Four-Dimensional Ecology Education (4DEE) for everyone: teaching ecology to non-majors

Abstract

Originally developed for application to ecology courses for undergraduate majors, the Four-Dimensional Ecology Education (4DEE) Framework offers possibilities for adaptation to courses with ecology content for many other audiences. Recognizing the extraordinary range of classroom contexts and constraints, we developed some general, flexible recommendations and approaches to guide instructors in adapting the 4DEE Framework for an array of non-major audiences and classroom context needs. Our hope is that 4DEE-aligned courses for non-majors will provide these students with greater appreciation of ecology and inspire them to use their knowledge to address many critical environmental issues in their personal and professional lives. Many of our recommendations likely apply to natural science, engineering, and math majors as well. We encourage more ecologists to embrace teaching non-majors courses as a response to the urgent need to improve ecological literacy for everyone.