Module Overview

When we think of global environmental changes, many of us think first of the large-scale deforestation of the Amazon and Southeast Asian rainforests; others may think of desertification in dry land areas of Africa or the destruction of habitats and the resulting loss of biodiversity. These are the land use and land cover changes that have received the most attention in the popular press and in the scientific literature, but land use/cover changes have occurred at all times in the past, are presently ongoing, and are likely to continue in the future in all parts of the world. Most affected and involved in these processes are the environmental spheres of water, soil, and vegetative cover, but it is misleading to think of these as isolated from the geomorphology, climate, fauna, and especially human societies. These linkages between spheres are highly complex and, as of yet, incompletely understood. The most profound questions with which scientists working on land use and global change struggle are:

What forces drive land use/land cover change?
What impacts -- direct and indirect, now and in the future -- do these changes have on the environment and on human society? and lastly,
How can we respond to these changes most effectively?

This module introduces the student to the complexities inherent in these questions. Its main focus, however, is on the first of these questions. In the first unit of the module students are introduced to the human dimensions of global change, and they learn about the central role that the study of land use/land cover change plays within the larger field of global environmental and climatic change. In the second unit, students learn about selected land use/land cover areas and take a critical look at the data available for their study. In the third unit, students relate land use changes to human driving forces, and link changes at a global scale to those at a local scale, thus making global change a personal concern. The module's three main objectives are:

To provide an introductory qualitative overview of the interaction among driving forces, proximate sources, and environmental impacts of land use/cover changes;
To problematize the collection, compilation, and assessment of quantitative data on regional and global land use/land cover change; and
To assess quantitatively some general relationships between land use/land cover changes and human driving forces.

The module introduces some of the basic concepts underlying the study of the human dimensions of global environmental change (systemic vs. cumulative global change, human driving and mitigating forces, proximate sources of change, land use and land cover); it illustrates the extreme difficulties of data collection and assessment so fundamental to the study of global processes; and it involves students in using some of the essential statistical (analytical) tools of scientific research (regression, correlation, scatterplots, etc.). Throughout, students will learn to appreciate the crucial importance of scale in global change studies in general, and in drawing inferences from the results of the statistical analysis. Thus the module teaches students about land use/cover change in the context of global change and builds a critical understanding of the research process (see Figure 1).

Figure 1: Module Overview: Its Structure and Activities
(Click thumbnail to view larger version)

Overview of Module Activities

The activities in this module are designed to teach some basic concepts and problems of Human Dimensions of Global Change (HDGC) research, especially those related to data acquisition, aggregation, and interpretation. In addition, students learn some fundamental learning, communication, and research techniques.

Five sets of activities grouped with the three units of this module follow a logical (if somewhat idealized) sequence that is typical of the scientific research process. In the following diagram, the numbers indicate student activities.

Unit 1: Starter Activity (SA) and Activities 1.1 through 1.6
Unit 2: Activities 2.1 through 2.6
Unit 3: Activities 3.1 through 3.9

Activities

Each set of activities covers one step in this idealized sequence, with Activities 3.1-3.5 incorporating analysis and interpretation, and Activities 3.6-3.9 relating the global issues to the local and the students' personal experience. A variety of activities is offered in each unit. You should select those activities that are feasible for your class, according to class size, students' abilities, institutional facilities and resources, etc.

Organizational Note

The activities section in each unit is structured into three parts: an Instructor's Guide, Student Worksheets, and an Answers section (again for the instructor). For example, Unit 2 is accompanied by Activities 2.1 through 2.6. The Instructor's Guide for this unit outlines suggested readings, material requirements, skills taught in each activity, learning outcomes, and a detailed description of the tasks students have to complete and how to teach the suggested activities with possible alternatives and variations. The Student Worksheets (one per activity) are meant as hand-outs to students and provide the necessary instructions for each activity. The Answers section lists expected results of each activity, i.e., either specific results or points to check for in students answers.

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Last Revised: 6/14/04 Robert E. Ford rford@univ.llu.edu

Module Overview

Figure 1: Module Overview: Its Structure and Activities (Click thumbnail to view larger version)

Figure 1: Module Overview: Its Structure and Activities
(Click thumbnail to view larger version)