Teaching and Educational Methods

Reimagining Teaching Water Issues through Integrative Experiential Learning

Samrat B. Kunwar(a), Niraj Khatiwada(b), Mohammad Mashiur Rahman(c), Mengqi Liu(d), Swati Thapa(e), Alok K. Bohara(f), Jingjing Wang(f)
(a)University of the Pacific, (b)Siena College, (c)Northern Arizona University, (d)Gordon College, (e)PNMF, (f)University of New Mexico

JEL Codes: JEL Codes: Q25, I20
Keywords: Community outreach, experiential learning, interdisciplinary teaching, problem-based learning, water

Publish Date: August 3, 2023

View Full Article (PDF)

Abstract

This paper highlights an undergraduate experiential learning course on water resources, which was designed and coordinated by the Nepal Study Center (NSC) and offered by the economics department at the University of New Mexico (UNM). The experiential learning course, â€œProblem-Based Learning,â€ combined learning experience in the classroom with community outreach and international research experience via a study abroad program. The course development closely followed the principles of the â€œexperiential learning theoryâ€ (ELT), and the course structure comprised four components: (1) field-based data collection, problem identification, and conceptual framework development, (2) data analysis and development of potential intervention and solutions, (3) study abroad and implementation in the field, and (4) dissemination of findings and community outreach. A noteworthy feature of this learning model included graduate and undergraduate student collaboration. Graduate students aided instructors by serving as mentors for undergraduate students, helping them with empirical analysis and leading discussions in the development of policy tools and solutions implemented in the study abroad program. The broader impacts of these experiential learning courses can be summarized as: (1) student learning experience, (2) community impacts, (3) research experience, and (4) potential for the program to serve as a model for other institutions.

About the Authors: Samrat B. Kunwar is an Assistant Professor with the Department of Economics at the University of the Pacific. Niraj Khatiwada is a Visiting Assistant Professor with the Department of Economics at Siena College. Mohammad Mashiur Rahman is an Assistant Teaching Professor at The W. A. Franke College of Business at Northern Arizona University. Mengqi Liu is an Assistant Professor with the Department of Economics and Business at Gordon College. Swati Thapa is an Executive Director with Pratiman-Neema Memorial Foundation (PNMF), Lumbini, Nepal. Alok K. Bohara is a Professor, with the Department of Economics at the University of New Mexico. (mailto:bohara@unm.edu) Jingjing Wang is an Associate Professor with the Department of Economics at the University of New Mexico. Acknowledgements: I thank GaÌbor UngvaÌri, Samuel Ian Rosen, two reviewers, and the special issue editors for their comments on an earlier draft of this paper. This version is almost entirely new in words (but not in goals), so I thank them for helping me sharpen its focus. All remaining mistakes are mine.

References

Abboud, H., E. Baker, T. Baiotto, C. Weigand, and J. Quinn. 2022, April. “Optimizing for Water Equity in the Colorado River Basin.” 2022 Systems and Information Engineering Design Symposium (SIEDS). IEEE (pp. 190–195).

Abdulwahed, M., and Z.K. Nagy. 2009. “Applying Kolb’s Experiential Learning Cycle for Laboratory Education.” Journal of Engineering Education 98(3):283–294.

Ahn, J.H. 2008. “Application of the Experiential Learning Cycle in Learning from a Business Simulation Game.” E-Learning and Digital Media 5(2):146–156.

Amahmid, O., Y. El Guamri, M. Yazidi, B. Razoki, K. Kaid Rassou, Y. Rakibi, . . . and T. El Ouardi. 2019. “Water Education in School Curricula: Impact on Children Knowledge, Attitudes and Behaviours Towards Water Use.” International Research in Geographical and Environmental Education 28(3):178–193.

Barber, J.P. 2014. “Integration of Learning Model: How College Students Integrate Learning.” New Directions for Higher Education 2014(165):7.

Brickner, D.R., and E.R. Etter. 2008. “Strategies for Promoting Active Learning in a Principles of Accounting Course.” Academy of Educational Leadership Journal 12(2):87.

Food and Agriculture Organization and UN Water. 2021. Progress on Level of Water Stress. Global Status and Acceleration Needs for SDG Indicator 6.4.2. Rome. https://doi.org/10.4060/cb6241en

Fink, L.D. 2013. Creating Significant Learning Experiences: An Integrated Approach to Designing College Courses. New York: John Wiley & Sons.

Hanna-Attisha, M., J. LaChance, R.C. Sadler, and A. Champney Schnepp. 2016. “Elevated Blood Lead Levels in Children Associated with the Flint Drinking Water Crisis: A Spatial Analysis of Risk and Public Health Response.” American Journal of Public Health 106(2):283–290.

Healey, M., and A. Jenkins. 2000. “Kolb’s Experiential Learning Theory and Its Application in Geography in Higher Education.” Journal of Geography 99(5):185–195.

Hofste, R., S. Kuzma, S. Walker, E. Sutanudjaja, M. Bierkens, M. Kuijper, M. Faneca Sanchez, R. Van Beek, Y. Wada, S. Galvis Rodríguez, and P. Reig. 2019. Aqueduct 3.0: Updated Decision-Relevant Global Water Risk Indicators. Washington DC: World Resources Institute. https://doi.org/10.46830/writn.18.00146

Jury, W.A., and H.J. Vaux, Jr. 2007. “The Emerging Global Water Crisis: Managing Scarcity and Conflict Between Water Users.” Advances in Agronomy 95:1–76.

Katuwal, H.B. 2012. “Demand for Water Quality: Empirical Evidence from a Knowledge, Attitude, Behavior, and Choice Experiment Survey about the Bagmati River in Kathmandu, Nepal.” Doctoral dissertation, University of New Mexico.

Kolb, D.A. 1984. Experience as the Source of Learning and Development. Upper Saddle River NJ: Prentice Hall.

Kolb, A.Y., and D.A. Kolb. 2009. “Experiential Learning Theory: A Dynamic, Holistic Approach to Management Learning, Education and Development.” The SAGE Handbook of Management Learning, Education and Development 42:68.

Kolb, D.A. 2014. Experiential Learning: Experience as the Source of Learning and as Development. Upper Saddle River NJ: FT Press.

Kunwar, S.B. 2019. “Freshwater Conservation, Drinking Water Quality & Climate Change Adaptations: A Case Study on Nepal.” Doctoral dissertation, University of New Mexico.

Kunwar, S.B., A.K. Bohara, and J. Thacher. 2020. “Public Preference for River Restoration in the Danda Basin, Nepal: A Choice Experiment Study.” Ecological Economics 175:106690.

Lee, C. 2002. “Environmental Justice: Building a Unified Vision of Health and the Environment.” Environmental Health Perspectives 110(suppl 2):141–144.

Nelson, K.S., and E.K. Burchfield. 2017. “Effects of the Structure of Water Rights on Agricultural Production During Drought: A Spatiotemporal Analysis of California’s Central Valley.” Water Resources Research 53(10):8293–8309.

Pannu, C. 2012. “Drinking Water and Exclusion: A Case Study from California’s Central Valley.” California Law Review 100:223.

Rahman, M.M., A.K. Bohara, and J.E. Vazquez. 2021. “Geospatial Analysis of Health Risks and Solid Waste Management Behavior.” Journal of Environmental Economics and Policy 10(4):400–427.

Rajasulochana, S.R., and S.S. Ganesh. 2019. “Is Assessing Learning Outcomes a Trade-Off in Experiential Learning? Integrating Field Visit with Managerial Economics Course.” International Review of Economics Education 32:100169.

Rock, T., and J.C. Ingram. 2020. “Traditional Ecological Knowledge Policy Considerations for Abandoned Uranium Mines on Navajo Nation.” Human Biology 92(1):19.

Simpson, S.A., C. Altschuld, A. Ortiz, and M. Aravena. 2023. “Green to Gold Mile: An Environmental Justice Analysis of Drought and Mitigation Policy Impacts on Home Landscapes in Sacramento, California.” Landscape and Urban Planning 234:104729.

Upreti, B.R., and G. Acharya. 2017. “Shared Water Resources: Indo-Nepal Conflict and Cooperation.” Securing Peace and Prosperity. Islamabad: Sustainable Development Policy Institute. Lahore: Sang-E-Meel Publications.

Weli, V.E., and V.A. Ogbonna. 2015. “An Analysis of Well Water Quality and the Incidence of Water Borne Diseases in Emohua Communities, Rivers State, Nigeria.” International Journal of Environment and Pollution Research 3(2):32–41.

Williams, K., K.C. Ewel, R.P. Stumpf, F.E. Putz, and T.W. Workman. 1999. “Seaâ€Level Rise and Coastal Forest Retreat on the West Coast of Florida, USA.” Ecology 80(6):2045–2063.

Yarime, M., G. Trencher, T. Mino, R.W. Scholz, L. Olsson, B. Ness, . . . and J. Rotmans. 2012. “Establishing Sustainability Science in Higher Education Institutions: Towards an Integration of Academic Development, Institutionalization, and Stakeholder Collaborations.” Sustainability Science 7:101–113.

Zahid, J. 2018. Impact of Clean Drinking Water and Sanitation on Water Borne Diseases in Pakistan. Islamabad: Sustainable Development Policy Institute.