For the past three years,ÌýAir Quality InquiryÌý(AQIQ) has been reachingÌýK-12 students across rural Colorado, teaching them to conduct their own air quality research with affordable sensors developed by Professor Michael Hannigan. This year, AQIQÌýEducation Director Daniel KnightÌýdecided to mix things up. He and his team extended the program across the globe to reach Public Lab Mongolia, a nonprofit whoseÌýmission is to make data available to the Mongolian public.
Above: Mechanical engineering graduate student Evan Coffey teachesÌýpartners in Mongolia about the AQIQÌýPods during his trip to Mongolia in November 2019. Photo credit:ÌýEnkhtungalag (Tunga) Chuluunbaatar.
Top: View of Ulaanbaatar, MongoliaÌýin November 2019. Photo credit: Evan Coffey.
When Public Lab Mongolia learned of AQIQ, they were determined to adopt a similar model so that high school students in Mongolia affected by poor air qualityÌýfrom burning coalÌýto heat households could learn more about the science behind it.ÌýIn spring 2020, they traveled to CU Boulder and signed a partnership agreement withÌýCU Boulder Provost Russell Moore. They agreed to form a newÌýchapter of AQIQ at the National University of Mongolia.
Knight said he is excited to see the impact of their newest partnership in Mongolia in addition to continued work withÌýfive rural high schools on Colorado's Western Slope and three rural high schools on the High Plains in Northeastern Colorado.
As part of the program, aÌýmechanical engineering course at CU Boulder, Project-Based Learning in Rural SchoolsÌýwas developedÌýto equip college students with the skills needed for working with high school students to develop an air quality project of their own.ÌýA similar model will be implementedÌýat the National University of Mongolia. CollegeÌýstudents will learn to use Pods in their first semester, and their second semester will give them an opportunity to teach and mentor younger students who will be designing their own air quality experiments.
Before travel restrictions came about as a result ofÌýCOVID-19, the full AQIQÌýteam had planned an in-person training that would take place during the summer with Public Lab Mongolia and the National University of Mongolia inÌýUlaanbaatar. Since prior plans were no longer an option, alumni of the Project-Based LearningÌýin Rural Schools course at CU Boulder stepped up and taughtÌýthe AQIQ curriculum remotely despite the 15-hour time difference. Public Lab Mongolia was able to use the Pods they had taken home following their visit to CU Boulder earlier in the year. As part of theirÌýtraining, they gained experience by completing anÌýAQIQ research project studyingÌýautomobiles and public transportation in Ulaanbaatar.Ìý
Civil engineering graduate student Britta Bergstrom.
One of the CU student mentorsÌýwho helped with their training was BrittaÌýBergstrom, an MS student studying civil engineering and pursuing aÌýteacher’s licensure through the School of Education’s Post-Bac Licensure Program. Bergstrom taught partners at Public Lab Mongolia a moduleÌýwhich explored how to design an AQIQ research project. Bergstrom's involvement with AQIQ is captured in her responses to the questions below.Ìý
Why did you get involved with AQIQ?
I saw the AQIQ programÌýwould allow me to combine my passionÌýfor teaching, engineering,Ìýand travel,Ìýand I quickly emailed Dr. Knight to discuss enrollment. What made me want to stay involved was a combination of a variety of things including the welcoming and easy-going faculty, an opportunity to travel, a lighter workloadÌýandÌýmost importantly, the opportunity to get into a classroom and teach.
Describe the AQIQ course,ÌýProject-Based Learning in Rural Schools.
In the fall, we spend each week simulating what we will be teaching in the spring, and by the end of the fall semester, we go toÌýour assigned schools once for a chance to meet and engage with our K-12 students through an ice breaker game. Then, in the spring, mentor-teacher pairs visit their schools a handful of times to teach four different themes: an introduction to air quality, an exploration of combustion, how to design a research project, and how to interpret and present data. The lessons end with a poster symposium, which allows the students to present their air quality researchÌýand the data they collected.ÌýThese projects exploreÌýeverythingÌýfrom the difference in volatile organic compound amounts in cologne versus perfumeÌýto how muchÌýcarbon dioxide an old truck outputs versus a new hybrid car.
How has AQIQ inspired interdisciplinary collaboration?Ìý
AQIQ's partners in Mongolia conductÌýan experiment using anÌýAQIQ Pod to study automobiles and public transportation in Ulaanbaatar as part of their summer training.ÌýPhoto credit:ÌýEnkhtungalag (Tunga) Chuluunbaatar.
I am pursuing an MSÌýin civil engineering and a teacher’s licensure through the School of Education’s Post-Bac Licensure Program. This course was theÌýperfect intersection between my areas of study. When I joined the class, I was pleasantly surprised to see that my classmates represented aÌývariety of educational backgrounds. This course is appealing to students with a variety of passions, including teaching, environmental issues, research and study designÌýand global engineering. This ultimately creates a very enriching culture within the class, becauseÌýdespite students taking the class for different reasons, there must be collaboration between students with different interests in order to teach the younger students.
Looking ahead, what excites you about AQIQ?Ìý
This coming year we areÌýbroadening the diversity of educational backgrounds of students involved by reaching out to non-engineering programs such as the School of Education and the Environmental Sciences Program. ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ in this class do not need to have background knowledge in air quality, but they do need to have a basic understanding of how research projects are conducted and be excitedÌýto work with middle or high school students. As this program moves forward, I’m personally most excited to see the course continue toÌýconnect departments across the ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ Boulder, as well as a way to connect universities and schools across the world. We’re seeing this already with our Public Lab Mongolia partnership, and I think there isÌýhighÌýpotential to work with other non-governmental organizationsÌýand schools globally in the future.
What did you learn from your experience training Public Lab Mongolia this summer?
Working with Public Lab Mongolia this summer gave me my first opportunity to practice remote training, which is closely tied to remote teaching and is already proving helpful in my teaching courses this fall. Specifically, I was able to practice presenting a powerpoint and giving explanations over Zoom, as well as how to effectively brainstorm remotely as a group. I was alsoÌýable to increase my global mindset and experience by learning about Mongolia! During our first meeting, we learned about the air quality and environmental challenges in Mongolia andÌýgot to experience the language as all of the materials were translated into Mongolian. Then, partway through the summer, one of the lead mentors, Tunga, gave us an impromptu lesson on Mongolian cultureÌýwhere we learned about traditional Mongolian wrestling, festivalsÌýand food. I love learning about different cultures around the globe, so this was a very meaningful experience for me.