our daily lives and the presentation of energy-related concepts in the science classroom. The concepts of energy production and consumption bring together knowledge from several science…

Finding solutions to complex health problems, such as obesity, violence, and climate change, will require radical changes in cross-disciplinary education, research, and practice. The fundamental determinants of health include many interrelated factors such as poverty, culture, education, environment, and government policies. However, traditional…

This paper examines ways in which interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary analysis of global policy studies can increase understanding of complex global problems. Until recently, social science has been the discipline most often turned to for techniques and methodology to analyze social problems and behaviors. However, because social science…

Problems associated with overspecialization in U.S. higher education are considered, based on the view that colleges provide training for an advanced society but fail to clarify how a particular career will be part of a larger social and global system that has many serious problems. An education that seeks to integrate ideas across disciplinary…

Describes Monroe Community College's interdisciplinary liberal arts program, the Human Ecology Project, which explores the problems of energy and resource depletion and social and ecological imbalances; increases students' self-reliance in food, energy, shelter, and health care; and examines holistically the interrelationships of technology,…

The major function of the handbook is to provide secondary level teachers with a collection of data on world problems that can be used in history, world affairs, sociology, or ecology courses. A teacher's guide accompanies the handbook. The teaching technique used is inquiry. Students analyze data, and form hypotheses and generalizations.…

The general purpose of the twelfth grade course is to help the student assume his role as a decision-maker in a democratic society. The nature and complexity of contemporary problems are examined using this guide to enable the student: 1) to analyze alternative solutions to these problems; 2) to develop attitudes and values appropriate to a…

The scientific community needs to reappraise its actions and become concerned with the real world problems that threaten existence in society. These include world poverty, starvation, and declining quality of life. Geographers need to develop greater concern resulting in evaluating their research, curricula, educational goals and course content in…

Summarizes four presentations from the 1992 Catholic Library Association's convention: "Native American Stories: An Oral Tradition in Today's Education" (Jim "Two Crows" Wallen); "Christians and a New Friendship with the Earth" (Jane Blewitt); "Earth Energy, Human Energy: Information Power" (Barbara…

Perspectives on reform in theological education are considered. It is suggested that the lack of coherence in theological education is primarily due to the conflict between certain sociopolitical realities that place antithetical demands on faculty and administrators of theological schools. Conflict between the academic study of religious…

A theoretical framework and suggestions for teaching about the future at the secondary level are presented. Seven chapters comprise the document. Chapter I examines the nature of and approach to futurism and explores ideas of European and American futurists. Chapter II presents a rationale, characteristics of futures education, outlines of courses…